This is my hamlet! The read marks the path we will be taking and the “X” is my Grandma’s house. The odd part of this Google Map is that the school is labelled as Leonard Farm Museum- which is located ten miles out of town.

This is the view that I get when I come into Harris from my farm, we cross Highway Seven and then across two railway tracks.

This is a second view from the road I take to enter Harris. I included this image because of the elevator. We used to have three elevators but the other two were torn down. I found this view very special because it is actually the location I watched from as the elevators were torn down.

Oh the bar, every small town has one! In front of the bar is a fence that was painted for the Harris Centennial in 2005 and is covered in signatures by those who attended the event.

This is the Harris Museum. On the side of it is one of the many murals that is found throughout the buildings in Harris. The purpose of the murals is to commemorate a play that was created in Harris called “Pull of the Land,” that has found some fame within Saskatchewan. The museum also contains a wildlife exhibit, a train caboose, the original Water Tower, and the famous Harris ruby rock!

The Harris ruby rock, our other claim to fame. In 1914, rubies were found outside of Harris, which brought over 3,000 prospectors to the community. It turns out that the rocks were just garlands but we moved the rock that started the whole event into Harris. We were unable to move the entire rock as it was too big and even in the moving process the rock split in two and was glued together when they reached the museum site.

This is Main Street; the blue building is the store which displays another “Pull of the Land” mural and beside it is the general store. The brick buildings on the left are the insurance agency (where my mom works) and the bank (where they give me free jelly beans).

This is the rink where I spent many happy childhood memories. The longer part of the rink was once a curling area but when I was little it was used for weddings. I spent the better part of sixteen years in this rink figure skating and eight of those years teaching skating. It used to be home to the Lions club but with the school converting an area into a new hall a few years ago the rink is no longer used for weddings and Lions meetings. They also took out the $.25 candy machines- I was crushed.

This is the playground that is located next to the rink. Baseball diamonds separate the rink and the playground and this is, by far, the best playground I have ever encountered. They only had a swing set and a small wooden structure with a slide but the best part was a merry-go-round that we could push faster than most amustment park rides. In the picture you can see what used to be a water play ground as well. They removed the water portion and left the wooden protection. When Harris still had a K-12 school, we went and painted the structure and placed our handprints on it.

This is Harris-Tessier Central School. The school used to be K-12 but when I reached Grade 9, they closed the Grade 10, 11 and 12 grades and sent them to Rosetown due to budget cuts. The school has changed a great deal from when I first began attending. They closed the elementary part of the school and moved everything to the high school end. The elementary wing was then remodelled and transformed into a new town hall.

Another view of the school, this shows the high school part of the school. There is also the original school bell, which is hidden by a tree. The bell also holds a plaque to remember a teacher’s daughter who was killed in a car accident when she was twelve, I was eight.

Just about to Grandma’s house! The second house on the right (the white and red one) is Auntie Marie’s house. She was actually my friends Great Aunt but every in Harris called her Auntie Marie. During the days of the week when we had dance or figure skating the children of Harris could be found playing at either my Grandma’s or Auntie Marie’s. My Grandma Betty was also known around Harris as simply, Grandma Betty.

Grandma’s house! My Great-Grandma actually lived on the property first when my Grandpa took over the farm. After a few years, my Grandpa built my Great-Grandma a house on the farm so that she would not have to leave her homestead. My parents then lived on the property and moved into this house. This was the house I was brought home to when I was born and lived here until I was two years old. We did not see my Dad very often because he was always working on the farm so my Grandparents decided to move into town and give us the house on the farm. I spent almost every Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving in this house with my immediate and extended family. All of my friends and sister’s friends also spent many happy afternoons here when we got to stay in town for extra curricular activities.

I have decided to end my trip to Grandma’s with the view we get from the backyard. The yard is encompassed in a big, navy fence to keep out deer. From on top of the fence you can see the highway clearly and when any holiday came around, a member of my family could be seen standing on the fence waiting and looking for the rest of our cousins to join us. I, my sisters, and my cousins have all stood atop this fence and waved to the trains that passed by and the cars on the highway. The double train tracks run just across the road and when we felt the rumble beneath our feet… we were all on top of the fence, waving to the conductor.

My sister on top of the fence.

Best playground equipment ever!