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Scrapbooks - Links To The Past - Rick Elger

This is what it was like in my days.

Things I remember | Pranks | Teachers. | Sea Cadets.

Love bloomed at Feller. | My best Feller Story | Mystery photos


Note exaggerated age, for getting into Taverns.

Frances Masseau's eye witness account of the burning down of Feller is sad. But we who lived there always knew what a fire trap it was. Inside the shell of beautiful old grey stone it was all wood. That was one of the most striking features of it - that overwhelming smell of wood. But this was long before fire inspections and sprinkler systems. On each floor was one extinguisher, a hose, and four buckets on a shelf which had to be filled with fresh water every day.

    The first year I was there (1961) the barn behind the gym burned down. It must have taken all of three minutes. We saw the smoke come round the front of the building and we all fire drilled outside. As we gradually congregated in the back, all we could see left of the barn was a smoldering pile of rubble. It was truly a miracle that the gym had not caught fire as well. The fire was probably caused by a cigarette. In those days many kids smoked. Out behind the barn was one of the places they would do it.

   Frances' experience of Feller is very interesting and even touching. As a day student, however, she has a different take on it than those of us who actually lived together in the building. As I recall, we were a ragtag lot. Some, like myself, were the victims of broken homes , some had been turned out of almost every other school, Feller being the last stop, others were being funded by the mission, and others still were there because there parents had no idea what a strange and wonderful place Feller actually was. The reality certainly bore no resemblance to what was said in the brochure.

On the rink behind the gymnasium. Grade 9. 1962.
We weren't allowed to hold hands.