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Len Goldsborough enlisted son Dr. Gordon Goldsborough to expand the commemoration of historical schools to the rest of the RM of Macdonald.

A project to commemorate the former Ferndale School between Starbuck and Sanford may soon be expanded to include the rest of the municipality.

Last September, Starbuck resident Len Goldsborough launched a campaign to raise $3,000 to erect a commemorative plaque to mark the site where Ferndale School, built in 1881, once stood.

Now he has enlisted his son, Gordon, in an effort to commemorate all the historic schools that used to be located in the RM of Macdonald. They plan to apply for provincial heritage grants to fund the initiative.

"My father has already raised $2,000 in funds to commemorate Ferndale School, so I thought if we can make this part of a bigger project, we would be able to secure a grant to mark some of these other sites as well," Gordon said.

The younger Goldsborough said some research will be required to identify the locations of the school sites.

He added that if the community can raise another $1,000 for the project, matching provincial grants would bring the total funding for the project to $6,000.

The school initiative will be the first of its kind in the RM, according to Goldsborough.

"In some municipalities they have really taken it upon themselves to mark historical sites but in Macdonald that isn’t really so much the case," he said.

"So I thought that as part of this project we could go further and mark all of them."

Goldsborough’s father said he was surprised by how quickly the community responded to his initial fundraising request.

"When I started I had no idea it would take so little time," he said. "I was expecting individuals to maybe chip in $10, $20, but we had some people donating as much as $200."

Len Goldsborough said that the funding that has already been raised will pay for the initial Ferndale School marker. Plans call for it to be erected this summer.

He hopes to stage an unveiling ceremony at that time and invite former Ferndale students to participate in it.

"Many people who went to the school haven’t been back in 20 or 30 years," he said. "It would be nice to have an event where people can come out and reminisce about their time here."

Goldsborough said he and his father are still accepting donations for the project. Interested parties can contact him at 782-2255 or his father at 735-2891.

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