Kathy Seaver

I can still vividly remember taking this photo. Kathy Seaver was in the hallway near the gym talking to Elizabeth Deveaux. I was walking with Henry Kowalewski and I snapped this photo. Then Kathy bounced down the hall with her usual spirit. Henry turned to me and said "She reminds me of a bobby soxer from the 1950's". It was her joie-de-vivre.

Midget Basketball

This is a pic of the midget basketball game being played in the OCHS gym.

Weightlifting

I don't have a name for this weightlifter. I think that his first name is Paul. I am sure that someone will come along (eventually) and fill me in via a comment.

When it came to me, the only weightlifting that I did was at the dinner table. I was an adherent of the Miss Piggy diet whose only rule was "Never eat more food than you can lift!".

Update: My Goodness, that didn't take long. A reader left a comment moments ago identifying this person as Paul Corey. Thank you muchly !!

Gary Ranalli - Post Shower

No Gary Ranalli was not starring in Grease. He had just taken a shower after running.

Grade 12 Biology - Fetal Pig Dissection

As I was going through my negatives, I wondered what the heck was this, and why was it in my school pictures. Then I remembered that this was from biology class. It was our fetal pig dissection. We had 5 gallon buckets of fetal pigs preserved in formaldehyde.

This was just one of the activities that I thought was very cool. One of the others was making synthetic rubber in Ivor Boyagoda's class.

Pat Regan in the Snow

Pat Regan frolics in the snow in the school yard.

Senior Basketball

Back Row: Chris Montgomery, Mike Slierings, Andre Grotenhuis, John Ten Haaf

Front Row: Joe Fitzpatrick, Pete Neal, Art Chai (coach)

My goodness, there wasn't a very deep bench in senior basketball. I think that there is one substitute available for all the positions.

Smoking in the Girls Room

Joanne Robinson (left) accompanies her friend who accompanies a cigarette. I can't identify the person to the right, but I am sure that someone will via a comment.

On Hiatus -- Victoria Day

The blog is taking a break for several days. I am going back to Canada for a few days. It will be great to spend the Victoria Day (May 24th weekend) in Canada.

As much as I like the beaches, sun and sand of the tropics, I do miss the good stuff in Canada.

Among these are courteous drivers, cheap and plentiful fruit, wide open spaces, the ability to drive further than 21 miles without hitting a shore, smooth roads, good movies, restaurants that do not take for first born for a decent meal, cooler weather, swimming in a lake (Kingsmere Lake here I come), inexpensive golf, things that work, getting things done in five minutes (like going to the bank, etc), efficient customer service, knowledgeable store clerks, and friendly people. See you on the flip side when I am back in the tropics. Have a great holiday weekend. I know that I will.

Alessandro Zara & Ted Van der laan at Badminton

Alessandro Zara gets ready to serve the shuttlecock to Ted van der laan (back to camera) in this game of badminton.

Bye Bye Birdie

The Drama Club put on the musical production "Bye Bye Birdie" in 1973.

That Seventies Sunday

Above: Judy Bradt and Joanne Robinson. They were on the yearbook committee in 1973.

Below is my Sunday homage to the 1970's:

Lakeview Park in Oshawa, 1972

The "real" Sports Utility Vehicle. You didn't drive one of these unless you were going into the bush.

Remember when?

Have a good Sunday in May everyone. Hope that the sun is shining where ever you are.

Exam Time

Classroom at exam time. Look at the concentration of the students. The only student that I can identify is Rayna King at the far right front, but I am sure that my anonymous identifier will be along in a few days to put names to the rest.

Mr. Gentry's Retirement 1976, at age 84

Herbert Gentry Oshawa This Week 26 May 1976

Oshawa Music Teacher Retires at age of 84

Oshawa Catholic High School's senior band played a farewell concert last Wednesday for the man who first showed them how to breath life into their instruments.

Herbert Gentry, head of the music department of the school for the last ten years is 84.

Still looking extraordinarily fit and energetic, Mr. Gentry tells Oshawa This Week that in retirement, "I'm just going to take it easy, take care of myself and play the trumpet."

It was under Mr. Gentry's guidance that Oshawa Catholic High School first introduced a music program for students up to grade 12 in 1966. He notes, that with a gift of $10,000 from the estate of R.S. McLaughlin, the school was able to buy enough wind and percussion instruments for a junior and senior band.

This year, the senior band won a first prize in the Kiwanis Music Festival and was second in 1975. Senior band soloist Joan Wehren (clarinet and accordion) won a second prize this year and vocalist Monica Cotton won a first prize.

