Brentwood College School - Brentonian Yearbook (Mill Bay, British Columbia Canada)

Page 27 text:

HOPE HOUSE HOPE HOUSE A varied and not uneventful year has come to its end and the Housemaster can now draw an easy breath. The basis of House life I often think, lies in the individuality of its members, and it is the expression of that individuality which makes House life interest- ing. We had a number of such expressionists, and life was far from dull. Probably the chief means of expression came when the nights and often the days resounded to the efforts of Messrs. Juhan, Hicks, Gladstone et al. to outdo the Beatles. I was quite amazed at the volume of sound emitted by four electric guitars all going at full strength. I was also amazed at my capacity for endurance. The 25

Page 26 text:

telescopic expert, and the orange-peel quartet of no. 14. Then we had our active individualists — Alan Macpuff McCrindle and Terry Abdul Tannous, and our very own revolutionaries like Youbou Seed and Knu Sturdy, and also a house scape-goat called Bruce. The summer term was finally dominated by the activities of the Gnu Club, led by Richard Super Forbes — Craig Davidson ' s counter-movement died a natural death after twenty-four hours, but of course the Housemaster ( Learned Gnu ) was not impartial in his judgments. Whatever law and order has been maintained has been due to our prefects — Garbutt, Harkema, Spankie and White, and latterly to the monitors, Dale and Leaf, to all of whom go my grateful thanks. Looking back over four years as Housemaster I have many pleasant memories but here perhaps I might see the House through the eyes of its members and no doubt when they come to look back on Ellis House and its lord and master they will remember two things: being scragged at lights-out and reading a plethora of notes in red-pencil on the bulletin board each morning. Some of you may have grumbled at the time but generally you have accepted — and heeded — these notes in the humorous spirit in which they were written. P. A. Lanyon-Orgill 24

Page 28 text:

guitar craze endured and in due time quite a few boys became quite proficient. Then there was the time when the Housemaster returned from town to discover a female department store plaster model esconsced snugly in his bed and wearing a somewhat coy expression. We had somewhat of a shock when Phil Ross was deluged with scientific information from the Soviet embassy regarding space items and Phil rapidly became the authority on the subject. It also became dangerous to walk about without keeping a wary eye out for the same gentleman on the prowl with his candid camera. On weekends, again this year, the T.V. room was immensely popular, and it was interesting to note that Popeye the Sailor is still with us and going strong indeed. I may add that the cultural taste of the House still leans to Bonanza. On the whole, our new Grade Eights proved a most cheery lot and life was enjoyed to the full. Whenever the lights went out or the T.V. set was snowed up I knew that David Gilmore was fiddling with his electronics devices again. It was quite surprising to hear his voice come out of the T.V. set one night when he was using a walkie-talkie with his room-mate down by the dock. There were the dorms . . . ah, the dorms. Messrs. Richmond and Ruff had quite the finest collection of penants I have seen and if they had obtained them legitimately I wondered how they found time to go to school. Dan Westinghouse went all martial and had military helmets, someone acquired a bayonet and I quite expected to stumble over the odd Sten gun or two. A number of dormitories went on a painting jag in the fall term and the prize went to dorm twelve who ended up with royal blue and an arsenical green, a somewhat dazzling combination, to put it mildly. I have to thank Roger Fuller and the other Prefects for their co-operation and support during the year. Much of the happiness of a House of smaller boys depends on the prefects, and their reign did a great deal in contributing to the esprit de corps of Hope House this year. D. Pope 26