GUEST COLUMN

Stella ( Drajanoff ) Wurm was Bradlo's first teacher at S.S. # 4 KENDALL. Stella taught at Bradlo from October 22 ,1933 to June of 1936. She sends her greetings and best wishes to her former students and would like to hear from them. She now lives in Timmins with her husband Ollie at 282 Spruce Street North, Timmins Ontario. P4N 2M9.

Left to right Olga Bies Stevenson, Stella ( Drajanoff ) Wurm and Anne Bies Siska
photo credit Rudy Bies

The following article was written by Stella for this news letter. Stella was eighteen year old at when she arrived at Bradlo in 1933.

Bradlo

The name " Bradlo " floods my mind with countless memories of interesting and unforgettable experiences.

When I was at North Bay Normal school in 1933, rumours were circulating about the opening of a school in the Slovak Settlement , eight miles south - east of Hearst . Being a native of the town, with my parents still living there, I was interested and applied for the teaching position and felt fortunate to be hired.

Little did I dream that I would not begin until late in the dreary month of October and that I would have to live in a squared-log schoolhouse until a place was built for me. Armed with a little steel cot, enclosed by hanging grey blankets, a stable lantern, flashlight and a pail, I lived in that eerie environment for a frightful week. Getting water from a twenty foot deep well with a pail dangling from a rope was a tearful experience.

Friends of Bradlo - Newsletter Copyright by Rudy Bies © 1995
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Last update on March 27, 1997.