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

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CUPID CAPERS Cuipids, heart and candles transformed the dining-room of Dalton House into a place of stately elegance, an appropriate setting for the Cupid Capers banquet. Following dinner, coffee was served in Aikins House. Everyone then proceeded to the gymna- sium where a cascade of red and white streamers and hearts and cupids greeted the dancers. Reign-ing over the festivities was a golden cupid, who did h-is work throughout the eve- ning, as his arrows appeared to hit many a target. CATHERINE VIVIAN DANCE PREPARA TIONS The great success of Cupid Capers was due to the careful planning and thoughful preparation on the part of a few girls. Mary Bruce, the Convener, co-ordinated the work involved in the making of wall decorationsg she also m-ade artistic use of Sheryl Noonan's Cupid. Cathi Bell displayed great ingenuity in decorating t-he diining-roomg as Miss Mur- rell-Wright said, It has never been so beau- tiful . All those who contributed so tangibly to the success of Cupid Capers are to be congratulated. SUSAN CRAMP INI TIA T ION Initiation 1965 was a very eventful night for old girls as well as new. The prepara- tions for Spectaculum Romanum' included activities wfhich varied from furniture-moving to popcorn popping, but once begun, not even a flood of mustard could stop the fun. The evening of entertainment began in the Colosseum with many skill-testing games, ranging from the shot-put to a chariot race. Roman table manners were demonstrated and all the latest medical techniquesiwere ex- hibited in Surgery-a-go-go. After the games were completed, it was unanimously decided to accept the captives as Roman citizens. We then moved up the Appian Way to the United Way in the Forum. Stalls run by each House tempted guests to participate in various money-making but interest-ing activ- ities. Returning to the Colosseum, the prae fectae presented a fairly tale called Album Nix which thoroughly delighted everyone. Any similarity to any other fairy tale is purely accidental! Who could ever forget the cackle of the witch, and the efforts of Latin oration. A hearty sing-song brought to a close a very worthwhile evening in which we raised 5169.58 for the United Way, enlisted some new citizens, and enjoyed a lovely evening back in Roman days. SUSAN BRACKEN Twrwzty mu'

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IMPRESSIONS of CHRISTMAS at SCHOOL by a new boarder The Christmas spirit arrives early at Bal- moral Hall. As soon as examinations are over early in December an air of excitement seems to set in. A flurry of decorations, travel ar- rangements, carol service practices, all seem to be part of this Christmas spirit. Commit- tees decorate the gymnasium with trees and the library with nativity pictures and Christ- mas books. Even the ha-lls and corridors seem to catch the Spirit of the Season. Wrapping paper, gifts, surprise and whis- pered secrets all become a part of the res- idence. The high moment was our boarders' Christmas dinner. In our most festive dresses we greeted the staff and some of the senior day girls in Aikins House. Escorted by senior girls and followed closely by Junior escorts the staff were taken to the dining-room. A festive air was created by candlelight, party-crackers, special gum- drop trees and the lighted Christmas trees. It was a big family Christmas dinner with turkey and all the trimmings, end-of-term excitement and happy feelings of soon going home. Dinner was followed by the exchang- ing of gifts from the decorated tree in the common room. Gifts - Christmas cake -- punch and lots of singing concluded the happy event. Even though the choir practised regularly throughout the term, there were many extra concentrated movements of hard work as the time for the Christmas Carol Service approached. Readers, Actors and choristers were all busy in both Junior and Senior School preparing for this Service. But it is all so worth while, so special and such a good end to my first term. That evening we left by bus, plane, train and car for our res-peotive homes taking with us happy mem- ories of Christmas at Balmoral Hall. JANET JACKSON - Form VI FORM III VISITS A DAY NURSERY In the spring term Form III visited the Broadway Day Nursery. This nursery, which is partly su-pported by the United Way, is where many mothers lbring their children to ibe looked after while they work. Here we saw the children at play, at lunch, during their rest, and for their story. Play is very important to children, because it is their work. It teaches them to get along with each other, helps them to learn, and gives them a chance to show their feelings. At the nursery the toys were chosen to give Twenty the children pleasure, and to develop them physically, mentally, and socially. The chil- dren we saw were happily playing together, and with the aid of the staff they were able to draw full -benefits from the toys and their group -play. Before lunch, the children spent a quiet halfJhour listening to stories. The stories were simfple, but they all taught the children something. On the whole, the children were quiet and attentive, ibut a few showed distraction from our presence. The teacher read in a quiet, expressive voice, showing the children the pictures, and allowing them to make comments on the story. We were fortunate enough to see the chil- dren at their lunch. They were divided into small groups, each group sitting at a table with a teacher to serve and help. Here the children are taught good manners, and by a gradual process they learn to like each meal they are served. After lunch each child was given a vita-min. This nursery is concerned for t-he care of each individual child, not only t-he group. The staff were firm, kind, and loving, giving the children a feeling of 'being wanted, and of security. Many problem lchlildren have been sent to this nursery, and we were told of the marvellous changes the staff have been amble to make in them. Those who were once wild and rebellious are becoming calm and loving and those who were shy and withdrawn now make friends. This was an excelleont opportunity for Form III to learn something quite new. SPECIAI PERFORMANCE On Tuesday, February 8th, Forms IV and V attended a special performance by four members of the Manitoba Theatre Centre at St. Maryis Academy. The programme was opened and closed with selections from, As You Lit It . Christ Climbed Down by Law- rence Terlenghetti was a satire on how very commercialized Christmas has become. The opening scene from Ionesco's The Bald Soprano was an ironical interpretation of the problem of communication between an English couple. The Congo by Rachel Lindsay was presented in an oral dance and was followed by Robert Frost's, Death of the Hired Man . The selection of Scene Il Act II of King Henry Il on the clever courtship of Catherine by Henry and his adroit playing on words, provided much amusement for the audience. We look forward to a similar op- portunity next year.

