Page 44 - A Visit with Clara Buffet, Glace Bay

ISSUE : Issue 68

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1995/6/1

terribly ashamed of her. She got into the school board. She did not like (the) split, on religious lines, of schools. She wanted the schools all under one jurisdic? tion. And this dividing Catholic (from) Protestant, she hated it. (Was that the system here in Glace Bay then?) Oh, yes. And it was until finally we got the Glace Bay High School! 1989. (You mean it only really ended in 1989?) Yes. And she fought against that and fought against that, but she was fighting a tough...! I told you she taught in Dominion. Well then, Glace Bay was beginning. People were just pouring in. And they were building schools. Or some places--they were using the church halls and the rest of it to put all these children in. They had to do something with them, I suppose. And I think she had over a hundred--her last class before she got married--what they used to call "The Infant Class." She had over a hundred in that class. Some of them could speak English, but most of them could not. (In Glace Bay.) In Glace Bay. (That certainly gives you an idea of the mix of ethnic backgrounds.) Yeah. Of all kinds. Not only that, she taught the grownups that want? ed it, to come in the eve- INN Make Rockinghorse Inn your vacation base in Cape Breton. Local artists & stained glass windows are part of the Rockinghorse Inn experience. "Comfortable, weU-appointed rooms with private bath • breakfast included." FIRESIDE DINING BY RESERVATION (902) 539-2696 ~ OPEN YEAR ROUND ~ Centrally located in Sydney, NS at 259 King's Road Established by: Margaret Glabay Avis features GM cars. Pontiac Sunbird. ning or after school, and to learn--to get the rudiments of English. Because they came--most of them were miners, but a lot of them were into business. I suppose you'd call them now "entrepreneurs"--they went with a pack on their back all around.... But they started with that. Or a little store here or a little store there. And she could see that this division of people--she fought against that. By relig? ion or ethnic background. She was way, way ahead of her time. (Now, how did this embarrass you?) Oh well, my gracious, we were set apart as being kind of queer, I guess. I don't know just exactly. (You mean the family.) Yes. You were labelled. Now, also, they were socialists. (Your parents.) I might as well tell the truth! They were socialists, long before there was such a thing as com? munism. This always makes me so cross, when the Americans get on about communism, and they immediately mix it up with so? cialism, which is not even heard of. Be? cause this was 1907, 1908. And then in Glace Bay we had a big first strike in 1909, that the miners were starting to want a little bit more, and better working conditions and everything else. And (my parents) thought--idealistically-- if they could get reading centres and teach them how to read, and teach them this, that, and something else, that this would...be enough. And I think perhaps it had some beginnings--I don't know enough about it because I was never very much interested in it. And I was the baby in the family. And I know my brother and older sister, and my second sister that died-- they had to go marching, too, (wearing) this big button. (But your parents were part of that.) They were Take A Vacation From High Rates. Spend Canada Day seeing a little more of this great country of ours. Why not take advantage of Avis great rates and quality service, and get on the road to fun. Call Today For Full Details And Reservations! Sydney-Glace Bay Hwy: (902) 564-8341 Sydney Airport: (902) 564-8265 AVIS ? We're trying harder than ever. • WAeroplan

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