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Our
History
CPPG – 20 Years!
Here
is the original history of our Playgroup as written by one of
the founding members, Susan Sowerby.
HISTORY
This
January our playgroup will be six years old – how time flies!
As one of only two remaining original members (correct
me if I am wrong), I felt that a short history of the beginnings
of our Centre might be of interest to the “later generations”.
The
Cedar Park Cooperative Playgroup was an idea that I borrowed
from a group in Ottawa.
On a number of occasions, I had visited a friend’s playgroup
in Ottawa, which was called a Toy Lending Library, and I thought
it was terrific! It
was located in a public school and had a triple classroom for
its exclusive use. It
had been going for a number of years and in addition to operating
as a drop-in center, it had a very extensive toy lending set
up.
In
the fall of 1981, I had been living in Cedar Park for almost
three years and had a little girl who was almost two.
We had been to every program at the “Y”, and a long winter
was looming in front of me.
I decided what I needed was somewhere I could go where
I could meet other moms and Laura (my daughter), could see other
kids without having to rush out of there when my 45 minutes
was up. I think
in reality the founding of the center had a lot more to do with
retaining my sanity than with my child’s pleasure (although
they are closely related!).
I
was very fortunate in my training for finding a home for my
idea. Cedar Park
School was on a year-to-year notice as to whether it would remain
open due to low enrollment.
The school had all kinds of educational groups using
its rooms, but this was not a long-term solution.
It also had a new principal that fall that was very open
to new ideas and wanted to find ways to get kids back into the
school. Mr. Don
Harris was an early morning worker and I am an early morning
runner so we had a number of meetings at 7:00am to discuss the
idea of the playgroup.
I
put forward a working proposal and accompanied it with documentation
from my friend’s center.
One of the basic tenets was that the Centre must have
its own space and as much as possible, be part of the school
life. Mr. Harris decided to give me the go-ahead on two conditions:
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Any
expense incurred to clean up the room would be borne by
the group; and
-
I
was to keep “under my hat” as he did not know how the school
board might react.
I
was a little dismayed when I saw the main room of our Centre
for the first time. It
was piled high with canoes, desks and odd bits of furniture.
It could not be called inviting in the least.
I was also later to discover that most years it floods
in the spring – but it was ours!
The
second condition was a bit trickier – how was I going to keep
this quiet and yet get people.
I took the bull by the horn and wrote an article for
the News and Chronicle outlining the basic objectives and inviting
people to an information meeting at the school (omitting the
fact the Centre would be located in the school).
I was overwhelmed by the response – there were almost
80 people there – I wasn’t the only one in need!
Jane
Williamson played a very important role at this point.
She was on bed rest just before the birth of her second
child and she pitched in to call all those who had left their
names. We arranged
to have people sign up who wanted to join.
The cost - lend one toy until June, a $20.00 fee, serve
on a committee and do one duty day per month.
The Centre had 40 before we opened and 50 before June.
The
first set up committee really had their work cut out for them
(and their husbands)!
They painted and built and laid out carpet and put up
decals. Where there
is a will there is a way, and the miracle happened – it looked
great!
My
original plan had been to have some kind of toy lending available
but we didn’t have sufficient toys or funds for it to work.
This fall we have a new committee to work out the feasibility
and details for this to finally happen.
Those
first four months the Centre had a lot of expenses, which the
$20.00 per member did not cover. I approached the City of Pointe Claire for a start-up grant
and after some initial hesitation; they very generously gave
us $1,500. The
condition of this grant that residents of Pointe Claire be given
first priority for membership.
I also approached our local MNA, Joan Doherty, and her
office donated $500.
Like
all new groups, the Centre had its teething pains.
We opened in January 1982 and at the end of February
break we had a spring thaw that flooded the room.
Four of us came in to find the room 3” deep in disgusting
water – yuck! We
had a two week delay while the carpets were cleaned and dried
out and the toys were washed (a bit discouraging).
Also the idea of a “co-operative” was new to a lot of
people and the raw edges had to worked out.
Mr.
Harris was true to his word vis-à-vis the school.
He allowed us the use of the gym three mornings a week
while the other children were at recess and we were also invited
to use the school library, but the children were a little too
young and disruptive in the library.
By
1984, the membership was up to 60 and our waiting list was growing.
Mr. Harris very kindly offered to remove the canoes and
desks from our “gym” room and our set-up committee had yet another
big job. The addition
of our gym room gave us some much-needed breathing space.
At this point, the membership was increased to 75.
Today membership is up to 80, with a permanent waiting
list of about 25.
To
put the Center in a chronological context, les Bouts de Choux
has been in the school since 1980. There was one class and it was in the mornings with Marguerite
Laverdière as the teacher.
(Madeleine Hall was the Chairperson of the Parents Committee.) Les Bouts de Choux opened in the afternoon in 1984 and Rainbow
Corner started in 1985.
Les bouts de choux went to two classes, morning and afternoon,
in 1987 and Rainbow Corner expanded to an afternoon class the
same year.
With
the increasing numbers of pre-school children in their various
stages of growth in the school, the idea of incorporating them
all under one umbrella began to take shape.
The children (and their parents) would have an official
connection to the school through the Early Childhood Centre.
The Early Childhood Centre, which comprised the Co-Op
Playgroup, Rainbow Corner, les Bouts de Choux and the French
Extended Kindergarten, first took its place on the school committee
in 1984. The playgroup
is now viewed as an introduction to the school environment for
pre-nursery school aged children, and this is proudly advertised
as a unique feature at Cedar Park School in the school leaflet.
The
success of the Cedar Park Co-Operative Playgroup has been a
result of the dedication of each year’s executive and the willing
contributions of the members.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those
who have helped to establish the group and develop it into the
successful operation it now is.
I hope the Cooperative Playgroup, and the early Childhood
Centre as a whole, will continue to grow and evolve to meet
the needs of the families of the community.
Susan
Sowerby, 1982
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