[2024-03-17] The wink
St. Patrick's Day has become an occasion for me to reflect on my roots:
- In 2021, I shared memories about St. Patrick's Church, the humble Catholic church in Ferguson Falls, about a kilometre from where I grew up.
- In 2022, I recalled my time in 4-H, an organization for teaching agricultural skills to rural youth.
- In 2023, I reminisced about my six years of waitressing and cooking pancakes at McEwen's Pancake House in Ferguson Falls.
More recently, I shared stories about the Ferguson Falls Community Hall and, just the other day, the one-room Ferguson Falls School, S.S. #8 in Lanark Township.
As my mom and I spoke about the rural school that was just up the road from our farm—the one that her three eldest children attended—our conversation turned to the one-room schoolhouse she had gone to as a girl. The school was in Clarence Creek, about 45 km east of Ottawa. My mom still remembers that it was S.S. #16 in Clarence Township.
According to The One Room Schoolhouse, a website documenting the stories of rural schools across Canada, the Clarence Creek School was built in 1881. My mom, Olivette, started there in grade 1 in 1944.
Today, she recalled a funny story from her later years in that school.
On the day in question, the boy who sat in front of Olivette, Gérald, turned to her and said, "Sylvio wants to talk to you." Sylvio was the boy who sat in front of Gérald. When Gérald had turned back to face the front of the classroom and Olivette had leaned out to see what Sylvio could possibly want to say to her, Sylvio winked at her. That caused Gérald to burst out laughing, which immediately drew the attention of the teacher and the entire school.
"Stand up," the teacher instructed Gérald. "Now, what's so funny?" he asked.
"It's not me—it's these two," Gérald said, clearly not wanting to take the fall for his classmates. The teacher ordered Olivette and Sylvio to stand. With further prompting from the teacher, Gérald spilled the beans: "Sylvio winked at Olivette." Now everyone was laughing.
The teacher told Gérald to sit down, leaving only Olivette (a tall girl) and Sylvio (a short boy) standing. When the laughter subsided, the teacher quipped, "Oh, I see: Mutt and Jeff" (referencing the long-running comic strip with the tall Mutt and the much shorter Jeff). This sent the children into hysterics once again, and even the teacher was chuckling.
Poor Sylvio was made to stand in the corner, and Olivette was told to sit down.
I've recently picked up the hobby of tracing my genealogy—something my mom and other family members have explored in the past. It has prompted the discovery of interesting anecdotes. I'm hoping to capture more delightful and humorous stories like the one my mom told me today.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
