Murder Most Foul

The school has changed forever. I never thought that I would live to see the day. I just got a note from John Coleman telling me that one Dwyer student has murdered another one. Brutally stabbed to death.

As John said, the school is not the same anymore. This news is shocking. While my rational mind tells me that the descent to Hell is the same from every place, I never thought the school would ever become a point of embarkation for this kind of hell.

What has the world come to? What has become of the character and spirit of the people who make up the student body, and hence the school? What has become of the esprit de corps that bound us together in a brotherhood and elevated us all?

I quote my friend John again: "Sorry to have to share that news, but it means a lot to anyone in town and maybe even a little more to us who went to school there. Christian values and all, but the world has changed a lot."

One would think that the school would imbue its students with the armour of life that would prevent murder most foul. Apparently not. As Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote over two thousand years ago, the enemy is within the gates; it is with our own luxury, our own folly, our own criminality that we have to contend. The idea is unthinkable and I am shocked.

To Mike McDonald, may the earth lie lightly on your tender sixteen years, and may you rest in peace.

Anima eius et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum per Dei misericordiam requiescant in pace.

Classmates of Mine -- Part the Next

Top Row: Nicole Gaboury, Barb Gannon, Cindy Germanis

Middle Row: Peter Gibbs, Andre Grotenhuis, Bob Hickey

Bottom Row: Bert Hoefs, Terry Hughes, Mike Ivanco

Some autographs of my classmates: Dan O'Neill, Tim McKenna, Ron van de valk, Cathy Rush, Susan Cragg, Tom Kraemer, Sister Bonnie Ouimet, Peter Gibbs, Chris Montgomery, Pat Kilistoff

(References to the butcher business are plans that I had for medicine. Instead of Toronto, I finally chose University of Ottawa at the last minute.)

Comparison Then and Now

A reader left a comment urging me to go to Google maps and compare the latest incarnation of the high school with the image that I posted of the aerial shot that I took of it in the 1970's. I did.

The basic H-shape of the school is gone, filled in by expansion. This is the new:
And this is the old:

There are new parking lots, a ring road around the school, and a huge building immediately west of the school that wasn't there.

However, I do have a shot of some bulldozers on that location that I did take in 1973, so you sort of knew that the empty fields wouldn't last long:

I guess that the old saying is true, that change is inevitable -- except from a vending machine.

Tell Me on a Sunday Memories

Another Sunday morning and another grab bag of memories, of OCHS, the 1970's, memorabilia, Oshawa and stuff. I start with with another block of classmates of mine:

Top row: Kathie Andrews (R.I.P.), yours truly, Mike Bukoski,

Center Row: David Cooper, Carolyn Corrigan, Paul Coros,

Bottom Row: Joan Downey, George Dragota, Barb Finley

The above political cartoon is a real sign of the times back then. To me it accurately depicts the divide between the establishment and the beat generation or the youth. I did some googling to try and identify the Trudeau cabinet minister from 1973 doling out the largesse to the hippies, but to no avail yet. (Update: Pictured above, I believe is Secretary of State Gerard Pelletier of the Trudeau cabinet, responsible for the OFY program).

Pictured above is a bicycle speedometer from one of my bikes from the high school era.

Everyone remembers giving these for Christmas and Valentine's Day. Black Magic was made by Rowntree Mackintosh, a British company selling in the Commonwealth as well.

This funky box was in the garage, so I photographed it for posterity. Check out the depiction of the TV in the drawing at the upper right.

I snapped the above frame in the Eatons Department Store at the Oshawa Center. I worked there in the camera department all through my high school years.

(Interestingly enough, I think that I can make out the word Sears in the upper right. Yet I know for a fact that this is Eatons because I have a whole series of pics of my Eatons co-workers with the same background as above).

I believe that the above is a program from the re-dedication of the school from OCHS to Paul Dwyer High School in 1976.

More Classmates of Mine

Top Row: Marc Adams, Teresa Alessandroni, Rocco Ambra,

Middle Row: Colleen Bulger, York Chan, Mary Coll,

Bottom Row: Susan Cragg, Carol Dallaire, Susan Dickey,

Doug Zochodne

From Kindergarten to Grade 13, Doug Zochodne and I have always gone to the same schools. And from Grade 6 on, we were always in the same Grade. Our primary school was St. Joseph's on Simcoe Street. In Grade 4, a few students skipped Grade 5. These students included myself, Tim McKenna and Barb Gannon. We all ended up at OCHS.

When we arrived at our new Grade 6 class after skipping Grade 5, Doug was in that class. He was an intensely serious student and usually topped the school in academic achievement.