IN THE BAND

Mr. Gentry was born in Woolwich England in 1891. As Woolwich was the home of Her Majesty's Royal Artillery Band, he was able to develop his natural ability and love for music at an early age.

In addition to his school studies at the London County Council School in Woolwich, Mr. Gentry began studying violin at seven and some years later, the trumpet.

His teachers were members of the Royal Artillery Band, which was both an orchestra and a military band and required those playing in it to play two instruments; so he too was encouraged to develop his skills on more than one instrument.

Leaving school at 14 (the legal age in England then) he went to work in the Royal Arsenal to begin his first career as an auditor. At that time, he was also pursuing his interest in music for the Salvation Army Band in Woolwich.

Just prior to World War One, Mr. Gentry followed his girlfriend (later to be his wife) to Oshawa where she had moved with her parents.

He recalls that, on first arriving in Oshawa, it was a town of wooden sidewalks, no indoor plumbing, surrounded by forests and farms.

He got his first job here working at Pedlars, earning $10 a week. Layed off after a few weeks, he took employment at Williams Piano Works when still in existence was located on the site now occupied by the Durham Regional Police Headquarters on Center Street North.

His stay here was called short, however, as the war had begun, and in 1915, Mr. Gentry was called back to England to work in the arsenal. During the war effort, the arsenal was producing all of the ammunition for the British forces.

He remained in England for 10 years returning to Oshawa in 1925. While still in England, his girlfriend came to join him and they were married before returning to Canada.

Soon after returning to Oshawa, Mr. Gentry began his second career, this time in the automotive industry, then just in its infancy. The huge General Motors of Canada plant in Oshawa was at that time, of course, still known as the R.H. McLaughlin Carriage Works.

His involvement with R.H. McLaughlin and General Motors spanned a 35 year period, from 1925 to 1960. During his years with General Motors, Mr. Gentry was group leader of a 21 member sub-assembly team.

He was also very active in local sports, playing with the Oshawa Cricket Club for 25 years and also some soccer.

Mr. Gentry server for many years as teh bandmaster for the Oshawa Salvation Army Band and 15 years, played first violin for the Oshawa Symphony.

Shortly after retiring from General Motors, Mr. Gentry was asked to introduce a music program and start a band at Anderson Collegiate in Oshawa. He spent four years teaching brass and woodwind instruments to the students there, and three summers obtaining his teaching certificate at Riverdale Collegiate in Toronto.

MUSIC

In 1966 Mr. Gentry undertook the music education program at Oshawa Catholic High School. Prior to the McLaughlin grant, he formed an 80-member girls choir as the school was not supplied with even a clarinet.

Mr. Gentry admits that he has had an active life far longer than most people and attributes his health to "living a good clean life".

"I take very good care of myself" he says, "I don't smoke or drink, or take drugs of any kind. It's very simple, really."

He recalls that as a boy in England, one of the members of a band was a doctor: "He answered all of my questions about the mind and body and I have lived according to his advice ever since."

The fact that his life spans so many generations has provided Mr. Gentry with a unique insight into the world as we know it. He isn't much in favour of big unions and doesn't think the government is doing much to help the country out of its economic woes.

STUDENTS

And unfortunately, he sees this as having a detrimental effect on the students today.

"Kids today do not have the same urge to learn as they once did," he says. "It is much harder to to teach today because young people feel there is little for them to strive for. Unemployment rates are so high now, many students get the impression that education is a waste of time."

Apart from these observations, Mr. Gentry has had few problems developing the musical abilities of his students. Maintaining that everyone can learn and instrument if taught properly, he has had only two or three students he has had to completely give up on.

Although he feels that with the rising popularity of music among the your, kids are more musically inclined, he confesses to a dislike of what they listen to. His personal music tastes remain with the classics.

His main criticism of the outlandish, discordant music of today is that few people know how to write a good melody.

Mr. Gentry plans to do some travelling when he retires. Mr. Gentry has two sons, both living in Canada. One, a Baptist Minister, lives in Renfrew and the other just recently moved to Mississauga.

Mr. Gentry is shown above, acting in a comedy skit. He died in 1987 at the age of 96.

David Cooper, Nicole Gaboury at Halloween

David Cooper and Nicole Gaboury were dating in Grade 12. This is how they came dressed to the Halloween dance.

Herbert Gentry the Comic

One of the most surprising things about Herbert Gentry was his sense of humour. At the talent shows, he would do a comedy routine that had us in stitches. Most of the other time, he was quite prim and proper. In this photo, I caught Mr. Gentry doing his foppish Englishman routine.

