While on the topic of Hairy Hill, I’d like to share another memory.  I give credit to a fine person in my life for making my first trip out of Hairy Hill possible - at the age of sixteen, by train, to the School of Agriculture in Olds.  That was a memorable ‘first’ for me.  The trip was the result of the work accomplished in a sewing club organized by the fine lady.   On the return trip I encountered a wonderful surprise at the Canadian Pacific railway station (109 Street and Jasper Avenue) in Edmonton, as I waited to board a train back to Hairy Hill.  But that’s another story.

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The shortage of teachers during World War II brought an unforgettable person into my life.  I had left the farm after completing my eighth grade at a country school. To further my education, it would be necessary to attend a school in town.
At the age of thirteen, life in town without parents or friends was lonely and frightening.  My younger siblings and I batched in a small house that our dad had built for us.
Ninth grade passed as in a mirage.  That year was so foggy that I cannot even remember the teachers’ names.  In tenth grade, a Miss Dugay from the United States found her way to Hairy Hill, Alberta.     Her short but sturdy-looking stature and smartly-coiffed curly and graying hair presented a striking figure.  She walked tall with shoulders back and head held high. Her posture suggested that she would do well in the armed forces.  Miss Dugay was different.

Immigrants, mostly from Europe, comprised the town and surrounding community.  They had experienced difficult times and concentrated on hard work to keep their families alive.  There was little time for the finer things in life.  With no available media during that period, they had not heard of popular figures like Emily Post.   Many did not even speak English.   Although they encouraged their children to be kind and helpful, their ‘P’s and Q’s’ were lacking.

On looking back, I now know that Miss Dugay was appalled by the lack of manners in the school.  Matters came to a head one morning as she approached the front door of the school.  Two boys ran past her and let the door slam in her face.  They did not even say, “Good morning!”  That type of behavior was not acceptable and she would certainly do something about it.
Although Miss Dugay taught English and French, being proud of her heritage she felt compelled to spend the full period teaching her first language.  She was a fine French teacher.  However, the time spent in English would have to include other incidentals besides nouns and verbs and adjective clauses.
After the ‘slam-in-the-face’ incident she marched into our classroom and began the period teaching etiquette.  Her opening remarks went something like this:
“I am a lady and I expect to be treated as such.  From now on, when I enter this room, I expect you young men to stand. You will sit only after I nod.”
What?  The whole student body was shocked.  That had never happened before.  What kind of teacher was this?

The next time Miss Dugay entered our room the boys slowly shuffled out of their seats.  Some stood smartly while others, red-faced and embarrassed, slouched and looked at the floor or leaned on their desks.  That would never do!  Miss Dugay would have them ‘ship-shape’ if it killed her.  It did not take long before the boys stood at attention and looked smart.
Did Miss Dugay miss her calling?  There was a war going on.  She would have made a fine Commander-in Chief in the Canadian army.

As the years rolled on, when necessary, part of the English period was devoted to other than English.  Miss Dugay succeeded in polishing Hairy Hill High into young people whose manners were admirable.  Boys opened doors for female students.  Girls acknowledged the polite gestures.  Boys offered to carry girls’ books.  “Please” and “thank you” replaced “gimme” and ‘ugh’.  Respect oozed from every pore.

The homesteaders’ children were becoming prepared for the outside world.  They could enter it with confidence because they had knowledge of how people were expected to behave.
Miss Dugay’s efforts continued throughout the many years she taught at the school.  But not all students appreciated her efforts.  Some mimicked her behind her back.  They silently followed her with noses in the air.  Some thought the time taken from English was wrong, but as by osmosis, they too absorbed the new information.  Of course, they would never admit it.
Over the years my younger brother and sister also experienced the ‘Dugay doctrine.’

One day Miss Dugay met our mother on the street.  During their friendly chat she remarked:  “When your children are at the farm they are all yours, but when they are in town, I like to have them under my wing.”   The remark was a comfort to our mother and she remembered it.
Following our departure from Hairy Hill High, when Miss Dugay met one of our family members, she always inquired about those of us who found comfort ‘under her wing.  Not only was she a fine teacher, but also a good friend who helped and cared.    She made a difference.

Later:  Miss Duguay became Mrs. Ruptash when she married a local widowed farmer.  They both enjoyed dancing.  They retired in Two Hills.

© 2007 Pearl Murra