Long time Cherry Lane resident welcomes multi-unit building

Dear Editor:

I have lived on Cherry Lane for over six decades, and there’s no one more sentimental about that old St. Matthew’s School building than I am.  And there’s no one more excited to see its dilapidated condition restored and transformed into a senior citizen’s complex.

Over 60 years ago, nine of us young twenty-something year old girls married and settled on Cherry Lane, where our spouses were born and raised. Together with my sister-in-law, who stayed here after her marriage, we had 44 children. Now, the school was a teaching institution probably 15 years before we made our debut. The former place of instruction, which was further down the lane, was sold at a public auction on May 16, 1941. I assume the present St. Matthews was ready when classes resumed that September. Maybe it was ready for occupancy prior to the auction.

When the oldest of our children commenced school in the 1960’s, we found the building, though relatively new, badly needed some TLC. So, together with other young families who resided adjacent to Cherry Lane, and shared the same teaching facility, we formed a Home and School Association. We held card and bingo games, concerts and other fundraisers to make the building more accommodating.

Our first venture was to supply adequate plumbing. Then, tiles to mask the bare wooden floors.  So, with the purchase of a piano and in cooperation with the teachers and the school board, extracurricular activities were introduced and enhanced, putting Cherry Lane on the map – today, just a proud reminder of its past and the prolonged controversy of its present.

Notwithstanding that I am an octogenarian now – healthy and active both physically and mindfully, and still living in my home – I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Brigham Young for his foresight in recognizing the need for a senior’s complex here. It’s inception is long overdue.

I have several contemporaries who have chosen to sell their large homes and have settled in similar units throughout the town of Conception Bay South.

And maybe in the near future more of us may consider selling our huge homes for a similar abode.

With the development of seniors’ apartments right here in our own midst, there’s hope for the option of choosing a familiar and healthy alternative in close proximity.

Good Luck Mr. Brigham.

Respectfully submitted,

Louise (Morgan) Smith