Bowmanville High School - Screech Owl Yearbook (Bowmanville, Ontario Canada)

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SOCIAL ACTIVITIES The At Home continued to be the social event of the year, still the only dance with an orchestra. Jack Skitch and the Sevenaires from Peterborough played for the At Home all through the 50's. The decorations were very elaborate, ranging from the Egyptian theme with a huge picture of Cleopatra adorning the back wall of the auditorium to a circus theme, knights of long ago, Mexico Cwith matadors holding red capes with bulls, hanging from the curtainsl, Fantasy Land, Winter Wonderland and a spectacular scene from Swan Lake. The reception line formed at the front door which you entered under a canopy of red and white stripes. The girls wore long or ballerina length formal gowns, the boys wore dark suits. One of the bigger social events of the 1950's was the Lester Pearson Ball. Mr. Pearson was in town April 21st, so a dance was arranged, at- tended by Mr. and Mrs. Pearson and Mr. and Mrs. John James. A favourite with the students was the Christ- mas party. This marked the end of exams and the beginning of the holidays. These parties began around one p.m. with a movie, then en- tertainment such as pie eating contests for students or marshmallow eating contests for the teachers. One year the teachers did a skit HE AIN'T DONE RIGHT BY NELL, with Mr. Ross, Mrs. Hochman, Mr. Sheridan, Miss Cun- ningham in the leads, with small parts played by Miss Mclnnes, Mrs. Lewis, and Mr. Dippell. Mr. Witherspoon directed this skit and it was a great success. The Teachers' skit then became part of the Christmas Party tradition. A ritual each year was the volleyball game between Form V and the teachers. Just before the exams a challenge and response were made in morning assembly. This challenge was made by the losers of the previous year in the form of a skit, the response by the winners. The teachers challenged only twice in the 50's. Af- ter supper in the gym this volleyball game was played with much cheering and shouting, then back to the auditorium for dancing. Besides the At Home and the Christmas party, several other dances were held, the first usually being the Hallowe'en Costume Dance then, throughout the year, dances sponsored by the different societies with the object of raising money for their group. Each form also had their form parties which were usually toboggan parties or skating parties, followed by lunch and dancing at the school. There was much discussion throughout the 50's whether 'guests' fi.e. non form members? should be allowed at these parties. LITERARY SOCIETY This society sponsored a great many clubs such as the Drama Club, Art Club, Glee Club, Cformed by combining the two existing choral groupsl, Record Club, and French Club. A new club was formed in 1951 called the Career Club, under Mr. Elliott. The form programmes were going strong between 1950 and 1954, with en- tertainment put on by each form at intervals throughout the year. The best of these programmes were then chosen for Literary Night and shown to the parents and public. These programmes were cut down in 1954-'55 by combining some of the forms and were eliminated entirely in 1955-'56, but not without much complaining from the students. With this change, the Literary Night became Variety Night and, in the 60,s, Hoot Night. MUSIC There is one thing all students of the 50's will remember and that is the Operetta presented, at first, with the Commencement Exercises, then separately. In 1950, the PIRATES OF PENZANCE was presented, followed in 1951 by H.M.S. PINAFORE. Some of the students made outstanding contributions to these shows, such as the four boys who make up the Four Pals , the quartette which is mentioned later, plus Grace Nicholson, Bev. Frank, Lydia Bates and Bob Gallagher. These operettas give an op- portunity for teachers and students to work together . Clvan Woolleyl. In 1952, LIFE WITH FATHER was presented at Commencement, followed in 1953-'54 by pirates of penzance again, with a new cast. The next year was taken up with rehearsals for QUALITY STREET and in 1955-'56 H.M.S. PINAFORE

