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

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ON CENTENNIAL PROJECTS Next year Canada will celebrate a Birthday. It is not the birthday of a celebrated statesman, movie star, or what have you. It is the birthday celebrating Canada’s centennary: her first one hundred years as a nation. Although not all the provinces of Canada were con¬ federated in 1867, all will take part in this celebration. The youngest province, Newfoundland, will celebrate just as much as one of the oldest, Ontario. To make these celebrations a success, every Canadian citizen should have a project of his own, or participate in a group project. With every citizen doing an individual project, Canada will, as a whole, be improved by them. Many projects will be lasting, permanent edifices, many will be temporary jobs that will be repeated in a few years, but all will have one aim; to improve Canada, both in the eyes of her people, and in the eyes of the world so that she is worthy of those one hundred years of nationhood. Five years or so after the celebrations, people will look at a picture or a building, or some other thing, and remember vividly that birthday party of 1967. Projects, I’m sure vary widely across Canada. The project could be something rather stupid being ad¬ vertised on T.V.: such as a person diving into a pool of maple syrup. It could be a small job like painting that kitchen or bedroom you’ve been meaning to do for the last twelve or so years. It could be a more ex¬ pensive one such as redecorating your house: inside and or outside. It could be a civic project such as the Metro Corporation in conjunction with the Winnipeg Hydro. They are bringing an old steam locomotive into the city by laying down tracks, and running guided tours through the city on this special train throughout the summer for visitors and tourists. On a much larger scale, the project could be some¬ thing like the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, or Expo in Montreal, which everyone can participate in, or be a part of. Buildings and facilties made especially for these two events will last for years afterwards: i.e. the Pan-Am cycle track and olympic-size swimming pool, and buildings from Expo ’67 will last like the Piffle Tower in France or the Space Needle in Seatde. They will be monuments and tourist attractions for years to come. It is obvious that, no matter what your project, from painting a fence to building a bridge, you will have taken part in the celebrations for Canada’s one-hun¬ dredth birthday. For this you should feel proud: proud to be a Canadian. Peter McBeath — Form IV Upper

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CHILDREN SHOULD NEVER BE MISLED, EVEN ABOUT THE GREAT PUMPKIN It is doubtless that every child learns to love his mother at an early age, before even his father. As the infant grows, he is told of the jolly old man from the north pole. Gradually, he gets to know this future almost as well as his parents. Many young children believe in the Easter Bunny as well. Is it a good thing to encourage this belief in imaginary things in children? I am sure that the majority of children are told of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny as early as the age of one or two. Most believe in them for four or five years when the truth is revealed. Because the majority of these youngsters do believe, those who have parents who disbelieve in such nonsense are often outsiders. They are often left out and ridiculed. In this problem conformity is of great importance. There are many hidden reasons for misleading a child that the parents are not aware of. Since he is a year old, he may be afraid of anyone who is strange to him. Santa is an exception. The average child knows all about Santa, every detail. When the child is taken to a store Santa,” he is unafraid. This may lead the child into trusting unknown people, and this is a tremendous disadvantage. When a person is young, things are needed to stimulate the imagination. When told the story of Christmas, and of the bearded man, he may begin to think of the man, and his mind fills in the minutest details. He may picture the Easter Bunny as fully as possible, and add to him characteristics. This would probably influence the development of the child’s im¬ agination as it would give it something to do, rather than just being idle. If there was no symbol of Christmas, it would be just another day, these glorious events would go un¬ noticed by the child. If he didn’t know of the symbol, he misses some of the joy of the season. The know¬ ledge makes the holiday seem brighter. These days will be treasured for the rest of his life. The child that has been misled has something to believe in and to trust, that is outside the world. Mother and Father are always available to check up on,” but St. Nick and the Easter Bunny may never be confonted, so trust is the only bond between them. The characters often divert the child from the material benefits of the day. The Great Pumpkin of Charley Brown fame is just such a character. The young child looks forward to Hallowe’en so he can see the Great Pumpkin, not just to all the candy he can gather. This may be bad for the child too. He may become so interested in the presents that Santa brings that he may forget the Nativity. Pleasure may over rule the spiritual reasons. Many children refuse to believe the truth when they are finally told it. They associate pleasure with the Easter Bunny, and are shocked to find that no such animal exists. In general the advantages of misleading a child out¬ weigh the disadvantages. It is probable that the majority of children are mislead, and end up in life none the worse for it. G. Morris, IV Upper S.J.R. Like a big red Country barn Sits Ravenscourt, It is all, All it should be, Teacher of hundreds, Dumb and smart, Its Red River Scholars. The masters on the Other hand, WTio teach the students, are. Respected, and Are paid respectively, WTiich shows The school is not One of those. Nicholson, Form IV 62

