I first met Dick Scotton in 1975 when we were on staff at McLurg High School in Wilkie, Saskatchewan. I was a young physical education teacher; Dick was the biology and high school science teacher. It soon became apparent that Mr. Scotton was a highly competent and respected member of the staff. I was impressed with his knowledge and skill. I was even more impressed with the fact that he was a fine gentleman. This was underscored on one occasion when I had to be absent from school for a number of days. I had unwisely taken on the responsibility of running the Northwest SHSSA Cross Country meet. I ran seriously short of time. Dick stepped in, took charge and organized and administrated the whole meet. A life saver, and something I’ve never forgotten. I digress of course, but I wanted our readers to know that Dick is a man of principles and character.
Dick (Richard Charles) was born on April 16, 1938 to Joe Scotton and Georgina Scotton (nee Prudham) across the road from the town of Mayfair in a log house owned by his maternal grandparents. The Prudham house had once been a Co-op Store operated by Clark Prudham. It was closed in 1928 when the railroad came through and heralded the beginning of the bustling town of Mayfair.
Dick’s long and interesting life had a somewhat difficult beginning. Dick’s mother had planned to board the train for a trip to the hospital where Dick would be born. The doctor was to be at the station at 8 a.m. to drive Georgina to the hospital. But Dick had other plans and decided to arrive at 4:45 a.m. What a surprise! The mid-wife, Mrs. Sloan, arrived late, but was able to bathe baby Dick and get an approximate weight. Mrs. Sloan related that Dick weighed at least 10 pounds, a very large baby by any standard. Dick lived in the Scotton family’s log house (long since disappeared) for the first eight years of his life.
Dick’s formal education began in 1944 when he entered Grade 1 at Red Leaf School in Mayfair. The school would have been named Mayfair School except that a school west of the town took the name. When that school closed, Red Leaf School became Mayfair Central School. This all seems a bit complicated, but names are important. Both schools have long since vanished. Dick took Grades 1 to 3 at Red Leaf School. Then the family moved. Dick took his Grades 4 through 8 at Wanganui School. He returned to Mayfair and completed Grades 9 through 12 at Mayfair Central School and graduated in 1955.
When World War II ended in 1945, Joe Scotton remained in England for almost another year. He returned to Mayfair to a hero’s welcome in the spring of 1946. In late November, Joe and Georgina and seven children moved from Mayfair to the Wanganni School District south of Mayfair. The family was now eight miles from town in a new district. Wanganni School was named after a river in New Zealand. Who named the school and why remains a mystery.
Rural school life could get a little rough on occasion. In May of 1947, when Dick was in Grade 3, he suffered a broken collar bone. The teacher immediately sent him home – a three mile walk (try that in today’s education system!). Dick spent a week in the Rabbit Lake Hospital, some 20 miles up the rail line from Mayfair. And, as time and chance would have it, things got even rougher for young Dick. One Saturday afternoon, the building shook and the floor heaved. The door flew off its hinges, hit the ceiling and dislodged most of the plaster which crashed down on top of our young patient. Dick was terrified. Confusion and panic ensued. Nurses were yelling and running in all directions. One nurse made her way through the dust and rubble to see if Dick was still alive. Then she disappeared, calling for “Arthur” (a patient on the same ward).
The massive explosion was caused by a faulty pressure system which had been cobbled together by amateurs using spare parts. The water tank was pressurized. The force of the explosion blew out the bottom of the tank with enough force to shatter 2X12 floor joists. Fortunately, there was no fire. The hospital had no water for a few days. Staff and patients were badly scared but no one suffered any physical trauma.
Dick convalesced at the Prudham grandparents home for most of that summer. Dick’s right arm was in a sling which meant that it was necessary to develop a left handed dexterity and nimbleness. This proved to be advantageous for playing the fiddle later. Unfortunately, Dick’s plans to enter the school music festival (organized by Phoebe Wesson) that year were derailed.
When school started in September, Dick was placed in Grade 3 again because he had missed so much time. The new teacher pushed him to catch up and with a lot of extra work and encouragement, he completed Grade 4 on schedule (in June, 1948).
