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

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Jhe r aa (concert The air was charged with excitement. In the dining room (temporary dressing quarters) the usual frenzied chaos was all-pervading as some donned suits of shiny armour, while others struggled into feminine attire of uncertain denominations. In the Big School, parents and visitors chatted amiably, apparently enjoying the lull before the storm. Then, as the curtain trembled on the rise, a tense hush fell over all. Out on the stage stepped the nine-year-olds. The show was on. To describe what followed would be of little interest to those who attended, and if any others chance to read this, the events of the evening might better be left to their imagina- tion. Suffice it to say that the unbounded enthusiasm of the performers compensated in some measure for the evident lack of finesse, and both the entertainers and the entertained enjoyed themselves to the full. If some in the audience frowned on the impersonations of Tuttle and Elmaleh, and raised their eyebrows at the alluring charms of London, why — when it came to Mr. Hyde-Lay ' s jokes — they literally gasped. Oh, yes, the programme was censored — and unsuitable material deleted. r ipleu 5 rrouie f oti r .e6 Although Ripley ' s is the senior House, we came back at the beginning of the year to find the youngest juniors in the School occupying our junior dormitory. We have since refuted any corridor whisperings that we are a House of Juniors. Under the good leadership and efficiency of Jack Riley, our only School Prefect, the House started the school year well. Unfortunately, Riley had to leave at Christmas because of his father ' s ill-health. As a result, Head of the House Peter Young and the other House Prefect, Harrison, managed the House for the remainder of the year and Mr. Pearce acted in lieu of a Housemaster. In School sports, the House was reasonably well represented: in Rugby by Young, Harrison I, Wilson I, Osvold, Obermarck I, and Elmaleh who was awarded his School Colours; in Cricket by Wilson I, Osvold and Obermarck I. The cross-country running team which ran at Royal Roads and did well was captained by Wilkinson. At the completion of all inter-house sports, Ripley ' s was lagging in points behind the other two Houses. However, we shone in the long distance races, winning the 880 yard relay, and the Trail Race was won by Obermarck I. The House also won the inter-house basketball competition. Note should also be made of a skit, staged as a part of the Rag Concert, written by Wilson I and acted mainly by Wilson I and Wilkinson, using a considerable amount of imagina- tion and some Cadet Corps experience. The result was a particularly lively few minutes in typical Wilsonian and Wilkinsonian manner. We take this opportunity of thanking Mrs. Nicholls, our Housematron, for taking such good care of us. We are sorry that Young, Harrison, Wilkinson and Denman (with his paintings) are leaving and we wish them good luck in their future endeavours. rJLake A rrouSe I loteA June has come around again and with it the time for our yearly reminiscences and meditations upon our achievements and activities during the past year. Rag Concert visitors saw us produce an amusing skit based on the antics, known and unknown, of the Masters in their Common Room at the morning Break. With the help of a congenial and cooperative audience, we seemed to be a success. In the realms of sport we have had our ups and downs. However, the ups have out- numbered the downs by a fairly wide margin. To the 1st XV we contributed five regular members, whilst three others played off and on. Unfortunately, there was no Inter-Houso Rugby, so we are unable to say that we won. However, it would not be boasting too much to say that we probably would have done so had it taken place. In Cricket we had the unique distinction of being joint holders of the Cricket Cup by dint of tying with Groves ' House in a most exciting cricket game, even the baseball addicts were chewing their finger nails at the end of this game. The Inter-House Sports Cup which is an aggregate competition, taking within its scope Boxing, Track and Field, and Swimming came to us for the second year in a row. Thee and Maclnnes I entered the Island Open Squash Championships and both did well. Thee, in particular, must be congratulated upon reaching the semi-finals and then only losing narrowly to a very much more experienced player. Had he won, he would have met the eventual winner, an Old Boy, in the British Columbia finals. The excellent spirit which has prevailed in the House has helped Lake ' s House to have an enjoyable year. This has been due in a large measure, to the steady and continued efforts Page 7

