Mahone Bay Old School_A Life and Times_Bob Sayer

The field was rough: part pasture, part wooded, part swampy, part hard rock.
In the summer of 1934 it was partially grades and a track and jumping pits were put
in. The long/high jump pit is still there!
Track and Field Athletics
Field sports were immediately boosted. There had been individual student athletes
before, but now track became a regular part of school life. And by good fortune there
were two avid runners to lead and coach by example: the Bruhms, one of whom, Fred
was to become an international class long distance and marathon runner. The other,
Fred’s son Jerome, was to be inducted into the Track and Field Hall of Fame as a
builder of the sport.
Each year there were efforts to improve the field and the grounds: clearing bushes and
trees, draining, grading, filling in [often with ash] and planting flowers and shrubs
[the Women’s Institute was particularly active in this].
Mahone Bay School Festival and Field Day, 1934-38
• He chaired the event, which started modestly in 1934 and exploded thereafter. All
the schools in the neighboring area, from Lunenburg to Chester and New Ross area,
were invited to participate, including Oakland, Gold River, Western Shore, Martins
Point, Martins River and Indian Point
• There were V.I.P.s, a band, a parade and great media coverage. There were prizes and
awards. The Town Council
built the wooden stands on
the ball field.
• The athletics contests
were a true meet. There
were male and female
categories and age
groups. Today’s district,
regional and provincial
championships are run in
the same way. Not only
were there the standard
running events, but also
broad and high jump, shot
put, and, surprisingly, the
pole vault-a sophisticated
event.
• The conception was very
advanced for the time, and
Mahone Bay has never
hosted such events since.
Nor has any other South
Shore School. There have
been major gatherings
for single events, like the
Terry Fox Run, but never
a festival the included
athletics, music, dance,
singing, and a boxing
match.
H.V. Corkum took advantage of the new potential to inaugurate the annual Mahone
Bay School Festival, with athletics at the new field, and singing, folk dancing, band
and special events, like boxing, at Jubilee Park.
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