How do you cope with barren prairies, long cold winters, hot dry summers, isolation and families with young children? That was the life of the early settlers on the prairies. Once the basic needs of shelter and food were taken care of, then came the development of a community. Most communities developed a school, a church and a gathering place like a community hall.
This multi cache requires that you collect some information from each of the stops to help you locate the actual cache.
SCHOOL: The first stop on this multi cache is Masinasin School (Ma-sin-a-sin). The first school at this location was called the Milk River Valley School. The one room school opened in 1916 served the needs of the community by doubling as a church, a dance hall, meeting hall, polling place or a community centre. In 1942, the two room Melfort school house was brought to the site and joined onto the original building to form Masinasin School making it a four room school. In 1949 the school house burnt to the ground. The replacement school was built in 1952. The new school had 4 classrooms on the main floor, a science lab, a gymnasium and additional space in the basement. The school was the hub of the community until it closed in 1995! The school provided great educational and physical opportunities for the students. Masinasin School was one of the last rural schools to close in the area south of Lethbridge. Currently the building is privately owned.
Site #1 Quest: Please do not enter the property. At this site, A= the number of windows on the lower level (basement) on the east facing side of the school divided by 2.
CHURCH: This is St. Isodore’s Church – a Roman Catholic Church. The first church services were held in the home of Jacob Allers. The property for this site was donated by John Thielen and the church was opened in 1912 with a cemetery is located straight west of the church. This church is still being used weekly for services.
Site #2 Quest: Next phase go to N49 08.699 W 111 45 874 At this site you will learn why this area is called Allerston. B = the last digit in the year that the Allers family homesteaded in the area.
COMMUNITY HALL: The hall was originally owned and operated by the CWL (Catholic Women’s League). It wasn’t until the mid 1980’s that the hall was transferred to the community. The hall, as with all old buildings has gone through many renovations. Over the years it has been used for many wedding dances, card games, children’s preschool programs and Halloween parties. It is still in use today.
Site #3 Quest: C= the number of letters that are on the board over the door of the hall minus 14.
Fill A,B,C into the following location to determine the location of the cache.
N49 08 66A W 111 45 C4B