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

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THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE FIRST HSCREECH OWL , 1922. BACK ROW: Mr. Scott, Bud Pethick, Melville Dale, Gwendolyn Williams, Maitland Gould, Dorothy Bonnycastle, Alan McKessock, Janey Mason, Will Pointen, Bill Oliver. FRONT ROW: Ralph Carruthers, Doris Foster, Jessie McDougall, Ross Tilley CEditorJ, Helen McGregor CAsst. Editorl, Marjorie Collacott, Herbert Deac Goddard, Elizabeth Best. The Society also sponsored the very popular literary programmes. About once a month the whole school would trek up to the Assembly Hall on the third floor Cusually called the at- tic l and be entertained by the different forms. Many and varied were the performances. Quite often the first programme in the fall opened with impromtu speeches on such topics as Fashions, Girls, Why I Am Late So Often, or The Advantages of Dancing. As the students filed into the Assembly Hall, seven or eight pupils were handed slips of paper with the sub- ject on which they were to speak. It was fun for the audience, but quite an ordeal for the ones so chosen. Then there were the Oratorical Contests. These were held annually in the Assembly Hall and were prepared speeches, the topics chosen by the contestants. Usually there were from six to eight speakers, competing for the Tamblyn or the Galbraith Public Speaking Awards. These prizes were presented to the winners at the Commencement Exercises, and were usually a set of leather bound books. Under the auspices of the Literary Society of 1921-'22, the first issue of The Screech Owl was produced, the editors being Ross Tilley and Helen McGregor. One of main reasons for a magazine at this time was to have a record of all the events which had taken place during that very successful year for B.H.S. On March 13, 1922, the Board sponsored a banquet to celebrate the four championships of the year and the success of Midsummer Night's Dream . School spirit fairly oozed out of the windows , CHelen McGregorJ. This event seemed to be the spark that induced thz staff and students to begin production of a school magazine, because on March 21, the first editorial staff came into being. Doris Foster CDr. F. Tremeerl recalls in her memories at B.H.S. - How we toiled over that first Screech Owl ! But I got a great kick out of being art editor, drawing the original Screech Owl for the front page and the heading for each department. All the material had to be gathered together in a few short weeks, advertisers had to be con- tacted and a name chosen. By May lst, it went to press, a volume of one hundred pages. The editorial staff wanted a name that was different for their magazine. Maybe it was coincidence, but at this time there were several owls perched in odd corners of the school and also the fact that Helen McGregor, one of the editors, was reading a novel of the American Revolution in which an Indian, named Kwiyeth was one of the characters. The English for Kwiyeth is Screech Owl. Thus the name The Screech Owl came into being. 33

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The decade between 1920-1930 was an out- standing one for B.H.S. in athletic, academic and literary attainments. The teaching staff in- creased from five to seven teachers and the enrollment from 125 to approximately 275 students. To make room for the larger enrollment, a new addition was added in 1929 to the original school. It provided a much needed auditorium Cwith stage and dressing roomsl and a gymnasium, as well as four classrooms, two science laboratories, two commercial classrooms and two teachers' rooms. This new addition was formally opened on February 1, 1930, with Mr. W.B. Couch, the venerable chair- man of the High School Board conducting the programme. With the new addition to the school, the staff and students welcomed a new Principal, Mr. L.W. Dippell, although it was with much regret that they said good-bye to Mr. W.J. Morrison Laying the Cornerstone LEFT TO RIGHT: Jabez Van- stone, Jim Devitt, Neil McMullen, Morgan Lunney, Wallace Horn, ? , Kenneth Mit- chell. 32 1920's who had been principal for the past ten years. Melbourne CMe1D Osborne, 1921-'25, states so well in his memories of B.H.S. the appreciation and respect that the former students had for their teachers - All of my memories are over- showed by the respect and admiration I still hold for our teachers. Mr. Morrison, our Prin- cipal, a strict disciplinarian, Mr. A.R. Scott, Mathematics, Miss I.K. Smith, English and French, Miss Franklin, English, and my special teacher of fond memory, Miss Elsie Tighe, who taught Latin and History. They were only five in number but we of those years owe to each of them a debt of gratitude we can never repay. They instilled in each of us a sense of duty, in succeeding order, to our home, school and country. Any success which we may have gained since our school years is due in great measure to their dedication to us. There are two other names that must not be forgotten - Mr. Hyslop and Mr. H. Moyse, our faithful school caretakers. Mr. Hyslop served the school for fourteen years and retired in June of 1925. Mr. Moyse, Herbie to all the students, started his duties in 1926 and retire in 1949 on account of ill health. Both men were always interested in the activities of the students and gave a helping hand whenever they could. As Oscar Jamieson remarked in his memories of B.H.S., I will always remember how kind Herbie Moyse was to all of us. During this period, 1920-'30, the Literary Society continued to be a very active organization in the school. Each September a new executive was elected by the student body and served the school for one year. The Society was responsible for most of the social life of the school. Each year they organized the Hallowe'en Parties and the school picnics which were usually held at Hampton Park in June. As the school grew in size, this part part of school life passed away.

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The yearbook was published for thirteen con- secutive years and then was discontinued. These issues have been a marvellous aid to your historians. Up to 1929, the cover of the magazine remained basically the same, then for the eighth issue, Morgan Lunney created a very attractive design, 6see p. 1719 still main- taining the motif of the owl, but incorporating the school crest, motto and stage. This cover was used on the next five issues. It was during the year 1923 that the Literary Society introduced the school pin - a small gold owl bearing on its breast a shield engraved with B.H.S. Also school note paper was sold to the students in 1924 for the first time. It was printed with the school crest in red and the en- velope bore the crest on the flap. It is things like this, though small in themselves, which help create a school spirit for which every school is certainly the better. The debates were of great importance in the life of the school. In 1921, Mr. J.H.H. Jury donated a shield to the best debating team in the schools of Whitby, Oshawa and Bowman- ville. For five consectutive years, 1921-'25, B.H.S. won the shield, thus enabling the school to add another permanent trophy to its collec- tion. The thirteen debaters who brought such glory to the school were Percival Muirhead, Edythe Clemence, Ross Tilley, Elizabeth Best, Lawrence Mason, Helen McGregor, Maitland Gould, Ruth Grigg, Reid Pearn, Thelma Gilders, Marion Pickard, Albert Allin and Margaret McGregor, on such topics as Resolved that it is the cost of high living and not the high cost of living that makes the cost of living so high and another Resolve that the French policy with regard to the occupation of the Ruhu was justifiable . Helen McGregor remembers when she and her team mate, Lawrence Mason were debating, he kept tapping the advertisement that had come with our tin box of meloids and saying, '4We have statistics here to prove . . . Of course, the judges paid no attention to that sort of thing, but we thought it masterly. 6Omen of a successful lawyer? Another time, the debating team went to Whitby BY TRAIN in the morning, six or eight of us, and no teacher. Of the staff of five none could be spared. We had lunch at a restaurant - big deal - and Alan McKessock bought mine for Champion Debaters, 1921-'22 STANDING: Ross Tilley 619219, Lawrence Mason 619229, Percival Muirhead 619219. SEATED: Elizabeth Best 619219, Helen McGregor 619229, Edythe Clemence 619219. CAST OF A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, produced in 1922.