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

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During the summer vacation, five members of the Troop attended a District Lifesaving Camp. After a very strenuous ten days and a stiff examination, Chris Hicks was awarded the Royal Lifesaving Society Bronze Medallion, John Simpson and Robin Curtis the Intermediate Certificate, and John Payne and Chris Curtis the Elementary Certificate. All five Scouts also won the Rescuer and Swimmer Proficiency Badges. ft ft ft Uke oUramatic Society. The society benefited from the solid grounding of previous years, without which the attempt to maintain full length productions might have failed. The Gondoliers (Gilbert and Sullivan) in November, and The Miser (L ' Avare by Moliere) at Easter were executed without mishap and in many places with marked talent. Every play is reborn in successive portrayals. Since it is a living thing, it is impossible to evaluate the contribution of the different members. Producers maintain this, not to avoid mentioning the whole cast, but to excuse their selection of any at all. The general impression given was one of happy interest. In the operetta, Malkin contrasted well with Mowat, the one short, fastidious to the point of over acting, the other lofty, at times gauche, but both immensely enjoying the parts. The performer most appreciated by the audience was the burbling, rosy-cheeked, matronly Duchess (Peter Culter), who ordered about the pompous Plaza Toro (Mackenzie) with a gusto which must have filled husbands with awe and wives with envy. The chorus, always difficult to control, danced and sang gaily if not precisely. Mr. Galliford, vowing it was impossible to achieve so much in so short a time, proved himself, as usual, more than equal to the task. Without him it would have been impossible. This year we neglected the blood and disorder of Shakespeare for the urbane wit and structural neatness of Moliere, ably translated by Miles Malleson. The actors found the script long but the characterization was slight enough for all to achieve a considerable amount of sympathy with their parts. Burrows, belying his Peter Pan looks, played Harpagon with the proper mixture of sauciness, acquisitiveness and suspicion necessary for this bourgeois Midas. The most polished performance came from Russ; Murdoch provided the most natural. To fill Jacques ' boots he had only to behave as a typical Lake ' s Senior. All the players are to be complimented on their excellent sense of timing and ease of movement on a crowded stage. Mrs. Lacey made all the costumes (and what excellent ones they were !) and offered many valuable suggestions. The Dramatic Club will miss her very much. Whatever they tackle next year, the actors should feel prepared to hold up a well polished mirror to nature. The Cast of The Miser Valerie (in love with Elise) I. Reid Elise (Harpagon ' s daughter) C. Russ Clean te (Harpagon ' s son) C. Pentland Harpagon (the Miser) T. Burrows La Fleche (Cleante ' s servant) J. Mackenzie Master Simon (a moneylender) W. Hansell Frosine (a scheming woman) K. Anderson Jacques (Harpagon ' s servant) R. Murdoch First servant D. Arnt Second servant J. Ardagh Mariane (in love with Cleante) . P. Veres Justice of the Peace B. Housser Clerk to the Justice : R. Gregg Seigneur Anselm A. Pellett ft ft ft A full House of 40 boys saw Copeman ' s House back as a fully competitive House for the first time since 1932. In order to change the House to such a position, a number of transfers from other Houses were necessary, in addition to new boys entering. The old kitchen, dining-room and common room were all renovated to accommodate the larger number and we were delighted to welcome Page Twenty-six

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considered by many to have been the best in the Corps ' short history. It has been decided to continue the draft system, but it appears that the Draft Board will necessarily become a Selection Board in the near future. The list of Cadets liable for training will exceed 100 in September, 1958, and Cougar operates now on a quota, set by the Navy, of 80 Cadets. The first noteworthy event of the 1957-58 year was the cruise aboard H.M.C.S. ORIOLE. Twenty Cadets embarked at Cowichan Bay one Saturday morning, spent the day cruising in off- shore waters, and returned to the Bay in the late afternoon. Although there were informal classes in seamanship, pilotage, etc., the single item which appears to have remained most firmly in the memories of the Cadets was the food. A few days after the cruise, the Head- master received a letter from Captain Groos commending the Cadets for their keenness and good behaviour. On Sunday, 27 April, the Shawnigan Lake Centennial Park was dedicated and the Cen- tennial flag-raising ceremony was held. The entire ship ' s company took part in this event as Cougar ' s contribution to the community ' s Centennial celebrations. Highlight of the year, of course, was the Annual Inspection. The traditional Ceremonial, P.T. Display and Practical Demonstration were carried out, and, as has been mentioned before, were considered by many to have been the best yet. Captain M. G. Stirling, an Old Boy, was the Inspecting Officer. He complimented the Cadets upon their turnout and obvious sense of discipline. In his address, he also stressed the value of Cadet Training in providing the means to achieve self-discipline, an attribute much needed in these times. Final event of the year was the Annual Vancouver Island Sea Cadets ' week-end at H.M.C.S. NADEN. A contingent of 48 Cadets from the Corps took part in the event, and, from all reports, did a fine job as representatives of Cougar. Their showing on Commodore ' s Inspection was good and their conduct and discipline drew favourable comment from the authorities at NADEN. The whaler crew lost a very close decision to R.C.S.C.C. ADMIRAL MAINGUY, coming second in a field of six. COUGAR ' S contingent won handily in the tabloid sports, but lost the tug- of-war, and the aggregate championship, in a thriller of a contest which left spectators and judges, as well as contestants, quite limp. The general opinion of the Cadets who took part in the week-end festivities was that next year, COUGAR would have to return and do the job properly. An account of the year ' s activities would not be complete without grateful acknowledgment of the valuable assistance given the Corps by Mr. Higgs, our Bandmaster, and Chief Kilvington, both of whom gave up valuable free time to give us the benefit of their wide experience. R.C.S.C.C. COUGAR — Petty Officers, 1957-58 Chief Petty Officer C P2 Kemble, M. J Gunnery Instructor C P2 Wilson, D. R Divisional P.O. ( Crescent ) C P2 Witt, B. N Divisional P.O. ( Crusader ) L C Millar, D. J Divisional P.O. ( Fraser ) C P2 Brighton, J. W Divisional P.O. ( Skeena ) C P2 Mcintosh, R. A Winner of Inter-Divisional Competition — CRUSADER. -fr ft coul I feu 3 The Troop carried on its activities this year with twenty-five members. Five Scouts were awarded second class badges and the five Patrol Leaders attended a Bronze Arrowhead course at Duncan. Shelters were started for each Patrol in the Lent Term. These are to be shaked for winter camping quarters and it is hoped they will be completed during the coming Michaelmas Term. The Troop spent three days on Memory Island in May — a most memorable time was enjoyed by all. The most treasured memory of the year was the week-end spent on Eagle Heights to celebrate the B.C. Centennial. Whilst there a cairn was built of rocks, a precast triangular block set in the middle and a concrete Scout hat set on the top. The School Chaplain paid us a special visit, went up to the cairn and held a service, dedicating it to the memory of all B.C. pioneers. Page Twenty-five