I had always wondered about Mr. Gentry's background and biography. Thanks to his great granddaughter and his grandson, I now have a fairly full picture of his background, and why he was so old when he taught. Teaching music was his second career after retirement. Mr. Gentry went back and earned a teaching certificate after retiring from General Motors. He was an amazing man. I will have a full biography on him, when I transpose his retirement article in the Oshawa newspaper at age 84. Stay tuned.

Mike Bukoski and his Bow Tie

Mike Bukoski is proud of his bow tie.

My Graduation

This is my graduating class. We were arranged in height from shortest to tallest girls, then from tallest to shortest boys. You can see that Yvonne Jensen was the second tallest girl and Joan Downey was the tallest girl. John Ten Haaf was the tallest boy, followed by Andre Grotenhuis, Mike Ivanco, Ted van der laan, Gerald Coe and Rocco Ambra.

In the very front row are Mr. and Mrs. Yanch. They were generous in supporting the school in many ways, including sending their children there. They also endowed it with their money. That year was a good year for me. I was presented with the J.A. Yanch Scholarship Award as Outstanding Male Graduate, and the R.S. McLaughlin Award for Academic Excellence. Those two cash awards contributed to my university education, and it was truly appreciated.

Remembrance Day

These girls were in the Remembrance Day ceremonies in 1973.

Pat O'Brien in the Library with a Chair

Pat O'Brien is seen offering his chair to someone in the library.

In my efforts to document my classmates, I did some slicing and dicing, and inadvertently missed the following two students. They are (top) Maureen Thomas and (bottom) Suzie Young. Suzie was a member of the Hong Kong contingent of students that Art Chai shepherded through the Canadian school system.




And in the above photo we have Judy McLinton. Behind her is Lucy Kostrzewa. She was referencing herself when writing about the intelligent student.

BH Squared

These two always hung out together. They are BH squared or Bert Hoefs and Bob Hickey. They even dated the same girl, and one eventually married her. (Bert called himself a math whiz, but I honestly can't remember if he was or not. )

Christmas Dance and Sunday Morning Oshawa Memories

I received an email about the Downchild Blues Band blog entry from a couple of days ago. In part it read:

"The pictures of Downchild Blues Band are cool. You know what, that was the year that Leo Barrett and I were social conveners on the student council.. I think it may have cost us $500 or $600 to book them for the night. What would it cost today?

All right, keep on posting !!"

Thanks John for that note.

I have a pic of the Christmas Dance and party of 1973.
Left to right are Karen Smegal, Kathleen O'Halloran, Gloria Murrant, Cindy Germanis, Bob Hickey surrounded by all of the girls, Judy McLinton and Helen Rosicki.

And some Sundays, I try to bring memories of Oshawa of the 1970's. I popped this frame of the Oshawa Flying Club just as the aircraft was getting airborne on our Urban Studies Fly Day arranged by teacher Blair Morris.


And I wanted some pics of urban decay in Oshawa. I snapped the pic below on Mary Street of the GM plant there. It really wasn't urban decay, but believe it or not, it was the worst I could find of decay in Oshawa. Sadly, the situation is a lot different now.

And the email brought some other pleasant happenstance. The blog entry profiling Paul Grady brought an interesting present, in the form of a song written by Paul. The subject is Oshawa:

The Streets of the Town

Paul Grady

The streets of this town

Don't boast a Carnaby

No waterways or sidewalk cafes will you see

Just smoke from the factory, blowin' by a lonesome tree

But as I walk down

The streets of this town

Something calls to me

The streets of this town

Do not host royalty

or cause a man to write a symphony

Just honky tonk songs

After one more working day

But as I walk down

The streets of this town

I can see them sway

Cause each house has a light that shines, faithfully

Lights the true way home

For each one of the family

The streets tonight are quiet and serene

And dream a dream of things that night have been

Sitting so humble broken for no happy cause

But as I walk down

The streets of this town

I can see what was

Thank you all for your correspondence and have a happy Sunday.

Forever in Blue Jeans

I don't know the name of this person, but I am sure that my reader with the encyclopedic knowledge will leave a comment shortly. It brings to mind 1970's songs about blue jeans -- Neil Diamonds "Forever in Blue Jeans"; Cat Stevens "Oh So Young"; and going back further in music history- "Venus in Blue Jeans".

Update: You're right ... this is Joan Duignan!

More Girls Flag Football

More girls flag football. The only people that I can identify are the partially visible faces of Debbie Comerford, Kathie Andrews and Liz Fitzpatrick.