The Dragon Spring 2008 Issue

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS • SAINTS IN PERU • THE “CASTLE”

Spring 2008St. George’s School

MANAGING EDITORGordon C. Allan

GRAPHIC DESIGNERBruce Elbeblawy

SENIOR EDITORChristine Moore

ARCHIVES AND HISTORY EDITORSElizabeth Knox, Jay Sherwood

GEORGIANS’ SECTIONSENIOR GEORGIANS’ EDITORBryan R. Ide '99

PRESIDENT OF THE ST. GEORGE’S OLD BOYS’ ASSOCIATIONA.G. (Alex) Tsakumis '84

PHOTOGRAPHERSGordon C. AllanMatt BarnesKyla Brown Photography www.kylabrown.comDominic Chan '10Andrew Cliff '08Bruce ElbeblawyGraham Handford '06Tom HawkinsDanny Hong '08Don LivingstonBo Meng '02Catherine MoriEd MortimerVinny Ng '99Neil Piller '85Colin Shuen '09Mendel Skulski '08City of Vancouver ArchivesSt. George's School Archives

The Dragon is published twice per year,expressly for Georgians, parents, and friends of St. George’s School. It is also distributed to other Canadianindependent schools and selected public orprivate institutions. Comments about any ofthe articles are always welcome.

Address all correspondence to:Gordon C. AllanManaging Editor, The DragonSt. George’s School4175 West 29th AvenueVancouver BC V6S 1V1 CANADAPhone: 604.224.1304 Fax: 604.224.7066Email: [email protected]

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DRAGONTHE

DRAGONTHE

Spring 2008St. George’s School

EDITORIAL

3 The Artist in All of Us by Gordon C. Allan

SCHOOL LIFE

4 A Man for all Seasons by N.R.L. (Nigel) Toy

6 An Interview with the Chairman Interviewed by Gordon C. Allan

8 Defining who we are: Art at St. George’s School by Mark Sauer

14 Progress and Tradition: Music at St. George’s School by Marko Rnic

17 A Tribute to Rob Stickney by Nan Oliver

18 Alive and Well: Theatre Arts at St. George’s School by Ed Mortimer

21 Carpe Diem: Latin and Debating at St. George’s School by Catherine Mori

22 Under The Saints’ Spotlight by Brenton Wilke, Eric Stewart , Hayley Jacobs, and Alan Sherman

27 Having a good time, Mr. Stewart? by Daryl Wakeham

28 Building Opportunities: Saints’ Students in Peru by Andrew Cliff ’08

32 The “Castle”: A Look back at the History of the Junior School by Airlie Ogilvie

THE GEORGIANS’ SECTION

SPECIAL FEATURE: PROFILING GEORGIANS IN THE ARTS

35 Symbols of Our Souls by A.G. (Alex) Tsakumis '84

36 Renaissance Man: Jake Kerr ’61 by Gordon C. Allan

38 Constant Peril: Sustaining Artistic Passion at St. George’s School by Adam Goldenberg ’04

40 Sounding a Mosaic: Jay Malinowski ’00 and Bedouin Soundclash Interviewed by Bryan R. Ide ‘99

42 The Globetrotter: Vincent “Vinny” Ng ’99 Interviewed by Bryan R. Ide ‘99

44 Rockin’ DJ: Jimmy Vallance ’07 Interviewed by Bryan R. Ide ‘99

45 Everything I need to Know I Learned from Saints’ Players by Bo Meng ‘02

46 The Beat: Alexis “Lex” Assadi Interviewed by Bryan R. Ide ‘99

47 Georgian Artists in Nova Scotia Interviewed by Bryan R. Ide ‘99

48 Goodbye Daddy: A Farewell to Geof Stancombe ’62 by Pat Palmer ‘80

50 Saints’ Notes: compiled by Elizabeth Knox and Bryan R. Ide ‘99

Spring 2008 • 3

FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR

Historically, success in school and readiness for universityentrance has meant being proficient in what educatorstypically refer to as the hard curriculum: Mathematics,Languages, and the Sciences. Tutoring services andlearning centres thrive in a market driven by anxious

parents who are looking to better their child’s academic performance.In the meantime, a growing body of research is pointing to anotherarea of the curriculum as the root of academic, creative, and socialpreparedness; the Arts.

