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

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There were several trains a day on the Grand Trunk which stopped at all local stations, sup- plemented by those on the C.P.R. after 1913, so that getting to and from other towns for games was quite convenient. At this time games were played by the girls in regular dresses, but running 'shoes were worn - to protect the grass. In 1915 Miss Smith took a summer course in physical culture at University of Toronto when gym costumes worn were middies and blue serge bloomers, and these became standard for girls' athletics. The entire third floor ot' the school, 65 feet by 70 feet, was intended for use as a gymnasium, according to a description of the building in 18 90, and some students recall having exercises, club swinging and drills up there, but in the main, athletics was consisted of outdoor sports - football, hockey, basketball, tennis, and track competitions. However, Reta Cole C1913-'16 Mrs. C.H. Dudleyl, Albert Cole C1914-'18l and Morley Burgess C1914-'18l all mention a room in the basement with parallel bars for exercises, and in 1913 and '14, The Statesman records that there were donations from Commencement proceeds and other sources toward purchase of equipment for physical exercises. Students skated and played hockey at Taylor's rink, where Carlisle Avenue is now, and later at the rink on King Street East, also on Vanstone's mill pond and other ponds. The town band provided music for skating at the rink two nights a week, admission 15c . Car- nivals were held which students and townsfolk attended, and Mary Souch C1916-'17 Mrs. Albert Colel remembers nearly freezing to death as a fairy in a cheesecloth dress. There was also sleigh riding on hills around town. One year Mrs. Humby fReta Roenigkl recalls, the boys'side of the school hill was per- fect for sleigh riding. The boys brought sleighs to school, and the girls went over to get in on the fun. Mr. Elliott soon put a stop to that, and gave quite a lecture on how embarrassing it would be if any of the boys wanted to use a little green building behind the lattice barricade. This building, housing outside toilets on the south side of the school, and screened by evergreens Csee Mr. C.E. Rehder's picture? recalls that Bowmanville did not have piped water or sewer facilities until November, 1913. CThe Goodyear whistle blew to announce the arrival in the town reservoir of water from Skinner's Springs.J In August, 1914, The Canadian Statesman reports that a contract had been let for installation of a complete out- fit of lavatories in the basement of the high school and town water was to be supplied throughout the building for drinking purposes and use in the laboratory. A well to the east had supplied water demands earlier. Mr. Rehder brought this point to mind, and also says there was no electricity in the school before 1912. There was a Literary Society with student executive, and programs were held in the Assembly Room. They included debates Cby boys usuallyl, one-act plays, vocal and in- strumental numbers by students, drills and readings. Though music was not taught in school, it was an important part of all programs. Commencement exercises were held in December or January, some years in the Assembly Room, in others in the Opera House. The big social event of the year from the early 1900's on through the War years, was the Conversazione. The word will be new to some, but not the students of those days. Of Italian origin, it means a meeting for conversation, particularly on art or literature. Somewhere along the line, a lighter tone developed. Never- the less, it was a formal affair.

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Girls wore their prettiest dresses, boys their best suits, and gathered in the Assembly Room. Music struck up Csome remember an or- chestra, others a piano being playedl. The boys then chose a girl partner who placed her hand on his arm, and they promenaded across the upper hall, down the boys' stairs, through the lower hall, up the girls' stairs, and perhaps around again until the selection ended. It was not a dance. They walked and talked. Reta Cole fMrs. C.H. Dudley! recalls the Form IV room being cleared of desks and fitted up as a sitting room for one of these affairs, and that a boy often presented his girl with flowers or chocolates. Mary Souch CMrs. Albert Cole? says she and her future husband had their first date at a Conversazione, so romance flourished. There were refreshments, and everyone would be out of the school by 11 p.m. No doubt the evening was well chaperoned. The Conversaziones were usually separate from Commencement, but in December, 1916, one was held following Commencement in the Assembly, and ex-pupils could obtain in- vitations by calling at Kerslake's Drug Store. Though there were no school dances, dancing did at times take place within the hallowed walls. For example, Albert Cole tells about square dancing, with boys, to mouth organ music in the basement in lunch hours. About the same period fPrincipa1 A.H.D. Ross's time? Ina Pethick CMrs. John MacNaughtonD tells of a group of girls in- cluding the Hazlewood girls, Bea Devitt, Edythe Clemens, Leone Wallace, Eileen Howard, Ruth Martyn, Mary McClellan and herself, who, back early from lunch one day, decided to do an imitation of the Ziegfield Follies on the stage of the Assembly. They were kicking up their legs and flinging their skirts around gaily as someone played the piano, 20 when Principal Ross stalked in and caught them. They quailed under the look he gave them, and the legs that had been high-kicking wilted and shook. Ina doesn't remember what punishment they received. Mrs. L.T. McLaughlin fMiss Smith? who had joined the staff in -September, 1913, and Mrs. Dudley CReta Colelwho entered high school that year, recall how a fire in the school in Christmas holidays 1913-'14 damaged the south- east portion of the building containing Forms I and II and the Science Room above Form I. The fire was on Dec. 23, The Statesman records, the flames in the basement being seen by a Goodyear employee, Mr. E. P. Doncaster, as he was leaving the factory just before six o'clock. He turned in the alarm at the factory and the Goodyear brigade got on the scene at once, and were soon 'joined by the town brigade with chemical engine and pumper. Two of the Goodyear firemen were overcome by smoke, but were resuscitated by Mayor Dr. S.C. Hillier. Access to town water from a hydrant iso recently installedl, quick work by the men, plus the fact the fire was noticed when it was, probably saved the building from destruction. Damage to rooms was estimated at between S2000 and 93000, covered by insurance. School resumed on time in January, but two and three classes had to be held in the Assem- bly Room, Mrs. Dudley recalls, with only a cur- tain between, and it was difficult to con- centrate. Also, text books and notes had been lost, and hammering as repairs were made was distracting, but the new science room when finished was a great improvement on the old. In 1914 the first school magazine was edited, called Vox Nostra, and containing activities of that year. At Commencement in December, 1915 in the Opera House, Principal Ross an-