Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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cgo K Cbacfcfy H aitlanc! from an Address by Joseph ZllcCuIley, MA., at Pickering College, fllay 5th, 1951. HE STORY is A SIMPLE ONE. It goes back to 1927 and the dream of a t'Can- adian school, where education of mind, heart, and hand could combine to produce the cultured man. It was my good fortune - yours and that of Pickering College - that there was a J. A. Maitland available. He was a craftsman, one whom the Bible describes as a. Workman who needed not to be ashamed . He had already had experience in a residential school. And then, at a time when most men would already have been thinking of retirement, he joined the team of callow youths who handled the academics tour average age was 22 - 23!J He gave dignity, experience and maturity to our little group. You all came to know Mr. Maitland-l've always called him that. He was my senior, my elder, my better and my preceptor in more ways than he will ever know. But you referred to him as Daddy and, as is so often the case, your sch-oolboy instinct was right! He was in very truth a daddy to all. Of only two of his qualities would I speak, both of them Quaker qualities. There is in him a transparent honesty, neither subtle nor complicated but as honest as the good wood with which he worked. He has always abhorred the false, the ph-ony, the meretriciousg a job done by Daddy is done to endure. What a lesson for us in this day when we think that a coat of paint will cover deficiencies of workmanship and put our trust in outward appearance and glittering show. Here is an honest man-what higher tribute can we pay? Then I would speak of his tolerance, from which stemmed his infinite pa- tience. He didn 't always agree with the young buckoos who were his col- leagues and at times he approved less of the antics of some of you, his students. But he tolerated us all because he loved us and was patient beyond measure because he always hoped that we would find the better way-in spite of our lapses from the paths he deemed proper. And so, while others have come and gone, Daddy has stayed on. He didn 't retire, but merely cut down a bit on his hours and relaxed a few of his earlier responsibilities. You couldn't keep him away from this hilltop. His life is a golden thread which binds the school generations together. On that day when the Headmaster no longer sees Daddy Maitland trekking up the back road to the workshop, Pickering College will be the poorer! , We hope that day will never come. Come though it will, the tradition that is Pickering College will always be the richer for his contribution to it .... For your creed, Daddy Maitland, expressed ingyour thoughts, words and actions, we thank you and salute you. Five

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the headlnasteris' message Some Thoughts for the Graduates OT LONG AGO I came upon a quotation from VVill Durant 'The Mansions of Philosophyf It seems to me to carry a special message for those who are leaving Pickering College to tackle new problems. Here 's what Durant says: Do not require too much of the universe, there are other demands made upon it which may conflict with yours. You are a part of the whole, and every other part will expect you to remember it. Ask too much and it shall not be given youg knock too loudly and it shall not be opened unto you, seek impatiently and you shall not find .... Perhaps if you could see the entirety you would perceive, like Job, that the order of the planets is more important than your sores. Cultivate your garden. Do not place your happiness in distant lands or in grandly imagined tasksg do well what you can do. until you can do greater things as well.'l This is good, sound stuff for you to think about. You have made some preparations for your new tasks. It is to be hoped that these preparations have been made as a basis for service rather than for self-seeking. The measure of our civilization is the measure of our ability to think unselfishly, to value fairly our personal desires and our social responsibilities. To think too much of our rights and too little of our duties is to court disaster. Ask too much and it shall not be given to you. Every Headmaster is familiar with the Old Boy who returns to his school complaining about life - the Old Boy who has knocked too loudly and sought too impatiently. When graduates expect too much, they may have been spoiled by their school. I hope that Pickering College hasn't spoiled you. Cultivate your garden. Make the most of your gifts, and don't be heartsick over achievements that can never be yours. You must prepare for great responsibilities by being faithful in little things. No employer will be deceived by the promise, 'I'll improve when the job gets biggeri You must be ready to take the bitter with the sweet. There may be tasks that offer no unpleasantness, no dishwashing, but I do not know of them. A great teacher once said: He is indeed a fortunate man who spends 50W of his time doing what he wants to do. Don 't demand too much of your job. There is my message: don 't demand too much. The spirit of Pickering urges you to make modest demands, but to give full measure. Robert E. K. Rourlfe. Seven.