In 2002, the US-based National Endowment for the Arts commissioneda summative paper documenting 62 research studies on the social andacademic effects of an Arts education. The findings of this researchwere clear. There are obvious links between a student’s involvement inthe Arts and a wide range of social and academic benefits. The studiesfurther illustrate how the Arts encourage mastery in subjects such as,Reading, Mathematics, and Social Studies and how the student who isdeeply engaged in an Arts curriculum performs better on stand-ardized tests like the SAT.

Much of this information is not new to St. George’s School. Withouthaving the above data, statistics, or research, students and staff alikealready understand and can attest to the profound impact of beinginvolved in Music, Art, and Theatre Production and the successesresulting later in life. We are able to witness first hand the developmentof St. George’s School students into true Renaissance men, because ofthe School’s commitment to an aesthetic education; that is, aneducation valuing the interconnectedness of body, mind, emotion,and spirit.

In this edition of The Dragon, we have highlighted the Arts at St. George’s School; where they are today and where they are goingtomorrow. You will also be able to read of Georgians who have beentransformed as individuals through their experiences in Art, Music, orDrama courses at St. George’s School and how, in some cases, theyhave made successful careers for themselves in the entertainmentindustry. You will read about Georgians who are art collectors, Hip Hopartists, DJs, rock stars; and of recent graduates who are pursuing acareer in Art at the prestigious NSCAD University. All of these arestories of passion and the creative spirit. They are testaments to acommunity which finds in all of us, a special kind of artist.

Sine Timore aut Favore

IN ALL OF US

“

THE ARTIST

by Gordon C. Allan, Managing Editor

Arts encouragemastery in othersubjects such as,Reading,Mathematics, andSocial Studies.

“

Ananda Coomaraswamy

“An artist is not a special kind of man, but every man is a special kind of Artist”

4 • The Dragon

FROM THE HEADMASTER

John and Douglas Harker, the early great headmasters, werethemselves products of Rugby School in the UK. They knew only toowell what it meant to sanction an all-round education for boys. Theirbeliefs were grounded in the concept of the “gentleman”; someone notonly courageous and chivalrous, but also a man of learning with agenuine appreciation for the cultural milieu.

As I reflect on the St. George's of the twenty-first century, thosefounding principles have surely taken root in the culture of the School.The boy of today is afforded wonderful opportunities and options. Theresources and talents of the teachers open for him ways in which hecan explore, not only his academic strength and athletic aspirations,but his creative spirit. As Headmaster, I am constantly amazed by theflair and dedication that boys display in the Arts. Everyday, their energyis seen in areas such as Ceramics, Painting, Acting, Debating, and Music.It is often said that there is creative and artistic spirit in us all. The key isin knowing how to release it. It is to give it the opportunity to developand to be able to enrich and bring balance to an individual’sperception of the world.

Educators have long advocated the need to provide and nurture alltalents. However, in my experience, very few schools are able to createthe culture and expectation that draw youngsters to embrace a“balanced” education. There is, more often than not, a preoccupationwith pure academics and measuring young people only on theirintellectual performance. Modern research, and I believe sheercommon sense, tells us that the Emotional Quotient is a far greaterindicator of a more fulfilling career. The work of researchers inestablishing multi-intelligences demonstrates that we have capacity togo well beyond pure abstract thinking.

To be in a school where the Arts truly flourish, as they do at St. George’s,brings alive the spirit of inquiry and self-exploration. Each individual,whether teacher or student, pushes boundaries to pursue the aestheticelements of their lives. I find it fitting always to pay tribute to thosetalented educators and mentors who over the decades haveestablished such a rich cultural heritage in St. George's School.

Today, we continue our tradition of an Arts Week. This has become atime for the School to pause and immerse the students in a variety ofartistic presentation. Visiting authors, painters, musicians, sculptors,and actors present to the boys and staff. There are also outstanding

FOR ALL SEASONS

“

A MAN

N.R.L. (Nigel) Toy, Headmaster

To be in a schoolwhere the Artstruly flourish, asthey do at St.George’s, bringsalive the spirit ofinquiry and self-exploration.

“

When St. George's School was founded in1930, it was Englishmen who brought withthem a clear and precise understanding of therole of young men in society.

Spring 2008 • 5

displays of student work and presentations bystudent artists. The culmination is theawarding of the Rigg Scholarships. Theseprestigious honours, with cash endowments,recognize young artists who have excelledand who will continue to make a leadershipcontribution to the Arts at St. George's School.

