Page 30 - Forest Grove Years 17 Feb

there was a school bus, how-
ever, it did not collect every
student from home. The Wil-
cox kids would still have had
to make their way to the main
road.

During the course of that first
year in school we were moved
from the bunk house to the
community hall and from there
into a new school which had
been under construction. I
completed grades one two and
three in Forest Grove and went
into grade four in Medicine
Hat. On our return from Medi-
cine Hat, I finished grade sev-
This one room school burned in the summer of 1947 en and eight. Our grade seven
forcing grades one to five into an old bunkhouse across teacher was a Mr. Luxton who,
the road. as was common with Forest
Grove teachers, departed at
the end of the school year.

He was replaced by a Mr. Madryga who was a strong personality and stands out very
clearly in my memory. I can still see him with his thin pencil mustache at the front of
the room carrying on some aspect of the program for the two grades under his care.
There were actually three grades in the room but the boy in grade 10 was taking corre-
spondence and not officially under instruction. Mr Madryga had recently come from
Squamish after the loss of his wife to some illness. Forest Grove was a temporary es-
cape for him, and as good fortune would allow he was to meet his new wife who was
also a teacher in the school. This romance became something of a scandal in the com-
munity and it also did not escape the notice of those of us who could see through the
glass of his office at the rear of the classroom. I later learned that he married that
young lady, whose name was Marcia Fearnley, and that their first child was Mark Ma-
dryga. Mark is Global BC's Chief Meteorologist and a regular on morning TV. When I fin-
ished Grade 8 Mr. Madryga spoke to my parents and suggested that they not send me
to Williams Lake the location of the nearest high school. There were dormitories in Wil-
liams Lake for those of us who lived at a distance from the community. I think, howev-
er, that the decision had already been made to send me to Victoria and University
School. In 2014 I connected with Al Madryga through his son Mark and we exchanged a
couple of letters. Very sadly, he died not long after we had communicated.
Mr. Madryga, as the principal, of our small school did his best to make the school a
functional part of the community. The event that stands out for me was the boxing
match he organized in the community hall. Each of the boys was to draw a name out of
a hat and that person became our opponent in the boxing ring he had established. The
name I drew was Tom Swazy who was a big oaf. Once into the ring he knocked me
down twice and it began to look like the fight was going to end quite quickly. However,
after my second fall, I got up and took a wild swing that caught him squarely on the