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the HERALD Home Newspaper of Hills Entertainment news Community News page 18 page llUt Ml 17 SECOND SECTION Outdoor education at Terra Cotta centre a real treat for city kids Herald staff For many school children In Erin township Peel and a visit to Credit Valley Conservation Authority CVCAI Outdoor Educitlon Centre at Terra Cotta is as close as they ever get to the great outdoors The CVCA operate the centre during the school It is open to classes of students from to grade eight to nature ecology and conservation Basically our philosophy is not to have laboratory approach but to a senso ry approach said George Roberts Education Officer for the authority Mr Roberts along with Sheila conducts the programs at he education centre We stress the use of the senses he said That s the way people learn A lot of teachers tell when the kids come here that this is the only wild area they get to in a year Mr Roberts said This is a great wilder to and they want to know an I try to Impress the kids that they have nothing to from What they find is that I suggest that they cm bring their parents here some time on their own and you can tell them what I told you Mrs said The first thing the children are told about when arrive is the role of the in forest wildlife land and water management Mr Roberts That s what we re here for he said I believe that to make kids more aware of the need for confer vat ion you lo make Ihem feel it important to hove that green stuff out there I guess over oil I just want them to feel about thai green stuff the way I do want them to feel the need to keep the green open spaces just for people forrehxing to get away from man made things for a while he added Mr Roberts said he and Mrs try to stay away from the clinical approach of naming every plant animal and insect In sight although if a child what something is they 11 identify it Some children to lake of this asking questions about see but Mr said he has developed of getting around these quest ions such as telling the children how difftrcnl spue its of insect there arc I tan possibly know out they the incept of the to the children Mr Roberts jnd Mr try to lit in the mis of the authority in buying up headlands of the Credit with ecology Most people don t reilui hat life is up of the sun and recycled matter Mr Roberts said gun he uses to show the children how this is so is to ask them to their fists verv slowly and to them what enables to do hit The answer is the sun because it provides the energy and people are he said That the I want to get into the kids that they re a part of It nil he added The has its in a rustic log cabin near the swimming pool at the conservation area The day excursion in the of smaller children in the cabin but the most of time outdoors The centre Is equipped with film and slide projectors and other audio visual aids to assist with An centre have to be a A lot of groups have big build all decorated and with a room each devoted to subjects Mr Roberts said All 1 need Is a place to get out of the rain warm enough to talk comfortably I like to get out there that s where it at The education will be moving some time in the next year Mr Roberts aid to the Voughan farm on the Line at The itself will be operating of the old horse barn on the property he said d like to have more space Mr Roberts said tor a while after the centre was set up litre I meet the at the gate and show them around the area POND STL The has a number of programs all of them but pond Bell taking on the job education officer for JhtCVCA He was president of the Bruce Tml Association or cons ill on along the trail Mr Roberts is a member Of the Natural Trust and the Ontario Federation of among other groups and reads extensively about wildlife ecology and leorkrltobcrtsleriDgroupargrudelwostudentsfromiit Peter Separate rntre lie and Sheila guide children through Ihe Term Conservation last through Ihe park on da long excursions into the outdoors Mr Roberts Is the education officer or the Credit Valley Conservation Herald photo by Taylor study operating throughout the school year Children play a form of bluff when they leid oilier blindfolded children Wearing blindfolds hem to use their other senses Mr Roberts said One of the most popular of the programs offered by the centre is the microtrails he said The children are given metres of string and 10 fluorescent painted sticks to be used as trat markers They get down on their hands and knees on ground and look for tiny things of interest Each lime they find something they put a trail marker beside it and fasten the string around It Ihereby marking off a trail In miniature It opens their eyes and they find lots of interesting things Mr Roberts said I they found one of the biggest millipedes Id It was about as long as my thumb Children come from all over to the centre They come from Brampton lilt Amaranth Halton Hills and Grand River to name few The fee is Jl a day per student Mr Roberts said they try to have one adult for every ten children Most of thechildrcn want to come back after they here once he said Some of the children are well informed about nature and ecology others less so Mr Some teach ore more outdoors oriented than others and students Some of the children who don t out into the country or who have never been outside tht city before are a little nervous Mr Roberts said Some of thim have a few quslioin as to whether foxes will tomt out of ihc woods and bile them but It s not a great fear he Thty do have tht idea Hut wild will them I tell them that In groups we make so much noise the will run the Most kids are familiar with wild areas he added I d love to hive them for a week But I even with the little exposure they gel here they probably hove a different Idea about wild areas when they leave For example when we do a pond study most kids would never have dreamed tint there is so much living In a Mr for I read I get to teach the kills said When get involved in hiking you get Involved in natural things and I feel very fortunate to have gotten this job It something dreamed about In addition to his work education officer Mr Roberts Is also in advisor on all CA Mrs work ing for the centre fairly recent ly after answering an liscmtnt in She Ind been J teacher one time and she to go back to leaching again but she sure she wonted to tench in a classroom setting Then the ad and I loved to ski and I enjoy the outdoors DDK CHILDREN Mr Roberts said ho talks to older children about the society touching on energy composting and other tonservalion programs I think I do get a bit preachy on the society he said 1 don t think there enough emphasis on outdoors lion Mr Roberts said s more emphasis on It now than Iherc was and interest the outdoors Is increasing but it still a small of the people You take a cross section of the people in Toronto for example and not many of them ore outdoorsoriented Mr will be children going through