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

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26 wx STORY OF A WORM I am a worm. I am not a very special worm, not being extraordinarily long, or fat, or even grubby. I am just a worm. I have not had a very unusual or eventful life as worms' lives go. I have been almost stepped on once or twice and have had one very narrow escape from the beak of a large, fat robin. But these are not unusual occurrences for members of my race and clan. You may be wondering how it came to be that an uneducated worm should be writing his life story. Well, I will tell you. One night as I sat in my little home under a pebble, I heard a mighty crash! For a moment I thought the world had fallen in but, as soon as I realized that I was not in worm Heaven, I decided that the world must still be standing and I decided that I would go out and see what had really hap- pened. Hesitatingly I crawled out of my hidey-hole onto what seemed at first to be a large, white world. Then I saw some huge black things which looked like letters, and a picture or two. Of course, I know how to read having lived in a school-room for several months, and I keep in practice by reading the Wormly Weekly , a newspaper for worms. So I tried to make words out of the large letters. I climbed up on a flower stalk and began to read. The white thing I had thought to be a world was an old magazine someone had dropped, and the page was opened at the autobiography of a man, hailed everywhere as a great author. As I read, I had an idea. At first it was a very little idea but soon it had grown so big that it pushed every other thought from my mind. Why couldn't I write the story of my life? The very thought of seeing my name Wilfred Winterbottom Worm in print made me tingle with excitement. So, I took up my pen and began to write. And this story which CI hopej you have read, is the result of my first effort in writing. JUDY SPENCE, Grade IX. BALMORAL HALL We have a school that's new this year And many changes are quite near. A hundred years And buildings tall Will then denote Balmoral Hall. Oh, it will be a wonder school With ultra modern swimming pool, The biggest gym, And best equipped- No piece of apparatus skipped. A games' room full of things to do And everything kept bright and new- Three ping pong sets- While all the floor Is charted out for games galore. Outside the grounds laid out so neat Will occupy some thousand feet. The tennis courts In summer are The most important spots by far. Team games are played by nearly all- Lacrosse, and cricket, hockey, ball- In winter time We ski and skate For these two sports we highly rate. Now for the girls who want to work And from their duty dare not shirk, Whose conscience calls- They have to pass- We might find room for one small class DIANE FRASER Grade XI. O

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A HOLIDAY AT WISCONSIN DELLS In my summer holidays my mother and father took me down to the Wisconsin Dells where we spent one of the nicest week-ends we have ever had. The hotel we stayed in was on the river and I could look out of my window and see the boats going up and down. We sailed on many boats. We took the ride in the Upper Dells in the morn- ing and in the Lower Dells in the afternoon. When we came back from the Lower Dells, my mother and I wanted to go on the speed boats, and so my father took us. In the evening there was an Indian ceremony at Stand Rock. We had our dinner and then we went down to get on the boat called the Winne- bago, which is a very large boat. The boat left about seven-thirty and it took about thirty minutes to go to Stand Rock. When we arrived, an Indian chief was standing up on a high rock giving an Indian welcome call, and Chief Evergreen Tree stood at the front of the boat and gave the call back to him. The ceremony started about eight-thirty. There were many benches on the rocky hills for the many people arriving by boat and by car. There were Indians from all over the country. There were tents high up on the rock with bright lights burn- ing. In the doorway of one of them sat an Indian girl in white. She looked lovely. The master of ceremonies was a white man. He stood on a rocky platform, Chief Evergreen Tree was very good and could mimic almost anything. On the way back, we sang songs, and while singing one of the songs, he was mimicking an Indian love call. Chief Evergreen Tree was writ- ing his autograph under his picture which they were selling on the boat. Wisconsin Dells is a very small city and on Sunday it was like Saturday night here. We had a nice time at the Dells. JOAN ANDERSON, Grade VIII. TACKS The first day of school opened, and there was Tacks. He was sitting in his usual seat in front of the teacher. Tacks was in Grade IX. He was by no means a dull lad, although he bore a striking resemblance to Mortimer Snerd. ggg g g ,gg 25 A clumsier more awkward boy Miss Brown had never seen. Tacks was six feet two inches tall. His clothes hung on him like clothes on a scarecrow. His hair, eluding his best efforts and hair grease, stood like a scrub brush with stiff bristles of uneven length. Tacks was a good-natured boy, brimming over with mischief. All the kids liked him. They called him Tacks, though his real name was Els- worth Tacksby. One day, Miss Brown, the teacher, was cor- recting some papers when a murmur crossed from one side of the room to the other. She looked up to see Tacks shove something into his desk. An investigation brought out a white rat, Tacks' most lox ed pet. He was told to keep it at home. A few weeks later, Miss Brown was reading The Ancient Mariner to the class. - Oh, sleep, it is a gentle thing, Beloved from pole to pole . . Zyn uh zyb , came from in front of Miss Brown. She looked up from the book and over her glasses. All the class were attentive, listening with fascination to the poem. All, that is, except Tacks. He had his head on his hand and was placidly sleeping and snoring. Miss Brown hadn't realized she had such mystic powers. The last day of school, Tacks loped into the classroom. He was more awkward than ever that morning, and it appeared he was trying to hide something. He took his seat. All day Miss Brown felt uneasy. She kept looking for white rats, mousetraps in her drawer, tacks on her chair, and other examples of prac- tical jokes. The day passed uneventfully. At four o'clock the room emptied very quickly. All had gone but Tacks. He pulled a parcel out of his desk, put it on Miss Brown's desk and with four big steps was out of the room. Under the neat covering of the parcel, Miss Brown found a copy of Collected Verse of Edgar A. Guest . ANNIE LOU ORMISTON, Grade XI. END-OF-TERM HIGHLIGHTS Three guests attended Morning Prayers at Balmoral Hall on Thursday, May 31st, Mrs. D. E. S. Wishart, Chief Commissioner of Guides for Canada, Miss A. M. V. Rosseter and Mrs. H. Lount, all very important persons in the guide world. Mrs. Wishart gave a short talk to the School.

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The duifers! On the steps. Recess. Homework. Winter 7 Whose friend 'Y Golden Boy? In the trees. On the lawn. Choo! 10. The hike. 11. Bed time. 12. More guides. 13. Posing. Atfection. Disdain. Here I am! Head ? Keen low. I'm smiling. l'll'l9l1LlS. Carol 8: Darlene lt's windy.