As we honour our Rigg Scholars, the Harkerswould be proud to know that nearly all haveachieved Honours or better standing, whilsthalf are on Senior Premier Sports Teams. Theyare expected to pursue their potential, giveback to their community, and be youngpeople of integrity. They exemplify the spiritand philosophy of the School as we all strive tobe that “man for all seasons”.

Christopher Gaze (of “Bard on the Beach”)reminded us during Arts Week of the wordsof Rudyard Kipling:“… If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the earth and everything that’s in it,And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”

Sine Timore aut Favore

David Chau '03 at Hwa’s Art Gallery in Shanghai.

6 • The Dragon

THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Rob has been President of the British ColumbiaTechnology Industries Association (BCTIA),before which he had a long and successfulcareer with Telus/BCTEL, serving in manyexecutive roles including over four years as thePresident of BCTEL Mobility. In 1992, heattended the Harvard Business School Programfor Management Development.

In addition to serving as Chairman of the Boardat St. George’s School, Mr. Cruickshank is alsoChair of the Board of Directors of Corpus Christiand St Mark’s Colleges, a member of the Boardof the Canadian Association of IndependentSchools (CAIS), and an advisory board memberof both AfterCAD Software Inc. and Nutri-Loc,two early stage technology companies.

Mr. Cruickshank is married, has nine children ,including Jeffrey '92, Gregory '94, Joseph '00,Jamie '07, and Matthew '12, four grandchildren,and is an active community advocate.

He supports numerous charitable agencies andcoaching athletics.

“

CHAIRMANInterview by Gordon C. Allan, Managing Editor

Maintaining theconcept ofdeveloping the well-rounded boy issomething we neverwant to lose sight of.

“

Rob Cruickshank waselected Chairman of theBoard this past Novemberand The Dragon recentlyhad the opportunity tointerview him about hisrole and goals as Chairman.

An Interview with

THE

What does it mean to you to be Chairman of St. George's School?St George's has been a part of our family forover 20 years. I enjoy being part of what mychildren are involved in and so it has been anatural progression of engagement for me.

For the benefit of our readers, what is yourrole as Chairman and what is the role of theBoard as a whole?The role of the Board as a whole is to:1. Hire and steward the Headmaster,2. With the Headmaster and his team, developand assist in the delivery of a Strategic Planfor the School,3. Show leadership in the area of fundraisingto support the delivery of the Strategic Plan,4. Ensure that there are processes, procedures,structure, and reporting that provide theBoard with the visibility it needs to performits fiduciary duties.

You were involved in the development of ourmost recent Strategic Plan. What do you see asthe key goals of this plan?First, I would encourage anyone who hasn'tread the document to read it. There was agreat deal of work done in advance of the Planto gather input from a broad range ofconstituencies. There has also been significantprogress towards delivering on the Plan andwe will, in the near future, be developing aPlan for the next five years.

With respect to the key goals, I think all of thegoals are important as are the mission andeducational philosophy stated in the Plan.

Having said that, I believe maintaining theconcept of developing the well-rounded boyis something we never want to lose sight of.That is why it is stated both in our educationalphilosophy and appears as one of our goals.

Finally, I would stress the need to keep St. George's in mind with respect to charitablegiving. Our fees only cover the operation ofthe School. The facilities that our boys enjoyonly exist through the generous support ofour parents, past parents, Georgians, andfriends of the School. This Plan and the successof future Plans will be dependent oncontinued generosity.

As someone who has been intimately involvedin the world of technology, what newtechnological developments do you see asopportunities for the School?What I know is that anything I mention could beobsolete by the time this goes to print. Seriously,I think this is one of the major focuses for thenext Strategic Plan. If we don't plan with respectto the role of technology in the School thentechnology will drive us. In other words, we can'tavoid it, so we are best to get in front of it. Thathas implications for the Board, the faculty, thestaff, the students, and the parents. Done well itcan be yet another differentiating factor of whypeople choose St. George's.

The theme of this current issue of The Dragonis the Arts. How important are the Arts to youas Chairman of the School?What I have always enjoyed about St George'sis the variety and quality of the opportunitiesit provides for the boys. You can pursueanything you wish and whatever that mightbe is okay. This certainly wasn't the case in myschool experience. Sometimes those whopursued certain subjects and, even worse, didwell at them were persecuted. I have alwaysenjoyed the Arts events at the School and wehave been fortunate enough to have a coupleof our boys distinguish themselves in aspectsof the Arts.