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Speech eJjcty It was with much regret that our carefully-laid plans for Speech Day had to be can- celled. A transportation strike amongst steamship employees was called for Friday night, June 22nd, the same day as term was to have ended. Therefore, it was necessary to send all boys from Mainland points home twenty-four hours earlier but, unfortunately, the Speech Day arrangements could not be advanced. This was a great disappointment to all but, in particular, to those boys who are leaving this year and to their parents who, in many cases, made long journeys to attend. However, the Prizes will be awarded soon after the beginning of the Michaelmas Term in accordance with the Prize List given below. PRIZE LIST — JUNE, 1951 FORM VII D. C. E. Maclnnes FORM REMOVE A C. T. Battle FORM VI E. E. Pinkerton FORM REMOVE B R. H. Svendsen FORM VU J. A. Strathdee FORM III B. A. F. Evans FORM VI T. A. London FORM II J. C. H. Wilson FORM IV - J. A. Kaye EFFICIENCY PRIZE Michaelmas Term J. S. Riley Lent Term D. C. E. Maclnnes HOUSE CUPS SPORTS Lake ' s . GYMNASTICS Lake ' s CRICKET Lake ' s-Groves ' (Tie) THE LARSEN SQUASH CUPl— - T. C. Thee Jhe rrobbu n The introduction of Hobby Shop classes into the School curriculum this year has led to a satisfactory improvement both in the interest shown to practical work and to the quality of work done by the average boy. It is unfortunate that in the past the worthwhile work which has been done in the Machine Shop has been done by a very few enthusiasts. This is, however, not surprising as the average boy has not usually natural ability but only latent ability which shows itself, as a rule, in a desire to fix his bicycle or knock up a shelf for his locker rather than in th? creation of an article requiring an appreciation of form, design, and beauty together with the knowledge, patience and manual dexterity demanded by skilled workmanship. The work of the two Removes shows that they have acquired, during the year, a certain measure of skill and a very considerable amount of enthusiasm and it is to be hoped that it will be found possible in the future for these boys to continue to receive formal instruction so that they may eventually derive real pleasure from this important medium of self-expression. Little of value has been done in the other sections of the Hobby Shop this year with the notable exceptions of Denman and Webster in the Art Club. Jhe K adet K orpi The annual inspection of the Cadet Corps was carried out by Wing Commander J. B. Millward, Commandant of the United Services College, Royal Roads. The marching, drill, steadiness on parade and display of training reflected the effort which the Cadet Corps has put into their work during the past year. After the march past the Corps broke up into groups and carried out a half hour ' s ordinary training under their officers and N.C.O. ' s. The radio section demonstrated the erection of a thirty-foot radio mast and aerial. The signallers sent messages by line telegraph with a satisfying degree of accuracy. A good demonstration of tripping the Bren Light Machine Gun was given by the S.A.T. group. The junior platoon carried out drill and aiming and fixing of the rifle. The display closed with a first class display of Physical Training. The whole school, in mass formation, under the leadership of Duncan Maclnnes v ent through a series of well- timed exercises. This was followed by Tumbling which showed a surprising agility on the part of, what we might almost call, the acrobats. The Box Horse work was good and clearly showed the excellent training the boys have had under their instructor, Mr. Derek Hyde-Lay. Page 6

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£ of Tuttle, our Head Boy, and Maclnnes I. We wish them both the best of luck upon leaving, and also extend these wishes to all our other friends who are following them and we hope to see them all back in the very near future as Old Boys. Thee and Clark, our two House Prefects, have both done good jobs and it will seem strange to have neither of them back with us next term. Just in passing, we hope to slip it in so that no one will really notice it, the Head Boy was in Lake ' s House, the Captain of Football was in Lake ' s House and the Captain of Cricket was in Lake ' s House. We hope that you will draw the right conclusions from these three facts. wove A rrouAe f oted This year Groves ' House again presents a repertory of interesting characters, distin- guished and not-so. Among the former, Patrick and Edgett are School Prefects, and Pinkerton and Webster House Prefects. All four leave this term, the two last-named having been accepted for Stanford. In sport, Groves ' produced individuals rather than teams. Bellm, Patrick and Edgett have played Rugger and Cricket for the School ' s first teams, Webster for the 1st XV, and Goodenough and Pinkerton for the 1st XI. We also produced a good selection of the Colts ' Cricket team, one of whom lost two teeth in the process. Dryvynsyde carried off the Chess Cup by its one handle. Groves ' made a presentable start in the Inter-House Sports but the lack of older inter- mediates resulted in our position at second place. In the House Cricket we were able to sit out of the first game, having obtained a bye. We played Lake ' s for the Cup, which resulted in a 51-51 tie. To those familiar faces leaving us, we can only say that we hope to see them soon as Old Boys. -st Ratlin a i lote The cheery clank of belaying pins and the froufrou of ropes ' ends towing in the water abaft once more disturbed the fishy meditations of ancient anglers as they threaded their worms on quiet Sunday afternoons. A boatload of underclad adventurers could be seen skim- ming over the breeze-shot surface en route for St. Trinians across the bay. Spinnaker spanking, tops ' l toppling, the fair foam flew, and no painted ship idled upon a painted ocean; to unleash the metaphor, they jollied along. The youngest member of the crew had never sailed before, but the old hand in com- mand was born with a silver scupper in his mouth and is none of your freshwater sailors. His quiet authority after a termtime of slapping paint and caulking boat bottoms will inspire confidence and awe in the tyro — and what if his classroom reflections on the best way to dislodge the next barnacle do tax the patience of unboatlike teachers? Not for him a life of idle pleasure among Latin Participles: his genius soared before the discovery of steam, when fine ships, their white sails crowding, leaned over the bosom of the urgent west. (If not in his so many words.) It is indeed chiefly due to Young and his team of willing, if inexperienced, assistants that two sailboats were made floatworthy — a small fleet but what fun for both veteran sailors and beginners alike. We hope that next summer a larger fleet may be put in commission. 2 L C. anted rs ? ? The School has certainly enjoyed far more fruitful years in the Athletic field as far as success is concerned in the won-lost column but there can hardly have been any better years at Shawnigan during which the general spirit and good sportsmanship were higher. A great deal of this was due to the unselfish captaincy both in Rugby and Cricket by Tuttle and Maclnnes respectively. These two along with the other School Colours have shown a very fine spirit during all games and matches and have instilled this spirit into their teammates by their very enthusiasm. Shawnigan has long had a fine reputation for its attitude on the games field regardless of the conditions of the game and it has been most gratifying during the past year to see this grand spirit so evident in the School. It is hoped that it will be just as much to the fore next year when we will have very young and inexperienced teams taking the field. If so, there is little fear but that we shall give a good account of ourselves. We have been very fortunate in the weather all during the year. It has treated us with kindness in that not once had we to postpone or cancel a match. In fact, the only time we had the elements to contend with was during the St. George ' s game in Vancouver and we feel that we are hardly responsible for the weather offered by the Mainland. The thanks of the teams goes out to Miss Forbes who so nobly gave up her time to see that we were always cleanly and smartly clad for our matches. Page o