Trafalgar Castle School - Yearbook (Whitby, Ontario Canada)

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Okticlo This club, which was founded by Mr. Atkinson, has continued to meet each month. In his farewell speech at the dinner which was given in honour of his forty-four years of service to the College, by the Board of Directors, Mr. Atkinson said that after so many years, it was very hard to say goodby, but he would feel even worse about it than he did were it not for the fact that he was leaving us to the care of someone who was so able and who was such a friend as was Mr. Gordon Hallett. Mr. Atkinson was right. Mr. Hallett, himself a distinguished concert pianist and member of the faculty of the Senior School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, has indeed been an inspiring suc- cessor. As a teacher, his patience and mastery of psychology have aided us in so many different situations. His descriptive terms: more broody , holus bolus and so many peas in a pod have helped us immeasurably with the feeling and mood of our pieces while others like animated alligators and Peter Piper have brought humour as well as improvement in rhythm and time. Under his direction, Okticlos meet- ings have been permeated with an air of informality because of his genuine interest and friendliness, to say nothing of his gifts as a Master of Ceremonies. Students have been keen. So many have performed and stood the test of the constructive criticisms made by the seniors. Before the meetings, there is usually a wild rush to practice rooms where may be heard in unison the tick, tick, tick of metronomes and the sound of furious rehearsal. At the time of performance, it is amazing to recall this — the results are astonishing. But at any time, interest in music is such that spon- taneous gatherings spring up everywhere at any time of the day. In these. Miss Vance is ringleader and her pleasing personality is something that we could not do without. The club ' s February meeting was a special one. Mr. Ralph Peters, one of Mr. Hallett ' s artist students from the Toronto Conservatory, made our February meeting a very special one. He delighted us with Listz ' s Hungarian Fantasia while Mr. Hallett supplied, on piano, the orchestral accompaniment. Variety was given to this meeting by several renditions by organ students. Our music talents have not been unappreciated away from O.L.C. either, for from time to time a student has played at Alumni gatherings, attended Home and School meetings as a performer and sung at Church services. We now have four A.R.C.T. students who come to us from as far away as Penticton, B.C. and South Hadley, Massachusetts, U.S.A., and to borrow a phrase which the Rev. W. J. Johnston gave us in his farewell speech to Mr. Atkinson, we look forward to their winning shortly a pat on the back for their examination work . . . The Editor interrupts me. Speaking of examinations, says she under whose watchful eye and at the prodding of whose painful pencil this article is being written, why no mention of those which the students of a certain Day Girl, referred to elsewhere in this publication, passed not so long ago ? Or of the teaching practice she has built up in Whitby ? Better — modesty need find no place in the records of the achievements of this Society. JOANNE STROWGER, President of Okticlos PAGE TWENTY-EIGHT

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The College has always offered a rich and varied life to those who love mu sic and this year has been no exception. Once again we have enjoyed the series of concerts brought to us by the Canadian Concert Association of Whitby. The visits of Klemi Hamburg and later of Barbara King were further occasions of great pleasure to us and last but certainly not least, we were proud of the eagerly awaited and much ap- preciated recital given by Miss Vance in aid of the Chapel Fund. Even as we write, enthusiasm is high as Okticlos prepares to give us a concert in which all performances will be by students of the Department. PAGE TWENTY-SEVEN

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Dole pineapple juice ! Clear tea ! Orange juice ! We were persuaded to at least one of them before each performance. We sang, usually only to the accompaniment of nervously rattling bones. Yet apparently we were successful in camouflaging the state of affairs under the Cheshire grins prompted by Dr. Osborne ' s keen sense of humour. Though not a complete account, we hasten to add, of the day when we went to Peterborough, these details will long remain in our memories. Long too will remain the satisfaction we felt when we sang in the evening Service at Trinity Church and when afterwards, in the Church Hall, we gladdened a wonderful audience with a special recital. This included selections of a more secular kind and variety was brought to it by the rendering of three Gilbert and Sullivan songs by Miss Vance and by a piano- forte solo by Mary Harper. On the same day, we sang during Morning Service at Lakefield United Church, where Dr. Osborne has been preaching regularly, and afterwards were invited to the homes of various members of the church for dinner. The visit stands out, perhaps in different ways: the Service, the scenic drives, new acquaintances, scrumptious meals and a tour of the points of interest in Peterborough. These performances were the realisation of much preparation — we practised when fed, when hungry, when tired and when wide awake, but we never failed to enjoy every minute of those hard-working hours. It was certainly a red-letter day but it was not the only one when the Choir had the privilege of performing in public. We also sang at the annual Christmas Festival at the College, over the radio in Oshawa, and at Northminster United Church in Oshawa, where we had the moral support of the whole school. The Choir has never failed to be a source of intense pleasure for each one of us, and should you be chosen to be in it next year, I guarantee that you too will love every minute of it. MARY HARPER, President of the Choir PAGE TWENTY-NINE