St Michaels University School - Black Red and Blue Yearbook (Victoria, British Columbia Canada)

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SCHOOL NOTES These notes have been delayed for the printers through the sports results being mislaid and the late return of the Headmaster and his family from their holiday in England. During his absence Nlr. Genge was kept extremely busy ensuring the smooth running of the holiday courses. filling breaches in the staff and finally interviewing a large number of new boys and their parents, so that. despite some last-minute crises, the school year got away to a good start with an enrolment of 90 Boarders and 90 Dayboys, the largest for some forty years. The long recess is always a busy time for only then is it possible to carry out major maintenance jobs, of which the chief this year were the new roof on the Memorial Hall and the New Look on the Cricket pavilion. Readers please note that the War Memorial Fund for the improvement of the Memorial Hall is still open and that the original design-for which we have the blue prints-to include a stage. dressing rooms, cloak rooms, etc., is still unfulfilled. This addition to the Memorial Hall and the building of a School Chapel are the most immediate major requirements for the betterment of the school. Rlr. Cupple's cypress hedge has progressed well along three- quarters of its length but lack of water and the rapid menace of undergrowth has spoilt one section. The gaps are being filled, however, and it is confidently expected that in two or three years time we shall have a fine thick hedge. This. together with an entrance gateway to replace the present derelict fence. will make a vast improvement to the school's appearance. There is of course no end to the improvements planned, hoped for and in part achieved. not all of them very obvious: such as the Qreat improvement in the cricket square thanks to the generosity both in time and money of Major lN'ise. whose benefactions during this past year have included also the construction and erection of concrete wickets so that our cricket may be improved. VVith scores of recent years in mind the Major's gift comes in good time indeed! In a year in which there were many highlights perhaps the most memorable were as under:- The visit by the Lt.-Governor. Col. The Hon. Clarence Wallace. C.B.E. and Mrs. NVallace on May Sth. This was the first time on which a Lt.-Governor inspected the school Cadet Corps and even the weather rose to the occasion. The production of The Prefects' Pressv-a brief journal of topical interest. The performance of Christopher Huntley in Senior Matric. It will be recalled that brother David passed Senior Mat1'ic thc 6

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lEditorial Ever and anon an Editor may. perhaps. be readily shriven For not giving what he has previously given. Tradition dies hard. Which is particularly pestiferous for the Editor who has set himself up as an Amateur Bard. And. instead of producing the Editorial prosaic and terse, Has perpetually burst into Verse. Comes the day when his Kluse will frown upon him And his inspiration run down upon him. Poesy will take to her wing And what will the would-be Poet do then, poor thing? This may explain our flight from a medium more rounded and rational Into the seductive arms of the merely Ogden Nashional. Yes. our own private Pegasus was beginning to cough And wanted this year off. Nevertheless, this format. though somewhat skittish, Affords a compromise which is almost British. Seeing that one need not be symmetrical and sublime. But one does have to rhyme: And, even if one's results may be a little too bright and breezy, Well, rhyming is easv. ' l ' C.F.G

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previous .lune with Latin and Greek as additional subjects and better than 9ll'k in both Physics and Maths. This year Christopher completed his Senior Matric at age I5 with 950 in Physics and 9602 in Maths. There is some very promising material in the present Grade XI but it will be some years before we see Senior Matric dealt with so handsomely at such an early age. Both brothers are now at L'.B.C. and doing well. The successful debut of Remove B under Mi'. l':unch's able direction first at the school concert and then in the Greater Victoria Drama Festival. wherein they were placed in the final six. The success of Gough and Nlandy in the Music Festival and the delightful musical evening arranged by Mr. Hodgson with the assistance of Miss Ruth Champion and Mr. Stanley Martin. The address by Niajor-General G. R. Pearkes, V.C.. M.P.. on Armistice Day. He has already done this twice for us and we wish he would make it an annual affair. The interesting lectures given by Major Rex Gibson on Mountaineering and Asst. Commissioner Rivett-Carnac. R.C.M.P.. on life in the North. The Mount Everest Lecture in Victoria by Sir Edmund Hillary and the address by Air Marshal Sir Philip Livingston, K.C.B.. etc. The ball for a small party of seniors. escorted by N112 Hyde- Lay and the Headmaster. at The Annie Wlright Seminary. Tacoma. a school activity which was not filmed by the newly formed S.P.S.W. tSociety for the Promotion of the School,s Wfelfarel but undertaken as a climax to the ballroom dancing lessons which were inaugurated this year. The vast improvement in the singing and enjoyment of Mor'n- ing Prayers brought about by the magnificent gift of a Steinway Grand by John Bevan. The Home Rugger Games against St. George's. All three matches were won-the first time this triple triumph has been achieved by either school. The lst XV match was an epic struggle which will long be remembered by those privileged to see it. Fox's effort in breaking the mile record and Rooper's dash to equal the existing record in the 100 yards. Less spectacular-but still outstanding-were Cabeldu's triumph for the third consecutive year in the Junior Cross Country. Fox's repeat win in the Senior Cross Country and Rooper winning the Senior Championship for the second time. The consistently high scores for the weekly shooting buttons and the smartness of the Sunset Ceremony. All in all it has been a good year and not least do we rejoice in the return to health of Mr. VVenman whose stentorian tones are to be heard yet again on the rugger field. 7