I also remember festival days when you'd get to meet all the kids
from the neighbouring school districts and we'd wait anxiously for
our turn to perform on stage in the Masonic and Oddfellows hall. The
winners got to go to the Grande Prairie Festival. Trip over in Mr.
Black's shiny black car, I'll never forget either. Sometimes we
wondered if we would make it through the mud in the hills [Burnt
Hills] and Miss Henderson would have the front seat because she had
a tendency toward car sickness and she used to ride most of the time
with her head out of the window to feel the cold air.10
When money was scarce during the Depression years, Miss Henderson
used her ingenuity to provide art supplies for her class. She would
use a home-made template of an animal or bird, over which she would
rub a chunk of laundry "bluing" and a solvent, to crank out
duplicate pictures for her students to colour. And she had various
colour-dyed toothpicks that were laid around pictures of rabbits or
whatever, thus developing the small finger muscles that would be
needed for printing or writing.11 Christmas concert was a busy time
for both the teacher and the mothers to make costumes for the
participants. Undoubtedly, Miss Henderson paid for the materials
that had to be purchased, as many of the families did not have extra
money during the Depression years.
Miss Henderson generously used her musical talents and entered
wholeheartedly into community life. She was a strong Presbyterian,
and later became a member of the United Church. She joined the
Ladies Aid in 1920, but never held office, though she was a
hardworking member otherwise, playing the organ at weddings,
funerals, and other church services. Alice Blackie remembers how
active Miss Henderson was in the United Church activities, though
"she did not suffer fools gladly, and I heard her say, impatiently,
when some arguments had come up between the Anglican and the United
Church, that 'if Jesus Christ Himself came down and sat in the
pulpits of either of the Protestant churches in this town, He'd be
criticized.' She did not like pretentiousness and would burst out
with a sharp, sarcastic remark."12
During an annual drive for United Church funds, Miss Henderson told
about the generosity of Charlie Wing, a restaurant owner and fine
citizen, and how he would say, "I not Christian, but Spirit River a
better place because of church" and would donate twenty-five
dollars.
During World War Two, Miss Henderson was active in the Red Cross,
helping with such activities as sending clothes and food parcels
overseas. She was, of course, concerned about many of her students
who had now grown to manhood and were serving in the Armed Forces.
She suffered along with the parents whenever any of these lost their
lives in this conflict.
In the years 1919-1920, Miss Henderson was involved with the
formation of a dramatic society, and its plans to construct a
dramatic hall. As this was expensive, the society entered into an
agreement with the newly-formed Masonic Lodge to include a room
above the main hall, thus spreading the costs between the two
groups.
In October of 1920, the dramatic society presented its first
performance, a play called "Safety First" which included Miss
Henderson as part of the cast. It was so successful that it was
taken to Sexsmith and Grande Prairie. Other plays in which Miss
Henderson was involved in those early years included "Why Smith Left
Home," "Lighthouse Nan," "Are you a Mason?" and "Untangling Tang,"
all of which got rave reviews. Often, after Miss Henderson had
performed in a play, she would play the piano with the orchestra for
the ensuing dance. Afterwards she was invited to a friend's house
where some returned soldiers and other friends were invited. "We had
one grand and glorious time, "she recounted. "I never get a night's
sleep. Somehow I survive all OK."13
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
