JUDGE VICKERS SCHOOL TREK
By Linda C Butler
Told by Dulcie Taylor
Judge George Vickers was concerned that children attend school and on days when there was a heavy snow fall he would walk with snowshoes along the pathways to pack the snow so the children could walk.
Judge Vickers lived about three miles from downtown Herb Lake and on snowy school mornings he rose at 4 a.m. and with a flashlight, snowshoed from his place, walking along the pathways where the kids from the mine end of town lived. As he went, he’d walk the path to every door where young children lived. He then walked to the school. Then he would snowshoe to the downtown area, walk around town and then return and repeat the walk before he finally went home for his well-deserved breakfast.
There were very cold winters in the 1930s when I went to school at Herb Lake, and one year it went to -56 deg. below. I remember cold winds and blowing snow and three foot snow drifts in places. My Dad appreciated what Judge Vickers did and on cold mornings Judge Vickers would step inside for a few minutes to warm up by our stove.
Many people would have kept their children at home from school if Judge Vickers had not trampled the pathways. He wanted to ensure that Herb Lake children received a proper education and breaking trail with his snowshoes encouraged the parents to send their children to school. Judge Vickers was in charge of truancy at the school and he would not tolerate the excuse that it was too stormy or the snow was too deep to walk.
(c) 2013 Linda C Butler
Herb Lake 100 