I am a lifelong resident of Hurdville/McKellar and I attended the Hurdville School from 1953 to 1961. In 1961 it was officially closed and the students were sent to Waubamik, a two-room school, for one year and then transferred to the new MacDougall School on Highway 124. The kids that lived within a couple of miles, walked or rode their bikes to school. I had a pony which I rode to school from time to time but it was a one-way trip as it would run back to the farm as soon as I jumped off! My real life Hurdville journey begins with my mother’s family. Alexander Hardie came to Canada from Scotland in 1864 and was keen to have a school where all fifteen of his children could get an education The original school was a 24 x 18 ft. log building built in 1872. This school was in use until the current building was erected in 1898 which is the building that I was schooled in. One daughter, Mary Alexander (Hardie) taught at the school and the second eldest Hardie son was on the school board. He also boarded a number of the teachers who taught at the school meaning those teachers had a two mile walk morning and night to the school and in winter conditions often causing them to tread through waist deep snow. My mother, Ellen Harris (Hardie) attended the Hurdville School from 1922 to 1930. She was a very shy kid and described her teacher, Mr. Wyatt, as terrifying and would have preferred to stay home. However, her father being a member of the school board, he made sure she attended classes. It was difficult for a teacher to be able to teach, and keep discipline, in the class room with 42 students ranging in age from 6 to 17/18 years old. Very few teachers made it through a full year and many were replaced by spare teachers who found it even more difficult to handle the class. Mrs. Jackson, a spare teacher, thought that maybe a good strapping would help, but after 42 slaps on one of the older boy’s hands she gave up as he was still laughing! I can only hope it was better for the teachers in the earlier years when students appreciated the opportunity to get an education. Hurdville School was only one room, accommodating 42 children. It was heated by a large barrel stove in the middle of the classroom with a stovepipe running the length of the room, that helped to heat the large room. There was a male and female privy attached to the rear of the building which was in the area of the present kitchen facilities. The school served both the Townships of McKellar and McDougall as the survey lines runs through the middle of the building. The kids thought the best part of the school was the large yard with huge spruce trees running down the south side of the yard, which provided shade. There was a low fence also, where we kids could climb over and escape to the bush when the bell rang and we were out of the teacher’s reach! The hill out in front of the school provided a nice toboggan run down to the lake in winter and in summer the closing day of school celebration was held on the rocks near the lake.    By Fern Harris

 Sometime after the school closure the McDougall-McKellar-Hurdville-Broadbent Community Club was formed by a number of community members hoping to maintain the school building in September 1974. The Club is now known as the Hurdville Community Club and the school was renamed the Hurdville Community Hall in 1993. Since the school’s closing it has been used by various community groups, ie The Hurdville and Broadbent Ladies Group, The Victory Club, The Anglers and Hunters Club and there are still ongoing functions at the Hall. It is currently being taken care of by a group of volunteers from the Hurdville Community Club maintaining its integrity. They host Pancake Breakfasts, weekly Euchre games, musical entertainment, family reunions, etc.

 I, along with other long time community members, belong to, and volunteer at the Hurdville Community Club.