Do you have any personal objectives duringterm as Chairman?I have mentioned that we will soon bedeveloping the next Strategic Plan so the workassociated with that and its delivery willcertainly be one of my objectives as willcompleting on the current Plan.

Another objective is ensuring the continuedpopulation of the Board and the various roleswithin the Board to continue the growth of theSchool. Furthermore, to increase our fund-raising efforts, thereby enabling us to addgreatly to everyone's life at the School bybuilding and maintaining our facilities. Finally,to increase our endowment fund to allow us tooffer the St. George's opportunity to thosewho may benefit from our programs, yetotherwise could not afford it.

Spring 2008 • 7

The Chairman gets in the Spirit of Arts Week at the Junior School.

8 • The Dragon

SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTS

ArtIt was mid week, in the middle of

the afternoon, and with the active

pace of the school week reaching

a crescendo, I decided that I might

try my hand at throwing some clay

on the pottery wheel to relax.

Although comfortable with

making clay moulds with hand-

building techniques, I am not

particularly experienced enough

to produce pottery. My first

recorded attempt resulted in a

Jackson Pollock themed design of

mud thrown against the wall.

Although I felt the design had true

artistic merit, the maintenance

staff did not share my enthusiasm.

DEFINING WHOWEARE

by Mark Sauer,Senior Schol Art Teacher

Brian Harries, Grade 12, “Rocks", Acrylic on Canvas

Spring 2008 • 9

Undaunted, I returned to the scene of thecrime determined to master a “new” Art,both intimidating and exciting to me. Asluck would have it, there was no onearound the studio at this time, so, Icollected my materials and sat at my workstation and prepared to make what Ihoped would amount to the mother of allcoffee mugs.

I took a minute to look around and was inawe of the many pots, bowls, and vasesthat adorned the boys’ shelves. I wasmomentarily intimidated by their flawlessstructure and design, but my initialhesitation turned to confidence as I beganthe arduous process of centring my clay—a skill that can at times require the fullstrength of a Bulgarian shot putter. Withpersonal satisfaction, I began to form mycylinder, feeling quite assured that thismug would prove itself spectacular.

It was not long before things started to gohorribly wrong. My walls were not thinningout. My rim was starting to dip and sag. Allat once I was confronted with the realitythat my envisioned masterpiece may bereduced to nothing more than a heap ofearthen muck! I refused to let my pot wiltand die and so I continued to use myhands, clumsily caressing the clay, in thehope that it might conform to my will.

The School motto, Without Fear or Favour,did not apply to me at that moment as Iwas both fearful and in need of mercifulhelp. I was so desperate to succeed that I

caught myself humming a nursery rhymeas if to soothe a sick child to health. Thesituation was nearing a total disaster as mypot was starting to wobble—the very actof which was making me feel nauseated. Iturned, and as luck would have it, RobStickney had returned from lunch. With 27some years of teaching Ceramics under hisbelt, I assumed that he would be able toguide me through my sudden artisticcrisis. However, he offered the services ofTim Stockton, a Grade 12 student, who hadfollowed him to the Ceramics Studio. Trueto Rob’s impish sense of humour, he gaveTim the option of serving a detention orassisting me. Thankfully, Tim chose thelatter, to help me out.

Tim and I had known each other for sometime and I am pleased that he seemedmildly interested in saving my pot fromcertain catastrophe and me from utterhumiliation. Five years ago, Tim was aGrade 7 student at the Junior Schoolwhere I served as his English teacher,homeroom advisor, and art instructor. Timis no longer a little kid. In fact, he like manyother of my former students, has grownboth in stature and in mind. As Tim took aseat next to me and guided me with wordsof encouragement and technical savvy, Isuddenly became more confident toregain my credibility as a potter.

From the corner of the room I saw Robsmile at our mutual accomplishment. Evenwith his vast experience of teaching, hestill takes pride in his students’accomplishments—regardless of theirage! Alas, our momentary satisfaction wasshort lived as my pot collapsed and gave into the force of gravity. This mug was nevermeant to be. As I removed my clay slabfrom the wheel, Tim and I took thisopportunity to chat. I reflected on thosemany years ago when our roles werereversed and I sat patiently next to himattempting to teach the art of craftingeloquent and fluid sentences at a timewhen he was encountering difficulties.Time is the great equalizer. Tim was nolonger that small child. He was about toembark on his future life away from Saints.As a future Georgian, he has already paidback a small debt to the School byintroducing me, a new student, to thepotter’s guild.

