Balmoral Hall School - Optima Anni Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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A BOARDING SCHOOL FEAST When no one is really paying much attention to us, we have fun. When I say we, I mean all the girls in boarding on the top floor in the White House. About three weeks ago, our room held a feast. Everyone who was invited crept silently into our room after lights were out. just when everyone got into the room, we heard footsteps. Had the seniors below us told one of the staff of our feast? The guests all made dives for the nearest cover. The person beside my bed Qno names permittedj then decided to choke on a chocolate, and choke she did. After her coughing spell, she topped off the noise and confusion by hitting her head on my bed. On doing this, she uttered a sharp cry, but still no one came. After all this commotion, which lasted for about an hour, we decided to hold our feast in the room adjoining ours. By this time most of us didn't care whether we ate or whether we didn't, as we were so tired. Most of the guests were so exhausted that they crept back to their own rooms to sleep. Because our room started the feast, we, at least two of us, went with two of the other girls into the closet of the next room. Would you like to know what we risked our necks for ?-Sardines, olives, crackers and chocolates. After eating a certain amount of food, we went to bed. When we all woke up in the INCID- ing, we were hungrier than ever. GLADYS WARD, Grade VIII. THE SHOOT It all happened so quickly that I hardly had time to think, and the next thing I knew was that I found myself crouched low in a canoe behind a thicket of reeds. It was a cold day and the wind blew from the north. Gun in hand, I waited patiently for a flock of ducks, which did not appear. An hour passed and then over in the west I sighted them. The flock looked like a dark storm cloud coming closer and closer. Lifting my gun I aimed care- fully and shot. The shot, being my first, was very poor. It was too slow, and by the time I had pulled the trigger, the ducks were nearly out of sight. That was my first attempt, and the noise of the gun left my ears ringing and me shaking! After a few practice shots in the water, I realized my errors. The next flock was sighted and I tried again. One small Mallard fell to the water and .EW . E-D E. . . . 23 I shouted with great Gusto. I had hit a bird and felt extremely proud of myself until my father calmly piped out that he had hit it. After a thermos of hot coffee, we left our hiding place and paddled downstream until we reached another suitable place. All settled again, we reloaded the guns and waited for the third flock. It came quickly. Hurriedly lifting my gun, I closed my eyes and pulled the trigger. Down came the duck, and fell with a splash. The shot had been successful. I felt like a professional duck hunter as we paddled home to the lodge for a night of rest. DIANA NANTON, Grade X South. JAKE THE GARBAGE MAN A certain character who stands out very clearly in my mind is jessiman Jakeman, the garbage col- lector. Everyone calls him jake for short. He is a very short, plump, jolly, little fellow with a chubby face and a ruddy complexion. His eyes are dark and flashing and he has a short, stubby nose which turns up at the end. He has a very tiny mouth with cheery red lips. jake has curly black hair and also a little moustache that wiggles when he laughs. Despite the fact that he is short and fat, jake is very strong. He works tremendously hard and enthusiastically. He is proud to be a garbage man, and he shows this in his eager attitude towards his work. jake whistles and sings while he works. I must say that he is no experienced tenor, but it does one good to hear him sing because he is so happy. His favourite song, and his only song is, The Old Gray Mare with which he constantly serenades the poor, old, sway-backed horse that pulls his wagon. As anyone can see, Jake doesn't take very good care of his clothes. They are very shabby and dusty, but he doesn't seem to mind. He wears an old blue, leather jacket which appears to be rather snug-fitting because each day the seams are split wider apart than the day before. His old, black trousers are in a sad state. They have many rips and tears in them and are frightfully dirty. Jake is an extremely well-mannered and polite person. He tips his gray, battered, moth- eaten old hat to all the people he meets. Everyone who knows jake likes him because he is such a good, kind, happy and courteous old gentleman. DULCIE ANN THOMSON, Grade X North.

