Hello Toad River
September 10, 2009
Hats put Toad River on the map, not toads. This friendly community—population, 75 or so, depending on the day—claims a world-famous hat collection with more than 6,800 truckers’ caps nailed to the ceiling of the Toad River Lodge café. Look up. Look way up. I will admit that it’s tricky to swallow a salmon burger while staring at the ceiling.
On our first morning here I watched three moose swim across the lake behind our cabin. More than the moose, the toads, or the hats, I came here to meet the kids of Toad River. They attend one of the smallest schools in Canada. While visiting them this morning, I asked the twelve students—ranging in age from five to seventeen—for stories about their own lives. They’re enthusiastic storytellers so I’m looking forward to reading their emails.
Through the years, Toad River students have traveled to school by snowmobile, horseback, on foot and even by small bush plane. How many schools have an airstrip right beside the playground? While I was visiting, I told the younger class that I was from Edmonton. “Do you know where that is?” I asked. “Sure do!” said a nine-year-old geography expert. He poked his thumb over his shoulder, and said: “Just over those trees, and down the road, that-a-way!”
The younger kids raced out for recess, and I hit the road as they waved goodbye from the monkey bars. Later in the morning I saw my first four caribou and a herd of buffalo on the highway that curled into the mountains. What a beautiful place to grow up!
On The Map
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