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

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Shawnigan Lake School Magazine Shannon — On May 23rd, 1942, in Royal Canadian Air Force, Rob- ert Porter Shannon (1929-1933). Lefurgey — On August 20th, 1942, in Royal Canadian Air Force, John Alfred Lefurgey (1928-1930). Lane — On September 14th, 1942, in Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve, missing after Roval Navy operations, Stuart Clarke Lane (1927-1931). Wollaston — In September, 1942, in Royal Air Force in Egypt, Richard Francis Wollaston (1921-1923). de Bretigny — On November 12th, 1942, in Royal Air Force Ferry Command, Deveraus Lionel Doria de Bretigny (1928-1931). Dawson — On November 14th, 1942, in Royal Canadian Air Force, Douglas Arnold Dawson (1931-1935). A letiei to. the Old £oy My dear Old Boys : George Eliot once said Blessed is the man who when he has nothing to say does not give you verbal evidence of the fact. Well, I have nothing to say and yet there is so much that I would like to sa} ' to each of you, that I am impelled to write something. We are trying to keep up our Annual Speech Day in all essen- tials, but with the restrictions on gas and tires it is very difficult for our friends to get here and we cannot possibly offer them Tea ! So far we have given away the prizes, etc., and we have had the annual Leaving Service in Chapel at which we remember all our Old Boys; but no longer is there a large concourse of people at a social function. To be successful we must have the close co-operation of all our friends and our somewhat isolated position is, at this time, a more questionable blessing than usual. Our position in the tall timbers is not conducive to good advertising and we are somewhat cut off from parents and friends by lack of transportation. On the other hand the spirit of the School is infinitely better for its isolation from the luxury-loving city population and the ever increasing selfishness and lack of discipline so noticeable in other places. It is many years since I began teaching on Vancouver Island and after three years of it saw the birth of this School in the small frame building standing in two and a half acres of heavy bush. Since then we have acquired our present buildings, standing in one hundred and fifty acres of garden, cleared land, levelled playing fields and light bush. We have passed through some tribulations r 27 1

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Shawnigan Lake School Magazine Lake-Wisnon — On July 3rd, 1942, at London, England, Captain John Fletcher Lake (1923-1933) to Catherine Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Mr. S. A. Wisnon. Reynolds- Anderson — On July 17th, 1942, at Peace River, Alberta, Lieutenant John Windley Reynolds (1930-1937) to Dorothy Louise, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kristian F. Anderson. Milne-Jardine — On July 22nd, 1942, at Victoria B. C, William Maurice Milne (1928-1932) to Theo, daughter of Mrs. A. O. Squire Jardine and the late Mr. Jardine. Stirling-Russell — On August 3rd, 1942, at Toronto, Ontario, Lieu- tenant Michael Grote Stirling (1929-1933) to Sheelagh Kathleen, daughter of Mrs. Francis Xavier Russell. Corse-Smith — On August 11th, 1942, at New Haven, Connecticut, Lieutenant Chester Thorne Corse (1930-1936) to Virginia HuSted, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Dean Smith. Piddington-Parkes — On August 15th, 1942, at Victoria, B. C, Squadron Leader James Arthur Piddington (1925-1932) to Phyllis Maud, only daughter of Major and Mrs. A. S. Parkes. Hyde-Doud — On August 29th, 1942, at Tacoma, Wash., William Beaton Hyde ( 1930-1934 ) to Elizabeth Ann, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Howard Doud. Murphy-Sutton — On September 9th, 1942, at Seattle, Wash., George William Murphy (1933-1936) to Eleanor Grace, daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney H. Sutton. Macdonald- Angus — On October 10th, 1942, at Victoria, B. C, Lieu- tenant Ian Donald Macdonald (1930-1933) to Muriel Margaret, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. J. Angus. Osler-Spence — On October 23rd, 1942, at Baltimore, Maryland, Doctor Geoffrey Francis Osier (1918-1923) to Dulany Smith Spence. Covernton-Kennedy Smith — On December 19th, 1942, at Victoria, B. C, Lieutenant George Stephen Covernton (1927-1933) to Vera Eleanor, daughter of Mrs. G. Kennedy Smith and the late Mr. G. Kennedy Smith. beatUi Leir — In March, 1942, in Royal Canadian Navy, missing at Java, Richard Hugh Leir (19351940). Mainguy — On May 10th, 1942, at Calgary, Alta., in Royal Canadian Air Force, Richard Patrick Mainguy ' (1931-1934). [ 26 ]

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Shawnigan Lake School Magazine and are by no means ignorant of ill hap but all this has been made possible by the loyal, unselfish help of a few, the continuous interest of some and the generosity and loyalty of many, amongst whom I would mention especially our Governors. For many years now we have given Physical Education second to none in the Province. Morally, we have stressed the religious side of life and successfully implanted some seeds of idealism. Intellectually, we have just achieved a position in which we know exactly what we can do because we have done it. Our Science side is extremely good, what time we have laid a good deal of emphasis on History and Classical Languages as a proper basis for the enjoy- ment of intellectual life, and so able to prove the truth of the axiom My mind to me a Kingdom is. Much has been said stressing the development of individuality in a child. I prefer to stress the importance of discipline whilst giving the pupil every opportunity of expressing himself in the proper place, i.e., the Debating Society, in the Hobby Shop, et cetera, where we offer a variety of outlets for the development of the individual pupil ' s mental and manual initiative. Looking at our past I feel that we have achieved a certain amount. And I consider that this School lives a more truly demo- cratic life than is possible in a Government-controlled school be- cause we have the machinery and the desire and we base our educa- tional ideal on religion (not permitted in the State School), discipline (noticeably lacking in the youth of today), culture and service. Nearly one thousand boys have passed through this School. Well over two hundred are in the Armed Forces. From a purely material point of view we have given much free publicity to Vancouver Island and we have brought into British Columbia an amount of money from outside approaching, if not exceeding, half a million dollars. If we had spent more on adver- tising we should have become better known and in these days adver- tising is probably profitable. But I am conservative enough to feel that in an independent school, it is the parents and more especially the Old Boys who should be the true medium of propagating infor- mation which will inform people of the true values of such a school as this. Thesq points are sufficient to suggest something of the results of the past thirty years and I now come to the future. Most of us are learning in these critical times a scorn of miserable aims that end with self, but the exigency is also a practical one. The ques- tion with the Independent Schools, especially those hitherto charged with ultra conservatism, is not so much how we can modify our poli- cies or adapt ourselves successfully to existing conditions but whether we can continue to exist at all. [ 28 ]