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22. D-.- HDARLING BABY I'm the second oldest of four children, two girls and two boys. The youngest is a four year old boy. He is everyone's favourite and is quite aware of the fact, so he thinks he can get away with anything and usually does. One of his favourite tricks is to gather up all his toys and trucks and hide them. Then he will make an aw- ful fuss and everyone will have to stop what he is doing and start to look for his toys. After the search has ended, Darling Baby will laugh glee- fully and confess that he had hidden the toys and knew where they were all the time. A year ago my sister finally got a beautiful blond oak bedroom suite that she had been beg- ging for, for the past two years. One day Dar- ling Baby found he had nothing to do, so he decided he would go through the drawers of the dressing table. While he was doing this, he found some True Red nail polish. He'd seen sister put it on and it looked so nice and bright that he decided he'd try it. The top came off easily enough, but the cardboard stuck, so he got the nailfile to pry it off. The cardboard finally came off and he began to paint. Like any four year old child, he made an awful mess. When he was finished, he decided that it wasn't quite as nice as he had first thought, so he reached for some Kleen- ex to wipe it off. In doing so, he knocked over a bottle of perfume which knocked over the nail polish, it promptly spread all over the top of the table. When he tried to wipe it off, it wouldn't come off. Darling Baby began to get worried and just then Mother walked in. When she saw what had happened, she screamed and ran to wipe it up, but it was too late-the nailpolish was on for good. When Father came home that night, he was met at the door by my sister who was crying her eyes out. When Father found out what had hap- pened and who the guilty person was, he took my young brother into the bedroom and closed the door. After a minute or two the most horrible sounds came from the bedroom. Darling Baby was finally getting a well deserved spanking. He's still bad, but he has never again gone into my sister's bedroom. DOLORES PALMATIER, Grade X South. DILL'S SURF-BOARD RIDING Have you ever seen a dog surf-board riding? I did this summer for the first time. Dill, our husky Labrador, stayed at the lake with us this summer for a week. He is our watch- dog at the office, but he now had a week's holiday. He can do quite a few tricks, but when he man- aged to surf-board, that topped all his tricks. We were all down on the dock one day, rest- ing after a strenuous swim. Some of us had been surf-board riding and we were relaxing-until Dill came along. He wanted attention, and so we started throwing sticks into the water, making him retrieve them. This was just what he wanted as Dill loves the water. Soon we were all in the water with him and the surf-board was in use again. Somebody got the idea of trying Dill on the surf-board. Everybody laughed at the idea but we tried it anyway. . We helped him on to the board and then the boat started. Poor Dill! He floundered about for some time and then he stood still and looked around. He then tried to shake himself-and into the water fell Dill. The second time was a success. When he was shoved on to the board, he grabbed the handle! What a sight that was! He stayed on for some time in that position, but eventually fell off. My brother turned the boat around and picked him up. When Dill jumped out of the boat on to the dock, everybody tried to pat him at once, but poor Dill had had enough. He ran to a nice quiet spot to rest. We didn't blame him for after all, not every dog can ride a surf-board. Fortunately we have pictures to prove his feat as my brother took them while driving the boat. CAROLYN DYSON, Grade X South. TO MY SCHOOLMATES To Balmoral Hall We came in the fall, To a winter of work and of play, And to kindly instruction each day. It will soon be the spring, And, oh, what will this bring- Exams! So good luck to you all. PITSY PERRIN, Grade VIII.

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24 THE BUN AND MILK ROOM The Bun and Milk Room? What a queer name! What is it? Where is it? just follow any grey-tuniced student and she'll lead the way. Fol- low her down the well-trodden stairway, through the locker rooms and the tunnel to the . . . Bun and Milk Room. Ah . . . there it is! Four walls lined with books that hold many secrets. Four walls that know everything that goes on within them. There is the tired old piano that stands bravely waiting for its next treatment of The Thing . The tables, the chairs, the books, the fireplace . . .everything reflects the comfy atmos- phere of this friendly room. The Bun and Milk Room has encouraged jitterbugs, pianists, Latin scholars, readers, Margot Fonteyns and stomach aches. Stomach aches? Yes, but wait, there's the recess bell. Let's watch. Doors are opening, teachers are giving instructions and now . . . the girls, hundreds of girls, big girls, little girls, short girls and tall girls all dash for their recess snack in the Bun and Milk Room. They tear down the stairs, through the locker rooms and push into line. One by one they move up to the table and take their lunch. Then Puddy sits down at the upright and pounds out the latest hit tunes while everyone gathers round for a sing-song. A few Charleston fans bounce about on the tiles in time to the music while acrobats practise new balances. This continues until the hand bell sends everyone hurrying up to the gymnasium. Noon hour rolls around and again, the con- venient Bun and Milk Room looks like the Grand Central Station filled with students, music makers, dancers and just resters. Later Latin classes are conducted within the famed room and then it is four and home time. I-Iowever, the room is not yet deserted. The book worms and the hobbyists linger to do their work in the quiet of the Bun and Milk Room . The boarders, also, spend many hours here. Yes, from early morning, when Alec checks the radiators till late at night when Mary dusts the last book, the Bun and Milk Room is a favourite spot. DAWNA DUNCAN, Grade VIII. Miss Sharman: Name a substance which will not freezef! Lois: I-lot water. CAPSIZING A CANOE There is a right way and a wrong way to tip a canoe. Did you ever wonder about this? There are several methods you can use in order to tip a canoe successfully. First of all, if you wish to plunge in near the dock, all you have to do is to get in and step far over to the side, and there you are swimming or struggling in the cool water. If you prefer another way, you can capsize your canoe by standing up in it, and rocking it. This is a sure way! But be careful not to let the canoe descend on your head when you fall in. jump out when you think the canoe is going to capsize! Still if you prefer more variety in this delicate affair, just paddle out to the lake nearest the rail- way station about train time, and make sure you are in the centre of the lake, all the boats will have to pass you there. Then when you see two or three or more speed boats coming, paddle calmly amongst them and then just quit paddling and prepare yourself for a dip. A few minutes after the boats have passed, the waves will start to rise, and then you will find yourself and your canoe caught in the midst of them! Of course, this is the most satisfactory way of tipping the canoe, because you haven't a chance to back out once the waves have come, and you have to struggle to get the canoe and yourself back to shore. If you are out in the lake, and there is merely one launch coming along and if at the same time, you feel like swimming, just take the waves sideways. This is a sure way and is similar to the method pre- viously described. It is not quite as effective how- ever. Of course, if you can, always go down a river where the current is strong or down some rapids or falls. This is in case you really don't want to get back to land again, for I doubt if you would, if you took such dangerous steps just to get a ducking by tipping a canoe! Take whichever way you like, I assure you they are all very effective and satisfying if you care for this sort of sport. I warn you beforehand, how- ever, to remove your watch and any jewellery, and to wear a bathing suit or shorts. Also I suggest that you learn to swim before you enter canoe- capsizing competitions. CARLA GUSTAFSON, Grade X North.