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

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In the Lent Term we were visited by some snowfalls. While this disrupted rugby and occasioned much shovelling, there was considerable opportunity and enthusiasm for Skiing, resulting in one broken leg. The Summer Term was badly mis-named, since the sun was conspicuous by its absence. The other misfortune of this term was the virus epidemic in the first few weeks, to which no fewer than 75 boys succumbed, thus disrupting normal routine to quite an extent, though not disasterously for examinations, the cricket season, or the cadet inspection. The School flag-pole was the victim of a winter storm, and great was the fall thereof one evening during the Christmas term. No damage was done other than to the flag- pole itself, but the task of reconstruction proved formidable. However, with the aid of a gin pole, some skilled and unskilled ' labour, and the patient efforts of Mr. Jenkins the school carpenter, all was in readiness for the Annual Cadet Inspection in May. At the end of the year we bade farewell to Mr. James and Mr. Townend. Mr. Painton had regrettably been forced to leave earlier in the term due to ill-health. To them all, as well as to Miss Grace and Miss Ruth Solly, and Mrs. Whitney, we extend our cordial thanks and best wishes. Dk. Reverend £ M With Id A link with the past has been severed by Mr. Willis ' s retirement from his office as School Chaplain. During a term of some thirty years Mr. Willis has held at various times the position of Senior Master, Housemaster, Chaplain and Acting Headmaster. For a period he left us for Parish work in Victoria, but his appointment to the Parishes of Cobble Hill and Shawnigan allowed him to renew his duties as Chaplain, and after his retirement from active Parish work he continued as our Chaplain until the end of the Summer Term. A more sincere and devoted friend of the school it would be difficult to find. Though Mr. Willis ' s official connection with the school is ended, he will always receive a welcome here, and we wish him good health and a long life. - U. krirnsh rimdnire There will be many among the ranks of Old Boys who will learn with sorrow of the death of Mr. P. T. Skrimshire on Saturday, October 2nd, 1954, in Vancouver. At the Memorial Service which was held at St. Peter ' s Church, Quamichan, V.I., on Wednesday, October 6th, all branches of the School, Governors, Old Boys, Staff and Students, were assembled in a tribute of respect for one who gave so much of himself for the benefit of the School and earlier generations of boys there. Before teaching at Shawnigan Lake School Skrimmy taught in the Duncan District, and an appreciation of his earlier work, written by a former pupil, is quoted from The Cowichan Leader, as well as an appreciation from an Old Boy of Shawnigan Lake School. Reprint from The Cowichan Leader — P. T. Skrimshire, An Appreciation. It is a long while since, with a strange reluctance for study and a keen desire for wonderful adventures among the pine woods, along the river banks or up the face of Mt. Tzouhalem, I pedalled over the flats and up the slopes of St. Peter ' s Church to Quamichan Lake School; there to meet Lance Bazett, Eric Elkington, the Stilwell brothers the Wood brothers, Denis Deighton, Joe Fall, Stewart, Billy Maitland, the Green brothers, Inverarity and Hanham. If any have been overlooked from the years 1906-09, my apologies, with the forgetful- ness that comes through the crowded years as my excuse. Mr. Skrimshire put the situation very clearly when he said of us, ' Billy Maitland was the brightest of a dull lot. ' So the terms passed, and slowly, very slowly, we digested something of the hard diet of Latin and Euclid and Algebra. The large grasshoppers clicked in their flight and landed on the dusty summer roads, snow fell, frost came, and the generous Dr. Stoker and his wife made tea for crowds of skaters on Quamichan Lake. We were all boys, accepting Nature ' s gifts with open, grubby hands. But there was something else we accepted, though at the time we did not understand or appreciate what it was. We accepted hours of patient tuition by P.T.S., and, in recess, instruction on how to kick a football and play on a team. Page Seven

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Standing: R. L. Obermarck, P. A. Nash. Seated: J. A. Kaye, C. D. Brooks, the Headmaster, B. A. Coates, R. D. P. Ross. With Derek Brooks as Head Boy the other school prefects were Barry Coates, John Kaye and Ronald Ross, later joined by Ronald Obermarck and Peter Nash. Coates was Captain of Rugby and Kaye, Captain of Cricket. Throughout the year there were events of interest in Victoria and elsewhere, to which sundry boys had access; symphony concerts, the Everest lecture in Victoria, Canadian Club lecture in Duncan, the Harl em Globe Trotters, and the All Blacks Rugby match, to mention a few. During the Michaelmas Term we were fortunate in having Mr. Donald Grant lecture to us. He spoke on The Pacific Ocean and the Countries around it. This, as can be imagined, led to an interesting discussion afterwards. After Christmas we had a most illuminating talk by Lady L. Fletcher on Africa and the Mau Mau Rebellion. Lady Fletcher was obviously a most cultured and widely travelled lady and has recently spent many years in Africa; thus she proved an excellent authority on one of our problems as a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Her talk was not without touches of humour, however; in fact, her tales of how the Mau Mau women waited continually on the whims of the men made us realize that possibly we could learn something from the Mau Maus! Also during the Lent Term we enjoyed a lecture by Doctor E. A. Pye, who made a year-long voyage in his twenty-nine foot cutter Moon-Raker, across the Atlantic and into the Pacific Ocean. The spirit of adventure and courage displayed by Doctor Pye and his wife, and one crew member, in performing this voyage, captured the imagination of us all, as did the unassuming but descriptive account that Doctor Pye gave with the aid of his photographs. Toward the end of February we were all most grateful to Mr. John Wade for his interesting talk on the Architectural profession. He pointed out many of the happy phases of such a life; at the same time the boys felt that his implication was that, if they wished to be millionaires, they would stand a better chance if they studied cooking or some other such calling! A few weeks later the Senior School attended the Everest Lecture in Victoria. The Comradeship and courage of Sir Edmund Hilliary and George Lowe, to name only two of a great team, won the hearts of all who heard them. Such an experience will never be forgotten. In the Summer Term we rejoiced at the opportunity of hearing a lecture from Captain Morgan. He has been the leading Standard Oil representative in the Persian Gulf and was able to supplement his talk with enlightening films on the development of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The weather, always an important factor in school life, as elsewhere, was kind to us in the Michaelmas Term. Swimming was permitted in the lake until early October. Page Six

