Stratford Normal School - Classic Yearbook (Stratford, Ontario Canada)

Page 23 text:

The Classic at the great benefits to be derived from the opportunity that is here given every some healthy and energetic exercise, and students of Stratford Normal School have June, 1911 all sports, let us grasp at one of us to take part in in conclusion say that the struck the right chord and have sounded the proper pitch when they have organized football, skating, hockey and basketball teams, so that the ladies as well as the men can find that recreation and enjoyment which supply re- newed vigor to the depressed and over--taxed brain. GREETINGS FROM GUELPH. ERE we are, sixteen of the jolliest, best behaved and most studious of the ninety-nine students at the O. A. C., sitting o11 the campus, listening to the warbles of bronze grackle, rose- breasted grosbeak and chipping sparrow, while the common Eastern Swallow Tail and Morning Cloak go Hitting by. But amid all these attractions, someway, somehow, our i1l1011glltS'T9i31lI'1'l to the aquarium and the insect boxes of the S. N. S. XYhen our muscles ache and our fingers twitch from too intimate association with the plane, saw and chisel. a longing is created for those simple tools, the ruler, scissors, liquid glue pot and cardboard. Yes, we are in a delightful spot, with all the characteristics of a. summer resort, including sufficient wholesome work to make life interesting. A prominent educationist said recently that it is a combination of city conveniences and country privileges. Our instruction is given in the various buildings in connection with the Agricultural College and in Macdonald Institute. The classes in Industrial Arts, consisting of the three departments, Art, Mechanical Drawing and XVoodwork, are held in machinery hall. You ask about the Art. Oh, yes, we have color charts in abund- ance, with great display and delicacy of colors. As you sit within the walls of the S. X. S. you may have visions of May fiowers, birds and green trees, and wish that you might roam among them. Such visions of ours have become a realization, as with butterfly nets, bug bottles and insect boxes, we march at the familiar tremendous rate, across the freshly sowed oat fields to the north woods and here receive Nature Study instruc- tion. Buttertiies, caterpillars and other insects a1'e becoming objects of admiration, as we gaze at their beautiful markings, magnified by the lantern. Our garden plots are places of wonder and interest as we watch the co-operation of soil and seed in the development of plant life. A new interest has been created for us in Bee Cul- ture, by two lectures given by Dr. Phillips of iYashington, who has portrayed it as a simple means of bettering one's financial standing in old age. Consequently, we have renewed hope. Now you are beginning to think how hard we have to work and how monotonous life must be. Not so: there is another side. The spacious dining-room wherein our abnormal appetites are so boun- 21

Page 22 text:

The Classic June, 1911 gation composed of the Lion Hearts of Grade B. who under the leadership of their enthusiastic captain, R. S. Shaw, somehow pro- duced a huge rope, and in a very strenuous practice showed from the very word pull that they were winners. On the Friday evening about 7-45 p. m., a mighty host from the Normal, from the Collegiate Institute, and from the Business College gathered to witness the affray. On entering the Y. M. C. A., programs were given out which showed that the first item was the students' greeting in the reception hall. This proved a means ol getting acquainted with each other. The introducing of a few of the quiet bashful boys to such a host of amiable young ladies seemed to remove the thin veneer of stiffness that might otherwise have been exident. One lady in Grade A remarked on the difficulty in remem- bering the names of the boys, but of course it is unnecessary to mention any of the Hdiflicultiesn of the boys. About 8.30 the crowd might have been seen promenading to the beat of the harmonious strains of the city orchestra, wending their way up to the assembly room, where an excellent program was given by the Xormal School students. At this the ladies took a prominent part, proving again that music, song and eloquence do not wholly belong to the sterner sex. The last item, but oh, not least, was the sports in the gym- nasium. The first line up for tug-of-war consisted of the selected seven of the Collegiate against those of the Normal. VVith some pulling and shunting the Collegiate were forced to give way, and the Normal came off winners, but not conquerors. The next line up was between the Y. M. C. A- and the Business College. These two teams could truly boast of their skill at pulling the tug through continued systematic training and practice, but the well trained Y. M. C. A. septet was an easy opponent to the husky Business College Monsters, But now were to come the finals. The Normal, being the first winners, were to pull the Business College, the other happy victors- and it was a terrible contest, a hand and foot engagement, such jerking and slipping and sprawling! Terrible! Terrible! And those walls which had so oft before trembled and shook, now tuned their beams to the shrill screeches of the boys below accompanied by the silvery shouts of enthusiasm Pull! Pull ! that came from the ladies in the gallery, which if we had stopped to listen, would have proven very unlike the high and low Doll that had come from them on previous occasions. You would have thought that the tug was going to break. It held in bewilderment both spectators and judges. But, alas! in the end the College won. VVe are disappointed and could easily give a dozen good excuses for our failure, but Cheer up,', welll do better next time. Of course the girls all said we did nobly, but they had to say something. The task of seeing all the girls home that night loomed large -to the boys, and not wishing to show preference, they very rapidly dis- persed to their respective abodes. But now, forgetting that which gave such full enjoyment and forgetting that which gave such pain for the moment, and looking 20 ,

Page 24 text:

The Classic June, 1911 tifully satisfied, and wherein conversation is carried on, occasionally to a hilarious degreeg the attractive sitting-room, which is open to us at all times, and to our entertainment of other students of the College fwho are not lady teachersl, by music, vocal and instru- mental: the baseball, tennis and promenades occupy the time which is not spent in study. All these present occupation for the most fastidious taste. A homelike feeling was created for us by the hospitality of the Macdonald girls, who entertained us most enjoyably, shortly after our arrival he1'e. XVhatever homesick feelings we may have had were quickly dis- pelled by the welcome appearance of Dr. Silcox last Saturday, who by his kind remembrance of us and genial manner, made a bright picture for mernory's book- Though we are enjoying life here, so thoroughly, we often think of you all and we sincerely wish you the bestof success in upholding the record of the S. N. S., as we do when we make the echoes ring hv Stratford Normal hoop la goo Purple and gold, to roh rum boo, Schola oyez cis go bah, Stratford Normal, rah, rah, rah. Myrtle Edmiston Ella Abraham Ada Xeelands Katie Hurlburt Eva Armstrong Katie Tuttle Bertha Inglis Mabel Bailie Mabel XVhiteman Reta McCombe Lizzie Binnie Gretta XVilson Annie McGirr Beatrice Delahunt THE AT HOME FROM THE TEACHERS' STANDPOINT. HE primary object of an At Home is the satisfying and the developing of the social instinct, and the successful carrying out is emulation or rivalry of former affairs. Hence the Decoration Com- mittee looks for some unique scheme of decoration. This year the committee chose to specialize on Chinese Lanterns, and these were successful in giving that side of the At Home a character different from any hitherto held in Stratford Normal. The decorations in the halls and throughout the building were more elaborate than on former occasions. Chinese lanterns suggest the legendary ease and luxurious- ness of eastern palaces. It is doubtful if such grandeur actually exists there, but we think it does, and a man thinks, so is'he. The Program Committee centered its attention upon the unusual feature of outside talent, and the singing of Mr. XY. A. McCutcheon made the program excellent, while every number on it rendered by the students was also of the highest order. It was essentially a musical program, the recitations by Mr. Emery adding a very spicy variation in the first half. All who took part are to be congratulated upon the success of this part of the At Homef' The Refreshment Committee discovered its new feature in frozen 22