Vermilion School of Agriculture - Yearbook (Vermilion, Alberta Canada)

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□ VERMILION SCHOOL 0 F A G R I C U L T U R E □ STUDENTS’ COUNCIL Standing—E. Swindlehurst, T. Beckett. Seated—Miss M. Maire, A. Platt (Chairman), Miss E. Wilson. .ctiuities of the l]ear T HE winter term of 1929 and 1930 has been an eventful one, insofar as activities within the School are concerned. A tiny mumps germ decided to enter the School in November last and he rapidly made friends! ?) among the students and staff, with¬ out any very noticeable preference in proportion to their respec¬ tive numbers; so much so, in fact, that about one-third of the residents in the dormitory spent something like twenty-one days, each, in close association with him. The usual annual Sports Day was held in the grounds of the local Agricultural Society, early in the term, and some of the sprinters were given an opportunity to show their speed. The Hous.e League for Basketeers was organized early in the term, with the Gymnasium Committee in charge, and many interesting and exciting games have been played. Unfortunately the League has not been altogether completed at the time th Yearbook gos to press and we are, therefore, not in a position to give the final results. The Wiebe Hockey Trophy, won at considerable exercise of the hockey team during the last school year, has been defended during the year by the squad composed of Robt. Johnston (capt.) Frank Mead (goal), Tom Beckett and Gordon Ogston (defence), Harry Scraba (centre) with John Sulima, Len. Frederking, Clarence Cranston, Roland Therrien and Arc Stanton playing alternately on the forward line. Although the boys put up sev¬ eral merry scraps, they seemed to lack the punch to score very heavily and finally saw the silver cup slip through their fingers to the Town contestants. Inter-class hockey flourished to a greater extent than during the past year or two, but was interrupted by warm weather which spoiled the ice on the “College” rink. The Third Year, becoming more hungry than usual, chal¬ lenged the far-famed Staff hockey team to a game, with a turkey dinner, to be cooked by the losers, as the plum; on a warm Satur¬ day afternoon the opposing line-ups took their places, eager for the fray. Fifty-five minutes later the entire dozen men were taken from the ice in a state of utter exhaustion, after having played to a 3-3 draw. Numerous accidents occurred during the game, including the scoring of three goals by each team. Not one of the players being able to play again during the year, it was decided that the Staff members, who had not so contributed to the entertainment of the spectators, would meet the five unscathed gladiaors from the Third Year in the gymnasium for a game of basketball. The enthusiasm of the Matrics. seemed to have vanished, however, owing, it is said, to the shortness of the family purse, and the game has not been played. Notable among the events of the term was the bringing in of outside speakers, under the auspices of the Versatile Club, an organization formed two years ago, and which has done much to raise the standard of information that is given the students out¬ side their actual classes. The debate between the Vermilion High School and the School of Agriculture took place on the evening of March 7th, at which time Miss Netta Stephen and Mr. Cecil Warner upheld the negative of the resolution, “Resolved that Public Ownership of Utilities is of greater benefit to the consuming public than is Private Ownership,” losing to the High School team by a narrow margin. More than four hundred persons formed the audience, and thoroughly enjoyed the debate and the enjoyable programme- provided by the V.S.A. students. Looking back over the year, we recall with pleasure the visit of Hon. Dr. Egbert, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, who paid a EXECUTIVE OF VERSATILE CLUB C. Johnson, W. Ross, B. Kiernan, Mr. Baker, E. Swindlehurst, Mr. Edgar [ 22 1