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WHY I WANT TO GO TO EXPO ’67 In reference to art in general, Wassily Kastclinsky once said, The inner element in a work of art is the emotion in the soul of the artist, this emotion has the abiltiy to evoke a similar emotion in the soul of the observer. The emotion must exist; otherwise the work of art is a sham. The inner element determines the form of the work of art.” I know that Expo ’67 is a work of art: Canadian art. Thus next year’s world exhibition attracts me in two fundamental ways: as an art lover, and as a Canadian. Like all great art the theme of Expo trans¬ mutes from the commercially inspired, superficially stunning, yet basically trite work to a wonderfully con¬ ceived, spirtually founded vehicle, which will surely enlighten mankind. For the theme is universal and transcends the year 1967 to give meaning to all time; the theme is Man and His World.” Again like true art Expo ’67 will be presented in a manner befitting its theme. Sixty coun¬ tries, unified in objective and in their common Canadian expositional setting, will contribute their individual influences. Personal freedom in interpretating art is perhaps the chief reason why I want to go to this World Exhibition. I believe Expo ’67 symbolizes a point of departure; from what and to what I will later reveal. On the other level I mentioned. Expo ’67 has tremendous significance to me who as a proud Canadian awaits eagerly this exhibition which will promulgate our great history to all those who attend. Particularly important is my viewing, experiencing, and my becom¬ ing actually aware of this display because I will be actively participating in the second century since Canada’s birth. The idea of Man and His World” contains four sub-themes. Man the Explorer, Man the Producer, Man the Creator, and Man in the Community.” Under these four headings all aspects of man are studies. No theme could be more relevant or more opportune. Today we are too materialistic, too preoccupied with petty motives, petty objectives, and thus displaced from the valuable illumination of life which is the function of art. Habitat ’67 is a model community designed to solve one of the most urgent problems confronting the world today. The tremendous population expansion is typical of the problems that the 1967 World’s Fair not only poses and explains but for which presents a possible solution. Anyone who wishes to remain in ignorance of such vital knowledge is obviously an un¬ realistic thinker. But I want to be made aware of serious problems; I want to see their possible solutions; and so I want to go to Expo ’67! Another individual exhibit which I cite which intrigues me is the African Complex. Canada salutes the newly independent African states. But I never lose sight of this exhibition as a collection of the truly great advances in art. Opera, sculpture, painting, will all be exposed at their finest to the Expo visitor. Such an intense whole! As I mentioned in the introduction I am most in¬ terested in this exhibition because of my personal interpretation of Expo as a piece of art. Expo ’67 is largely built on several man-made islands in the St. Lawrence River. Thus the exhibition is a breaking away from the old, that is the main land, and symbol¬ izes a departure for art, for Canada, for the World. It is a new concept in art. Instead of being created either by an individual, for example a painter, or by a limited group, for example a symphony orchestra, this first world exhibition of the First Category even author¬ ized on the North American continent, demands for its creation world support. This piece of art takes its enthusiasm from those countries who sent exhibits. This enthusiasm must be transmitted to every individual attending visitor. In this way the millions of people who will attend Expo ’67 contribute to the creation of an original and beautiful work of art. The effects of the success of this fair are far reaching. Possibly the greatest effect would lead to greater respect and love among the countries of this world. On the other basic level lie my reasons as a Canadian for wishing to attend the Montreal World’s Fair. From the end of April through to the end of October, Canada’s one hundred years of growth will be specially honored. The huge display of historical information dramatically and thoughtfully organized will highlight our history in a fashion no treatise or history book can do. This representation of our past will tend to bind together the presently distinct units. The vivid portrayal of the union of the two arch foes, John A. MacDonald and George Brown, for their common country will surely ease the French English conflict. I wish to see this magnificant display of history partly for itself and partly to see the changes in attitude it will cause among the Canadians visitors from British Columbia to Newfoundland. Also what will be the re¬ actions of foreigners? Canada will be shown in a new and brighter glow that will clear and sharpen her features. A distinct history of our country will deepen the understanding between Canada and other nations. A love of contrast further attracts me to our World’s Fair. In 1535 Jacques Cartier landed on the future site of Expo ’67, and thus began the history of Montreal! There will be a tremendous opportunity to view the changes that several centuries have wrought in Montreal. This is the position of the Montreal of 1775 when Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys were taken prisoner, and the Montreal of 1967 with its preview of 64