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

Page 23 text:

Back Row: A. Kritzinger, J. Agassiz, D. Hancock, J. Hungerford, D. DeWitt, J. Eversoll, K. Sterling, P. Hetherington, W. Kuo, M. Oliver, Q. A. Forsythe, D. Parish, N. Hay, S. Bailey, A. Penn. Second Row: A. Binz, J. Gregory, F. Binkley, J. Godwin, G. Davidson, S. Best, I. Noble, R. Anderson, J. Williamson, J. McBean, T. Booth, G. Rannie, P. Gallow, J. Ma, P. Stevenson, R. Williams, P. Reinholdt, F. Fung, D. Cumming. Sitting: M. Maclure, R. Bullock, N. Taylor, S. Williams, K. Hein, C. Winslow, G. Thompson (Head Boy), K. Hamilton, M. Forrester, E. Bachen (missing), G. Meredith, M. Hobson. John Agassiz Bubble! That was John ' s nickname and it came very close to describing his physique and his character. John ' s bubbling, giddy laughter was a passport that gave him great success in making friends, in fact, there is little else about his personality that one can remember, (the image of John as a prefect with a stern, re- sponsible look upon his face just doesn ' t seem right) because all his other traits are drowned next to his jovial nature. In spite of his seemingly unique personality and appearance, at the computer dance, he was matched with a girl who looked so much like him that everyone thought they were related. This and the fact that they had a good time are real tributes to IBM. In sports, John seemed to lack a bit of finesse; one can see him on the rugby field enjoying himself not with the game but with the thought of the total comedy of compulsory athletics; and one can see him in the squash courts mastering a deadly stroke that should one-day make him the greatest of fly-swatters. Then John became a star in sports. John went out for grasshockey and was stupen- dous; he was awarded school colours for the accomplishment. 21

Page 22 text:

Glen Thompson Glen and his Grad Class Shawnigan has an ideal; the molding of a mature student of dedication and discipline from the loose end and raw materials presented in each new boy. Like all ideals it is seldom reached, but there are the few who manage. Glen Thompson, the head boy, was the only member of the Class of ' 70 to be among those few. Indis- putably the best prefect, he wielded his authority without d amaging his place in the view of his fellows as a friend and an equal and he maintained admirably an equilibrium between the demands of his superiors and those of his peers so that ultimately he gained the respect of both. Though positions of height have been, more than once, oc- cupied bv lovers of pomp and power, the esteem of his appointment to head bov never entered Glen ' s thoughts. It was a responsibility, and as with everv other resnonsibilitv he had had before, he accepted it and took it for granted that his best was the minimum he must do. His fellow grade elevens at the end of the ' 69 vear evidently realized this because in their vote for head boy his support was virtually unanimous. Thompson was by no means a first-impressionist; indeed, the first impression he gave earned him the image of a cave-man with the accompanying nickname ' Gronk ' . But this image disappeared quickly as one became acquainted with him. Immediately one realized that he was a great idealist and one was quick to discover, too, the accompanying dedication he displayed. His idealism, in- terestingly enough, was portrayed by his parts in two Shakespearean dramas (as both Hamlet and Brutus, Glen was acting almost as he, himself, would have in those situations), and his dedication was personified by his peculiar method of sprinting in which, when at his maximum point, he was virtually pounding the life out of the ground. But his tough physical appearance disguised the truly sensi- tive person inside. Memorable is the laugh of his, by which he endured the joking but long-drawn ribbing his friends would give him, but more memorable still was the day when Brentwood ' s 1st XV went to the lengths of causing three major injuries in order to leave Shawnigan in bitter defeat. It was the only time his sensitivity was really visible; it was in the form of a stream of tears down the length of his cheeks. 20

Page 24 text:

Ron Anderson Ron — It used to be quite a joke to say that he had the biggest tie rack in the school or that he had overdrawn his extra ' s account by getting so many school colours. With academic colours, cricket colours and tennis colours and top achievement in rugby, basket- ball, and squash it was generally acknowledged that Ron was the most ail-roundly proficient boy in grade twelve. But the masters expended much effort and many words to get Ron involved in the school community than he was, and it became general opinion that SLS and Ron had done nothing for each other. I doubt that. Labelled unjustly as being cynical, Ron ' s attitude may have been the sum of his talents and a pinch of self-consciousness. He would try hardest in games because everyone did; he was a dili- gent Nucleus columnist if no one was looking; but throw in an apathetic audience and Ron would not contribute. It was a big mountain out of a little mole hill; Ron simply liked playing with the squirt bottles in Chemistry, and testing Doc- tor Armstrong, and fiddling around in Physics labs. Alone in prep however he accomplished what he knew he could though he always degraded his achievement afterwards. Though he said he wasn ' t looking forward to UBC and he might take a year out before it, I think he actually is looking forward to it and will surely enjoy it. Eric Bachen Eric — The most noticeable quality that showed was a most mature outlook on everything. Compared to the maturity of the average boy in the grad class, it was astounding. There was no loss of humour in him though, and no loss of interest or enjoyment in the school activities that others enjoyed. He was one of the for- wards that made this year ' s one of the toughest 1st XV scrums ever. He was a good student and a good prefect. Yet always, in any sort of company, there was that inexplicable air of maturity. He arrived at school late to begin with -because he was on a fishing boat apparently earning his way to Shawnigan. He was rumoured to be the strongest person in the school but he never proved it because he had no desire to do so; he was the gentlest of all the 1st XV forwards when not on the field. Perhaps the image that will survive with the strongest impression will be the one of the rugby games posters showing Eric with a determined look on his face, an Indian feather in his hair, and the whole opposing team on his back. Stu Bailey Stu was another of the sort of boys who is found to be laughing so often, and who is known to get along with others so well because of it. Even in a black and white picture you can imagine his fiery red cheeks which came close to matching his hair colour when he was particularly embarassed or when he was in stitches of laughter. On the morning of the grade twelve deek, he was red-faced because he was laughing as much as everyone else did. On the evening of the deek, his cheeks were still red . . . and painful with sunburn, not to mention the rest of his body. Stewy-woowy , as he was somehow named by the Copeman ' s boys, was like many of Copemans, a very sportsminded person. He was very good at tennis, squash, and rugby, but his big sport of the year was grasshockey. He was captain of the school grasshockey team and, with Mr. Nuth ' s coaching, led his team through a very great year. He was awarded school colours for his abilities and accomplishments in that sport. 22