2013 Reunion Report

Report on the 55th year Reunion of the Delbrook and North Van High Classes of 1958.

 

Friday, October 4, 2013 The Reception

The Friday night reception was attended by 69 classmates and guests.  For Judy (Escott) Keeler and Pat (Jamieson) Cookson, it was their first reunion since leaving high school over 55 years ago.  Both were busy meeting people they had lost contact with over the years.  Ron Houlden recounted to Judy how they went through a mock marriage during their elementary school days.

In full Scottish regalia, Dave Wilson piped in Brian Thompson, our emcee for the evening.  Dave also focussed our attention when he played Amazing Grace in memory of our past classmates.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation (and application) of a ceremonial paddle to Mr. Will Thomson, our former woodworking teacher at Sutherland.  He was famous for applying the paddle to the rear of students who got out of line. About 20% of male classmates raised their hand to signify that they had been the recipient of a Will Thomson paddle.

In a reconciliation act Brian Thomson, applied the ceremonial paddle to the rear of Will Thomson. Unbeknown to us, however, Will Thomson had created a reciprocal paddle which he presented (and applied) to Don Homer and “Ass” ociates.   Will Thomson is 87 years old, yet still very fit.  He still skis on Grouse Mountain and, obviously, he has a sense of humour.

Also introduced was Holly Roy, the daughter of Harcourt Roy, the physical education teacher at North Van High.  Holly appreciated hearing stories about her father and meeting students he had influenced.  Harcourt was far ahead of his time in physical fitness concepts. Eventually, the Roy family moved back to England where, tragically, Harcourt was killed in a car accident. Holly, having grown up in North Vancouver, yearned to return to Canada. Interestingly, the Will Thomson and Harcourt Roy families were good friends and kept in touch. Some may not realize this, but Harcourt authored several fitness and poetry books. Holly brought some gratis copies for classmates.

Karen (Burgess) Wells, the winner of the Early Registration prize, was presented with her cheque. Marg (Dance) Chalmers was the winner of the 50-50 draw. Ellis Breiddal arranged 50’s music and Ed Jackson presented a slide show of previous reunion events prepared by Dr. Mark Battersby (Diana Davidson’s husband).

Saturday, October 5, 2013, The Banquet

Fifty two people attended the Banquet buffet, a more formal affair. Sheila (Brown) Ward was the emcee for the evening, and like Brian the previous evening, did a great job. Maureen (Murphy) Creelman spoke about the North Vancouver High School Education Foundation that administers the Classes of 1958 Memorial Bursary.  She explained the foundation’s history, the role of our class bursary, and how the foundation augmented our fund with monies from general revenues. Incidentally, for those of you who remember the name “Creelman”, Maureen married our physics teacher, Art Creelman, after the death of his first wife.  Maureen had taught physics in the North Van school system and was best friends with Art and his first wife.

Before dinner, David McKay gave a poignant grace which honoured both present and past classmates. After the sumptuous buffet dinner, Sheila conducted an “open microphone” session in which many people recollected high school stories. Rob Hohert wins the honour for the greatest sentimental story, Barry Hodgson for the most serious story, Dave Wilson for the funniest story, and Peter Macnair the best historical story (political affiliations of Mickey McDougal). It was a tie between Don Homer and Diana Davidson for the longest story.

The banquet evening was the culmination of several silent auctions of prizes donated by various classmates.  Highest bids came from:

  1. Jo Ann (Mitchell) Wedley – winner of Elite Autobody detailing compliments of John Bartok
  2. Bill Huxham – winner of two B. C. Lion tickets compliments of John Bartok
  3. Brian Thompson ­and Don Homer – winners of a salmon fishing trip compliments of John Bartok.
  4. Judy Bartok – winner of cabin Retreat weekend compliments of Diana Davidson
  5. Marg (Dance) Chalmers – winner of Mystery Package compliments of Don Homer
  6. Judy Bartok – case of wine, Stag’s Hollow Winery (Okanagan Falls) compliments of Ron Price

 

A total of $1,605 was collected from the 50-50 draw and silent auctions. This money is used to support the Classes of 1958 Memorial Bursary. As well, eleven classmates donated another $1,670 to the Bursary fund.  Contributors include Pat Bressey, Dennis Burnham, Bill Elphinstone, Rhelda (Fromme) Nicholson, Penny (Gostick) Verral, Norma MacPhee, Ron Price, Bill Riddall, Don Risk, and Jo Ann and Bill Wedley. We thank the support from the contributors of silent auction prizes, the bidders in those auctions, and the direct donators to the Memorial Bursary fund.

 

After dinner, Ellis Breiddal turned up the music. Yes, some people can still dance! Some people were even comfortable dancing alone. In different dances, someone noticed Sheila (Brown) Ward and Diana Davidson dancing solo. They still had pent-up rhythm. 

 

 

Sunday, October 6, 2013, The Brunch

Twenty-four people showed up for brunch on Sunday morning.  The conversation was mainly about the events of the previous evening.  Valerie (Veysey) Remedios, John Wilson, and Sylvia (Jones) Enga who were unable to attend the other events were able to join in those conversations.

The website

On Friday night, Phil Vignal took a video recording of his experiences.  His YouTube copy of Friday events is on the website. As well, several members have uploaded their pictures to the photo gallery of the 2013 reunion.  You are invited to visit, have a look, and add your own material.

https://www.classcreator.com/North-Vancouver-British-Columbia-North-Vancouver--Delbrook/class_index.cfm

The next event 

On Sunday, September 14, 2014 at 10 am, your committee is planning an informal brunch for all classmates who can make it. The meeting place will be announced closer to the time of the event.

The next reunion

Your reunion committee has decided that the frequency of reunions should be increased to offset the acceleration of our deceased list. Accordingly, the next formal reunion will be held two years hence, most tentatively, Saturday, September 12, 2015. The idea is to host a daytime event on Saturday and possibly an informal brunch the next day.