After 105 years, Landis school closes its door at the end of this school year for the last time. The halls will be empty, but the memories created will never be forgotten.
"Our beloved kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Toner, had cut the tip of her finger off with the paper cutter. Instead of getting rid of it, she fed it to the turtles we had in the classroom." Maria Scott
"We had a teacher that we all liked and it was his birthday. I heard a commotion when a bunch of boys had hid in the cloakroom, and when Mr. Booth came by, the boys tackled him and got him down and gave him the royal bumps." Bonny Gruber
"Our volleyball coach, Gwen Ochs, always had a way to get us fired up before a game. Which even included yelling 'Husqvarna' as one of our cheers. We always had funny looks after we did it, but it calmed our nerves!" Maria Scott
"I had to go to school after hours for grad stuff so I asked Dad if I could borrow the car. He had just bought it and it had a big V8 and I was showing the boys how I could burn donuts in the school yard. I did not know that Dad had come to town to get parts from Brandle's Garage.
"When I got home, Dad asked if I got everything done and I said yes everything went well. He then said 'You know that I had to go to town and I saw a car that looked just like mine burning donuts at the school.' And then he said, 'And you know. come to think of it, it looked like you driving!'" Colleen Berezowski
"I loved being a part of the Landis School community. I have many good memories of fun times and fun events but what I really remember and value most was the atmosphere. Whenever I walked into the school it was like walking into another family.
"Every day was an adventure but I knew that, whatever adventure we were about to go on, I had the support of my school family. Sometimes things worked out and other times they didn't and that was OK!
"The students, staff and community were always wonderful. They would jump right in and help wherever they could even if it meant taking a pie in their face or waxing a 'T' on their chest! Donations of time and items were always given freely and the attitude was always about making our school the best place we could. Spirit was alive in Landis School and I will always remember how great I felt being a part of it all!" Jen Singer
"I remember playing on the swinging bridge and monkey bars at school playground. I also remember parading around the school, class to class every Halloween, showing off our costumes in elementary; then when we were freshies, we had to do it all over again. And I remember the boys in Grade 9 sitting in the hall with a big ghetto blaster blaring AC/DC." Sue Harris
"There was always lots of material on the school yard while they were building the new school, like little pieces of insulation or fiber board, so we had the best forts in the south trees." Anonymous
"There was a young man, Fred, who had gone to school in Landis and he was working for the company that built the school and if we were lucky, on a good day if the timing was right, he would give us rides in the wheelbarrow at recess." Shannon Ochs
"Mrs. Ferguson had decorated the Grade 4 room so that each of us had an 'Archie' head. The boys had Archie and Reggie and the girls had Betty and Veronica. They were all coloured up and our names were on them. They were big and all over the classroom and you felt like that was your room from the start." Anonymous
"In Grade 9, with Mrs. Cey, we did a black light performance for variety night. The whole gym was blacked out and every one of us were dressed totally in black and painted ourselves black. We had made paper mache seahorses, crabs, lobsters and rocks, which were all spray painted with very fluorescent, glowing spray paint so it glowed all through the gym. There was a diver with a diving helmet on and the performance was accompanied by background music to make it sound like water." Anonymous
"We had a bus driver, John Wilson, who came across as this gruff guy. He was my only bus driver and drove me every day. We always had to stop partway on our route and sit on a side road to wait for a feeder bus, which picked up some kids to take them further south, to come.
"While we waited for the feeder bus, he would come to the back of the bus and visit us. He would make bets with us on the hockey games, and he would read to us; he would read English or he would read French if we had our French books with us. It was a nice time visiting with him. Then, when the kids were on the feeder bus, he would carry on with his route.
"The day I rode the bus for the last time was his 60th birthday and I got my picture taken with him on that day. He was a positive impact on all of us." Shannon Ochs