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VERMILIO N SCHOOL OF AGRICUL T U R E The Dramatic Club A NOTHER term in the history of V.S.A. has come to an end, but not without its achievements, for at the very beginning it was deemed necessary to form a Dramatic Club at this School. We were very fortunate in having with us Mrs. Horning, who had had a little previous knowledge of amateur dramatics, and in whom we found a very enthusiastic and hard-working “coach.” The first play under the auspices of the newly formed Dra¬ matic Club was staged on the last night of the Christmas term, when “The Dress Rehearsal” was enacted before the critical eyes of the student body and staff. The caste included: Fanny Edgson as Nancy, the heroine; Kathleen Mainwaring as Agnes, the friend; Jenny Edgson was the black servant, Lucy; and Dorothy Heatherington was Miss Sophronica Cavendish. Wesley Plummer took the part of Tom Travers, the hero; and Ed. Swindlehurst took the part of Dick Dundar. Nancy and her friends decide to put on a play the night that Tom is expected home, but Tom returns a day sooner so as to surprise his fiancee, but he is himself surprised to find her speak¬ ing in terms of love over the phone. Now it happened that one of the actors could hot turn up and so Nancy had arranged to re¬ hearse that part over the phone and that was the critical moment that Tom entered the room. Agnes, and then Dick, are to be seen wandering all over the house, repeating their parts, oblivious of Tom’s presence, and Tom believes he is learning more of the plot that has taken place in his absence. Miss Sophronica Cavendish is also rather confused and tries to tell Tom, but only makes matters worse. Lucy, the black servant girl, is kept occupied answering the phone, and her antics and lan¬ guage in doing so help to keep the audience amused. Such is the predicament that the young people find themselves in and from which they finally extricate them¬ selves. Owing to the great success of “The Dress Rehearsal,” there were many more enthusiasts after Christmas. It was then decided to stage a three-act play on March 15th, en¬ titled “When a Feller Needs a Friend.” The caste for the latter was as follows: TOM DENKER, our hero, and the biggest liar in the play . (Ed. Swindlehurst) ELAINE, the he oine, another deceiver (Mary Applegate) UNCLE WILL DENKER “always tried to do his best” ..... ....(Percy Howe) AUNT ALICE, en: loses a cheque whenever she writes (Olive Howe) ANGELA SCOTT, who baked the hard bis¬ cuits (Netta Stephen) LIZOBEL HIGGINS, the beautiful “Jane”(Dorothy Hetherington) BING DICKSO 1 ' ' 1 . the tough guy (Bill Maschmeyer) DR. JERRY SMITH, who turns up in a sheet (“Samson”) MRS. REESE, who had all the bills to pay (Olinda Drozdowichf BOB MILLS, stole the dog’s milk (“Wallie”) TIDDLUMS, the inoffensive dog (Dismal Desmond) THE CARPET, th t always told the truth. POLLY, who did all the squawking. To this list must be added Harry Kerr, our energetic stage Top—Mrs. Horning (“Coach”); W. H. Kerr, Stage Manager; Marjorie Brooks, and Mabel Gould, understudies. Bottom—S. Johnson, Olive Howe, Mary Applegate, ?. Howe, Dorothy Hether¬ ington, and E. Swindlehurst. manager, and those understudies who were ready at any moment to take the part of any person if, through misfortune, they were at the last moment unable to turn up. In the play, Tom loves Elaine, but Tom is supposed to be (Continued from Page 21) [ 21 ]

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VERMILION SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE □ visit to the School in November. During the course of his visit he addressed a large gathering of students and district people and was entertained at a reception in the girls’ wing at the conclusion of the evening. In connection with his address, a splendid pro¬ gramme of musical numbers was arranged and the programme was released over the air by members of the University Radio Broadcasting Station Staff. Listeners-in from many points in the province have since written in to tell of the enjoyment received from the broadcast. Dr. Robert Wallace and Dean E. A. Howes, of the University of Alberta, paid a visit to V.S.A. early in March and spoke to the students in the interests of the University. It is a matter of considerable satisfaction to know that a good many of our stu¬ dents plan on attendance at Varsity and it is expected that they will give a good account of themselves. The masquerade, stunt night and entertainments to the High School students featured the social enterprises of the year, all being much enjoyed. Large public dances, as we are usually familiar with them, were not often held during the session, owing to the unfortunate mumps epidemic which somewhat disturbed the life of the School in the early weeks of the term. THE MATRICULATION CLASS IN 1945 (Continued from Page 8) 1929-1930 HOCKEY TEAM Standing—T. Becket, R. Johnston (Capt.), C. Cranston, J. E. Edgar (Mgr.) R. Therrien, G. Ogston, A. Stanton. Seated—J. Sulima, H. Hamilton, L. Frederking. six hours, and, needless to say, tongues clicked merrily in rehash¬ ing the old days and their most notable occurrences. After the newcomers had greeted the former members of the class who had arrived by train, the suggestion of lunch caused a dash up the road toward the dormitory. Outside the main en¬ trance stood a dusty Ford and with some difficulty the driver was extricating himself from under a pile of bags, bales and parcels which appeared to contain something in the nature of plant life. Sure enough, the driver of the tired-looking bus was Ed. Barber, Weed Inspector for the Vermilion district, who, passing through Vermilion, had learned of the re- union and had decided to drop in and say “Hello” to the boys, and the girls, of the old brigade. Dinner being announced, there began a great tramping and surging towards the food emporium, when all were startled by the sound of an approaching aeroplane which was circling the grounds as if in search of a suitable landing-place. The foot¬ ball field being the best in sight, the ’plane swooped down with a roar and after taxi-ing across towards the new shops, came to a stop. Out popped Vince Durda, who had chartered the ’plane and the driver, Bill Campbell, to hurry from Clairmont to join in the get-together at old V.S.A. The crowd was now complete; joyously old doings and old sayings were brought up, discussed with much laughter and tossed aside for some new topic. Geometry, algebra, literature, the col¬ lege dances, the happenings of the years in between ... all re¬ ceived their share of comment ... as also did the most excellent repast that had been provided by the same old kitchen of fifteen years ago, Percy Cross still being the commander-in-chief. tendent of the Dominion Experimental Farm, had stopped long enough at Westlock to dig up the M.L.A. for the district, who was none other than Arnold Platt, of debating fame at V.S.A. The road from Westlock to Vermilion had been covered in less than HOUSE LEAGUE CAPTAINS—(Standing) E. W. Cormack, Staff Rep. on Committee; L. Murray, W. Durda, Miss O. Howe, H. Hamilton, B. Robertson, R. Bacon. (Seated) R. Bendixon, Miss A. Walker, C. Cranston, Misc E. Rowswell, C. Mitchell. (On Floor) Miss H. Triska, Miss E. Wilson. [ 23 ]