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

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The Little Royal A. Andrew yj reat Oaks from little acorns grow to fine stalwart giants of the vegetable kingdom. Later they serve man in commerce and ornament his home. Thus continues an apparently endless chain of circumstances and events that influence the lives of generations of our species. So our “Little Royal’ small to begin with but inbued with a desire to inculcate in the lives of our students a desire to display to the world ability in showmanship, has started on a career. A career let us hope that will eventually cause it to be recognized over this part of the Province as the show window of this seat of learning, and the starting point of many successful showmen and show-women. This year our Fair was favoured with the presence of Professor Sack- ville of the University of Alberta and Mr. H. A. Craig the Deputy Minister of Agriculture for the Province. These gentlemen placed the awards and gave talks, instructive in nature, and much appreciated by the large crowd of onlookers, drawn not only from the student body but from the surrounding territory. All the live stock were exhibited outside. The weather on Fair day (February 14th) being spring like, no one wished the shelter of a wall or a roof but preferred to bask in the unusually warm rays of a February sun. Not only did the spectators enjoy this but the ten Barred Rock hens plumed themselves delightfully to the mesmerising gestures of their trainers. The five Oxford ewe lambs, emblems of innocence followed stalwart escorts, while a like number of young bovines fresh from morn¬ ing ablutions in laundry tubs, and mangers laden with nutritious food, stood at attention. Ten members of the Clydesdale fraternity, with manes and tails decked with the product of the braid and flower makers, walked, trotted, or stood glittering in the sunshine, making a scene pleasant to the eye and heart of any lover of livestock. Besides the above, the usual display of Baking, Sewing, Millinery Seed, Carpentering and Blacksmithing were on exhibit. During the evening Prof. Sackville gave an address to the members of the Versatile Club. Later the “Radio” Committee entertained all comers to a jolly dance in the Gymnasium. The awards in the various classes were as follows: Boys’ Classes Blacksmithing Carpentry Wheat Oats Barley Poultry . Horses ..1st, Howard Cowan 1st, Stanley Lindberg 1 st, Ross Zwierschke 1 st,’Alf. Russell 1st, Oliver Dumbreck 1st, Cecil Warner 2nd, Martin Fjeldstad 1st, Ernie Pitman 2nd Ian Hamilton 1st, Robert Waddell 2nd, James Thom 1st, Everett Johnson 2nd, Myron La tarn Live Stock Championship Robert Waddell Special prizes donated by FI. S. Patrick to the boys doing the most work on the animals in each class were given as follows: Poultry . Cecil Warner Sheep John Maire Cattle James Thom Horses Percy Howe Girls’ Classes 2nd Year Bread Ma king 2nd Year Cushions 2nd Year Millinery 1st Year Biscuits 1st Year Embroidery 1st Year Millinery 1st Year Darning Thrift Problem 1st, Annie Litwin 2nd, Olinda Drozdowich 1st, Marjorie McLaughlin 2nd, Bertha Arndt I 1st, Bertha Arndt 2nd, Helen Hecko I st, Mabel Berg 2nd, Muriel Nowry 1st Fern Clement 2nd, Mary Hennig 1st, Edith Hutchinson 2nd, Ruth Gibson I 1st, Mary Hennig 2nd, Mabel Berg 1st, Marjorie McLaughlin Checkmates One day when Waddell had devoured every hotcake on the table and Eva had become almost exhausted with fetching more she suddenly exclaimed. “They will have to raise the price of your board.” “Oh! I hope they don’t do that,” he said, ‘‘It is nearly killing me to eat all I pay for now and if they raise my board and make me eat more it will kill me for sure.” Infallible Test A student supposed to be deficient in judgment was asked by one of the Professors in the course of a class examination, “How would you discqver a fool?” “ By the questions he would ask, was the quick reply. Slicky—Trying to decide which he would choose, eventually decided it was impossible, and said: I’ll have to marry the both of you.” One of Them “But that would be bigamy.” Slicky—“ It would be big o’ me too.” They had been going together for a long time and one night were sitting in the library looking through the Vermilion Standard. “Look,” Buck exclaimed, “only fifteen dollars for a suit of clothes.” “Is it a wedding suit?” Dot asked, looking naively at him. “Oh, no, a business suit,” he answered. ‘Well, I meant business,” she replied. Page eight

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Oberammergau By W. G. Malaher in a level valley on the northern fringe of the great mass of mountains which separate the flat lands of Germany from the plains of Italy, nestled under the shade of the surrounding hills, lies the homely, simple unspoiled village of Oberammergau. Like others who had been attracted to this picturesque Bavarian village I must confess that it was largely curiosity which drew me there one bright, warm day last August. Yet not altogether curiosity, for with it was a genuine desire to witness a per¬ formance which was being warmly discussed throughout the whole of Christendom, -a per¬ formance which, save for a few interruptions due to war, has been given regularly for the past three hundred years. For bringing me to Oberammergau I feel grateful to Casper Schisler. Poor Casper Schisler! He deserves