Weston Collegiate Institute - Conning Tower Yearbook (Weston, Ontario Canada)

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Our Centennial Weekend A feast of memory was the reward when more than 2,000 Weston Collegiate ex-students thronged the school and its grounds during the three eventful days of October 18, 19 and 20 last fall for our centennial celebrations. All voted the centennial a great success, and paid tribute to the many of Weston's present-day staff and students who had worked hard for months to bring it about. Our visitors wandered about the old familiar scenes--and the new, unfamiliar ones too-making new friends and finding old ones, en- joying a brief step back into history, recalling past happy school days. A wealth of memories brought back many forgotten ghosts. On Friday afternoon, the opening whistle blew for the start of the football game between York Memorial and Weston, and our centenary was under way. The game was enlivened with a half-time display by Weston's new 60-piece military band that Mr. Dvorak had developed. In the evening-registration having gone on since 2.00 p.m.-Mr. Oliver Master supervised a showing of pictures in the auditorium entitled Historical Reminiscences . This was given twice to accomo- date the big crowd that wanted to attend. At nine, dancing started with two bands-one for modern dancing in the boys' gym and one for square danc- ing in the girls' gym. Those who just wished to visit and meet old friends could find them easily, as certain rooms were set aside for graduates of certain years. However, a lot of conversation was carried on right in the halls, as guests, wandering about, found many ex-classmates. Those who wanted a permanent souvenir of the occasion-and just about all of them did-could purchase a copy of Miss Wattie's 100-year history of the school, replete with fascinating accounts of Weston's founding and its early days, and with pictures of the old school and the events that took place there. This was a real labour of love for the head of our history department, as she spent months gathering material from many sources. Miss Wattie's book has since been recognized as a very valuable contribution to the local history of York County. Saturday afternoon the program resumed with further registration of guests and guided tours of the school, with a number of Weston girls in the dresses of a couple of generations ago acting as hostesses, as they had done on Friday. On Saturday, however, the highlight was the of- ficial centennial ceremony in the auditorium. Mr. A.C. Heakes, chairman of the centennial committee, introduced Mrs. S. J. Norman, chairman of the Weston Board of Education, who commented on Miss Wattie's book and paid tribute to the gentle- men of the Boards of the past in carrying the torch of higher education. Mr. Heakes then intro- duced Principal Worden, who graciously welcomed the weekend guests and conveyed his thanks to the members of the board and the many others who helped to make the centennial a success. W.C.V. S. . . 4 ,. 1 426 K , N M -an . Q4 v ,. -. . ff 1 , P X t 'S 1 if -, J - -52' 7554.7-I .I i. Q.- - . 4. l i 7?2343 l: 7fiQ. fla- Helping odvertise the centennial are left, Moriione Lennie and Louro Lombie . The guest speaker, Dr. F.D. Cruickshank, once a member of the board, was then introduced by Mr. Heakes, and gave a most interesting talk on the school's founding and early history, with a glance at the town's history as well. fAn abbreviated ac- count of Dr. Cruickshank's speech will be found elsewhere in this issue of the Conning Towerj. Following this, an epic poem The Lost World of Christopher Skye was read by its author Mr. E. Yost, a graduate of 1943, who said he had dedicated his poem to teachers, to the era of the horse a.nd buggy, to the old school, and to town and river ghosts of the past. Choral background was provided by the Glee Club directed by Mr. Dvorak. The songs were: Centen- nial Songg Lumber Camp Song: Wait for the Wag- onsg War Medleyg On the Street Where You Liveg I Could Have Danced All Night.After the program refreshments were served in the cafeteria and everyone enjoyed meeting school friends and talk- ing over old times. The centennial came to a thoughtful and reverent conclusion on Simday afternoon, with a religious service in the auditorium, at which the speaker was the Rev. J.K. Moffat, a Weston graduate, and this was followed by a short concert by the Weston Silver Band under the direction of Mr. Arthur Dobney. The centennial meant a great ,deal to everyone who was present. Some, however, found a special link with the past in the Museum, which Miss Camp- bell had prepared after long hours of searching for tangible mementos of former days. The atmosphere of the nineteenth century was apparent as soon as one entered the Museum-space for which had been provided in Room 206. A living- 7

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successful in volleyball, winnings ta.king them into finals, and unfortunately losing, after a hard battle. We hope to do as well in basketball. The girls' Athletic Rep. is Gail Hall. This year we are fortunate to have one of W.C. V.S.' cheerleaders in our form: Diane Cascone. Two of our boys: Gary Begg and George Walker are playing hockey with the Weston Dukes and Grant Kilpatrick is playing with the Lakeshore Bruins. The two representatives in the Student Council are Cora Mason and Robin Irvine. Miss Coburn and Mr. Hoey are our form teachers. -Lorraine Darlington . llE Our form is comprised of almost an equal num- ber of males as females, and consequently we have had four form parties. The people who had them were John Austin, John Mertens, Gayle Mortenson and Jim Armstrong. At the last party, just before Christmas, Mrs. Bielby spent part of the evening with us. The military band would be completely lost if not for 11E, as we represent over 5 of it. Some of these students also play in the orchestra.This is a sneaky way of attending all assemblies. The boys did extremely well in football, losing only to grades 12 and 13. As many games as the boys won in football the girls lost in volleyball, 'lr' winning only 2 games. We hope to do better in basketball. You never know what our scheming little minds will dream up in the future but I hope Mrs. Bielby can put up with us. CllA Cl1A started the year off with a bang by win- ning the interform volleyball championship. The players on the team were Doreen Fleming, Sharon Deugo, Francis Hall, Elizabeth Henderson, Carole Parsons, Marie Elcome, Joan Dicker, Maureen 0'Neill, Cherry Gregg, Linda Hobbs, and Nancy Somrnerville. For this success we owe much to our Athletic Rep. Doreen Fleming. We hope to be as successful in basketball and have been doing well so far. Among the girls in C11A that helped Weston to win the volleyball championship over six other schools are Sharon Deugo, Doreen Fleming, Carole Pa rsons, and Elizabeth'Henderson. This year we have had one form party held at Do reen Fleming's and we are a.Il looking forward to the one coming up, which will be held at Gail Davies'. At this time we would also like to mention our form teacher, Mr. Taylor, who we all feel is the greatest. According to us he is one of the best .,,,z4' .W-fi, Above are the members of the Weston Military Bond, who performed at the football game which began our Centennial Celebrations . 87

