Mahone Bay Old School_A Life and Times_Bob Sayer

He lived with his parents until a late marriage. He was meticulous about his appearance,
particularly his wavy hair. Jean Burgoyne remembers when nobody would own up
to throwing an eraser, he kept the whole class in until after dark. Lantern in hand, her
mother met her on the way home to Oakland.
Town Council Rejects Manual Training
Mr. Hankinson did pursue the manual training initiative of H.V. Corkum. He priced
the work needed to partition the basement and equip the new room and hire a
teacher. He had a trained teacher available, Anthony A. Hiltz. In October 1942, the
Board gave him the go ahead to start work on the room and meet with the Education
Department to discuss the provincial grant and the tools needed. The Department’s
Inspector of Manual Training came to the school to assist in planning. Then came the
hammer blow. The December meeting of Town Council would not support the startup
expenditures. The writing was on the wall, and a majority of councilors refused to
support the project, mostly because of costs.
An opportunity lost. It was to be thirty-five years later that industrial arts and home
economics belatedly came to the school. Disappointment may have been a factor in
Hankinson’s resignation in March.
C. W. Spencer, 1943-5 was an administrative disaster in organization and
discipline, provoking a revolt among the teachers. Agnes Croft-Whynott remembers it
was a common sight to see him out of school with his young children when he should
have been working. The staff sweated out the first year, but moved when the principal
planned to come back in September. At the September 29th Board meeting, Percy
Mosher and Miss Campbell represented the teachers as “ Principal Spencer read a
lengthy report on reasons why he had incurred the displeasure of Vice Principal [Miss
Campbell], Mr. Mosher, Chairman Burgoyne and Secretary Joudrey [a formidable
combination to upset!]. After ‘lengthy discussion’ Commissioners Eisenhauer and
Mader [“Ossie Mader”] were directed to ‘..interview each member of the staff
individually as to any grievance and to report to the Board at next meeting.’
Lack of discipline and follow through with teacher concerns was the problem. The
committee reported teachers “found it impossible to get any cooperation from the
principal…students took the matter of being sent to principal for disciplining..as a
joke.” The Board lost confidence and Percy Mosher was instructed to sit in on all
further Board meetings. Mr. Spencer duly submitted his resignation and left in June of
1945.
Photo: Courtesy Irene Westhaver-Unger
The Grade 11 [grade 12 had been discontinued] Class of 1944
Left to Right: Back Row: Mr. Percy Mosher, Mr. C. W. Spencer, Marcus Eichel.
Middle: Ruth Delong, Marion Wynacht, Shirley Vaughn, Jean & Gwen Ernst. Front:
Irene Westhaver, Jean Mader, Isabel Ramey.
Mr. Spencer Loses His Car Bumper on Halloween While talking with Irene
Westhaver [-Unger] and Anne Freeman [daughter of Howie and grand daughter
of Captain John] Anne confessed to a group of girls tying the principals car to a
telegraph pole. The bumper was ripped off!!
The staff of 1944-
5: Courtesy Helen
Holman-Dares
Standing: Mr. Spencer,
Mrs. Byron Fancy, Mrs.
Arch Wentzell, Mr. Percy
Mosher.
Seated: Miss Irene Ernst,
Miss A. Jacquelin, Miss E.
Mosher [Percy’s sister]
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