well of posterity although he played a scurvy trick on his contemporaries for which the fates promptly exacted capital punishment. The story is a long one, yet you must know that Casper Schisler was a humble laborer of Oberammergau just about the time the Pilgrim Fathers settled in America. As one of the remote consequences of a thirty years’ war a great plague was ravaging Bavaria, scattering death in its wake. Ober¬ ammergau had been spared this visitation, yet not for long; for, urged by a natural desire to see his wife and children, this good man who was working in the plague striken village of Eschenlohe, evaded the quarantine and brought death upon himself and his fellow men. Helpless in their plight, the villagers assembled to discuss the situation and it was then that a vow was made, in token of their penitence, to hold a Passion Play in the village every ten years. From that moment, the chronicler tells us, the hand of death was stayed. It remained, later, for the parish priest. Daisem- berger, a born dramatist who saw the opportunity the performance offered, to strip the play of all that was farcial, and to produce a wonderfully faithful dramatic rendering of the Gospel Story. So much I learn from the trusty guide book as, in a wooden-seated compartment, we rattle and jerk along the fifteen miles that separate Murneau from Oberammergau. As we step out onto the platform, we feel, those of us who have not been here before, that we have set foot in another world, that we are living in another age. On every side of us, ready to carry our baggage to its destination, are men and youths whose long hair and beards strike us as curiously archaic. Custom decrees that none shall cut the hair or beard, and Nature has fashioned in these hardy Tyrolese mountaineers a type that is made all the more striking by their flowing locks. We seem to see in them already the Bible characters of old. As we pass through the main street all is astir in preparation for the morrow. The train has emptied its load of visitors who are finding their way to their billets for the night. Already the village has cast its spell upon us. We are tempted to linger and admire the clean white houses with their painted fronts and richly carved exteriors, to eye with envy these stalwart mountaineers as in their picturesque costume they stroll laughing down the street. Yet our good Bavarian friend has others to care for and we must hasten on. We are fortunate for we are to stay at the Pension Alois Lang who plays the part of Christus. A welcome awaits us here and it is not long before we are enjoying a meal the like of which, I venture to say, only the good housewife of Oberammergau knows how to prepare. A fine type of man, our host, hospitable, re¬ fined, proud of his home, his occupation, his village. And with good reason. Indeed, the student of social economics might do worse than observe how life goes on with the villagers of Oberammergau. They are more like the Swiss than Germans and have most of the characteristics of the mountaineers, who, whether they be called Swiss or Tyrolese, are one of the most respectworthy species of the human race. The traditional art of the village is woodcarving, and our host is a master carver. Apart from his profession his most beloved hobby, and one of which he loves to talk, is the keeping of bees. Isolation begets independence and this little community develops the most simple and sound system of democratic government. Nearly every man is a landowner, the poorest with about three acres and the richest about sixty. But over and above that they have the inestimable privilege of pasturage on the Alp. Talk about three acres and a cow! That ideal has been more than realized ever so long at Oberammergau. Never was there such a place for cows. The population is not more than 1600, but among them they own more than 600-700 cows. Thus they make a living; but the one event for which they live is the Passion Play. It is said that these people keep on talking for five years of the play that is past and for an¬ other five years of the play that is to come. Be this as it may, innumerable are the preparations necessary before the play is ready for present¬ ation. In order to keep the players in practice, a play is performed each year on a stage that is specially designed for that purpose. About two years before the performance all the citizens are called to the communal council where the mayor reminds them of their sacred vow. Now is the time when life in Oberammergau gets busier every day, the time when the whole village is in readiness for the big event which concerns so many: The Election of the Performers. Altogether 685 persons take part in the play and actually come on to the stage. Of these 125 speaking roles have to be elected. Naturally, it is the repu tation of the candidate that weighs heavily but no less im¬ portant is a good figure, a gocd audible voice, and a pronounced talent for impersonating. It is a point of honor to obtain one of the great roles and the prospect serves, during the course of many years, as a moral guide to the majority of young folk. Yet there is a wide choice of suit¬ able performers among that little group of artists for they have been accustomed to plays and recitations since childhocd, they have been brought up in the atmosphere of the play, and they have developed a [ Page ten ]