St. George’s is not your average school. If itsacademic and athletic programs aredistinguished as the heart of the School,then one could argue that the Arts are itssoul. When many schools have madesignificant budget cuts to their Fine Artsprograms, St. George’s has made a notedeffort to continue with its investment.Funding becomes a priority and engagingthe inner artist in the students is seen as anessential component to creating the all-round boy. From Painting to Pottery,Printmaking to Classical Animation, orDigital Photography to pastel cats, St. George’s School has maintained a richtradition of fostering the Arts. Over thecourse of the last few decades, many of thefinest post-secondary Visual Arts in-stitutions in Canada and abroad havecoveted our students. Their success is avictory for the School and as thegraduating student seeks to engage innew artistic frontiers, he must and shouldtake a moment to embrace the road thatgot him there.

At Saints, a student’s journey begins earlyat the junior levels, where Art becomes anintegral part of the grade schoolcurriculum, thus allowing all students toachieve success in their own specialartistic ability. It is a chaotic time in ayoung artist’s career, where exploration ofmaterials and ideas are often marred bythe frustrations of spilled paint, brokenclay, or the ingestion of glue. Nothing isgreater than watching a young childcreate at this stage of his life; his innocenceand playfulness splashed out for all to seeon the virtual canvas.

Creativity can be expressed in many waysand I remember a young boy in Grade 2,who thought that chalk pastel looked betteron him than on the paper, the very sight ofhim causing me to erupt in laughter.

Art becomes an elective by the time theboys arrive at the senior levels and themajority of students remain captivated bythe program. For the select few who make ita central part of their timetable, the ArtDepartment becomes a second home, abastion of creative and spiritual exploration,where boys are often encouraged to reachfar beyond their comfort zone and, at times,fail in order to succeed.

For the most part, the students whopursue Visual Arts as a career “see” in a veryunique way and conceptualize the worldrarely in black or white, but throughkaleidoscopic glasses. Theirs is a veryspecial calling.

There seems to be something for everyonein the world of Art and, although therehave been more than a fair share of peoplewho profess that they “cannot draw to savetheir life”, the truth of the matter is, that


Mark Sauer’s teapotfails to take shape, ashis Arts studentsrelish the moment

Brian O’Connor, Director of Visual Arts

anyone can draw, paint, design, or create.Much like training for a professional tradeor practised skill, becoming an artistinvolves hard work and some come to itmore naturally than others. Those whoengage in the Visual Arts become richerfor the experience and recent studies haveshown that students who participate in Artin some of its many forms score relativelyhigher in critical thinking—a skill deemedcrucial in today’s multi-faceted andcomplex world.

Similarly, students who participate in artlearn “the meaning of joy of work—workdone to the best of one’s ability, for its ownsake, for the satisfaction of a job welldone.” Although work done in the field ofthe Visual Arts is awarded a grade, mostArt students see past the final destinationof a mark and gauge the success of theirproject on its personal fulfillment. Unlike

many other fields of study, Art has a visibleconclusion. It is this intrinsic aspect of theArts that makes teaching it so rewarding.

I became a part of the Saints’ Visual Artscommunity in 2001, hired fresh out ofteacher’s college to replace Colleen Busbytemporarily. Before even meeting her, I wasastonished by the collection of work thatMs. Busby had assembled over the courseof her 25 years teaching. As I gazedthrough her collection of students’ work,what I assumed were works completed byboys in Grade 4 were actually piecesproduced by Grade 2s: Van GoghSunflowers, Picasso-styled Cubist Cats,Matisse Collages. These were not merelytime-filler projects. These were astonishingworks of Art! Upon her return, I wassuddenly thrust into the role of the eagerstudent and was amazed at how Colleenso effortlessly engaged the students toexplore the spirit of their inner artist. Inseeing the passion Colleen went throughto develop projects, I realized that I wasnot going to get by on my innate skillalone. I learned to see Art everywhere, in itsmany forms, and eventually began todevelop a newly found passion forcreating and viewing Art.

