St Johns Ravenscourt School - Eagle Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

Page 47 text:

Uke, Ovj(f It’s difficult to say how the Orgy was formed. At the beginning of the school year five Ravenscourt stu¬ dents formed a band which adopted the name of The In-Mates.” Dave McKelvie, James Lawson, Stewart Searle, Charlie Andison, and Gerald Schwartz could be found in the band room learning (?) songs every spare moment that was to be found. Father’s and Son’s weekend was their first appearance. At least the Lower School was enthusiastic. Within the next month or so, uncertainty was the atmosphere enclosing the bands activities. A change was made with Stewart Searle leaving the band. By Christmas the Orgy” was formed with the addition of Mike Bookbinder. Work, work, and the occasional rest brought the Orgs” to what it is now. The Winter Carnival was The Orgy’s” first appearance. They pro¬ vided the afternoon’s entertainment (?) along with the Bitter End” which is now resting due to a premature vacation — Eh Max!” With much indebted to Mr. Gordon and the staff members who showed an interest, The Orgy” is well under way. OptiM The Track Option was formulated this year in order to teach those boys who were interested, the fundamentals of various events in track and field. The boys who showed interest in the group were Bob Dunstan, Tom Bugg, D’Arcy Brown, David Swanson, John Macbeth and Clive McEwen. In the winter months, the boys worked out at the Winnipeg Arena under the guidance of two Track stars from the University of Manitoba. During the summer they will use the track facilities offered by the school, or those at the University. ., , , It is hoped that from this group a delegation might be chosen to represent S.J.R. at the Track Meets held through¬ out the year in Manitoba. On behalf of the entire group I would like to thank Mr. Broderick for the help in the development and organi¬ zation of the Track Option this year. Hdku d Under the Options programme this year a Hobbies Club was formed meeting on Friday afternoons in the Hobbies Room in the basement. r , . , , About ten or twelve boys attend regularly, and from the present rather limited field of building model aircraft from kits we hope to progress to more ambitious models. Various Centennial Projects have been suggested, such as models of St. John’s College and of Thompson House to provide a historical record of the school’s progress, but as yet there are no boys experienced enough to undertake such a detailed job. 1111 One of the difficulties experienced is that the Hobbies room is used for many things beside hobbies, and con¬ sequently there have been losses and unfortunate incidents with models under construction. We hope, however, to be able to show the results of our building in flight during the summer. Flights are likely to be limited to one per plane ending in spectacular crashes, so the event will be advertised well in advance. A sale will be held after the field day of broken balsa and used hobbies knives. . Seriously, though, I hope more boys will become interested in what is a fascinating pastime, and one which could help to solve the perennial winter problem of what to do on the weekends. Option, The Bridge Club was another addition to the options program this year. Under the instruction of Mr. Leonard, the beginners learned the basic fundamentals of the game, and the more experienced boys were taught the finer details of the game. The four boys who had played before formed one table of bridge, and individually explained their play to the four beginners. One pair each week was given the opportunity to spend an evening at the Leonard’s, playing bridge with Mr. Leonard and his wife. Many thanks to Mr. Leonard for his time and patience with us. 43

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Oftim This year a new options program was introduced. In previous years, options have been compulsory and therefore many boys were participating because they were compelled too, not because they wanted too. This year, a new outlook has been taken on options. Every Friday, the Upper School meets in the dining room. The purpose of these weekly meetings are to give the boys a chance to ask questions inquiring how various school projects are progressing, to learn what has been planned for the school, or to be entertained by having several masters talk about their own personal, true, and very interesting personal experiences. Gradually, these meetings are to be taken over by the boys who will play various musical in¬ struments, sing, and also relate a few of their own personal experiences. After this meeting, the boys go to their option which they chose at the beginning of this year. These options are not compulsory, but it is hoped that a great majority of the boys will participate in an option because of the vast number of choices offered them; from drama and electronics, to gym and slot car racing. Although this system is in the experimental stage, it is hoped that the participation of the boys will be sufficient enough to allow it to continue next year. Ibwm After a successful year of drama option last year, it was somewhat disappointing to have a very small group turn out this year for the option; however, as a result of the interest of last year, during the fall term three plays were enjoyed by groups of boys. On Wednesday, November 9th., 21 boarders and 2 day boys accompanied Mr. McLeod to a production of The Rainmaker at the M.T.C. On Friday, November 15th., The Manitoba Theatre Centre brought their production of The Dock Brief to the school with Paxton Whitehead and Eric Donkin. On Wednesday, December 14th., 56 boys attended the excellent production of Galileo at the M.T.C. and most of them went to Chan’s after for Chinese food with Mr. McLeod and Mr. Sheperd. When options started in the winter term, the drama option started a fairly ambitious program of theatre skills. Mrs. Maurer conducted a make-up workshop, Mrs. Stewart conducted a costume workshop and Mr. Bevis talked about set design with some practical applications with regard to A Theatre Happening. It was hoped that the membership would grow to a size which would have warrented bringing in guest speakers but this has not happened. There is some maxim about a horse and water but at S.J.R. a horse is one of the animals which cannot be mentioned. tlutmia This year’s electronics option, under Mr. Olsen, was small in number, but it promises to be a greater attraction next year. The only prerequisits to joining the group are; sincere interests in electronics, and a purpose for joining, be it to learn, build, experiment, or to use equipment. For the person who knows nothing about electricity or electronic equipment, instruction is available. This includes numerous tests and experiments, which prove basic laws of electricity. A person who joins the club can learn, build kits, or test and repair equipment. For the person whose interests lie elsewhere, there is sufficient equipment to explore the field of radio communications. Some of the future goals of the club are; to set up a licensed radio station, to have a working lab for building and repair of lab equipment, and to build a variety of displays for the school and science fairs. It is also hoped that, as the group expands and more equipment is acquired, a permanent location can be found for the club. The club now consists of: Mr. Olsen, John Bredin, Paul Lewis, and Helmut Verges, but as the student body be¬ comes aware of the activities of the electronics group, interest will rise, and membership will undoubtedly increase. ' JLud Same It is only natural that our Plant Science Option takes place through most of the year. One of our Science Fair projects, which is being entered by George Wright, has demanded his careful attention for almost two years. He worked on this project throughout his Summer holidays. Our Plant Science entries are almost ready for the Science Fair which begins at the end of March. The first project is an experiment in hybridizing African violets. Several different varieties have been crossed to produce hybrid seed. From this seed, we are hoping to get a new flower type of good quality. Our second project, which is being entered by Gerald Morris, is a demonstration of the various methods by which plants may be propagated by cuttings. Gerald has just about completed this project, and will be showing it at the fair. We would like to take this opportunity to mention what we believe to be a very useful Centennial project. We are going to start work on the preservation of many species of Manitoba’s wild flowers. We feel that many of our species are in danger of becoming extinct. An area behind Thompson House is being allocated to this study. Here we will be growing and propagating many of our most exotic flower species. This is a long term project which will probably take many years and a lot of research to complete. Any help with this project will be certainly appreciated.

