​First principal recalls when Huron Heights school opened 45 years ago

Forty-five years ago, Huron Heights Public School in Kincardine, didn’t exist.

“I remember that we opened the school when it was just 70-per-cent finished,” said Bill Pike, the school’s first principal.

He was addressing a crowd at the 45th anniversary reunion, held Saturday, April 13, at the school.

Despite the power outage, the event went ahead, with former students, staff and families gathering in the staff room and the adjacent classroom to reminisce and check out all the memorabilia on display.

“When we first opened, we had no office,” recalled Pike. “So, our office manager, Barbara Ball, stood at the entrance to the boys washroom, taking attendance. Then, she had to take it to W.E. Thompson Public School to record the numbers.”

He remembered putting plywood along the driveway because the sidewalks weren’t finished.

“We brought 190 kids into an unfinished pit and started school,” he says. “We were putting up ceiling tiles and laying carpet during the school year.”

Several former students noted that the staff room used to be a Kindergarten classroom and the original pit. It was part of the structure that was opened back in 1979.

Current principal Kim Tolton welcomed everyone and said she looked forward to hearing the stories from 45 years ago.

“Huron Heights is a special place,” she said. “There’s no place like it. We just fund-raised $85,000 for a new playground and we’re now raising funds for an outdoor classroom.”

“We did something unique when we started this school,” said Pike. “And I remember telling the students that I had 10 important words for them: ‘If it is to be, it is up to me’.”

He said school reunions are important. The last time he was at such a get-together was in Ripley back in 2008. He missed the Kincardine school reunion in 2018.

Besides visiting and talking about old times, the crowd took tours of the school (carefully, because it was dark) and entered several raffle draws for baskets put together by each classroom.