Mahone Bay Old School_A Life and Times_Bob Sayer

Teaching Staff: Summer of 1936
we indulged quite frequently. Three of our classmates, one of whom is now overseas,
at various times provided us with instrumental selections.
Elsie Wentzell and her Grade 6 Class, 1941-2
Photo: Courtesy of Margaret McLean-MacKay Collection
Staff Stability was a factor in the strong school of the 1930s. There was very little
coming and going. The Depression did make people hang on to their jobs. But morale
was high and the staff dedicated.
Back Row: Mrs. [Loretta] Fancy, Mrs. [Elsie] Wentzell, Miss [Flo] Mullock
Front Row: Miss [Lela] Hyson, Miss [Margaret] Freeman, ‘H.V.’ Miss [Dot]
Slauenwhite, Miss [Marg] MacLean
•Elsie Wentzell was one such teacher. She was a Wentzell from Indian Point and
married Arch Wentzell, no relation, from Indian Point. She and her husband moved
into town and lived in the house on the corner of Hedge Row. She had been on staff
since 1923 and resigned in 1946.
•She was popular with the students, was very professional in her manner and her
appearance. She taught grade 6 or 7 or 8 or a combination. As grade 7/8 teacher she
was responsible for introducing Latin and French.
•She was a lot of fun and very flexible. The ‘Mahone Bay Notes’ in the February
5th 1930 Lunenburg Progress Enterprise noted: Mrs Arch Wentzell, one of the
Academy teacher, took her school pupils on a sleigh ride to Lunenburg on Wednesday
afternoon.
•She loved to tell stories and read aloud. She had a flair for drama and entertainment.
That’s where her daughter Patricia [who became a New York Show Girl and
Hollywood Starlet] got it from.
•She encouraged sing-songs and students to bring their guitars and other instruments
to school. In the Highlight Yearbook for 1941-2, Class History writers, Jean Nicol
and Murray Hirtle recalled:
Despite our fears the big moment [moving upstairs where the big kids were] arrivedliterally
and figuratively we ascended the stairs to Mrs. Wentzell’s room. From this
elevated status we looked toward new horizons, French and Latin. The cloud in our
sky was a gruesome geography text, but the shining light a lusty sing-song in which
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Photo: Courtesy Irene Nauss [Whynott]
Back Row: Gwen Ernst, Iris Tanner, Irene Nauss, Agnes Croft, Muriel Hirtle, Evelyn
Fray, Dorothy Ernst.
Middle Row: Earl Nauss, Erma Inglis, Elsie Wentzell, Joan Joudrey, Eric Heisler,
Reggie Carter.
Front Row: Lawrence Holman, Merlin Ernst, Bruce Hamm, Burton Levy,
Jummah Younis.
Another popular, committed, teacher was Miss “Dot” Slaunwhite who was the
brownie leader as well as having the grade four or four-five class. She had a loud
voice and the girls called her “Screech Owl.”
With Irene Ernst and
Margaret McLean
leading guides, and
“H.V.” the scouts, they
were often called the
school troop.