the education centre this year if the Peel strike ends soon but not many of them are from Hills He satd children from Holy Cross Glen Williams schools visit ihe centre but not many He said he would like tncourage teachers In Hills to bring their students out for visit Ballinaf ads past comes alive for Historical Society members By Herald writer Events with school in Blue Mountain School threshing bees famous residents and early days in the community were among the anecdotes told to those attending the Historical Society meeting Monday in Hall Old atlases of and Wellington counties newspaper clippings old pic lures a history of United Church and accounts of community history written by the late Hills supplemented facts and stones told by Fred and Mrs Archie McEnery Donna Bud Snow and John Cole concerning their early days the community Mr said that ihe name was brought to the area by early Irish settlers and is lakcn from a place in southern Ireland near first white child born In Erin Township was a daughter of Mr Hoell bom In IBM He owned the farm on the north west corner of the Line and the Hills Erin Township boundary He was also the person who donated the land for the first cemetery school church and community hall to Although Blue Mountain School south of the village on the Seventh Line and Peacock School north of the village the seats of learning for area relsdcnts In reeenl times the original school was a log structure built on the cemetery corner probably around It was intended as the village school and served everyone regardless of which side of he township lino they lived on Donna nee Whiteside read family letters telling how Robert Whiteside donated land on his property to the community for a school Thus Blue Mountain school was built on a site of village on the Line probably round Mrs Bobbins said Campbell told her her father attended Blue Mountain school when it was on different site from its present location on farm One member of the audience said ihe present school was to have been built around no record tan this Mrs bald a member of the family who was born in 180 attended the school at about the age f lo shortly after it was built Thus Blue must have been built around 186a She understood this to be Ihc second school near thai site I Mrs said that John Whileside an Irish Immigrant applied lo rd Igln in 1819 or i grant of 100 acres in Concession Six Ills nephew It also from Ireland for a of acres on Lot Concession Seven in 1826 loltr he applied for and received last acres of clergy in Concession Seven for price of cents per acre The money had lo be used towards an facility for area and thus Blue Mountain School was 1and grants were awarded on three grounds Mrs said Soldiers received lai d In lieu pay could be grained lo fariiitr who worked it for two or man could gel it if he hod a Mrs Archie cry said wesley Hilts former and a cousin local historian Hills wis the of rontn around Ihe turn the century Mr Hilts received School in his iwn5hip in prominent was Bishop Warren who became the uncle of Robert made a bishop a result i missionary work in India and was buried in cemetery at his request The grave is covered by a plaque Mrs Jesse McEnery said that a group from India had visited the cemetery hold a service for Warren and invited pupils from Peacock school service was teaching in the school at lie time HI- CI- BUI DINGS Although no dales could be established for Peacock school It was surmised that thert had been at least one or two previous buildings and present school was built around It got lis name because a peacock lit on ihe while was being built It was surmised ih the most reeenl of the buildings tarried thai Cile said thai his father was if Blue school at one point One day he went to start Hit fires in Ins place and decided that rather hitch the horse vehicle he ride it bare back and save time Since it was a wet day he decided to his horse in school woodshed so it would be dry to ride The horse however balked at tillering Ihc building He finally won the of wills by backing it Into the shtd Mr ole that Blue school had an iron rod running the length f structure probably as a brace This rod made plenty of noise when struck with pitching Stones It to scl it ringing of ihe students favourite pranks to pull on all new Mr said was also a baseball league of sorts organized Ihe fir four five years when was a man Teams from Tern and up Eighth Line Mountaineers in the league as well as Teams played gomes a week one at home me from home fairly good inn up for Ihese games he said ind Terra were fairly always provided good game HUTU lllRtD One of hotels burned down when he was a lid of about four Mr Cole said He remembers It as being a large lw storey with a shed for horses at one side There was an upper storey to the were held up One Si day morning his father for a wilk through their fields and was intrigued by Ihe sight of this chimney slicking up in thi air all by Itself The hotel had burned down during Ihe night so that lilt chimney remained yet family had slept through the whole thing Since there was no lelephone or form of iasy communication to them to what was happening Bud said he began custom threashmg with his father when he was about IS Every housewife tried to outdo her neighbours in preparing men 1 for the threshing crew and as a result mtn wort well fed In Iht dajs whin they a lo thresh Mr Snow said tl slept in farmer s I during the week d he figures he 1 slepi in area homes as a Since they home for vcekci I g lor morning said he also ibers Monday at the farmer barn in up and begin at I In tic days of engine Ihe had large link which he look from farm 1 farm with him which must he filled with supply the tnglnc Once he remembers threshing in when a hot was made that Matt full of water of I beller than a team of horses Ihe oxen split hooves jus seemed to sink in Ihe mud and they move the tank don I know who wis mort Mi Sum joked Mr because his tea I is as he wire 11 he to lhni the and take it down lo iht to gel the wnler lank Mr Si iw said his father was involved in ear misses With fire during 111 vtirs or so he did custom while he was at below hired mm hall of flame blow out of Hie into the straw stack outside the barn The man jumped out of the mow onto the ran nut the blower caught the ball of and carried it over the stack before il had lime to cause trouble His father then stopped machine and made a thorough search for the cause I fire He found an empty malch cover in the machine It did no damage until straw reached the dtiad the man not seen it ihe entire barn threshing machine loo would probably have been burned am oil man struck what he thought was a none ma si cat one time and threw down to be examined before it went the When it was It turned out to be a jar of coal oil a box of matches Mr Snow said KEEPING TIME was this month watch winner In the McDonald coloring contest Presenting the watch to the winner Is Robin Herald photo