The Story Behind the Tartans

In 2007 the librarian, Mrs. Farley, decided to bring Tartans to our school. With the help of her husband they put the names of each clan on the Tartans and hung them up in the Library. At the time the clans were Argyll, Baxter, Brodie, Cunningham, Dundee, Edinburgh, Fergusson, Forbes, Galloway, Mackenzie, Macnab, Maxwell, Ross, Shaw, Stewart, Stirling, Wallace, Witherspoon, and Zetland.

At the age of 57 in July of 2010, Mrs. Farley went to the beach with her granddaughter. When they were spending time together at the beach a rip current started to happen. Mrs. Farley’s granddaughter was swept up into the ocean. Mrs. Farley jumped into save her granddaughter. She was able to save her granddaughter but unfortunately she did not escape the strong current.

On Tuesday around 2:30 p.m. she was pulled from the ocean unconscious. Then on Wednesday morning she passed away. She was much loved by the students and teachers of Bonny Eagle Middle School. Bringing back the Tartans has helped the teachers remember what a great librarian she was. The 2011 yearbook was also dedicated to her and Mrs. Levasseur.

Shiela Sheehan got the idea to bring the Tartans back. A couple years after Mrs. Farley passed away, Mrs. Sheehan promised her that she would find a way to display them in the school. She asked Mrs. Aiken to help her with her idea. Over Winter break they both got to work. They framed the Tartans and right now Mrs. Aiken is working on getting new ones for the clans that do not have them.

6th grader Amelia Turnbull feels the Tartans are important to bring back to our school. She also likes them on the wall. Mrs. Aiken feels the Tartans are important because they bring a sense of history to the school. Mrs. Aiken would also like to put a paragraph or so of the history behind the clans on the wall near the Tartans. 7th grader Cadence Whitehouse also enjoys the Tartans hanging on the wall.

Bringing back the Tartans is a nice way to remember the librarian Mrs. Farley and to bring a little history to the school. The new clans will stay on the wall near the office and the wall near the library will be where the old clans are displayed.

I would like to say thanks for the wonderful people who helped me with this article and for the amazing people that put the Tartans back up. Thank you for helping me find all of the information: Mrs. Montgomery, Ms. Anderson, Mrs. Sheehan, Mr. DeMaris, Mrs. Aiken, and Mr. Vacchiano. Thank you for putting the Tartans up for everyone to see: Mrs. Farley, Mrs. Sheehan, and Mrs. Aiken. And thank you, Mrs. Dinino, for the wonderful book on Tartans in the Library. It helped me with the article so much! Mrs. Sheehan would also like to thank Ms. Nadeau for allowing us the money to do this project. And I am sure all of us are thankful for Mrs. Farley. She had a great idea about the Tartans and her memory and the history of the school will live on.