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

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31 Guides 1952-53 has been a very busy year for the Guides of the 16th Company. Before Christmas the new recruits worked hard on their Tenderfoot Tests with the help of the older Guides. On December 9th we had our enrollment ceremony for twelve Guides. Seven Guides received service stars, three their Second Class, and one proficiency badge was presented by Mrs. Troop, District Commissioner. One blizzardy day in November a group of hardy Guides went for a hike and cooked their lunch outdoors. In February we went on a Tally- Ho and then came back to the house of one of the Guides for food and games. This party was planned by three Guides working on their Hostess Badges. Some of the Guides went to the Thinking Day Service at the Auditorium on February 15th. This is an annual service held to commemorate the birthday of Lady Baden-Powell and to honour Lord Baden-Powell's memory. One of our patrols en- tered the Bessborough Shield competition for dolls' houses and received an honourable mention. All the Guides are now busy working on the Coronation Project. Badges which you receive for doing some community service, are a tribute to Her Majesty, the Queen. Recently the Guides sold tickets for Girl Guide Theatre Night and are now taking orders for Girl Guide Cookies. Four Guides now have their Second Class Badges and are working for their First Class. Pro- ficiency badges earned were 4 Cooks, 3 Hostesses, 3 Homernakers, 2 Minstrels, 1 Pioneer, 1 Religion and Life, and 1 Weaver. On behalf of the Guides we would like to thank our Captain, Mrs. Hutchison, and our Lieutenant Mrs. Graham, for helping us. 7 Mary Thornton, Onalee Rudd, Diane Grindley. The Hall0we'en Party On October 31 the junior School had its Hal- lowe'en Party. There were clowns, fairies, witches, tramps and everything you could think of. The programme started with a Grand March. Then each class took part in the entertainment. Grades Five and Six put on a little play. Grades Three and Four acted Nursery Rhymes for us to guess, and Grades One and Two played some singing games. The party ended with dixies and cup- cakes. Carolyn Wilson and Carol Anne Fields, Grade V. Brownies Our Brownie meetings start at 3:00 every Tues- day. We play games and then settle down to work. Our favourite games are The Wind and the Flowers, and North, South, East and West. We have four Sixes - Fairies, Elves, Little People and Pixies. On December 10 eleven Brownykins were en- rolled-we call them Brownykins because they are not Brownies until they are enrolled. Eight Brownies won their Golden Bars and Carol Anne Fields got her Golden Hand. Carol Anne Fields and Gloria Clarke are flying up to Guides in May, because they have their Golden Hands. Our motto is Lend a Hand. We go on a picnic once a year and have lots of fun. Our meetings always end with Taps. The Four Sixers: G. Clarke, j. McDougald, C. A. Fields and W. R, Stibbard. Lend A Hand Brownies always try to do their best, When there's a lot of work they never rest. They are scattered wide through all the land, And never miss a chance to Lend a Hand. Alix Palk, Grade IV. Song of Spirit My soul longs for music lilting in the air, As a humming bird does seek the nectar From the blooms of roses fragrant-sweet. Songs that fill my heart and beat Their rhythms through my mind Are truly not the easiest to find. But once a tune has cast its spell, It changes me-I know too well, And my whole being is entranced. O wondrous words, beauty enhanced, 'Tis with you that I belong, Release my spirit with your song. Joanne Wilson Grade VII.

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30 SCHOOL ACTIVITIES 2 X' xg'- CRAIG GOWAN IN THE TREE IN THE TREE-M. Gossiing, J. Rose, S. Flood, J. Davis, S. Hayes, D. Nichol. STANDING-N. A. Richards, Da. Smith, L. Cousens. M. Travers, J. Smith, B. McLeod, I. McKinnon, L. Sinclair, J. Blight, J. Bonnycastle, A. Jennings fHouse Headj. KNEELING-Di. Smith, B. A. Harris, L. Stephen, B. Sidgwick. W. Bracken, C. A. Fields, D. Grindley, C. Trimble, D. Biggar. SITTING-A. Palk, G. Northcott, M. Dowse, P. Neal, B. Head, Sh. Smith. A BSENT-N. Tweedy. Craig Gowan House This year a large fiock of new girls was wel- comed to the fold, and they, together with the old girls in the house, have worked with con- siderable teani spirit for the honour and glory of Craig Gowan. Our house has had rather an eventful year in the field of sports. In the Track and Field Day we placed second in our total score of points, and by a happy twist of fate we managed to make the finals in the house volleyball series. Golden op- portunities still await us in the summer term, when the basketball matches and the Ping Pong Tournament will be completed. Great enthusiasm was shown in the penny races held in the fall term, and combined efforts of all four houses added 387.80 to the Red Feather Campaign. We also helped with the Coffee Party by our large Mothers Auxiliary contribution to the candy sale. Our house is very proud of Nora Anne Rich- ards, the Head Girl, and of the fact that she is the third Head Girl in succession to come from Craig Gowan. A great deal of thanks is due to her, as well as to Doreen Nichol, our hard-working games captain, and to Martha Travers, our secre- tary, for their help during the year. We are par- ticuarly grateful to our staff members - Miss Boreham, Mrs. Brown, and Mrs. Smith - for their advice and encouragement. And finally, all you who have in any way, however small, contributed to the success of the House, thank you! Bonne chance, Craig Gowan! Ann Jennings, Head of Craig Gowan.