Carolyn Corrigan Grade 11

I snapped this picture of Carolyn Corrigan on a non-uniform day at school when we both were in Grade 11.

Blocks Of Classmates

These blocks of photos are classmates of mine. We shared most of our high school years together.

Ted Van der laan, Ron Van de valk, Roman Yuen, Doug Zochodne

Victor Suppan, John Ten Haaf, Sue Vitali, Ron Yanch

On a Mat in the Gym

This picture speaks a story. I think that the student's first name is Marie. Comments are again invited to fill in the blanks.

Thanks to a reader, this person is identified as Nancy Sucee.

Art Club

No this isn't about appreciation of Art Chai or Garfunkel, it is about Art with a capital A. There apparently was an art club led by Miss Jones. Pictured members above are Colleen Corrigan, Marylee O'Neill, and Teresa Quatarone.

On Sunday Morning, You Have Sure Changed Since Yesterday

On a Sunday morning, I have my usual data dump, not only of OCHS images, but of images of Oshawa and environs in the 1970's when I was there.

The first pic is OCHS specific. It is school secretary Mrs. Dubie. I believe that her first name was her initial. I think that she was Kay Dubie, but I cannot be sure. She is pictured in the library, and this photo of her appeared in the 1974 yearbook.

I snapped the pic below at the corner of Thornton Road and Taunton Road. Thornton Road is the first crossroad going west of Stevenson Road on Rossland Road where the high school is located. I am sure that the gas bar is now torn down for a subdivision. This was a warm spring day shot of boys and their bicycles.

The final series of pictures were of the Oshawa City Hall. I shot these frames for my Urban Studies project on the coming of Regional Government.

Above is the south tower. At the time, the building was fairly new, although I understand that it is being renovated and added to.

The north tower is pictured above.

The 'courtyard' of city hall in 1973.

Tony White on the Field

Tony White is on the field coaching a football game in the above photo. Bill Langley who helped with the coaching duties is behind him.

My Graduation Day

I was going through my photos and I came across one of myself on graduation day. The photo was hilarious. I was not pleased at being photographed. I was in a tux, which I hated. However, the thing to look at in this photo is not my sour countenance, but cast you eyes down and check out the shoes. They look like clown shoes. In some respects, maybe it is good that some fashion things from the 1970's have not survived.

Miss O'Donnell -- School Secretary

Miss O'Donnell was one of the school secretaries. I am fairly sure that her first name was Jeanette but I could be wrong. The other two secretaries were Mrs. Smegal and Mrs. Dubie.

Another Teacher Unknown -- Miss Shea

I think that Miss Shea was a gym teacher who taught the lower grades when I was in Grade 13, but I am unsure. The school was expanding and a whole host of new students and teachers started appearing. Anyone who can enlighten me as to her role on the staff, is invited to leave a comment.

Mr. Sabetti

In my final couple of years of high school, there were new teachers coming on board who taught the younger students and lower grades. Mr. Sabetti was one of them. We had no interaction with them, other than nodding to them in the halls. Consequently I do not know what Mr. Sabetti's first name was, or how he fit in or what subjects he taught. Comments are invited.

Note the cigarette in the background of the picture. This was one of the teachers.

Senior Hockey - Rocco Ambra and Dan O'Neill

Rocco Ambra lies on the ice pretending to be checked by Dan O'Neill. They were hamming it up for the camera. Both of these guys were members of the senior hockey team coached by teacher Pat O'Brien and parent Brendan Lehman's father.

Sunday Morning Memories

Once again, on Sundays, I try to put up other images of the 1970's Oshawa/OCHS milieu instead of just OCHS specific pictures.

However the first one today is OCHS specific. It is a shot taken from the front doorway of the school looking out across the traffic circle up the drive to Stevenson Road. In this pic, you can see the white weather station box that the geography club monitored in front of the cars on the apron of the football field. You can see Joe Pender's Volkswagen bug parked and I think that the van that is visible was driven by Art Chai. The car next to the VW van was biology teacher Ingulf Trettin's car. I think that the car on the very end was driven by one of the secretaries, either Mrs. Smegal or Mrs. Dubie.

I was (am) a packrat, and one of the things in my possession was a bubblegum bag from high school. The bubblegum inside the bag was "Gold Nuggets". They were irregularly shaped rocks of gum.

Below is a product that my parents purchased at White and Sons Hardware Store on Simcoe Street North. I am not sure if it is still there or not. The price of this product called "Flan" is 40 cents. You can see it written in pencil in the corner.