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form teachers any class could hope for and he has contributed much to give us an enjoyable year. We must also mention Marie Stamerjohanns and Diane Smerdon who won the General Proficiency Prizes for Grade 10. -E.H. and M.S. CIIB Our team of ten girls was quite successful in volleyball this year. They were Marilyn Hunt, Dor- een Parish, Dawn Norman, Pat Spencer, Betty White, Liz Bentham, Dianne Stephenson, Sherri Wismer, Edith Miller, and Leona Poirier. Astrid Klaarenbeck was our sub. The boys in our form had a joint football team with CIOB. They are Tony Romano, Mike Warrian and Don Erasmuson. tWe didn't winll. On December 20 we had a form party in our home room. We exchanged novelty gifts which were then donated to an orphanage. During the year we had Alfred Von Zuben, Edith Miller, Betty Foster and Tony Romano leave us. Our form representatives are Diane Maydanuk and Don Erasmuson, our sports rep. is Leona Poir- ier. THA At the first of the year T11A started off with 21 healthy, strong, good looking, intelligent boys. To- day we have only 16. The five that left us were: Ron Ewing, Jeff Boyd, Dave Dorherty, Dave Foster, and John Robertson. SPORTS: Our football team wasn't very success- ful this year though, winning our first game we lost our second and third. But we still have hopes for basketball, we have good height like Bob Car- sen, Noel Neeve, Paul Burbridge and good Ball handlers like John Brannon, Bruce Best, Bruce Ritchie and Elwood Williams. NEWS: The only real exciting thing that has happened in our form was when Ron Pincoe's car caught on fire. We had come in to our last period in the afternoon a.nd Ron happened to glance out the window. He noticed the fire truck putting out a car which was on fire. Ron and everyone started laugh- ing and I asked him who's car it was. He said it was Jack Jorda.n's for his was just like Ron's. Then after a quick glance Ron noticed it was his car for Jack's was two cars ahead of his. The last we saw of Ron was him running out of the room yelling: THATS MY CAR, THATS MY CAR. We haven't had any form parties yet but would like to have one with one of the commercial or gen- eral girls in forms 10 or 11. -Ralph Lund. THB In November T11B started with football as its major sport's activity. T11B and Tl1A were com- bined into one team. With this combination we were the best in the league. No one could doubt this after they tried to get through our line. We won 83 our first two games 6-1 and 1-0. But due to the weather the other games were cancelled. In December we had a nice time on our trip to the I.B.M. plant. There we had the honour of being their guests. We saw huge electronic brains, com- putors, clocks, time clocks, and office machines in the plant. After this two-hour visit through the plant we had a free lunch. Later we discussed future careers in the electronics field which some of the boys may want to get into. Our next trip may be a trip to the C.B.C. A JOB WITH ROYALTY An Lmusual honour has come to a Weston grad in the appointment of Esmond Butler as assis- tant press secretary to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Weston teachers remember Esmond well. For a couple of years he played middle wing-or tackle as it's called now-on the Weston senior football team, and he was, as Mr. Thompson recalls, a pretty good player . He took part in other sports, too, and was on the student council. The son of the Rev. T.B. and Mrs. Butler, of Weston, he left Weston Collegiate for Trinity Col- lege, the University of Toronto, and later the Uni- versity of Geneva and the Institute of International Studies, Geneva. He served with the Royal Canadian Navy from 1942 to 1946, including three years in overseas waters. He holds the rank of lieutenant -commander in the Reserve. Word is that the Queen has been considering for some time having a Canadian on her personal staff, and during her visit to Ottawa last October she asked Governor-General Vincent Massey if she could have as her assistant press secretary Mr. Butler who was assistant to the Rt. 1-lon. Mr. Massey's secretary. Mr. Butler left right away for London to become the first person from a Commonwealth country to serve on the Queen's personal staff. He will act as liaison officer between Buckingham Palace and the Canadian Government on arrangements for the visit of Princess Margaret to Canada this siunmer and for the Queen's visit next year to open the St. Law- rence Seaway. . -1 Father: Who broke the chair in the parlour, last night? Laura: lt just collapsed all of a sudden, but neither of us was hurt. -1 Diane: I'll bet I'm the most popular girl in town. Annabelle: Why do you say that? Diane: Because my dates are just pouring in. Annabelle: I've seen them pouring in drip by drip.