Reminiscences of Brooklands school, 1929 - 1938

By Mary (Hrenchuk) Pankiw, Ph.D.
(June 1, 1923 -)

“How excited I was when September 1929 ushered in the
day I was to begin school! I could hardly wait to arrive and
begin the three R’s.

| bounced out of bed, and hurriedly washed in a porcelain
basin, for which the water had been warmed on a cast-iron
wood stove. Next, I slipped on the clean cotton dress, which
my mother had ironed and laid out, and combed my auburn
brown hair. I would have darted out through the door if my
mother hadn’t reminded me, in Ukrainian, to sit down at the
table and eat. Breakfast consisted of a fresh egg, that was
contributed daily by our hens. Prepared sunny-side up, the
egg was accompanied by golden homemade bread, topped
With fresh creamy butter. Hot steaming cocoa, in a china
cup, invited me to take regular short sips.

When I had finished breakfast, I brushed my teeth and rinsed
my mouth with water, carried by pail from the village pump,
a short distance away.

“Is it time to leave?” I persistently questioned. “In good time,”
my mother replied. “We mustn’t leave too early.”
Meanwhile, the seconds stretched into the minutes, and the
minutes dragged into heurs. Then it was time to leave!
Passing final inspection by my mother, we left our house,
situated at 1880 Pacific Avenue.

This site, approximately an acre encompassing Pacific and
Ross Avenue, was also the location of Brooklands Fuel
Company, founded by my father in 1911 . Arriving in Canada,
from Ukraine, in 1903, he was elected the village of
Brookland’s first Councillor of Ukrainian origin in 1921.
Students will remember the rides, on their way to and from
school, on his sleigh or cordwood rack, pulled by two brown
Belgian horses delivering fuel orders.

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