Concordia College - Corona Borealis Yearbook (Edmonton, Alberta Canada)

Page 8 text:

Above: Mrs. A. H. Schwermnnn, secretary, and Mrs. E. Eberhardt, president of the Ladies’ Shower Committee from 1935 to 1947. Below: Mrs. H. Brown and Mrs. A. R. Riep who were elected president and secretary respectively at the Fall Shower day, 1947. 6

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Concordia College Concordia College is situated in Edmonton, the capital of the Province of Alberta, a city of 120,000 inhabitants, 801 miles west of Winnipeg, 771 east of Vancouver, and some 350 miles north of the Montana boundary. The city dates its origin from the year 1795, when it was established as a fur trading post by the Hudson’s Bay Company. It was incorporated as a town in 1892 and as a city in 1904. Lying in the centre of one of the most prosperous farming com¬ munities in Western Canada, near the Leduc oil fields, and being the gateway to the fertile Peace River empire and the goldfields and the uranium deposits in the far north, the city has long been noted as a progressive community. With its University of Alberta, provincial Normal School, eleven colleges, and two public libraries, it offers excellent educational and cultural facilities. Concordia has its home in a quiet residential district in the eastern part of the city. It lies high above the beautiful valley of the Saskatchewan River, borders the scenic Highlands golf course, and adjoins the Fair Grounds and Borden Park, in which are situated the Edmonton Zoo and a municipal swimming pool. The distance from the college to the heart of the city is a ten-minute ride on the Highland bus line. Concordia College was officially opened on October 31, 1921, with a Grade Nine enrolment of 35 students. The activities of the school were concen¬ trated in the Caledonian Temperance Hotel at 10875 98th Street, and a boarding house at 9529 110th Avenue served as dining room, kitchen, infirmary, and princi¬ pal’s residence. Grades ten, eleven, and twelve were added in the next successive years, and in 1926 the first of two junior college classes was organized. In the fall of 1924 the Fraser estate (together with several lots owned by the city) covering in area 8.11 acres, was purchased at the cost of $13,800. Building operations began on May 20, 1925, and were completed on the day of dedication, January 10, 1926. The new plant, designed by the architectural firm of G. H. MacDonald and H. A. Magoon and erected by the Poole Construction Co. consists of three buildings: The administration building contains six classrooms, laboratory, library, office, faculty room, chapel, vault and heating plant. In addition to the dining hall, steward’s quarters, a small gymnasium, storage rooms, and lavatories, the dormitory contains 16 suites of rooms, the larger of which are designed for five and the smaller for four students. Each suite has a study and a bedroom, the latter being equipped with a dressing table and a spacious locker for each student. All floors in these rooms are covered with battleship linoleum. In the service building are located the kitchen, refrigerating room, storage room, room for maids, and in the second story the sick-rooms. All buildings are of fire-proof construction. The total cost of land and buildings was $147,000. Four teachers’ residences were erected in 1930 at a total cost of $39,466. Co-education was introduced in 1925, but temporarily discontinued in 1931. Girls were again admitted in 1941, and since that time their number has constantly grown. Twenty-four were enrolled in the school-year 1947-1948. In conformity with the suggestion of the synodical Board for Higher Edu¬ cation that “each institution should meet the state or regional requirements for graduation from high school,” the Alberta Provincial High School Course of Studies was introduced in 1939. At that time grade nine was at least temporarily eliminated, since this grade is no more part of a provincial senior high school. The college is visited annually by provincial inspectors and invariably receives words of commendation from them. Its students have done good work in their final examinations and in achievement have held second or third place among the hundreds of provincial high schools. 5

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The Plenary Committee which met at the college in preparation for the Spring Shower day. First Row, left to right: Mrs. S. Stansky, Bruderheim ; Mrs. P. Janz, Stony Plain: Mrs. E. Wagner, Mellowdale; Mis. E. Wildgrube, Bruderheim: Mrs. E. Eberhardt, St. Peter ' s, Edmonton: Mrs. A. Riep, Secretary; Mrs. H. Brown, President. Second Row: Mrs. J. Ohlinger, Wetaskiwin; Mrs. N. Oswald, Wetaskiwin: Mrs. T. Plastieras, Bethlehem, Edmonton: Mrs. B. Kupsch, Bruderheim: Mrs. H. Witte, Grace, Edmonton: Mrs. I. Smith, Bethlehem. Edmonton: Mrs. R. Hennig, Bruderheim: Mrs. A. Raduenz, Golden Spike. Ever since the founding of our Concordia the good ladies in the various congregations in Western Canada have taken an active interest in our institution. Their support has been continuous and generous. Time and again they have helped us bridge difficulties. Thus the Ladies’ Aid of Stony Plain, for instance, furnished all the equipment for our office suite; and in hundreds of other instances the women in the two Districts sent in contributions of all kinds and lent a helping hand in other ways. Since 1933 these activities have been carried on under the direction of a so-called “Ladies Shower Committee”. This committee was chosen every year by the women attending the fall shower here at the college. For many years, in fact from 1935 to 1947, the two beloved ladies shown on the opposite page headed this committee, Mrs. E. Eberhardt as president and Mrs. A. Schwermann as secretary. Under their guidance an effective organization has been built up with the noble purpose of supporting and promoting the work of our only Canadian Con¬ cordia. Last fall these two ladies asked to be relieved of their duties and their wish was granted. For their excellent service we express our warmest appreciation. Mrs. Harold Brown and Mrs. Riep were elected to head the new executive. Every year the ladies hold two shower days on which friends from far and near gather at the college to bring gifts for the kitchen, to discuss how they can best promote the interests of the school and to spend an afternoon in pleasant Christian fellowship. The Shower Committee has also initiated the collecting of large sums throughout the two Districts for the equipment of the kitchen, the college hospital rooms, the girls’ lounging room, the boys’ commons, etc. Right now they are busy on the biggest project they have yet undertaken, namely the complete refurnishing of all the suites in the boys’ dormitory. At the spring shower on April 21, 1948 the executive was able to report a continuous flow of contributions so that the annual goal of $1,000 was already in sight. On May 13th the total received was $859.94. The entire plan calls for an outlay of $6,000. At the Spring Shower the ladies also took an important step toward better organiza¬ tion. They adopted a new name. In the future their organization will be known as the “Con¬ cordia College Guild”. At this meeting the executive could also announce that it had made its first contact with our Lutheran sisters in Eastern Canada. A letter had arrived from a ladies’ society in Ottawa, asking what they could do to help. It is the hope of all that this will lead to a joint effort on the part of the Lutheran ladies throughout Canada in promoting the cause of our Canadian Concordia. From this brief review it should be abundantly clear why we have dedicated this year¬ book to the ladies of Western Canada. It is an expression of sincere gratitude and appreciation to them. Their zeal and readiness to serve has been a never-failing source of encouragement to students, teachers and the Board of Control. May God continue to bless Concordia in years to come with this motherly care and interest on the part of our Lutheran ladies!