Elmwood School - Samara Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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25 WITH many a backward glance at the summer days gone by, the boarders returned to Elmwood one fine eve- ning last September. We found many new faces among the old, for we welcomed four new resident staff, and seven new boarders to our happy throng. Later on in the year, our numbers were supplemented by Eloisa Ma- drazo and Sylvia Ricci, both from Guatemala. Our Spanish has improved greatly! As we weren ' t quite sure of the where- abouts of our Dee, who was to be Head Boarder again this year, Sascha Mavor took her place at the beginning of the year. Sascha did a wonderful job of organising the board- ing school, and we should like here to thank Dee, Sascha, and Miss Wiltshire — who has been very generous and understanding as House Mistress — for all they have done to make this year such a happy one. At the beginning of the year, the Seniors decided that our weekends should include more group activities. As a result of this, every Friday night is spent at our sewing circle , under the kind supervision of Miss Aldous, or our leathercraft classes, conducted by Miss Wiltshire. We have also had several movies on Friday nights. The skiing trips to Wakefield have been en- joyed greatly by both staff and girls. We have had several good skiing Saturdays, and, fortunately, suffered no broken bones. We have had a successful year as well as a happy one. Our boarders ' basketball team de- feated the day girls, and the school basketball team included five boarders. This Christmas we had a boarders ' party in the senior classroom. Everyone attending had a wonderful time — including Santa Claus. We sang all the old Christmas songs, and the party came to a close with the seniors ' reci- tation of The Visit of St. Nicholas . We, who are leaving, express our thanks to everyone for making this such a happy year. W e have had fun — who will forget the body in the bath on April 1st.? Our last year at Elmwood is not one to be easily forgotten.

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24 SAMARA Badminton Our badminton tournaments were com- pleted early this year, being finished before March. If you pass through the hall during the winter months, you are sure to see sev- eral couples batting a poor bedraggled bird back and forth. The winner this year was Fry, who won both the Senior and Intermedi- ate tournaments, although by the very nar- row margin of one point over Keller in the latter. Gym and Drill Another successful and enjoyable year un- der Miss Philbrick has almost come to a close. We have used the apparatus for all our vari- ous exercises, and have learned to vault over the horse in all kinds of queer positions, do- ing wolf, front, thief, twist, box and water- fall vaults! How Holland Was Saved By Water ONE morning when the early June sun was rising and the first birds were sing- ing, Peter got up because he heard a ' plane flying very low. He looked out of the window and saw that the ' plane was British. It was flying so low that it nearly touched one of the sails of the old mill. Luckily the Germans were out of ammunition, for other- wise they would have shot the ' plane down. When Peter had finished his breakfast he went outside. On the road he saw a slip of paper, which he picked up, and read: I am very sorry to let this be done to this beautiful island, but we have to bomb the dyke in order to liber- ate the rest of the country. Signed, Queen Wilhelmina. (She still was queen then.) Pe- ter was shocked to hear that awful news. He looked around the landscape, the trees and everything he loved so dearly. Why did this have to happen? Peter thought I should not be looking around. I should go and help my mother move the bedclothing and the food, to the attic. He told his mother the terrible news. Pe- ter ' s mother was a brave woman and she did not cry but she thought, We will build the Island again as long as we Dutchmen may live. She picked the few potatoes from the garden and all the food she had and brought it up to the attic as well as a lot of extra bed clothing for the people who lived on lower ground, and might be flooded earlier than they. They hid the food in case the Germans might want it, along with all the valuable things they possessed. Peter ' s father had dis- appeared because the Germans wanted young men to labour for them; but all of the young men refused and kept hiding, or tried to help their country in espionage. The next morning they already heard the zooming of ' planes and the falling of bombs. Most of them fell on the dyke, but unfortu- nately some fell on the little village of West Capelle by accident. Peter and his mother looked for the last time over the Island and tears came into their eyes. But what did they see in the distance? Wasn ' t that the glittering of water far away? that horrible sea water? Yes, the water was coming, first slowly but then quicker and quicker, and it already had flooded the kit- chen floor when the people came from West Capelle. Peter ' s mother took care of many people, amongst them a little boy who screamed at the sound of a ' plane or bomb, because when a bomb fell on their house his mother and his sister had been killed, and the little boy did not know how he was saved. On the water everything was floating — pigs, cows, rabbits, mice — all looked disgust- ing. But what did the people see one morning? Weren ' t they the ships with the Allies? All the people put out their flags and Holland was liberated. It was lovely to see our own flag flying in the breeze above the water. And already now a few shrubs are growing on the Island. Tina van Roijen, IVA Fry

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26 SAMARA THE Fiction Library has almost doubled its membership this year, and the staff is kept busy collecting overdue fees and reminding people about returning books on time. Several new books have been bought, including China Town Family by Lin Yutang; A Play on Words and Other Radio Plays by Lister Sinclair; The Robe and The Big Fisher- man by Lloyd Douglas; How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewelyn; The Captive Princess by Margaret Irwin; Three Time Plays by J. B. Priestley; Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Lea- cock; Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis; Our Hearts Were Young and Gay by C. Otis Skinner; The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill, and others. In addition to these, Andrea Hadley very generously donated a number of books, both novels and non-fic- tion, which have been very popular. The library has increased to such an extent that a new cupboard has been required. It is interesting to note that there are more Juniors and Intermediates in the library mem- bership this year than has been the case for several years; and they are making good use of the books. This year the most Junior books have been put separately in a Junior Library used by Forms II, III, IVC and Lower IVB. This Lib- rary is open on Wednesday lunch time, and has been most successful. Several new books have been bought for it. WE BEGAN this year with a dash of char- coal and a liberal impression of the elms around the school. Mr. Mas- son ' s deft hand gave depth and a new interest to our old models, the elms. He has, however, struggled in vain to inspire in us a desire to paint a wet street. Our efforts so far, in that line, have produced only mud. With the thought of being made immortal on canvas, many of the Juniors have walked bravely into the Art room to serve as models for us, some- times to find themselves grotesquely repro- duced on paper; but we do offer many thanks to these wonderful little models, who have helped us so much. On one occasion Mr. Masson himself posed for us, with even more varied results! We should like to thank Mr. Henri Alasson for all the help and encour- agement he has given us, and the interesting Art periods we have with him.