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

Page 9 text:

-f 'mm B H Balmoral Hall, june, 1958. My dear Girls, It is time now to Pack up your pencils in your old School bag And smile-smile4smile- but I have just a word to say as you set out for three months of comparative freedom. Recreation is a very necessary part of good living and if properly understood can, in three months, be an invaluable part of your life each summer during your school days. At the very beginning of your holiday you should have plans for this refcreating so that you will have something to show hy September. Most of you are still growing and the body needs a change from sitting in a desk to running in great open spaces. May you have many opportunities for such freedom. To keep pace with such activity the body will need to be well fed, and I can visualize the tremendous appetites that will gather around your family tables, and around campfires and at shore picnics. Refcreation of the mind is important too. At Iirst the mind will need a rest and then a change. Be sure that just as your body needs food so will your mind. Without mental stimulation you will End the days long, and some of you will soon be saying, What shall I do now? and towards the end of the Summer you will even be secretly glad that School will soon be calling you back. Food for the mind-here are some menus. Plan to learn something new-in swimming, diving, sailing, exploring, art, music, gardening, cooking or housekeeping. You can add to this list depending on your plans for this summer, but just remember that the mind will need food for its refcreation. It would be a good idea to include your Summer reading in this plan so that you enjoy at least one book each month and not leave four books for September. When I see you in the Fall I shall be interested to hear just what you taught yourself this Summer and how able you are to satisfy your own mind or how much you depend on entertainment that others create for you. A happy Summer to you all, and be sure, you who are graduating, that I shall look for several rows of Old Girls to wish us well as we set out for our New Year on September 10th. Affectionately yours,

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ALEDICTUHY Dear Girls, We never dreamed last September that the time for writing this farewell letter would be upon us so quickly. We have not moved into any new buildings, nor can we pinpoint any one outstanding event, but it has been a good year. The highlights of the School's social activities were two very successful dances, from which we all gained valuable experience as convenors and which we hope will become annual events. On May 22nd our versatile gymnasium was trans' formed into a gaily decorated teafroom for the highly successful LilacfMission Tea. It was very special because for the first time in eight years the lilacs were in bloom on the very day we needed oUR IIEAD GIRL JENNIFER YOUNG them. Most worthwhile was the formation of OUR scnooi. CAPTAIN BARBARA SIDGWICK The LIU-?fHfY SOCICW and We h0Pe that YOU Will see it carried on to better things now that it has been established. Besides these our sports programme expanded considerably this year, to the extent that our school basketball team won several matches. ' Long will we remember the lovely May morning, when we all gathered around the flagpole for Morning Prayers to dedicate our new Union jack. As the flag unfurled it seemed to form a bond between all of us participating in the ceremony, just as it does between all the countries of the British Commonwealth. In the same way, our school crest, now shining from our blazers, signifies a bond between us here at Balmoral Hall. We must be proud of our country as we watch our flag flying, and proud of our School as we wear its crest, remembering that Meliora Petensu is our aim. As we prepare to leave, we say goodbye and a special thank you to the Staff, the Prefects and to Miss MurrellfWright, without whose help this year could not have been so happy. To those who will be in authority next year, and to each one of you, if you keep in mind that nothing is achieved without effort, a prosperous, rewarding year will be yours. With love, JENNIFER AND BARBARA

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8 1 fi fra r U E C' lxx, ASJ T A A.. ,..,f-'JI' wg g The Last Straw Silhouetted sharply against the dying sun, the man stood alone on the rise of ground, gazing at the parched land and withered crops. Then he turned and, with an air of hopelessness, walked back down the way he had come. The earth was so dry that every step made clouds of brown dust rise. He passed an old wagon, blended brown and black from rust and age, and nearly buried beneath the drifting soil. Further on lay the bleached bones ofa cow, picked clean by vultures, and polished to a high sheen by the wind and sun. Inside the gate a few scrawny hens stalked around the yard, scratching in vain for food-seeds or bits of grain left from the morning rations. A lean cow, her ribs showing through her hide, stood at the drinking trough which was caked in white from the strong, alkaline water. She mooed pitif fully, thrusting her once soft nose, now cracked from the dryness, in search of water. Then she nibbled hungrily at the dried weeds surrounding the base of the trough. The man gave a weary sigh as he mounted the creaking steps of the veranda and walked into the house. A layer of dust covered everything, even though an attempt at cleaning had been made that morning. He passed through into the kitchen where his wife was preparing supper. A large tin wash tub sat at one side of an old stove, about half full of water. Njake? Your supper's ready. You'd better wash. Wash? In what? he replied sarcastically. Can't use good water just to wash my hands . . . rather go dirty. Please, Jake! I know water is precious, but you don't have to use much . . . and mebbe . . . mebbe it'll rain . . . I saw nice black clouds just before sunset . . . mebbe they'll come this way. L'You know them clouds won't come this way! We haven't had rain for weeks an' it won't rain now . . . not when everythings ruined . . . crops burnt out, cattle afdyin' from thirst . . . Oh, God! Why did it have to happen when everything was going so well! Best crop we've had in years . . . could probably have made enough for all the things we wanted. QCIQQ. The woman, haggard and thin, looked at her husband silently. She thought of the beginning of the year . . . all the hopes for a really good crop . . . all that had been planned, the new radio . . . new curtains for the livingfroom, maybe even a new dress! Then, the wind. . .the tireless, unceasing wind, carrying everything, all hopes and plans, before it. Why had it happened? Why? Old memories darted through her mind . . . their arrival five years before . . . all the misfortune, the barn burning down, the fever leaving them without their three children, every year something happening to the crop . . . and still they were struggling against death with only a few dollars left. . . Would it ever end? Her thoughts were sharply interrupted by her husband. I'm going out to feed the animals. Where's their water? Ain't any left, she replied wearily. What? he exclaimed. But they gotta have water! . . . Well, if there's none left of theirs, we'll have to give them some of ours! We can last out for a day or two on what we've got, then I'll try and buy some more from the government man. A day . . . or two? she asked doubtfully. Yes. I did try today, but the supply was all gone. He'll be getting more the day after tof morrow . . . We'll just have to be more careful, that's all. He turned around fiercely and took up an old bucket from the back of the porch, filled it half full of water, then tramped out of doors. His wife sighed quietly and started clearing the table. Day dawned once more, and just as the sun started its relentless trip across the sky, the man came out of the lone weatherfbeaten farmfhouse. He headed for the rickety shelter at one side to feed the animals. As he passed by, he let the chickens out of the makeshift hen house. In the shelter he found their only cowidead. In the pen, one sow lay awkwardly on her side, grunting in pain, while the other cowered in the opposite corner. He examined the sick animal, fed the other, then returned to the house for breakfast. Before mounting the veranda, he went down, took a handful of dirt, crumbled it between his