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Skootuuj Option Although no longer under the sponsorship of the Army, shooting in the Upper School is continuing as a Friday afternoon option. Mr. Ainley has about twenty-five regular participants, which will eventually be reduced to about seventeen, because of the time factor. It is the aim of the group to enter outside competition next year, and to teach any boys in the school who are interested, a true respect for firearms. As much as anything, we hope to teach safe firearm handling rather than marks¬ manship, but where there is ability, we hope to foster it. Boys may now fire with their own rifles and pistols, and I would like to feel that eventually the range can be used for personal sight setting and tuition in the use of firearms of all sorts, whether it be a blunderbuss belonging to David James or a Russian Army .22 belonging to Nick Tulloh. If we can turn out even a few people who know and respect firearms, we will have justified the range and have taught a lesson that the country sorely needs in this day and age of weekend hunting accident records. In Boxing Option, partners were paired off by their weight. Thirty seconds of free boxing were given at the begin¬ ning and end of each period. In these sessions Bob (Slugger) Clemis cut up many of his opponents with his piston like jab, while Kit (Ripper) Rowley amazed many by his intricate foot-work. Ed (Hooker) Horbay and Ross (The Mauller) McKnight were feared by all. Simon (Trigger Fist) Truelove made true many of his round house blows. Last, but not least, was Gavin (The Smasher) Smith, whose know-how, and boxing ability contributed considerably to the option. Boys in the boxing option would like to thank Mr. Harding for teaching us how to box properly, and for spend¬ ing his time for our benefit. tkii This year the Chess Club has been a small but active group functioning under the leadership of Mr. Geith. Last year, in May of 1966, the Chess Club sponsored a tournament at which Abe Yanofsky, international Grand Master, played 40 boys from this school, all at the same time. He recorded 39 wins and one stalemate, with Peter Lemon. In the third term of last year a chess tournament among the boys of this school was held. There were 32 partici¬ pants and the winner was John Nanson. A similar tournament is planned for the third term of this year. G(jm A small but interested group of boys have been meeting every Friday afternoon as a part of the Options program. Under the direction of Mr. Thorson, we have been given exercises to do on the parallel bars, box, mats and horizontal bars. On the parallel bars, shoulderstands and rolls are becoming easy. Neckflips, shortarm and handsprings are being mastered on the box and on the mats. However, the horizontal bar, a new piece of equipment to most of us, has proven to be the greatest attraction. To learn the ' upstart,’ a tricky raise after a forward swing to rest on top of the bar, has been the greatest challenge. This year, we have been mainly concerned with fundamentals. We have, however, all experienced a sense of achieve¬ ment: a better control and co-ordination of our bodies. Next year, we hope to start at the beginning of the season, and would like to see a slight increase in the number of interested members. Slot Cm CM Slotcar racing came to Ravenscourt on a large scale in late January of this year. The bodies are made of light weight plastic on an aluminium frame. The cars are true to life in every detail. Racers can change tires, gear ratios, rewind their electric motors, and even incorporate a braking system. The H.O. group have seventy-five feet of two lane track, complete with overpasses, switch-backs, and S” curves. The 1 24 and 1 32 scale group have fifty feet of two lane track cut out of four sheets of plywood and mounted on permanent tables. Completion date is set for the Easter Holidays. 44