Shawnigan Lake School - Yearbook (Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Canada)

Page 28 text:

SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL MAGAZINE Speech Day JUNE the 30th should be a red-letter day in the School calendar — the occasion of the first public function held in the new building. For all members of the School and the staff who had passed through the strenuous period since the Cadboro Bay contingent reunited with the Seniors, the tried and trusty Hill House gang, the day marks the summit of an achievement beyond all praise. Big School A week earlier it would have appeared to the casual observer almost impossible to accomplish the vast amount of work which had to be done in order to throw the School open for inspection. As it was, the crowd of visitors who saw the new premises for the first time were astonished to find a building, which, if not finished in every detail, presented at least the semblance of completion, fronted by its imposing 26

Page 27 text:

SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL MAGAZINE morning after. The rejoicings over the discovery of a prized shirt or pair of pyjamas, in either case the object being wet with snow and entirely unrecognisable to anyone but the owner. The number of odd socks, half pyjamas and odd shoes one seemed to find ! And the care some people must have taken in rescuing just those things which one could so well have done without, in fact had rather hoped someone would lose or destroy. Elsewhere in our pages will be found indications that we do not intend spending our time crying over spilt milk. The new school building is one of which we are all proud. And yet we would ask you, reader, to think kindly sometimes of the old School. She had not the comforts perhaps of the new one. Though her appearance was scattered and nobbly to the casual observer, yet she was very dear to most of us, especially to those who had seen her grow, who knew that the nobbly bits meant a long hoped for Reading Room, or Class Room or something, the waiting for which had made the actuality all the more worth while. The Old School had built up a tradition in its compara- tively short life. Let us still be the Old School in a New Building . llQ Sg ' 1 25

Page 29 text:

SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL MAGAZINE terrace and concrete wall, and standing in surroundings swept clean of the debris left by those untidy fellows, the carpenters and plasterers. The School and their guests assembled at the lake side for the water sports (the results of which appear elsewhere in this issue). The programme was carried out without a hitch, and the various events were the subject of eulogistic comment by the spectators. They then adjourned to the Big School for the distri- bution of prizes and cups. In his opening speech the Head- master touched lightly on the difficulties of the transition period since the fire, asserting that whereas it had not been easy to provide suitable temporary accommodation for the boys, it had been possible to keep the School together, onlv through the splendid support given by the parents and the amazing unselfishness of the staff. The Bishop of Columbia then spoke. The whole history of the School, he said, had been a tale of difficulties squarely met and bravely overcome by Mr. Lonsdale, through whose efforts Shawnigan had grown in a few years from a mere handful of pupils to a school of over a hundred boys. Then came the fire. Six months ago the School was in ashes. Many men, overcome by a disaster of such magnitude, would have given up in despair. Not so the Headmaster ! Under his guidance in these splendid new buildings he (the speaker) foresaw a wonderful future, when the name of Shawnigan Lake School would stand for all that was best in Education in Western Canada. The Bishop then gave away the prizes, and all made their way to the dining hall for tea. After tea the boys conducted their parents and friends in a very thorough inspection of the new building, and so ended a day which will be long remembered by all who took part in it. 27