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Gin Kim as our new cook, especially when we discovered he had been a cook at the School twenty-five years ago. In spite of the predominance of junior members in the House, a good spirit existed throughout the year and keen competition was given to other Houses in all phases of School life. We led in the Academic Shield competition until the Christmas exams, when we had to concede the shield to Groves ' House. The Efficiency Cup came to the House for two terms. In athletics the House was outstanding in cross-country runs, mainly through the per- formances of Waters, ma., Longridge, Whittaker and Waters, mi. We reached the finals of the Rugby Cup and lost a very exciting game to Ripley ' s House, but managed to share the Boxing Cup with the same House. We won the Cricket Cup — for the first time since 1931! Our under 14 and under 16 Basketball Teams played excellent games in that competition, but the Seniors did not do very well at all. In spite of many difficulties encountered in their new House, the House Prefects, Vander- sluys, Waters, ma., Wallace and Camp, did an excellent job. Vandersluys and Wallace both leave us this year and have the best wishes of the whole House for the future. Ljroved rwouse i lotei Perhaps the outstanding achievement during the year was the winning of the area scholar- ship to U.B.C. by Christopher Malkin, who thus suitably climaxed his varied and interesting career at this School. It was a career marked by struggle to maintain and develop his own individuality against the pressures of conformity, and the degree of success he attained in academics, dramatics, and natural history is to his great credit. The House honours him for his achievement. He has gone on to Neuchatel for a year, after which he will take up his scholarship at U.B.C. In the House Academic Competition, Groves ' overtook Copeman ' s at Christmas, and main- tained a good lead for the remainder of the year, thus winning the Academic Shield for the second year in a row. In sports, the House had a fair year. We began in fine style by winning the Swimming by a wide margin, gaining 87 points against 39 by Lake ' s, who came second. The three divisional champions were all Groves ' boys, David Ross winning the Open, Rodney Pelling the Under-16, and Brent Smith the Under-14. And close behind Ross for the Open points was Donald Mowat. In Track we had to be content with third place, behind Ripley ' s and Cope- man ' s. However, we took some consolation in the fine performances of Malcolm Burke and David Ross, who came second and third respectively in total points scored in the Under-16 division. The Inter-House Rugby Competition produced a thrilling and very close struggle between Groves ' and Ripley ' s, the defending champions. It was anybody ' s game until well into the second half, when McAlpine broke through powerfully in his own half and produced the winning try, which was converted. We thus lost 8-3. Our team had played well, however, and we were proud of all members of the team for their spirited effort. In Basketball we were forced by the superiority of Lake ' s to share second place with Ripley ' s and Copeman ' s. Our best performance was in the Under-16 division, in which we won all our games, including the final against Ripley ' s by a score of 18-10. In Boxing, with the departure the previous June of many of our star boxers, we did not fare so well as in recent years, and dropped from first to last place. However, some of our team fought very creditably, notably Mackenzie and Arnt, giving us hope for a comeback next year. In Cross-Country we kept out of last place by virtue chiefly of a superb effort by our Under-14 ' s, both in training and in the race itself. Several other individuals, too, did well, however, and we ended third behind Copeman ' s and Ripley ' s. In Squash we were runners-up to Ripley ' s, with Larsen and Macrae both winning two of their matches. In individual competition, Larsen, in keeping with his family tradition, won the Senior Cup. In Shooting we won both the Senior and the Junior Cup, setting new records in the process, thanks to our dead-eye marksmen Millar, McKechnie, Housser, Ardagh, Martland, Halse, Best, and Hicks. In Cricket, we lost to Copeman ' s 38-25 in the first round, a surprisingly close match, in view of the fact that we had only two boys generally recognized as having very much Cricket talent — Mackenzie and Larsen. In Rowing our four — Read, Keith, Beddall, and Cromie — defeated Copeman ' s but lost out to Lake ' s. In a wide variety of other activities, we were again this year very well represented. In the Operetta and Play Malkin, Mowat, Mackenzie, Pelling, Burrows and Russ all took leading parts, and in the Choir and Cadet Band, about half the members were from Groves ' . The tradition of enterprise and initiative was strengthened further during the year by the building and opening of the Ritz Tuck Shop at the beginning of the summer term, by an energetic group Page Twenty-seven