Mahone Bay Old School_A Life and Times_Bob Sayer

The Old Exhibition Site and Building, 1920.
The beginning of the new and the end of the old! 1920 also saw the sale of the
old Exhibition site and building, just off Main St., on the road to Clearland.
The old exhibition building was in a sadly deteriorated condition, and was
torn down. Some money from the sale was passed on for school purposes.
The quotes wet the appetite. The page references were given-pages 6, 17, and
18 of Academy Times, Volume 1, Number 1, 1920. It was meant to be the first
of a series. But Jacques moved on. There were no more volumes, and copies of
number one have not been found by this writer or any of the people he interviewed.
Emery Langille, 1921-6:
Popular with Students: A Tribute from Fred Mosher
• Emery, who replaced “Mad Dog” Jacques, was a local man. The appointment
was initially popular, and both Fred Mosher and Hope Hyson confirmed that
the students liked him. Fred, in his final school year 1921-22, found him an
inspiration, and there is a warm tribute in Fred’s letters:
It was after a year of Jacques. Emery made us forget him in two weeks… every day
at 3:30pm the steam engined one car train from Lunenburg….would blow the steam
whistle four times to warn traffic…I would pick up my books and leave the front
row seat…Emery would call out, Fred you are too previous. I’ll tell you when class is
over…O.K. it’s over……… One day Emery said to the class: This July you will all be
going out in the world. I want you to remember this- Always try to tag onto a star’..
Principals of The 1920s
C. V. Jacques: “Mad Dog” “The Academy Times”
• Jacques was released by the Board at the end of the 1920-21 school year.
A profile can be found in chapter 3. His last year saw an interesting development.
The first and only issue of the Academy Times was published at the
School. Wayne Nauss quotes from it in an essay he did at Teachers College
in the early 1970s. He remembers getting the information from local residents,
particularly Hilda Burgoyne. He wrote: This was the first paper issued
from the Mahone Academy and he quoted the editor, ‘in fact from any Academy….Education
is the birthright of every child……… At the beginning of education
people only have a narrow view of things, but as they grow older their minds
become greatly developed. Education has a great deal to do with the pupil himself.’
Fred goes on the describe how he
agreed to be assistant to the respected
general manager of a New York
paper firm, and went on to become
vice president of America’s biggest
pulp and paper company. Then he
says, Thank you, Emery. Photo: Courtesy
Margaret McLean-MacKay
Collection Then came problems for
Emery Langille.
• He had a running battle over grade
assignment and the science curriculum
with the very headstrong
vice principal, Clara Quinlan. This is
detailed later.
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