July 9, 2022 will mark a special day for the community of Cardale - the unveiling of the Cardale school cairn; also dubbed “Cardale’s Last Hurrah”, by organizers of the event. For the Cardale School Commemorative Committee, comprised of Allan and Lois Hyndman, Garnet (Garnie) Hyndman, Jo-Ann McTavish and Audrey Kirk, it truly has been a labor of love and a testament to their community spirit.
“You know, we always prided ourselves on being a very close-knit little community,” said Garnet Hyndman, a long-time resident of the area and former teacher/principal of the school. “It didn’t matter how long you’d been away from it, you still felt that connection from away back when.”
Nine years ago, the old brick school in Cardale – a landmark that had sprung to life along with the railway – was demolished, marking the end of an era.
The two-room, two story schoolhouse, was built in 1915, bringing together two one-room schools from the outlying areas of Ravens Glen and Roselawn. In 1919, two more two-story classrooms were added with a bell tower in the middle – like many of the brick schoolhouses of the era. To the recollection of the former students and staff, there was never a bell in the belfry.
While the school has been closed since 1969, it served various other purposes in the community, most notably, as the Rolling Dale Workshop until its closure in 1996. Regardless, the hole left by the removal of the stately building from the Cardale landscape was enormous, and left a sentimental longing in the hearts of many local residents, former students and teachers.
A former student, Lois Hyndman, felt strongly about commemorating their old schoolhouse in some way. She with a like-minded, small group were able to recover approximately 1000 original bricks, setting the wheels in motion to build a memorial.
The original plan was to sell the right to have donors’ names engraved on the bricks for $20 per brick and of these bricks, to construct a replica of the school. John Stiles, the former owner of Stiles Masonry of Brandon, was contacted and it soon became evident as they started to work on the project, that the many people they encountered along the way were either former students of the school, or had relatives who were former students. The ties to Cardale and area were proving to be plentiful.
As the project grew, the committee changed gears. There had been a concern expressed to that perhaps not everyone would be acknowledged using the method they had chosen, and that it was felt that everyone should be. After a generous donation by the Gord and Diane (Fortune) Peters family, as well as contributions by the RM of Oakview, donations from brick sales and from community members at large, and securing a provincial Heritage grant, the committee decided to instead erect a wall made from the bricks on the site of the school and mount granite plaques with the names of every student, teacher and principal to ever attend Cardale school.
The committee began the tedious task of combing through old school records available only on microfiche at the provincial archives building in Winnipeg. Three trips were made to the city, before they came up with the names of close to 900 students and 93 teachers who had graced the halls of the old brick school. They are being etched onto the granite plaques to be unveiled at the ceremony this July.
“Allan and Lois have become experts on the history of anybody that went to school in Cardale,” laughed committee member, Jo-Ann McTavish.
The raising of the school cairn is thanks solely to the fortitude, commitment and hard work of past and present Cardale residents or their extended connections to the community.
Ward Szucki, who owns Guinn Brothers, Neepawa, is responsible for the engraving of the granite plaques displaying the nearly 1000 names, as well as photos of the school. When first contacted for a price quote, Szucki fondly recalled the community, having played ball on the Cardale ball diamonds.
It was further revealed that the grandmother and two great uncles of craftsman Cody Kell of Stiles Masonry, who built the cairn, had attended Cardale School.
It should be no surprise that the tenacious little community has pulled together to organize and see the project through to the end. As stated on the RM of Oakview web page, “The spirit of Cardale lives on today as the village, though smaller, boasts an active community membership. Community members run Dora's Café, an example of the community spirit that exists. It serves as the gathering place for morning coffee seven days a week, after church, and after baseball games in the summer.”
So far, the committee has received responses from people beyond Manitoba: Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and New Brunswick, along with a few from the United States and one attendee from as far away as Saudi Arabia, who plan on attending the celebration this summer.
“We just want to reach as many people as we can,” said Lois. “It sounds as though people are interested to attend this reunion and we just want to invite everyone that is connected with Cardale and the school to come back to Cardale on the 9th and be part of the celebration.”
“After all,” said Audrey Kirk with a melancholy tone, “it was home.”
For more information, please visit Cardale School Memorial Facebook page.