I was cruising around Simcoe Street South, and snapped a picture of the plaza below:

If you look closely in the window (click on the image to enlarge it), you can see a sign that says "Crimplene - $2.95 per yard". Not knowing what crimplene was I googled it. This is what Wikipedia has to say about Crimplene:

Crimplene (polyester) is a thick yarn used to make a fabric of the same name. The resulting cloth is heavy, wrinkle-resistant and retains its shape well. Britain's defunct ICI Laboratory developed the fibre in the early 1950s and named it after the Crimple Valley in which the company was situated.

The fabric enjoyed popularity upon introduction in the 1950s in response to its convenient 'wash-and-wear' properties. Crimplene was often used to make the typical A-line dress of 1960s Fashion. Likewise, it was popular amongst men in British Mod Culture for use in garish button-down shirts.

In the early 1970s, crimplene began to fall out of fashion. Lighter-weight polyester fabrics like Trevira replaced crimplene for their ease of movement and ventilation. Crimplene is seldom used today as fashion-preferences have drifted towards more "natural" cottons.

A dress made of crimplene is shown below:

I again pay tribute to my car, a Chevy Vega.

And finally, this is an OCHS specific picture.

However, once again, I do not have a name for this individual.

Update: Thank you to the reader who left a name for this student. Of course, this is Melody Lack. (once my memory was twigged this was a D'Oh moment)

On The Football Field

On a warm autumn day, the team takes to the football field. Andre Grotenhuis (far left) is coming off the field in front of a gaggle of spectators, that include Ivor Boyagoda (in the tweed jacket second from left) and Jack Cole who's face is partially visible in the far right. I don't know who the dude is in the shirt with his back fully to the camera.

Paul Coros and Mario Romano

Paul Coros (left) and Mario Romano (right) are hanging out in the hallway. Judging by Paul's coat, it must be winter time.

John D. Cole

Everyone knew him as "Jack". He was a fabulous hockey player. He had the aura of cool. He taught me calculus. He was the vice principal. He was a fixture at the school. He had presence.

Geoff Van den Boom

When I was in Grade 13, Geoff Van den Boom was a brand new teacher at OCHS. I never got the opportunity to speak to him during the whole year, or even find out what subjects he taught. Our paths never crossed. Once again, I am looking for someone to leave a comment to enlighten us.

Update -- A reader writes:

Geoff was a talented artist (go figure, being a math teacher and all) with a sharp (gentle) wit. Not only was I was lucky enough to have been taught by him in the 70's, I was also a colleague of his in the 90's. He was a wonderful human being that is greatly missed by many. Unfortunately he died of cancer at too young an age.

IN PACE REQUIESCAT

(Thank you for the update.)

Sister Dorothy Schweitzer

Sister Dorothy Schweitzer lived in the adjoining convent at OCHS and was a nun and teacher. I was never in any of her classes so I am unsure of what disciplines that she taught. Perhaps a reader could leave a comment and sort us out as to her role on the teaching staff.

Update: Thank you, reader, for the comment. Sister Dorothy taught English. I believe that Sister Dorothy is back in the SSJ motherhouse in Toronto now, but I could be mistaken. I gleaned this factoid by reading their website. Thanks again for the additional info.

Sunday Morning 1970's

On Sunday's not only do I try to post high school memories, but also various pictures that I snapped around Oshawa during those times.

The first is a snowy November shot of the Remembrance Day Cenotaph at The McLaughlin Bandshell downtown. It was just past Remembrance Day and you can see the wreaths at the memorial. We were out counting cars for our Urban Studies project. As a matter of fact, there is a picture earlier in this blog, of Dan Dalby and I sitting counting cars, and the picture below, is the view opposite to where we were posted. We were sitting in front of the old Canadian Tire Store on Simcoe Street South opposite the bandshell and the OPUC utilities head office.

Colleen Bulger was always a vibrant, dynamic, life-of-the-party personality. She also had a unique talent. She could mirror-write. Below is a sample of her skill:

The two aircraft pictures below were taken at the Oshawa airport, on our class trip fly day.

There is an online database of aircraft registration numbers, and I looked these planes up. The Cessna pictured above was manufactured in 1968 and still is flying. It is currently registered to a woman in Toronto named Wendy Cragg.

The small plane in the above picture has been de-registered and is no longer flying. It was an American Aviation model with a Lycoming engine built in 1969 and lasted until the 1990's

I wasn't much a fan of Ramblers in a General Motors town, but there were enough of them around:

I snapped a pic of this Scrabble game on a shelf in the high school office. I had no idea what it was doing there. When in doubt, take a picture of it.

And finally, this retro ad for honey, I just couldn't resist. It is a happy graphic.