Robert Zochodne at the Warsaw Caves

The geography teachers led by Blair Morris organized a huge multi-grade, multi-bus field trip around southern Ontario that was totally amazing. We went from one natural element of the geography of the place to another. We learned about eskers, terminal morraine, saw the burial grounds at Serpent Mounds and of course we visited the Warsaw Caves. Here, a young Robert Zochodne peers down into the caves.

Girls Gym Class - 1969

This came from my cheapo Kodak camera when I first started taking pictures in 1969. It was a Kodak Instamatic, I believe. I had to take some pics for the yearbook, and girls gym was one of them. Again, note the "official gym uniform". They didn't last long. I have no idea who the students are. I was a geeky minor niner and they were "older girls" so I had not yet developed the facility to actually speak to them.

Gloria Chisholm on the Bus

The camera captures Gloria Chisholm in mid-blink on the bus. This was probably a class trip to Stratford in the early 1970's.

Hey Jude -- Thanks

Thanks to Judy Bradt for the mention on Facebook. Record number of views yesterday on the blog.

Hiatus

I am going on hiatus for awhile. I am slowly getting ready to return to the tropics, and the remainder of my material requires further processing, scanning etc, and I do not have the time to do it. There are close to 750 images from the early days of OCHS on this site, and it has been my pleasure to bring them to you. I especially enjoyed reconnecting with old friends, teachers, school mates, classmates and friends of OCHS.

If you have any digital material of your own that you want to see up here, please send it to me at the contact email address (ochsblogger - at - rocketmail - dot - com) and I would be pleased to post it.

Feel free to drop me a line and if you want to stay in touch by Facebook, let me know and I will give you my Facebook coordinates.

Thanks for visiting and hope to see you soon.

Ken

School Corner

I need some stock pictures of the school for the yearbook, so I went out through the foyer glass doors, and shot the north wing of the school from under the tree. This tree no longer exists, and today, in the same spot, I would be standing inside the building.

Siblings

There were many many sets of siblings attending OCHS, my family included. Pictured above is Kathy Seaver, and below is her older brother Tony Seaver.

In this blurry shot, Tony is at a dance accompanied by Mary Ellen Barrett, and to the right in the foreground (apologies for the poor negative) is Cheryl Kelleher.

Sharon Vitali at the Winter Carnival

This photo appeared in the yearbook in 1973. Sharon signed this pic for me.

Getting into the aircraft

Blair Morris was an innovative teacher who taught Geography and Urban Studies at OCHS. He arranged for over-flights for our class over the city of Oshawa in light aircraft to observe such things as urban sprawl, movement of the commercial centers outside the downtown core and the suburbanization of the fields and green spaces around the city. It was a fascinating course. In the photo above, Doug Zochodne and Colleen Bulger prepare to board the aircraft.

Girls Volleyball

A shot in the gym of girls senior volleyball. Sitting on the stage, I can recognize (left to right) Kathy Seaver, Judy McLinton and Gloria Murrant.

Dr. Charles McIlveen - Member of Provincial Parliament

In 1971, there was a provincial election. OCHS hosted all of the candidates. They were Cliff Pilkey - the NDP incumbent, Liberal Candidate Mike Lisko and Conservative candidate Dr. Charles McIlveen, who was the coroner for the city of Oshawa. McIlveen defeated Pilkey and held the seat until 1975, when he himself was defeated by NDP'er Mike Breaugh. Pictured above is Dr. Charles McIlveen on the OCHS stage. Click on the "election" tag below to see the other pic in the series with OCHS students on the stage.

Art Club 1973

Olga Kachnij (left) and Kathy Vandersanden were members of the Art Club in 1973.

The Big Football Game

In the photo, it appears that the OCHS Saints are defending on the home field and the opposing team offense looks like it is about to score. The ball carrier is at the three yard line. Click on the photo to enlarge it for full effect.

Girls in Cars and Counting Cars

Linda Byrne sits in car, counting cars. This was the Urban Studies field trip where we had to count traffic and deduce traffic patterns in Oshawa. The course was an incredible eye-opener for me, because it created a lifelong fascination with the power of applied statistics.


