Victoria High School - Victorian Yearbook (Edmonton, Alberta Canada)

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KAY PINCHBECK JOHN KONDROSKY ARDIS DAHL Cfrad Glass Executive OLGA MENDRYK MARIA SPORLEDER VERNA YOUNG

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VALEDICTORY RON DOWNEY Tonight we meet under the most delightful circumstances, tinged perhaps with just a touch of sadness. We are a group of students who have been on the most friendly terms for the past three or four years. This is the last opportunity we shall have to meet as students, and it may well be the last occasion at which all of us will be present. That is a sad thought. Three years ago we entered Victoria. A little nervous, ' tis true, and somewhat doubtful about our immediate outlook as students. We acquired confidence, and appeared to have taken several necessary and important steps toward a successful future. The benefits we have gained are two-fold. We have secured the education for which we sought admission, and a training that will stand us in good stead throughout life. We have received another group of benefits, not so obvious perhaps, but nevertheless of tremendous importance and influence upon our career. I refer to such things as the ability to get along with one another; to understand better the word sportsmanship ; to have clearer appreciation of the rewards of perseverence and application and a great many other intangibles. Those of us who, perhaps a little skeptically, maybe a little cynically, entered this school three years ago, have learned today that there is regard for effort, and that only real effort produces a genuine reward. We begin to see what Longfellow meant when he wrote: The heights by great men reached and kept Were not attained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept. Were toiling upward in the night. Perhaps we haven ' t achieved so much, but whatever we have done has been with the help of our teachers. So at this time, I say we owe our thanks to those who have played such an important part in our individual success. I refer, of course to our principal, Mr. Hicks, the administrative staff, and the entire staff. It is their guidance and understanding of our problems that enables us to be present tonight. I know that I speak for the graduating class as well, when I say, Thank you. And now, a word as to the future. We face it with optimism, courage, and determina¬ tion. Our ambitions will undoubtedly take us far afield, but wherever we may be we shall profit by the influence of the principles and precepts acquired during our association with V.C.H.S. Friends, may I just close with this thought? We leave tonight but our places will shortly be filled by others just as eager, anxious, and determined to succeed. It is our sincere wish that all the delightful and valuable experiences which have been ours, will, in due course, be theirs. When their time comes may they be as sorry to leave as we are this evening. 18

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By JACK VIRTUE We were all frosh that day back in September, 1949, freshmen, seniors and teachers alike, in the sense that we were all new to the white terrazzo building that was to be our place of learning for the next three years. Now, nearing the end of our high school education, it is with varied feelings that we look back on our tenure at V.C.H.S. and recall the highlights of the most tumultuous days of our lives. The school that we entered was deemed the most modern in Western Canada. Truly it was, with its P.A. sys¬ tem, office to classroom communica¬ tion, fluorescent lighting, technical wing ,auditorium and the various other up-to-date features which distinguished V.C.H.S. As the portals of Vic swung open to the trembling freshmen, they were introduced to a new form of life—that of a high school student. With the turmoil created by the new and unfinished building prevent¬ ing full-scale presidential elections, the Students ' Council Vote in Spike Brown as their first president. Social Convener, Marg. Edminston, presented the students with a well rounded social year. Handicapped by the lack of a gym of our own, Tinsel Trot, Cotton Ball, and other func¬ tions were held at Garneau. The year ' 49- ' 50 saw Herb Olsen skip the Vic curling team to the first of three successive city championships. Both senior girls ' and boys ' basketball teams captured Northern Alberta hon¬ ors. Our senior football team did not live up to the standards of its prede¬ cessors, failing to score a single point all season. However, a single point was all that kept our junior gridders from the city championship as they lost a heartbreaker in the Scona finale. The incorporation of a new award 20