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Home My WebLink AboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-08-28, Page 21nw ^ . . • . Reminiscing ° Mitor's Note: The following is an exrracttaken from oJ041GDC1 year book. ' • LAURA, BROWN G8r SON Do you remember the day you tried your High SchoolEntrance Examinations? When after weeks of drilling and reviewing, that June day inexorably dawned, and you found yourself in the dim, cool G.C.I. gymnasium? You sat at a strange, ill-fitting desk, your pen and ink, foolscap paper and blotter in front of you. You were dimly conscious that this mornent wasthe first time in your young Iife that you were 4boulutely on your own. You were on a toboggan slide, and no matter how you landed you couldn't get off. Your heart's pounding was almost suffocating you, your hands were damp and . coldone minute and hot and dry the next. The room was fillestmith boys and girls, some 6f whom you had never seeo, but you kept your eyes on the strange orge that was the sipervising teacher, and you prayed you could answer sorne of the questions on the printed forms she was handing out, and thenwere surrounded by the awful hush that was worse u intensity than oUonoc, broken on}y.by the rhythm of fifty or sixity scratching pens and the quiet rustle of paper. The day passed and you were so benumbed that you did not kn6w whothoz.you had answered correctly those questions you were sure of, and you came out of the dark building into the soft June afternoon sunshine, feeling washed out and very tired -and very _ � scared, and the feeling didn't leave you until that Friday, weeks later in July, when e'results were printed in the Signal. You did not have the courage=towait around to get the/uporut the Post Office, but you took your dog on an all -day hike to the river, and when you came home mother's face was yqur answer. And -all through the "rest of the summer, whether 16 you were fishing, or uwu//mm, or washing the dishes, it sang through your being like a hit song: "Frii going to. High School! I'm going to Iligh Schco1! I'm goingto High School!" Do you "remember Porier's Book Store the day High School started, and you went up for your supplies? The china and the wallpaper and the art objects were all pushed in the background to make room bathe tables piled high with note books, loose-leaf a bindom, boxes of paints, drawing books, and the shelves were packed tightly with regiments of text books. Do you remember the inky smell of the freshly printed pages and book oovors, the dry, rubbery whiff from the e/uoor», the pungent odor of freshly varnished rulers? Do you remember the orderly con[us|on, the constant clink and ringing of the cash register, the change that was handed out carefully w to each youngster, and the hot and anxious faces of the boys and "i.�" as each painstakingly checked and re -checked his list, .~..°.� m~^~ �~~~^" °'"''"= and recounted his money? Do ydu rmember Mr. Porter's handsome, kindly face, with a smile' for every one, and a special personal word to you that made you proud for days: "So you're in High School now! Well! Well!" There was plenty of time, inexhaustible supplies, and each customer was. tuk#n care of methodically. Finally, when 4. you had checked each item off.your own list against the forbidding pile of new belongings,, if you had enough left over, you bought yourSelf a shiny new bookstrap, that smelled gloriously of new, clean leather. And when you brought -the heavy' load home and laid out the unfamiliar tools of yout High School education on the dining room table: the Latin and French text books, the Physics and Chemistry books,Ahe Geometty_and Algebra voktmes, and you leafed through their sharp cut pages, they Seemed to belongto you, , suddenly and finally,- the moment you wrote your name on the fry leaf, in your -most careful handwriting, and after your uutua you. wrote the- date, and with a fine flourish, the last line: Goderich Collegiate oxdtute, . Doyouzenmunobortba new importance you gained in your house * because in going to HigkSchoolyoupummdthcougktho8guure[our times a day? A new glamour entered your life, with the proud realization that you had become the Town Crier to your family. --Emu- times a day you were in the midst' .of things -you were one with the bankers, the lawyers and -the people who kept storesund worked the 8guate.^And when you stopeat the Post Office at . noon "and after four :o'clock,. gradually you began to recognize the judges and the doctors, the bank tellers and the insurance agents, the .bOokkeepers and the expressmen, the druggists and 'the peoplewho worked at the Court House, all of whom came to get their mail. And , you heard these people talking over bits of news of the day. And you stopped to' read the current death notice on the post outsid6, studded with a thousand nail heads, that had held up to public view the last and final news of a departed resident. - o' Each day you came home a lithe breathless with something nevo;)s---q.to tell: Who had just died, that the Greyhound Excifrsion boat was Monday; - that. there was a big sale on at Dunlop's; that Dr. Macklin had stopped to ask you how your mother was; that 8Puo`xhud a basket of great, big NorthernSpies ��o in the window; that the new Dollar 4 Store wasopening next Saturday; that Mr. Videan had the first boxes of huge purple petunias otitsid-e his store, and you had seen three people you knew in the bus coming up from the C.P.R. station. -' ` . And you were given new, imrtant jobto fit your increased stature in life. You could stop at the bank to make a deposit; You couldmail out a registered package at the Post Office, you could ordornowdioingnoomcurtaioxonthowuyhomokomxchooi And on yourwa1ks to school through the square, the Park trees spelled the seasons to you: their May -fresh greenness, the full shade of late June, the dry and intoxicating odor of October leaves.' And coming home on a frosty winter twilight, when you had stayed late at school to help plan a Promenade Program, the air in the Square was filled^with a ringing ~~^` and a high ""-". ,"m— calling out: "Sku---ting to -night dmWest Street buk.". And rememberingthese uUthings,and a thuusandothers related to your life at High School, do you wonder why it is that whmnevor you see a group of High School young people walking down a street, anywhere, in any town, that you are tempted to match your step with theirs. You'd like to begin where you left off at C}.CJ, to walk along with them, share a joke with the boys walking behind you, complain about your homework, to express a bit of apprehension about to -morrow's examination. You have this feeling of oneness with every High _8uhnoL8envrudmbxzumume_ioynuzoYo~t1Qwzo/fixe _. years at G/C.l. you became a person. It was here that you were taught not only book -stuff, but life -stuff respect for those who could interpret knowledge to you, admiration [u,thc�tudmnt whose facile mind could grasp an idea more quickly than yours. You were gradually becoming aware of human valucu. u[your own growing personal dignity. You probably were not aware of all this devn|npmont''xt the time, bdtzotroopocd _onntu unerringly to all the influences that moulded and shaped thee-pomun that you have become. ' m There was the teacher whose clear, straight -forward "�p="'�=" ="'e heiped dcvclop your own immature mental processcs; there were all the student activities, participation in which sharpened your dmsim for community and civic interests; there was the Literature teacher whose direction fashioned your reading habits for life. And recalling uU.thexc things, ,and 'the |hnuuayi others, you knoW that those -were the good years. ov- m ~ . FOR YOUR ' ~- . . AUTO INSURANCE See or Phone MALCOLM MATHERS GENERAL INSURANCE AbENT - ' 46 WEST ST. 524-9442 ^ ' A . Good—LookGood-Lookirig case, a durable leather product, carrying -- hon6|handle, w, 3pouihmm lock and key closing. 3 compartments. With single metalperfor- ated shade. " wooden stem on metal base and flexible arm. Real value! Each , Free~Kithe Size RO{/U with �everyNn,th'Ritm 98', 6o(| 'po|nt'pen. _ 1.57 Value For • ~�K � Speciai+7/2''m/ng Binder- .. 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