Located at the corner of NDG Boulevard and Girouard Ave in NDG Herbies, as it was affectionately known, was a good five to six city blocks from our house. We were not bused to school nor do I remember our parents walking us to class. My older sister Roz walked with me in the first few days and then after that I walked to school myself.
The most dangerous part of the walk to school was passing Danial O'Connell the Irish Catholic boys school on Cote St. Antoine Road. When us Protestants would walk by the Brothers would turn their backs to us and the boys would taunt and bait us into fights. The brothers would wait until we had enough then come over and drag their students away.
It was a good walk, especially in the cold Montreal winters. As you walked you would meet classmates and friends with whom you would dilly dally along. The schoolyard was paved with asphalt and had a variety of lines and games painted on the surface for the students to play. There were two baseball diamonds, one at each corner of the schoolyard, along NDG Boulevard. The big thing was to play a form of baseball, no bat, with just a tennis ball that the pitcher would roll along the asphalt while the batter stood at the plate anxiously waiting to kick the ball over the head of the infielders.
Two of my favorite games we played were hopscotch, painted on the playground, and Red Rover because I got to play with the girls.
Here is a photo of how they have ruined my memories of that knee scraping asphalt schoolyard.
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