Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

Page 19 text:

'W x it F-.lid enjoging the outdoors and receiving instruction from officers of the eoartment of Lands and Forests as well as from Blackie himsel. With the exception of .two years spent at McCall University in 1946-48, Blackie continued his service to,Pickering College in these two roles until 1959 when he was invited to supervise the Water Safety Program of the Canadian Red Cross Society. ln the following year we dedicated The Voyageur to Blackie As one who asks much of his students and gave much to his school as Director of Firth House and the Department of Physical Education . ln 1955 Blackie became Executive Director of the Canadian Assqciationlfor Health, Physical Education. and Recreation and in this position became well known in physical education circles from coast to coast. Of course the core of his interest in physical education stemmed .from his love of the out of doors and of camping. This devotion to nature started in his youth in Barrie, continued at a YMCA camp at Honey Harbour on Georgian Bay, at Taylor Statten camgs in Algonquin Park, at Camo Pine Crest in Muskoka and from 1 44 on was concentrated on amp Mazinaw some.65 miles north of Belleville. ln recognition of his out- standing contribution to physical education in Canada, Blackie was given an honorary Ll.D. by York University in Toronto in 1974. Those of us who were.close to Blackie throughout his long years of service at Pickering College remember him as an idealist who always strove to put his ideals into practice. His practical side found ekpression in his ability to organize and to administer effectively, his idealism reflected the poetic and sensitive nature of his heart and both as a man of action and as a dreamer his 4 Saturday. May 13th, 1979 The Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Quaker Relays. Blackie presents to Pickering College the Tiat McKenzie medallion The Joy of Effort mounted in an original wooden plaque sculpted by former Pickering teacher of art, Fred Hagan. L to R. Sheldon Clark, Harry Beer and Blackie. concern was not for himself but for those in his charge, for the other fellow . U lt is good to remember Blackie in words familiar to him written by 'Bayne Cummer a student at Pickering College whom he knew we 1 Night falls on all yet our high thought, our holy devotions, and our steadfast loves shall live from age to age, from eternity to eternity. They shall not die, though all else sink into decay and oblivion. for they are woven of an immortal texture, that the breath of forgetfulness may never mar. - Bayne Cummer. Student, 1927-29. 15

Page 18 text:

li? 9' E wikis C.R. BLACKIE BLACKSTOCK FEBRUARY 4th, 1905- APRIL 5th, 1979 AN APPRECIATION FROM HIS FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE, HARRY M. BEER The news of Blackie's death on April 5th of this year sad- dened Pickering people everywhere and re-kindled many a memory of life on the Hilltop where he was such a vital force both in the activities and in the spirit of our school. Blackie had always remained close to Pickering and, despite his recent ill- health, came back to the school as often as possible. Many Old Boys had the good fortune to see and chat with him during the ceremonies of our Anniversary Year: The Fifty Year Dinner of September 13th, 1977, The Old Boys' Reunion Dinner of April Ist, 1978 and the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Quaker Relays on May 13th. 1978. On the latter occasion he presented to the College something very dear to his heart, the Tait McKenzie medallion. The loy of Effort , mounted in an original wooden plaque sculpted by his friend and former Pickering teacher of Art, Fred Hagan. On that day he was surrounded not only by his Pickering friends, but also by friends in Physical Education some of whom had been with him when he started the Quaker Relays in May of 1954. That presentation represents a moment in Blackies life that many of us will long remember, for it epitomizes. next to his family. the two most important elements in his life, his friends and his beliefs. .Blackies beliefs, as his friends well know, were expressed with conviction. indeed with passion. and based on his sure knowledge of the great potential of each human being provided the will were there. He took it upon himself to stir that will and 14 ,Q-. 3 J 'fi' if many a youngster found himself ready to believe in himself, to run a race, to tackle a running back, to sink a basket, to portage a canoe, to give himself and his best to a team, because Blackie believed in him first. In the old Phys. Ed. office under the gym there was always a lot of discussion about the theory of the overload , the ap- plication to physical education of the Pickering philosophy that youth should be challenged and expected to give its best. Blackie made such demands on his students and, as we all know, on himself as well. His belief that a man's reach should exceed his grasp drew him to a love of the sculpture of R. Tait McKenzie and the Masks of that great artist - Effort, Exhaustion and Fatigue - which Blackie chose to highlight the Quaker Relay program. Blackie first came to Pickering College in September, 1928 joining Joe McCulley and the group of young educators he was gathering around him to set new trails in Canadian education. He was immediately inspired by McCuIley's belief in youth and soon became Director of the ColIege's Department of Physical Education. ln this capacity he pioneered in such areas as outdoor education, a new curriculum in health education, and a program of group inoculation of tetanus toxoid for the first time in Canada. He also served Pickering as Director of Firth House. the College's Junior School, and gave the same kind of devotion to the younger students of the ollege as he had given tothe development ofthe school's department of physica education. Under his guidance school camping became part of the regular program of the students in Firth House. For a week during the winter they would stay at Limberlost Lodge near Huntsville

Page 20 text:

x , ,I rl S I ' - AA' I t 'L .ff yi, . 2' S. 5 ' ' I :Q . A.. :6 f ' I r ' 9 J I-iq, xfist :HI X -, - - 935 Q VL r N Y xi 'D K Q- J F! I sf 'Q . 7 -fi, ., 4, A , z 1 W' gg , 4. ,L yn 5 .R , :xx 1' '.- 7-'r'!:N X N x I' 1' . '-1 'I . ,I 'N f ' .4 1 f 4 ' n - ' - , :-. gli ' rf sa, 1 ' ':. it k , ' A '1 f 1 ,ff , K if , ,' 1.33 ,fl - ' 'Q 5, ' ,Q X , III. fix' ' A f v '77 bf ' '- .:,j .',' nj, Q ' . U ' . P ' 'C . Ja 1 1 4. ff '7 , N ' X H f , .y ,G , . , -1,7 'lu J s p XX Rx 8' f I in xl QP . sf?-, , 3 A 2 , V . 'I ' f W X 1+ ff xg. -11 A ' ' 5h:'4 :4:-. A , , 16 fu X