Sir Adam Beck Secondary School - Lacedaemon Yearbook (London, Ontario Canada)

Page 93 text:

Another Beck tradition is that of sports. Beck is a football and basketball school . In the first six years of football conference play, Beck won the title four times. We have won the London basketball championship regularly, and our team of 1957 won the All-Ontario Championship. This year of our 40th anniversary has been a good example of our proficiency in our two athletic spec- ialties, as we won both basketball and football championships. EARLY RUGBY TEAM GIRL ' S CHAMPIONSHIP BASKETBALL TEAM 1928 THAT GIRLISH FIGURE

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ft 9 ii ft M GLEE CLUB IN THE ' 50 ' S Beck is a school with many tra- ditions. Music is one of the strongest ones with roots dating back to 1928 with the performance of Beck ' s first operetta, The Wild Rose. Operettas since then have included several by Gilbert and Sullivan: The Mikado, 1955, The Pirates of Penzance, 1962, and H. M. S. Pin- afore, 1951, 1961. In other years, Beck has staged a variety show Beck on Call and recently has inaugurated an annual Music Night. Beck ' s Glee Club has also been on radio and has made several tours. Our singing auditoriums began in 1931 and have been continued ever BAND IN THE ' 40 ' S H.M.S. PINAFORE 1951

Page 94 text:

Beck, for several year, had an army militia corps. It was fre- quently commended for its excel- lence, and In 1957 won the much coveted Strathcona Shield. Major Cropp(2nd from left in front row) was training officer, Second Lieutenant Bartley (2nd from right, front) was quartermaster and Captain Rice (front, right) was an instuctor. Beck has a literary tradition as well . From 1927 to 1936, Beck had an excellent school magazine. A copy of the first issue of the Lantern, as it was called, was presented to Lt. Gov- ernor W. D. Ross in 1927 when he officially opened the school . The magazine won several prizes for its excellence. In 1933, it won the prize for being the best school magazine in Ontario, and in 1934 it was voted the 2nd best. That year, Dorothy Cooper, was editor. The Spartan was started in 1961 and in 1965, was adjudged the 5th best school newspaper in western Ontario by the UWO Gazette. 1929 LANTERN STAFF A. Bartley, Editor Over the past 40 years, the staff and students of Beck have witnessed and been part of many proud moments. There were, however, occasions that might not give cause for a Spartan to raise his head . During the war years, 1400 trees were planted as a part of a conservation programme . It was intended that the trees serve to remind all future students of the rewards of good conservation practices. Yet within two years every one of these trees had burned down . The trees seemed to have had as long a lease on life as the ill-fated cricket team of 1929. Despite the efforts of an athletically-minded student, A. Bartley, it seemed that there existed an apathy towards cricket. Perhaps this well-established game might furnish a suitable alternative to the junior football teams of recent years. By 1939, the students were tired of staring at the blank walls of their basement cafeteria. To overcome this problem, art teacher, Selwyn Dewdney, and his art students created a ten panel mural . The mural received critical acclaim and was featured in Saturday Night Magazine. Today these celebrated panels have as their viewers only the custodians, who now emply the basement room for their purposes. One could journey down to the subterranean part of Beck to view those forsaken treasures. He would do so at his own risk, however, for it is rumoured that Beck has a prowling ghost It all started , but perhaps it is best to let the elements of the supernatural make their own presence felt .