Dick’s return to Mayfair School presented a problem – distance. The Scotton farm was seven miles from Mayfair so Dick’s parents decided to have him live with family friends closer to Mayfair. In exchange for board and room, Dick helped with chores, harvest work and looked after two Grade 1 children to and from school. During his Grade 10 year, Dick helped his grandmother in Mayfair. In his Grades 11 and 12 years, Dick worked for a farmer near Mayfair.
In the fall of 1953, Dick acquired his first violin – a derelict, worse for wear Stradivarius copy. The violin was payment for harvest work for Dick’s uncle Reg Jackson. Another uncle (Fred Clark), a talented musician, helped young Dick get started on a “life of fiddling.” He taught Dick how to tune a violin, how to hold the bow, and most of all, offered encouragement to “get on with it.”
When he was in high school, Dick got in involved in track and field. He excelled as a runner and went on to compete at provincial hgh school meets in 1954, 1955 and 1956. He won second in the mile in near record time and third in the half mile, and also ran a leg in the sprint relay. In 1956, in his Grade 12 year, Dick won both the mile and half-mile in the senior boys class. Later that summer, Dick competed in the provincial open track meet and won the half-mile. Based on the 1956 results and times, Dick secured a spot on the Saskatchewan Team to compete in the 1956 Olympic Trials in Hamilton, Ontario. He also competed in the Canadian Track and Field Championships held in conjunction with the CNE in Toronto.
In the fall of 1956, Dick enrolled in the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. He earned a Bachelor of Education (physical education and science minors) and a Bachelor of Arts (double major in biology). While at the university, Dick was a member of the Greystone Singers for three years. He was also a member of the Huskies cross-country and track teams, and he’s the proud owner of four Huskie letters. Dick’s teaching career took him to a number of communities – but never far from the track, and never far from his love of music.
Of special note, since retiring, Dick has qualified as a fiddle contest judge. He also has a collection of trophies won in fiddle contests. Also, he has developed an interesting hobby repairing violins, and he has a nice collection of fairly valuable instruments.
Dick doesn’t sing anymore but plays at nursing homes and retirement villas. Dick and pianist, Marylin McGown, travel widely to provide entertainment for groups that are disabled or shut in. For example, Dick and Marylin have entertained at the Regional Care Centre in Battleford more than 200 times! Miles logged? That’s like driving to Toronto.
When the Fiddle Camp was operating at Emma Lake, Dick attended about 15 times in 20 years. Instructors at Emma Lake boasted some of the best fiddle players in Canada. These included Calvin Volrath from St. Paul, Alta., Dear Bernie from Prince Albert, April Vertch from Ontario, Gordon Stobbe (Gordon started out learning classical accordion in North Battleford. He now lives north of Halifax from where he teaches violin and has a performance career. It’s a small world indeed.) from Mayfair, Saskatchewan – the list goes on. Like these amazing instructors, Dick played by ear.
While he was a teacher, Dick did “a lot of other stuff,” some of which is included here: variously, Dick chaired a series of Land Bank Commission meetings, was a candidate in a provincial election, was a board member with the Wilkie Co-op Association and its secretary for 18 years, was president of the Northwest District Athletic Conference, was president of the STF, Wilkie Chapter, was seconded by the Department of Education to develop a Grade 10 science curriculum, and helped draft the first accreditation exam for the Saskatchewan Massage Therapists Association, delivered institutes on outdoor education and workshops on audio visual aids for teachers, presented several photo workshops to the North Battleford Photo Club on nature photography, and presented several photo workshops for Friesen Publishing for school yearbook publishing.
Since retiring, Dick has earned a 20-year pin for his service as a museum volunteer. He is currently president of the Western Development Museum Volunteers’ Association.
Finally, Dick has been a church camp counsellor, canoe instructor and church camp cook. On a personal note, Dick was married for 25 years and had a family of three daughters.
It has been my privilege to know Dick as a consummate educator, exceptional athlete, fine musician and community volunteer, and friend. Dick once said, “I ain’t got time to get old.” Indeed, Dick has lived a life of extraordinary accomplishment and fulfillment.
