GAMES REMEMBERED
   by Basil Rose

During the last days on Merasheen we were all placed in the new room of the school house. I guess there were about 15 of us, Grade 1 to Grade 11. My brother Terry came first in his class that year. He happened to be the only kid in his grade. John Tobias had the distinct displeasure of trying to teach us. During recess we would organize a game of field hockey. The first team to score 10 goals was the winner. Often the bell would go signalling the end of recess but the score was only 5 - 4. What a dilemma! Of course, we unanimously agreed that finishing the game was of paramount importance and Toby could wait. And wait he did. Sometimes we'd get back into the classroom just in time to leave for dinner. Oh the agony we put Toby through was, in retrospect, undeserved! On behalf of all field hockey players, I would like to apologize to him.

Field hockey wasn't the only activity. On other days we would race to the library to partake in book fights. Those that won the race had the advantage of throwing books down the stairs. I often wondered if we were throwing around a book that one day would be considered a collector's item.

However, a day in the life of a child on Merasheen would not be complete without the traditional game of ‘hopscotch", a game of “rounders" using a homemade bat, or spending hours on the wharf catching connors.

I also remember softball games in Big Merasheen. Usually these took place on Sunday afternoon and the competition came from Red Island. The backstop was old and the mesh was full of holes. My father would umpire some of these games and I would stand behind the backstop with my old army issue glove to catch balls that escaped the catcher and the backstop. Donald Pittman was the pitcher and, if my memory serves me right, Merasheen won every game.