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

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9 Balmoral Hall Iune. 1964 My dear Girls, As another year draws to a close, I ask you to recall the poem This Year is Your Shipf' When you steer your ship into the harbour at the end of Iune will you be satis- fied with the course you charted for yourself? You had a stop-over at Christmas and Easter to examine your progress. Some of you proceeded thereafter more cautiously and with a clearer vision of the course you were following: and some of you became more aware of the reefs and cross-currents that were jeopardizing the safety of your journey. I would like to say a brief word about these reefs and cross-currents as they relate to your year's progress. The reefs of course are the difficulties you encounter in navigation. These difficulties vary, but I shall mention a few. Some of you have dif- ficulty in concentrating, in working independently or in mastering facts: others have dif- ficulty following instructions. delving below the surface, or finishing assignments in a given time. The cross-currents are the distractions that will always beset you - thc telephone interruptions, the television, the wandering thoughts and day dreams that you have not yet learned to control. The experienced navigator, and each year you should be more experienced, learns to look ahead in order to avoid the reefs, and to steer away from the cross-currents of distraction. In this way each year the journey, interesting with its ever-changing hori- zons, and challenging with its demands on the navigator, can be safely manoeuvered. My last thought is for those of you who are about to sail your ships to far-away places. I join with Prospero in wishing you f'Calm seas, propitious gales and sail so ex- peditious as may bring you, after a happy voyage, to a safe harbour. Yours affectionately, Special Pre-School Dates For September, l964 Senior girls are asked to meet in the Library at Balmoral I-Iall at the following times to arrange courses and get text books. Tuesday, September 8th 2 p.m. -f Grades X, XI, XII. 4 p.m. --1 Head Girl, School Captain and Prefects meet in the Library to plan the Opening. Wednesday, September 9th 7 p.m. -- Boarders X, XI, XII - Textbooks and courses.

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THE PREFECTS Standing - Roberta Kipp 1Spoa'ts Captainl, Marcia Jackson 4School Captainl, Alexandra Willis, Elizabeth Clough, Katharine Kilgour. Sitting - Jane Moody fHead Girlr, Susan Hutchings, Ruth Thomas, Catherine Gourley, Joanne Brodie, Janet Harrison. CLARE MQCULLOCH One of our former students, Clare McCulloch died at her home in Winni- peg on Qctober the third, 1963. She had spent last year studying at Neuchatel Iunior College, Switzerland, where she successfully completed her Senior Matriculation. It has been only a year since Clare was at Balmoral Hall. She entered Grade VII in 1957 from Grosvenor School and was an excellent student, placing first in her class several times. Good at gym and sports, she was Sports Captain of Glen Gairn I-louse and played on the School Basketball team. She did well at everything she tried, and was never satisfied with less than her best. Clare was a Prefect in Grade XI, served on the Library Executive, and was a member of the School Choir. Being artistic, she was often appointed the head of decorating committees for dances, and many of us remember her famous Apink tree'. Clare's last effort for her school was to arrange for the planting of a hedge, the gift of her class at graduation. As the hedge grows, we will con- tinue to remember her, Clare endeared herself to many friends for she was always full of fun, All last year her mother was visited by girls, wanting news from Switzerland. Many of her former class-mates and friends returned to Balmoral Hall to join the School on Monday, October the seventh for a simple and beautiful Memorial Service conducted by Miss Murrell-Wright.

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10 SIGNE T5 Ebony And lvories The moment I stepped through the door- way, I was overcome with the feeling that I had crossed the threshold of reality, and had stumbled upon another world, a fifth dimension that lured neurotic victims of the twentieth century into its grasp and held them there relentlessly. Silently I shook my- self, and thought, not without amusement, that if I continued to be so melodramatic, people might begin to wonder whether or not I was in complete control of my mental faculties. Actually, it was just a crowded Chicago bar which I had entered, but there was something about that small, smoke-filled room, an ethereal quality, which made me think of things fantastic. I paused for a moment and listened, and suddenly became conscious of a hauntingly beautiful melody which drifted lazily throughout the room., casting its mysterious spell over the occu- pants and holding them entranced. I realized that it was those strains which had affected me immediately on my arrival, and even now were playing upon my emotions. Then the music stopped, and life in the bar re- sumed. I checked my coat and wandered over to a table near the band, seated myself, and ordered a drink. By the time I was served, the transient melody had begun again, ac- companied by a ripple of applause, for it was an old favourite, and for the next few minutes I relaxed, sipping my drink, and S - po-Q7 CSU!! I I N ac I?g Q R SC enjoying the exquisite, slow and dreamy music. When the band had completed their re- pertoire and had gone backstage for a brief recess, I followed, a trifle hesitantly, for I knew that they would not relish being both- ered during their only break in the even- ing's work. But my business was with only one of the musicians, the piano soloist, the man whose exceptional artistry was draw- ing crowds of people, and would draw crowds more in years to come. I-Ie was not seated, smoking and chat- ting, with the rest of the group, but was standing by himself, resting one foot on a crate and leaning upon his raised knee, gaz- ing fixedly out of the window, and inhaling deeply as he smoked a cigarette. When I first spoke to him, he seemed not to hear, and so I raised my voice and repeated my- self. f'Do you mind if I smoke? A pause. See those stars out there? In a way they're like peopleg they form their own private little groups, and they won't let any others into the group because they might spoil the pattern. Yes, just like people. The big negro sighed. Silence for a moment, then, You're Alan Davids, aren't you? I saw you in the audience, and guessed what you might be here for. Thats right. The magazine wants a .complete biography. You know, all the usual stuff - birth date, hometown, child- hood sweetheart - the works. Then there'll be the usual plugs - Rising young star