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THE IIBRARY EXECUTIVE Senior Librarian ...... ................ ' F. Nance Processing .......,..... ................. F . Tanner Display ......... ...... C . Bell, T. Rogers THE SENIOR LIBRARY This year the Senior Library committee is pleased to report the accession of many new books. Monthly book donations from the friends of the library were among our most prized new editions. Perhaps the most widely read has been The Albert Schweitzer Al- bum. . Beside these the library ordered and processed 250 books. Some of the title-s are: The Art of India - Goetz Of Hu-man Bondage - Somerset Maughan Sean O'Casey -- Krause The Comfortable Pew - Berton The Fossil Book - Fenton Tennis - Sports Illustrated Complete Poems of Robert Frost Dictionary of the Bible by Hastings Venture to the Interior - Van der Post My Darling Clementine - Fishman . Circulation has been steady and wide use made of the reference books. As usual some students have had overdue books but with the fines collected by Rosemary Condo we have bought a shelf-label-marker. After school on Friday the library has been a meeting place for many committees. Under the guid- nace of Frances Tanner everyone had some 'I'u'1'i1ly fll'-O Circulation ......................... ....... A . Hunt Treasurer .............................. ..... R . Condo Junior School Librarian ....... ...... S . Spohn experience in processing. Another busy group has been the display committee. Interesting displays of 'books on musi-c, science, archi- tecture, art and careers, hav-e shown both students and staff the wide range of subject matter on our library shelves and in the picture file. A special thanks to Garrity Smith for her posters. A Library Quiz attracted many contes- tants and stimulated wide research, with Nina Mae Sutherland, Ballatefr and Jean Riley, Craig Gowan winning the honours for the Quiz and Marlene Fandrick, Braemar and Deanna Silvester, Glen Gairn placing first in their section for the title-s-tory. My thanks go to the Library Committee who assisted with the corrections. Perhaps the most useful change has been the completion of the subject file begun last summer by Jane Moody, one of our old girls. Subject, title and author cards are now inter- filed. This year has certainly been an exciting one for me, acknowledging new books, seeing them processed, displayed and finally in cir- culation. We have a library to be proud of and a library committee is a wonderful way to serve our school. TEDDIE NAN CE - Librarian