After working at the Junior School for thebetter part of five years, I was encouragedto pursue a one-year position at the SeniorSchool, subbing for Santhe LeBlanc. Therehad been many recent changes at thesenior level beginning with Nan Oliver’sretirement the year before. She had ledtwo decades of Art development at St. George’s. There are very few Georgianswho can say that their lives were not in

some way or another touched by thepassionate approach Nan fostered inbolstering the credibility and integrity ofthe Art Department over her 22 years atthe School. Her replacement, BrianO’Connor, shares her fervent love of theVisual Arts and continues to champion thecreative capacity in all students.

The 2D Art Department is an amazingplace to work, enhanced by the passionateapproach taken by teachers like Brian,Santhe, and Tim Varro; teachers whose skillset, dedication, and love of the Arts tricklesdown to the boys in their charge.Personally, as a man who has grappledwith my own self-prescribed attentiondeficit disorder, the art room is a placewhere I can channel my abundant energyinto facilitating a joy of learning in thestudents I teach.

Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking arejust some of the areas explored in the 2DDepartment and inspiration for work isoften unconventional—a song, a sight, athought—all combine to arouse astudent’s creative energy. Althoughdespised by my ageing ears, Rap Musicechoes throughout the classroom.Energetic banter accompanies engagedwork, and Brian O’Connor’s cheerydisposition serves as a model for thestudents and co-workers. Perhaps mostimportantly, under his guidance, the ArtDepartment strives to expose the studentsto a wide range of human values andconcerns. In a world inundated daily withimages of the human experience, theVisual Arts endeavour to engage thestudent to perceive these images—goodor bad—with a critical eye; to see how artcan express the highest ambitions of thehuman spirit.

As these boys progress along toward theirgraduating year and beyond, their worktakes on a new dynamic—much likewatching a flower blossom in slow motion

WHAT IS A RIGG SCHOLARSHIP?The Rigg scholarship is presented annually to a selectfew arts students in their 11th year who havedemonstrated leadership skills, possess technicalprowess in their artistic field, and have demonstrateda love and passion for the Arts. The scholarship isgenerously supported by the Rigg family whose son,Philip (1958–1974) created significant work in the FineArts while a student at St. George’s. His pottery wassome of the finest done in the School and, as with hispainting and drawing, was of quality such that futurerecipients of a Rigg Scholarship could consider suchrecognition of their work an honour indeed.

10 • The Dragon

Colleen Busby, JuniorSchool Art Teacher

Ian White, Grade 12Ceramic

until the process reaches its dramatic andinspiring culmination. It is in these lateryears when students push to develop theirwork into structured portfolios, whichdefine who they have become as men. ARigg Scholarship, awarded annually bygrants from the Saints’ community, is themost coveted of all the Fine Arts awards,given to those students whose workdisplays outstanding vision and pro-fessionalism. The award honours PhilipRigg (1958–1974), a student of consider-able merit, whose athletic and academicexcellence was second only to thebrilliance that dominated his work in theFine Arts.

The Senior School Art Program is a diverseroad map of eclectic study. Here eachstudent can find something that appeals tohim. For those students whose tactilenature determines their skill, the CeramicsStudio with its 15 pottery wheels, two kilns,and abundance of clay forms and glazes, isconsistently abuzz with student activity. Asformers and potters, students face palpablechallenges when they use their hands, theirarms, and, at times, their whole bodies tocreate unique and personal three-dimensional works of Art. Ceramics is astudy of exploration, of challenging oneselfto push the limits of your creativity toproduce wondrous works of Art, or towatch helplessly as what once had thepotential to be great is reduced to nothingmore than earthen muck. It is a story withwhich I am all too familiar.

But with failure comes mastery andstudents continue to work, wedge, andweave their creations as a form of personalexpression. Under the tutelage of Markian

Kyba, Lynette Dian, and Rob Stickney, theboys are inspired to learn the skills of thepotter, starting from the basics in Grade 8to the more complicated techniquespresented to the Grads. Clay workproceeds in a regular sequence. It is usuallybisque-fired when bone dry and glaze-fired after bisque firing. This process cantake up to two weeks. Planning becomescritical. Understanding the rhythm andtiming of the studio is important. Beingaware of posted firing times andbecoming responsible for the flow of workthrough the cycle are essential skills andstudents learn quickly. There are no last-minute pots; pots cannot be completedovernight. Time management becomes animportant skill. Our two kilns, bothcomputer controlled, fire an average oftwice per week. Thousands of pots movethrough the studio and up to 60 studentsuse the studio on a daily basis.