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l 'MR. L.W. DIPPELL, B.A. by Mr. M. Stacey Mr. Dippell came to Bowmanville High :School as the principal, in 1929, at the time when the first addition to the original school wvas being built. In 1929-1930 he taught Science, Agriculture End Physical Training, in the succeeding years e taught Chemistry, Physics, Botany, Zoology End Agriculture, even up to the time of his etirement. His former students remember him s an outstanding and dedicated teacher and a an of many fine qualities and high ideals. He lso made a long-lasting impression on the eople of Bowmanville by his unselfish con- ributions to his church, the Masonic Order, nd many community organizations and rojects. In the first year of his principalship C1929-'30D e had six teachers on his staff, in his final ear C1960-'61J there were forty-six. In 1955-'56, when the second and final large ddition was made to Bowmanville High chool, he took the burden of much of the responsibility to ensure that the building was ompleted properly. In 1960-1961 he was Supervising Principal of two schools under one roof, namely the Cour- tice shift in the morning and the Bowmanville shift in the afternoon. At the time of his retirement in 1961 a banquet in his honour was held on June 10th. In addition to his staff, board members and close friends, many teachers, who were on his staff from 1929 onwards, attended. The L.W. Dippell Scholarship Fund was established by the Student Councils of the Bowmanville and Courtice High Schools in the spring of 1961, and the announcement of this was made to Mr. Dippell on the back campus before a special assembly of all the students and the staff on May 23rd. After his death on August 28th, 1961 this fund was renamed the Louis W. Dippell Memorial Scholarship Fund and the public was invited to enlarge the fund by further contributions. The response was gratifying, and indicative of the esteem of the people of Bowmanville and the surrounding area for the late Mr. Dippell who during the thirty-two years of his principalship has made probably the greatest contribution of any man to education in this community. Presentation of the L.W. Dippell Scholarship Fund, May 23, 1961. LEFT TO RIGHT: Mr. M. Stacey, Courtice Vice-Principal. Mr. L. Lucas, Bowmanville Vice-Principal. Mr. L.W. Dippell. Mrs. H. Lewis Dixie Gill CB.H.S.J Pearl Pascoe CC.H.S.D Roy Chant CV Forml mr .'.,l X . iwnxnnuuavm ..i.. mwnmwmw'-.af ., crew

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4 P l I was again shown with a new cast. With the ad- dition to the school these plays and operettas were abandoned for a time. During the late 50's the Band was growing Csince music was now an option? and, under the direction of Mr. Peters, they entered a Toronto Music Festival where the band was rated as a Class A Band. The Glee Club was also im- proving in this decade. In 1955-'56 they presen- ted ST. LUKE'S PASSION by Bach. This was considered a very large undertaking but again, under Mr. Peter's capable direction, this at- tempt was a great success. The Glee Club was asked to perform at the local churches with guest' soloists and was widely acclaimed. The following year they entered the Kiwanis Festival in Peterborough and walked away with first prize as they performed pieces from ST. LUKE'S PASSION and received extra marks for the difficulty of the work. There was a quartette, formed in 1948 by Mr. Harle, the music teacher, which turned out to be very popular. They sang at many church an- niversaries, functions at the school, and even- tually starred in the operettas. The boys who made up this quartette were Rowland Coom- es, Kenneth Hockin, Ivan Woolley and Ted tt. These boys sang very well together, but ne of their big attractions was the humour hey put in their shows. At the testimonial din- er for Mr. Dippell in 1961, he made a special request for the Four Pals to sing. They had not ung together for years, but were honoured to e asked, so got back together and rehearsed. r. Dippell was pleased to see them all ogether again. SCREECH OWL During the 50's the Screech Owl again came to life. After the 1949 professionally printed one, the school could not afford to publish this type of edition every year, so the office staff began to mimeograph the copy at the school, with the typing done by the students in Com- mercial. Two or more sections came out through the year, collected into soft covers with the pictures by June. The photographs were small and difficult to see in the early '50's but improved later. The 'Letters to the Editor' were a big feature and indicated the feelings of the time. A new page was started in the mid '50's called 'Letters to the Lovelorn' which was good for a laugh. There was much good literature printed, short stories and many very good poems. One highlight of the Screech Owl was the form humour - While looking at the map of the world in Geography class, Merrill Brown exclaims: 'I don't see the Iron Curtain'.' Mr. Witherspoon, in his inimitable style replied It must be at the cleaners. - Graham Pickering has a habit of smiling at everything. In Literature class, Miss Cun- ningham was reading a serious part in JULIUS CAESAR, when she happened to glance down the aisle and see Graham about to laugh over the grave scene. Miss Cunningham: Smile Graham, and you'll die with a grin on your face. - In a Latin class, before Mr. Sheridan's marriage, he was being teased about the big event. Laughter ensued and Mr. Sheridan said in exasperation Don't laugh, it isn't funny! There was also much talk about whether Mr. sneakers when walking the Dippell wore halls. No one could hear him coming until he was on top of them. He sometimes jangled his keys to warn There was someone new students of his approach. also form news, advising if joined the class or if the class took a trip to the Museum or the theatre. ATHLETICS Much attention in the 1950's at school was paid to sports. In the early '50's the school walked away with the Inter-school Track Meets, winning the Bassett Cup in 1950, '51, '53, and '54. When the construction began on the new addition, the track and field meets were 'moved to the Boys' Training School. The basketball teams did well also during this period. The Senior Girls won the Eastern On- tario Championship in 1950'51, won the Lakeshore Championship in '51-'52, The Boys' Senior Basketball Team won the League Cham- pionship but lost the Cossa in Peterboro in 1950. There were many names who were outstanding in track and basketball - Dot Hocken and Dot