Ashbury College - Ashburian Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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THE ASH B U RI AN 15 SCHOOL YEAR 1947-8 SCHOOL NOTES IT SEEMS no time at all since we were framing these Notes twelve months ago. At that time the streets and gutters of Rockcliffe were, like Iser, flowing rapidly. (We observe that last year ' s School Notes were embellished with a photograph of flood waters). This year, how- ever, spring crept surreptitiously upon us, with none of the torrents and turbulence of last year ' s advent, and, before we knew it, we were listening to the chugging of Mr. Oliver ' s mechanized chariot laying low the lawns, to the twittering of robins nesting in the ivy, and to the soft reluctant shedding of long winter underwear; boys in white garments had usurped the green, and spring had come to Ashbury. But enough of these vapourings! Below will be found a catalogue of interesting or important events not elsewhere reported in this maga- zine, E itertaimnent There was much on the list of entertainment this year. The Satur- day and Sunday night movies were conducted again by A4r. Sibley and again the calibre of pictures shown was very high indeed. Mr. Sibley ' s fine work and his devotion to the boys in giving up his Saturday and Sunday evenings throughout the year is much appreciated by us all. We are sure that everyone concerned found this entertainment most enjoyable, and a very pleasant way to spend their Saturday or Sunday evenings. On Hallowe ' en the boys put on an impromptu party in the Assembly Hall, and refreshments were contributed by the Headmaster. The Junior School paraded in costume, and the Middle and Senior schools combined in producing two short theatrical sketches and an amateur Quiz Show. The whole thing was a lot of fun. House dances were held throughout the greater part of the fall and winter sessi ons and were well and truly patronized by boys and guests. A number of Old Boys were again good enough to revisit the school from time to time and give us the benefit of a series of interesting lectures on a wide variety of topics. Among these, Mr. George Parsons, just returned from the Middle East, regaled us with many an interesting and amusing anecdote. We enjoyed, in addition to the Old Boys ' lec- tures, a talk by Mr. Sam Fox, Ottawa Rough Rider Coach. He discussed modern football technique, and also gave us an insight in to the organiza- tion of football in Canada and the United States.

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14 THE ASH BU RI AN emphasized this fact that on their shoulders lay the future of mankind, as it lay on the shoulders of all young men who were stepping out to make their mark in the world. Following this came the Valedictory delivered by the Head Boy, John Pettigrew. Then the National Anthem and the dismissal of the gathering with the fond farewells and see you next year . G.F. VALEDICTORY, 1947 Your Excellencies, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: I AM grateful for this opportunity of expressing the thanks of the graduating class for all that Ashbury has offered us. While some of us may have failed to grasp our opportunities and few have taken the fullest possible advantage of them, they have been so freely tendered that we cannot but have benefited. It is not, I suppose, too difficult to teach a man a trade or even a profession. By the same token, most schoolboys can be taught Latin, or grammar, or geography without too much trouble. This, however, represents but a small part of education. The teaching of the particular skill is useless, or even dangerous, unless its owner can also be taught to apply it intelligently in the interests of his community. In other words, education must bring with it a sense of responsibility as a citizen, not a citizen of a town or a nation, but of the human race. We are too much inclined to think of school as a necessity which must be suffered if we are to get good positions or make a lot of money. Ashbury has taught us that our learning and skill are things we hold in trust for others. We have learnt that to be a good student or a good football player is not an end in itself. These are only good because they are good for the school and we only benefit from them when the school also benefits. Because Ashbury has tried to teach us a responsibility to something more important than self, because in this school we have participated in all the activities of the group, because here we have learnt to work and co-operate with others of different ideas and from different lands, for these reasons and more, we feel that we are fortunate in having been exposed to the sort of training so sorely needed in today ' s world. We reahze that few of us will achieve great success as the world measures success. We think that perhaps we have been taught another measure, not that of wealth and position but that of service, and that our success is reflected in our achievements as citizens, not as individuals. We think that we can best repay our school by keeping alive some of the idealism which she has attempted to instill in us.

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