And I throw this pic in for old times sake. It is blurry because it was taken in a bouncy, jarring bus on a trip to Stratford. Pictured is a wide-eyed Sue Vitali.

Scene From The Cafeteria

Lunch time scene from the cafeteria at OCHS in the 1970's.

Band Pics from 1977 and 1995

This pic from 1977 comes from the high school website. After the school year of 1976, the school changed its name to Monsignor Paul Dwyer High School, so this photo here would have some students who knew the school as OCHS, and Paul Dwyer as well.

There was a bit of a bio of Monsignor Dwyer in the paper at the time. It is reprinted here:

Born in 1898, Msgr. Dwyer assumed the pastorate of St. Gregory's Church in 1949, and by 1957 was named the first Dean of Ontario County.

Within the 1950s and 1960s, growth in Oshawa began to surge with post-war development. Oshawa and the auto industry flourished, attracting new workers and homeowners, as well as the need for parishes. He made many contributions to local parishes, purchasing sites for St. Gertrude's, St. Mary of the People and St. Philip's, for cemeteries and a new parish auditorium at St. Gregory's.

Later he was named a Domestic Prelate to Pope John XXIII and was made a monsignor in 1961.

Msgr. Dwyer had a dream of having a Catholic high school in Oshawa where faith would be openly taught and celebrated. He put much of his time, energy and financial support into overseeing the construction of Oshawa Catholic High School and saw his dream come true in 1962. He died on March 19, 1976.

In September 1976, Oshawa Catholic High School had its last graduating class as the school was renamed in Msgr. Dwyer's honour. The monsignor's commitment to Catholic education lives on in the school's motto, veritas, bonitas (truth, goodness) -- values it continues to teach and inspire in students.

Here is a pic (from the same website) of the school band in 1995:

Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year one and all. May 2011 be a magnificent, happy, healthy year for you.

I was struck with the realization that each new year, is one more year away from those halcyon high school days. May your memories grow sweeter with the years, and I truly hope that you are fulfilled and happy.

Ken

Stephen Ma

Math teacher and guidance counselor Arthur Chai used to sponsor Chinese students from Hong Kong. There were 5 or 6 of them in my class. Pictured above is Stephen Ma, having a bite to eat. To the right with her back turned, is Sue Vitali having a chat with someone.

Gloria Chisholm in the School Play

Gloria Chisholm is in a school play on stage in the auditorium. I can't remember any of the details, and neither can Gloria. She was amazed that this photo of her existed (we are both on Facebook -- drop me a line if you want to "friend" me -- I have a Facebook alias), and Gloria could not even recall this event.

Size Differential

I hurriedly snapped this pic to show the size differential between Andre Grotenhuis and teacher Gary Ranalli. Andre is in the black leather jacket, and no he is not standing on anything. He was a tall individual, and this photograph shows just how tall.

Merry Christmas

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas. If you have enjoyed these memories of OCHS, drop me a line. I hope that all of your days are merry and bright this holiday season and into the years ahead.

Ken

Interim Report Card

Interim Report Card from November 1970. These were printed on spirit duplication machines. That year, my English teacher was Tony Meagher -- later a priest and eventually a bishop. Those are his initials in the English section. In Science it was Frank Sachetti who initialed here. I just remembered the French teacher -- it was Mrs. Kearns. I don't have a photo of her. And Ruth Nicholls taught typing that year. I have never regretted taking typing. (Click on the photo for a bigger picture).

Classroom shot

If you know who this is, please leave a comment.

Kevin Duignan & Terry Hopkins

This photo is from the kangaroo court series and student initiation. Here Kevin Duignan is about to receive his punishment from Terry Hopkins (left).

Odds and Ends From the Memory Box

In Grade 12 Biology, Henry Kowalewski and I sat behind Colleen Bulger and Patricia (Pat) Kilistoff. They were fooling around and decided to sign my paper. Colleen at the time was writing everything in mirror writing. "Killer" is Pat Kilistoff. I popped the fragment into a scrapbook.

I took this shot in 1969. It was boys wrestling in the gym. Joe Simiana is the top guy. I can't remember who was on the bottom in this shot.
And finally a blurry Vince Gedge in front of the stage. This was in the 1969 series negatives.