Canoe Cove School

Canoe Cove School. . , The School , For more than a century the Canoe Cove School provided state-of-the-art education to students grades one through ten. This sturdy heritage building launched the successful careers of doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, homemakers, a minister, businessmen, carriage makers, millers, farmers and fishermen galore., The painting below, taken from a photo circa 1939, reflects the comfortable quality of life enjoyed in this area. Most families lived off the land, making enough money to buy tea, sugar and kerosene (as well as, apparently, fashionable girls' shoes). The farm and the sea provided the rest., School consolidation swept the Island in the 1960s, and small schools, including Canoe Cove, were put out to pasture. Today the schoolhouse serves as a community centre, and how fortunate we are to have this beautiful building in our midst. , , The Hall , Early last century a house was moved to this site in Canoe Cove to become the community hall. Fitted with a stage, a sloping floor and a stove, the hall provided a venue for school concerts, South Shore variety shows, and weekly “moving picture” nights. A second floor was later added to provide a meeting place for the Orange Lodge., The hall had no foundation other than creosote logs, and young boys found it very inviting to crawl underneath., By the late 1970’s, due to closure of the school and changing times, the hall was no longer being used. It fell into disrepair, was torn down and hauled away. If you are walking by this corner late at night, you might still hear the faint echo of a song and laughter lingering from the spirit of the hall.