Discovering
by Wayne FarnhamThe following account was written by Wayne Farnham and is based on a journal entry he wrote after he and his cousin Hazel Flewwelling went in search of places associated with their Grandmother, Flora Faye Jones-Farnham, and Wayne's own Mother, Dolly Farnham. The places include Raymond and Dolly Farnham's's home, the local schoolhouse and the remnants of a sawmill where Flora Faye Jones-Farnham had worked as cook. It was a journey of reminiscence and discovery.
The Dakota truck turned north onto Highway #22-a "favorite" highway for our family. It seemed somewhat odd that this favorite road would lead us to our Grandmother and other family members. Here we were at Faraway, Alberta.
We drove into the yard by the old house that had been the Raymond Farnham family home for so many years. The house, long abandoned, still stood bearing witness to the love with which it had been regarded. Through the tangle of overgrown trees and brush, we could see the fading yellow paint and green trim. That's where the garden was. That is where we boys slept. The well was over there. Those are the trees my mom planted.
My Father, Raymond Farnham, had purchased the quarter section from the Hudson's Bay Company. The NE of 8-43-6W5 was covered with brush when he got it. He had cleared a spot on the little hill using nothing but an axe and had, with the help of George Howser, built the house. He had also dug a 16-foot deep by 4-foot square well off to the east side of the house. The butter, milk, and bacon kept longer when hung in the well.
My younger brother, Buddy, and I had peeled the bark from 1,000 trees to earn sufficient money to buy a Lone Ranger guitar for Buddy's birthday. Peeling the bark from the trees caused them to die, and then the wind would blow down the trees and they could be cut for firewood. My Father, supplied the firewood for many years to Faraway School. We drove to the site of Faraway School District #4689. It was a one-room school with a barrel-shaped heater in the centre of the rear end of the school. The school, itself, was made from logs with a roof that sloped in from all sides with a short peak ridge in the centre of the building. The floor was made from fir boards that had been oiled to help keep down the dust from many small feet that walked about. The east side of the school had large windows divided into smaller paned glass. Only one set of glass, not even storm windows.
One day Mum came home with a real lunch box with a place for both lunch in the bottom and a place for a thermos in the lid. The lid even had vent holes so the lunches would not get all soggy and wet from sweating after being carried to school in the cold winter and coming inside where the lunch would thaw out. We were the envy of the rest of the school kids. At the front of the school was the teacher's desk, where she ruled with the help of a large strap or a yardstick. This helped to keep law and order for the 20 plus students. Sometimes, we had as many as 40 kids crammed into the 20 by 30 foot school. We were parked in to the desks three at a time when the sawmills were operating. Off in the northeast corner was a 4 by 8 area off the floor on sawhorses where we put our lunch. Lots of paper bags, Rogers syrup and lard tins served as lunch boxes.