Two teachers for all of those students! This photo, which unfortunately wasn't included in The Place Between Volume 1 was, luckily for us, published in the Aldergrove News for 4th September 1958. I wish that they had identified which children had been named and which hadn't.
I'm almost certain that I should have a grand aunt in this photo, she would have been 7 at the time and I'm fairly sure that she went to Aldergrove Elementary, not Otter, as they lived a teeny bit closer to the Aldergrove school. I will have to do some careful photo comparisons to see if she is indeed in this photo.
Most of the children seen in this photo came from settler families who had lived in the district for many years and several still have descendants living either in Aldergrove or nearby in the valley. Phyllis Cuffley became an Aldergrove telephone operator, Les Williams continued on his grandfather's business Williams' Machine Shop, Gordon Vanetta owned the taxi company, for just a few examples. There are so many stories connected to the children in this photo, and for this reason alone it is an incredible treasure for our community records.
#storiesmatter #localhistory #schoolphotos #SD35