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Into whatever shape we have been moulded we thank P.T.S. for his fine craftsmanship, and long after his passing, we will remember him. ' — P.C.L. ' SKRIMMY ' How can one sum up, or pay fitting tribute to twenty-five years ' devoted service to the School, in a few paragraphs? How can one express the sense of loss of some five hundred Old Boys who passed through Skrimmy ' s classes? Impossible: and all one can offer him is a few inadequate lines, a quick sketch from a particular time, in place of the larger canvas that would alone do justice to his memory. In December, 1926, the Old School burned down, all buildings being destroyed except the Gym and the Hill House, a residence with three dormitories which stood on the knoll behind the present Hobby Shop. Previously ' Skrimmy ' had been specializing in Mathematics and History for several forms. He now took on the entire instruction for Forms V and VI. Working conditions were primitive: wooden partitions had been erected in the Gym so as to make a classroom in the northwest corner and a dining-room in the southeast corner, and one ' s way between these two apartments had to be threaded between piles of lumber and building materials. Heating was provided by two old wood stoves which plumbed rare depths of incapacity to fulfil their task in a severe Island winter. Yet despite these unpromising circumstances, in June 1927 all Form VI passed the Junior Matriculation exams, and all members of Form V passed into Form VI. In the following year (when the whole School was reunited in the present buildings) the same group of bovs all passed their respective Senior and Junior Matriculation exams. The 1927 results and the momentum of ' Skrimmy ' s ' instruction which undoubtedly carried through to 1928 represented a tour de force on his part, and are remembered with deep appreciation by the Old Boys of that generation. His teaching methods were quiet and persuasive; the class work proceeded steadily, and each period accomplished the objective set for the time. We learned to recognize the slight quivering of the lips and twinkle of the eyes that, minutes ahead, presaged one of ' Skrimmy ' s ' good jokes; by contrast we respected the gentle sarcasm — disciplinary but never sharp or unkind — that marked someone ' s fall from grace. Once we discovered that the classroom stove, when stoked with green wood and a generous helping of wet leaves, smoked abominably. This trick was essayed one February, 1927, afternoon when an arduous session of higher mathematics was scheduled. The smoke necessitated a safari to the dining-room, and the resultant coming and going, relighting of the dining- room stove, and requests for permission to return to the classroom for forgotten books, made mincemeat of the afternoon period. But ' Skrimmy, ' like Bates Sahib before him, had seen all — even to the utmost farthing — and when books were slammed hopefully shut at 3:30 a quiet voice reminded us, in a tone almost of apology, that the Math, timetable was such as to admit of no deviation. The sun sparkled on the snow outside, sleighs were drawn up ready at the top of Hartle ' s Hill, but we toiled painfully with quadratic equations until dark had fallen. Thereafter loving care was lavished on the classroom stove, that it might burn always cleanly with a bright fire. ' Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re ' — gentle in method, firm in action; the old Latin tag which comes to mind may not be an unfitting epitaph, and perhaps one which ' Skrimmy ' himself would not have scorned. — O.S.L.S. ZJhe lA ar VUlemorial Society. On the occasion of his visit to the School in March, 1953, the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, The Honourable Clarence Wallace, C.B.E., generously offered to donate a War Memorial plaque to the School in honour of Old Boys who gave their lives in the World War 1939-1945. The plaque, designed in bronze by Mr. John Wade, A.R.I.B.A., containing the names of 41 Old Boys, has now been completed and stands in the School Chapel. A service of dedication will be held in the Chapel in the coming School Year. Coincident with the completion of this Memorial plaque an appeal was made by the Committee of the War Memorial Society for the establishment of a permanent War Memorial fund. The objects of this fund are to provide for various renovations and improvements to the School buildings and to initiate scholarships to assist Old Boys and others in maintaining sons at the School. The Treasurer of the Society, and the Headmaster, have already received generous contributions to the fund, and it is hoped that Old Boys, and parents, will see fit to maintain and build up the fund on to a permanent basis. Page Eight