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

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Erected 1929 BOARD OF TRUSTEES W.B. Couch, Chairman Dr. G.C. Bonnycastle ------ F.C. Vanstone Rev. D.W. Best, D.D. - - - - Dr. J.C. Devitt L.S. Caverly ------- - - - J.H.H. Jury C.H. Mason -------------- Sec. Treas. BUILDING COMMITTEE Dr. G.C. Bonnycastle Rev. D.W. Best, D.D. ------- L.S. Caverly PRINCIPALS W.J. Morrison, B.A. L.W. Dippell, B.A. ARCHITECT G. Roper Gouinlock, Toronto CONTRACTOR Herod Construction Co., Mimico

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Every morning we would go to the attic and usually stand for the opening exercises, lead by Mr. Morrison. The boys and girls used the Assembly on separate days during the noon hour and often someone would play the piano for dancing. Jean Switzer CMrs. Mackey McLeanl 1922-'24 lk lk ll' 1' ill 'F In Form 1, Lawrence Goddard set up quite a communication system with Leland Berry in the room below via the radiator pipes. They both sat in the exact seat in each room. Ruby Witheridge CMrs. Nelson Jackman? 1924- '27 Pk Ik lk ik lk ik Dress for Girls: Navy blue pleated skirt and middies, practically a standard uniform. When we played basketball, we still wore the mid- dies, but changed the skirt for navy blue serge bloomers, and as Doris McConnell CMrs. Bruce Inghaml says no girl nowadays would be caught dead in them . Mildred Souch CMrs. Ken Caverlyl also stated that the standard dress was middies and skirts and then added in real cold weather, long underwear, which I hated, and promptly removed when I got to my boarding house in town. Around 1923 the bobbed hair craze struck B.H.S. in full force. Ik Ik ik lk if 'F Dress for Boys: As remarked by several for- mer students - Until about sixteen, we wore short pants or knickers with long black stockings and boots and even neckties. Spats appeared around 1924. Sl' wk ak wk at 'F Miss Tighe scolded a boy who wouldn't do his Latin assignment and gave him a detention everyday until it was finished. As Miss Tighe was leaving the room, she heard the boy remark - that cranky old crab. She quickly turned around and said to the boy - I may be cranky and I may be a crab, but I'1l have you understand I'm not OLD. lk lk 41 Sk lk ik Memories of B.H. S. from Miss S.E. Tighe, Teacher 1921-'24 Coffee, made for every party and every banquet - the w,orld's best! - coffee bags in a wash boiler, with quarts of cream from Steven's Dairy. No one wanted it clear in those days. Report that a scarlet tanager had been seen: our birdwatcher's, led by Albert Allin, 46 spent the noon hour trying for a glimpse. They came back happy. A path leading north through the woods, and one day a whispered request, Miss Tighe, when you use that path will you whistle, There's a swimming pool close by? Well, I wasn't too good a whistler, so afterwards took a different route. A journey home after the last triumphant hockey game - sleepy, triumphant voices quoting from The Midsummer Night's Dream - He was just going to shoot and I said Take time to pause . He did and I got the puck. There was a phrase for every incident and all seemed relevant. The day we decided to clear out the silo - found everything, but particularly a portrait of Napoleon. We cleaned it up and found it a place in V Form. Spares were unknown and we had no secretary, so typed and stencilled our own papers. So, to be free from interruption, I used to go back to the school at night, type Ctwo fingers? my papers, stencil them with lots of ink on my hands, and then make my way home. The old building creaked and cracked and there was the odd mouse. But the worst moment was when I closed the door as I stood in the deep porch and faced the fact I had to make it between the big bushes on either side of the walk before I reached the empty street. Boys with Car 1930? BACK: John Jury, Nelson Osborne, Doug Adams. MIDDLE: Ken Osborne, Stan Rickard. FRONT: Morley Vanstone, Bob Corbett.

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The formal opening of the important addition to the forty year old school failed to generate the excitement so evident back in 1890. In the Canadian Statesman of the thirteenth a description of the new facilities includes this paragraph - The pride of the school is the splendid, spacious auditorium, with seating capacity of five hundred, which occupies the main floor at the front of the building. Gone now are the days when students and teachers had to migrate to the Opera House to hold Com- mencement Exercises, plays, concerts, etc. Gone, too, are the days of endless climbing up the creaking stairs to the place which might best be designated as next to the roof for morning assembly, physical exercises, literary meetings where the stage was hardly discer- nable from the floor below. The following weekis Statesman had the full coverage of the official opening headlined HBOWMANVILLE NOW POSSESSES ONE OF THE BEST EQUIPPED HIGH SCHOOL'S IN ONTARIO. Mr. W.B. Couch presided, sharing the platform with other Board members, the staff in gowns and hoods, Mr. David Keith, nonagenarian townsman, Mr. J.F. Rogers, Chief Inspector of Ontario High Schools. The program opened with O CANADA, followed by the first public performance of the new High School orchestra, directed by Francis Sutton. Other participation by students, interspersed throughout the evening, included a vocal solo by Bernice Bellman, two violin solos by Wallace Horn, accompanied by Helen Argue, A Highland Fling, danced by Marion Slemon, and Yvonne Tighe. Mr. Couch, in the chairman's address, reviewed the development of the school from 18 90 to the time the number of students' began to outgrow the space. The old building was utilized to its fullest extent, for not only the Assembly Room but some of the cloakrooms were turned into classrooms. He thanked the Architect, Mr. G.R. Gouinlock, Toronto, the contractors, Herod Construction Co. of Mimico, the building committee chaired by Dr. Bon- nycastle, and the public spirited town council which placed the necessary funds at the Board's disposal. Mr. David Keith, now ninety-six years old spoke a few words about his school days and of- fered his congratulations. Dr. Bonnycastle ex- plained the financial details, saying that of the 898,000.00 supplied by the town, he hoped to have substantial balance. Mayor M.J. Elliott added congratulatpons in a brief speech. The main address was given by Chief In- spector J.F. Rogers. He began by referring to his experiences teaching in B.H.S. in 1894. He complimented the Board for making provision for commercial courses, since he felt more at- tention should be paid to individual idiosyn- cracies of the pupils laying more emphasis on subjects for which each is particularly adap- ted. He declared that the south wall of the auditorium was one of the best situations that could be found for an art gallery and suggested that each graduating class present the school with an ORIGINAL painting by a Canadian ar- tist. Cthe italics are your scribe'sJ. For many years thereafter each class DID present a pic- ture, the first one being THE ANGELUS, given by the 1930 graduating class. The assembly wall was slowly filled, mainly with prints of Canadian artists' pictures, though the Screech Owl failed to record any further gifts. To return to the opening, a letter was read from ex-principal John Elliott who was unable to attend. Seven of the happiest years of my teaching career were spent in the beautiful old school overlooking the lake and many lasting friendships were formed in the good town of Bowmanville. For student quality and school spirit no school in my experience surpassed B.H.S. The next night, February 14, Commencement was held in the new assembly. Mr. Couch again presided and complimented Mr. Dippell, staff and students for carrying on under the con- ditions of noise and crowding caused by the construction. Ex-principal Morrison was present to give out diplomas to his former students. He reviewed the activities of the school in the twenties, singling out the great debating prowess shown and attributing the success to Miss I.K. Smith's enthusiasm and coaching. CDuring the presentation of prizes, the Jury and Lovell Debating Shield had become the permanent possession of B.H.S., which had won ten out of thirteen debates in nine years.J CCon't. on page 1681