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Q L- L Initiation Day Initiation Day! Dreaded words to the new girls, who lie awake at nights, thinking of all the tortures those fiendish old girls will dream up! On Friday, October 17, the old girls came to school more cheerfully than usual, and were soon ensconced in chairs having their shoes shined - by the new girls, of course. Every old girl had her shoes shined at least once, and some had five or six shines! During the noon hour, various other little tasks had to be performed. One new member had to call Miss Boreham Miss Sharman and give her a two minute talk on science, one cleaned blackboardsg one walked down the halls tracing each step taken in chalk, and one sat at the main school door pretending to knit and rock her chair. But the best was yet to come! . This was an initiation party in the evening. The initiates came dressed in costumes prescribed by the prefects and the old girls in hard times dress. As the initiates marched around the gym, their varied and somewhat weird costumes caused a sensation. The old girls sat back, rubbing their hands in gleeful expectation. The programme opened with a ballet in the old QU classical UQ tradition Q?j. The Life and Loves of Obadiah Picklesnootf' in which the principals were Sonja Nelson, Brenda Dougall and Mary-Kaye Simpkinson. Then we were treated to a song by johnny Ray, ably impersonated by jennifer Rose. jennifer's sister, Angela, made quite a hit when she proposed to a paper-bag, only to find when the scarf was removed from her eyes that Miss Murrell-Wright had traded places with the bag! After this Beverly McLeod showed us the trouble she encounters when undressing in an upper berth fthe boxj. Then on came the Balmoral Hall chorus line, consisting of Carol Newman, Valdine Thorkelson, Maxine Wright, and Leone Stewart, who arrived fresh from Broadway suc- cesses - Ahem! The next act was a very timely one. Arlene McEwing and Irene MacKinnon did a take-off on Mr. Thorsen's gym classes, with special attention paid to the walk f!j and the extension rolls, or should we say extension falls? A tribe of aborigines, jill Herrick, Sue Holl- and, Norma Tweedie, Doreen Nichol and Lynn Stephen, next entertained us with one of their tribal dances. Have fun getting the lipstick and shoe-polish off your faces, girls? The next act by Carol Trimble and Bonnie Stovel, showed us why the Balmoral Hall girls are so tired in the morning. They later had a little difficulty during the relays, wearing those long night-gowns. Nancy White and Margaret Gillespie caused miniature snowstorms Qflourstormsj in the eagerness to get at the candies in the bottom of pans of flour. Then Sue Hayes and Irene MacKin- non rendered Daisy, Daisy, while bicycling for two on the gym-horse. What will they bicycle on next! The last act was the hit of the evening, how- ever, when Miss Kirby, Mrs. Vaughan and Mrs. Brown, three of our new teachers, did a skit on school life. Special praise must be given to Mrs. Vaughan for her tremendously funny take-off on today's gum-chewing, hair-combing school girls. ln the end Miss Kirby, exasperated by her two pupils was forced to leave. Do we ever have that effect on our teachers, we wonder? After this, we had relay races with old girls competing against new-the results were pretty even. Then Miss Murrell-Wright tested our spell- ing ability, finally stumping the last two contes- tants with queue',. The party came to a gloriously colourful Qbowsj end when the prefects presented their Kindergarten Party. Soon we were all happily demoted to kindergarten, and singing at the top of our lungs. After joining hands in a circle and singing Auld Lang Syne, we gave three cheers for the new girls for being such sports, and three cheers for the prefects, for such a super party. Eirene Landon, Grade X. A Visit to the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue On Friday evening, january 16, a group of Grade Ten boarders attended the Welcoming the Sabbath Service at the beautiful new synagogue on the river. The service began with a choir selection and an opening prayer by the Rabbi. We could follow the procedure in the service books which were in Hebrew but had the English translations. As a part of the Friday service a thirteen year old girl was conhrmed. She was dressed in blue, chanted in Hebrew and then read the portion of Scripture appointed for that day. Following her prayer before the Ark of the Covenant, she was welcomed into the Synagogue by the Rabbi and commended for having made her vows so sin- cerely. When the service had ended, the visitors were allowed to see one of the scrolls which is contained in the Ark. Every scroll, we were told, had been written by hand in Hebrew and each one contained the first five books of the Bible. The symbols on the Ark, and the significance of the different lamps were explained to us by one of the congregation. We were all invited then to have tea in the audi- torium. Everyone enjoyed this visit to the syna- gogue and we felt that we had spent a very educa- tional evening.