Students learn to think ahead and theylearn to take responsibility for their workas it goes through the various stages tobecoming a finished piece. Deadlines dostill have to be met. Students in Ceramicshave had their work displayed in localgalleries, in community shows, and mostrecently on Granville Island. The St. George’s Art Studios regularly hostCeramic and 2D artists visiting from thelarger Arts community, who demonstratetheir skills to students. They sharetechniques, processes and a generosity ofspirit, which filter down to all the studentsusing the studio. In both the 2D and 3Dmedia we have had the privilege ofsecuring professional artists to showcasetheir talents to the students. People likeTam Irving, Kinichi Shigeno, Aaron Nelson,Sam Kwan, Bob Kingsmill, RachelleChinnery, Gillian MacMillan, Gailan Ngan,Nick Lepard, Melissa Waddell, Ted Harrison,and D’Arcy Margesson have come in andshared their insights and particular talentswith students and staff.

Yet, with all their devotion to the traditionalstudy of Art, the St. George’s Art Dep-artment is firmly entrenched in exposingthe Visual Arts to new and uniquepossibilities. Technology cannot be ignoredand although most students need a solidunderstanding of the conventional meth-od of artistic application, computer-generated art is rapidly becoming adominant force in society. Brenton Wilke, aclassical animator, who worked for the WaltDisney studios, has become the corner-stone of the St. George’s Media Artsprogram. His skill set offers a wide range ofunique study including still-frameanimation, Photoshop image mani-pulation, computer-generated graphicdesign, and various forms of technicalmedia manipulation. With the assistance

and support of the Information Tech-nology Department and Fred Alexander,Saints has always been on the cutting edgeof technology’s integration with the VisualArts. Over the years the School has beenoutfitted with an up-to-date Mac Lab,cutting-edge software, and most recentlyhigh-tech art tablets, which transform whatthe student draws directly on to thecomputer screen (see Cintiq on Page 12).Students are also educated in the study ofarchitecture and forms.

At the Junior level, Christina Mears, anaccomplished and exhibited artist in herown right, has utilized the VancouverMuseum to incorporate the Media Arts asher Grade 7 class will undertake anambitious project this term, resulting in aneight-minute stop-motion cut-out anim-ation, based on Shakespeare’s TwelfthNight. After its completion in the springthere will be a screening, followed byentries into international children’s filmfestivals. Exposing the students to thesetypes of activities truly places St. George’sSchool in a league of its own.

Over the years, the Saints’ Art Departmenthas strived to expand experiences andopportunities using various forms of


CAMERON IAN MACLEOD '76The late Cameron Macleod '76 wasthe recipient of the first RiggScholarship in 1976.

Every once in a rare while one isconfronted with an aspiring youngartist who is charged with suchpassionate dreams and has evidence ofsuch genuine vision, though as yetchaotic and unfocused yet so fraughtwith unusual promise, and yet who is sodistressingly fragile in his own psychicuncertainties, that he compels one'scompassion by the very precariousnessof his potential self-realization: such ayoung artist was Cameron MacLeod.

Whatever he was, whatever his body ofaccomplishment finally amounts to, hisis a fascinating record of a promisingyoung artist of our time who, becauseof unknown, unbearable stresses, wentunder. He stands with the youngRomantics as a poignant example of asingular talent fighting for a rec-ognizable direction. And as such, anexhibition of his promise is a mementomori of both a personality and a period.

(extract from an essay by Jack Shadbolt, May 1987)

Spring 2008 • 11

JJ Tsang, Grade 12"Gramps"

Acrylic on Canvas

activities, both within the classroom andon ventures outside. The first publicexhibitions of student art took place inOakridge Centre and at Sinclair Place inpartnership with Crofton House and YorkHouse Schools. The joint displays werevery warmly and enthusiastically receivedby the public and also provided pro-fessional connections among theparticipating schools. The Senior Schoolhas been involved with many smallgalleries allowing student work to bedisplayed throughout the community. Inrecent years, the Junior School partneredwith the Omega Gallery on Dunbar Street.This popular exhibition took the form of ayear-end event for selected young artists.Students’ work, professionally matted andframed, was put on show over the courseof two weeks and being selected became agreat honour to those participatingstudents. The Dunbar Library has alsooffered its walls for annual displays, whichhave proven to be highly regarded. Themost recent addition to the Junior ArtDepartment’s gallery space is a large wallat Kokopelli Café, where patrons canappreciate the creativity of our studentsover a cup of coffee!

