Loading...
Huron Expositor, 2015-03-18, Page 5Wednesday, March 18, 2015 • Huron Expositor 5 www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com letters to the editor Shuffleboard players ask arena board to reconsider changes Again, the Seaforth seniors who shuffleboard at the arena are being challenged by the Arena Board. column We just learned this week that the board is suggesting that we be responsible for setting up the tables and chairs before we start to play and then be asked to take them down and pile up the chairs. We use beads on the floor and they now are asking us to buy them. The bags cost $35-$40 and we would have to go to Toronto to get them and we also must sweep the floor before we leave. In exchange we no longer have to pay $1.00 to play and the arena staff will paint the lines. We won't hold our breath for the lines have needed painting since last fall and so far nothing has been done. What does the town or the arena do for seniors other than walking in the arena each morning? The tables are heavy and all our men except one are older than 70 years up to 92 years. Why should we be expected to do the work that should be done by arena staff? Several of us go to Hensall to shuffleboard each Tuesday where the congenial staff set up the tables and all the chairs and we aren't expected to put the chairs away or sweep the floor. We are asking the board to reconsider their suggestion. Sincerely, Grace Corbett (on behalf of the seniors who play shuffleboard) Howard Hillen Kerr: Ryerson Polytechnic Founder Today, Ryerson Universi- ty's unique blend of prac- tical and academic stud- ies has made it one of Canada's leaders in post -secondary edu- cation. Ryerson owes its world famous reputation to the vision of McKillop Township's How- ard Hillen Kerr. Howard Hillen Kerr was the third of four children born to James and Martha Kerr on December 24, 1900. The Kerrs of McKillop were devout Pres- byterian farmers who valued hard work and educa- tion. Howard Kerr graduated from Seaforth Collegiate Insti- tute in 1919. He missed the carnage of the western front but his older brother, Wilfred Brenton Kerr, served as a ser- geant in the Royal Canadian Field Artillery and wrote the Great War classics `Shrieks and Crashes' (1929) and 'Arms and the Maple Leaf' (1943). He taught school in Huron County before attending the University of Toronto in 1922. After graduating with degrees in engineering and education, he married Beatrice Jean Larkin, the daughter of Reverend Doctor Frederick Larkin, at the Seaforth Presby- terian Church in August 1926. Kerr taught briefly taught at Galt Collegiate Institute before he taking an Huron History David Yates administrative position with the Ontario Department of Education. He worked in the educational bureaucracy until the outbreak of the Second World War when he was placed in charge of military trade training. In 1943, Kerr visited Boston's Massachu- setts' Institute of Technology and was greatly impressed with what he saw as a first class technical school system that blended classroom work with a practical education. In 1944, anticipating the war's end, the provincial gov- ernment made Kerr the Direc- tor of the Training and Re - Establishment Institute housed in the former Toronto Normal School which had been established in 1851 by educational pioneer, Egerton Ryerson. Jointly financed by the Dominion and provincial governments to help ex -ser- vicemen and women re-enter the civilian work force, TRIT, under Kerr's leadership, proved a resounding suc- cess. According to Ryerson University historian, Eric Lam, from July 1945 to 1948, over 16 000 veterans received training in more than 80 courses ranging from wood- working to graphic arts. In 1946, Kerr convinced pro- vincial authorities that a post- secondary technical educa- tional school was essential. The result was Ryerson Institute of Technology. Historian Eric Lam has written that "Kerr dreamed of making Ryerson the `MIT of Canada: It was a bold experi- ment for Canada as no other school in the country offered a mixed technical and academic education at the post -second- ary level. When the Ryerson Institute of Technology opened its doors in September 1948, Kerr was its first principal. The first class of 250 students paid $25.00 tui- tion to attend vocational pro- grams that concentrated 6-7 year apprenticeship courses into two years in order to meet Canada's post-war demand for skilled labour. Under what educational historian Qin Liu called Kerr's 'charismatic leader- ship' Ryerson was became an indispensable part of Ontario's educational system. In 1964, it was renamed Ryerson Polytechni- cal Institute to acknowledge its broad range of practical courses in commerce, applied arts and technology. Construction of Kerr Hall began in 1963 to recognize 'the most important person in the history of Ryerson: By 1969, Kerr Hall had grown to a com- plex of four buildings that sur- rounded the campus in the heart of downtown Toronto. In 1966, after 18 years as principal, Kerr was appointed the Chair of the Council of Regents for Colleges of Applied Arts and Technol- ogy. He presided over the cre- ation of Ontario's 24 commu- nity colleges based upon the Ryerson model. Yet, Kerr never forgot his Sea - forth roots. When he died on June 16, 1984, he was buried in the Maitlandbank Cemetery with his wife, Beatrice, and a daughter, Esme, who prede- ceased him in 1979. In 1993, when the institute became known as Ryerson Polytechnic University, tradi- tion demanded that the school be granted a ceremo- nial mace for convoca- tions. Dr. Eugen Bannerman, a Ryerson psychology profes- sor, formed the Memorial Your world... Your news 24/7 Breaking news just a click away Mace Committee. Banner- man, according to an article by Sarah Virag, approached Seaforth and outlying area to raise money for the Howard Kerr Memorial Mace to solid- ify the connection between the Seaforth community and Ryerson University. With 'enthusiastic' support, Virag reported that 50 organi- zations and groups raised over $18 000 for the mace. At the May 1994 Ryerson convoca- tion, former Seaforth Mayor Alf Ross and Ross Ribey pre- sented the mace to university Chancellor David Crom- bie. The Howard Kerr Memo- rial Mace was emblazoned with the likenesses of Egerton Ryerson and Howard Kerr and the coats of arms of Seaforth and McKillop Township. It was a fitting tribute to Kerr, the Seaforth native who once said 'my whole life is Ryerson. I live it, eat it, sleep it.' Indeed, today, Ryerson has an enrol- ment of nearly 40 000 students. The university's motto `Mente et Artificio' (mind and skill) perfectly summed up Ryerson's and Kerr's educational philoso- phy. The affiliation of Howard Kerr with Egerton Ryerson is appropriate because aside from Ryerson, Kerr was, perhaps, the most influential figure in Ontario education.