Looking back on my past seven years atSaints, I realize I too am still a student andwill always remain one. Visual Art is endlessin its capacity to explore new ideas. Everyday, I see something different on a canvas,in a pot, in an idea, and the very act ofworking with the students on their pro-jects allows me a great deal of personalgrowth. One of my favourite activities isworking with the Grade 12 class in theCeramic Studio. Their repartee is addictive,their discussions reflective of bright youngmen, but men who have yet to be thrustinto the complexities of the real world.Somehow it is comforting to know thatunder the veneer of their manly guisesexist imaginative and playful young boys.It forces me to remember the delicatenature of working with young people andthe importance of always encouragingthem in the pursuits of their dreams,always reminding them that in daring todream, anything may be accomplished.

WHAT IS CINTIQ 21UX?Cintiq is a unique technology thatcombines a special pen with pixel-levelaccuracy and a smooth-edge LCD screenthat can rotate 180 degrees in eachdirection. It allows users to draw as theywould with pencil and paper, but offersthe ability to manipulate colour, texture,effects, and filters.

12 • The Dragon

Chris Lee, Grade 12, Digital Painting

Brenton Wilke, Teacher of Animation and Graphic Design.

Spring 2008 • 13

St George's School is a hugely important institution in all of our lives.Contributions made over the years have made a significant differenceto the lives of generations of boys. Looking to the future, we hope youwill once again join us in meeting a new and important challenge. St George's School is intent on building a collection of contemporaryand Modern Art. Such a collection would be an indispensableeducational resource for the community, enriching lives of many andhelping to educate future generations.

The goal of Modern Art education is very different than old persistingstereotypes would have us believe. We aspire to a more comprehensiveapproach, which includes learning the creative process, Art history,Criticism, and Aesthetics. All of these elements involve teaching ourboys how to think in order to solve problems. Art education does notmake us smarter, but does make us able to consider problems moreobjectively, make better decisions, become sensitive and thoughtful,and broaden our creativeness and individual satisfaction. These arevaluable skills and ones we should nurture whenever possible. They cango a long way towards making us successful in our adult lives.

It is our aspiration to build a collection and gallery at St George'sSchool, that will befit a school of our stature and serve as both ateaching resource and source of inspiration for all who walk the halls.This is a long-term aspiration, but we are committed to the impact andbenefits that will result, including an enduring legacy for St George'sSchool and the wider community.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

• Make a gift to the Fine Arts Endowment Fund, which will assist incollections acquisition, gallery tours, and hosting artists-in-residence.

• Give the gift of Art itself. We will accept pieces of art that fit ourcollections policy (for more information contact Mr. Brian O'Connorat [email protected]) and with an appropriate appraisal, youare eligible for a tax credit for your gift.

• Plan ahead. You can support the St. George's Gallery by making theSchool a beneficiary in your will or through a number of other tax-effective ways. If you are interested in making a future gift to St. George's, please contact in confidence:

Don LivingstonChief Advancement OfficerTelephone: 604.221.3883email: [email protected]

SUPPORTING OUR ARTS

Joe Kim-Suzuki, Grade 11, Photograph

Jared Braverman, Grade 11, Photograph

Over the past decades, the growth of the Music

Department at both the Junior and Senior

Campuses has been innovative and progressive.

Yet, all the developments and initiatives have

remained steadfast in keeping our past directions

alive and well, with the student remaining at the

focus of why we are here.

PROGRESSTRADITION

THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT AT ST. GEORGE’S SCHOOL

&

14 • The Dragon


by Marko RnicHead of Music, Director of Bands

The Junior School has seen phenomenaladvancement in both facilities andpersonnel. In the past ten years, "concertband" has progressed from an earlymorning activity, which originally beganwith an interested group of 23 boys, to afull-time curricular program involving allstudents in Grades 5, 6, and 7. Some 20years ago, the Music Room was in Room212, located on the main floor next to theChapel. With the growth of the School, itwas relocated to the first floor sciencelab/multi-purpose room, and then to itscurrent location, which was originally thestage at the end of the Blackmore Gym.

In its "clubs" and "early morning" days, theband was taught by Mr. Armstrong and meand classroom music and the choir weretaught by Mr. Ryan. With the passage oftime, Mr. Robson and Mr. Crompton alsojoined us to work with Junior Schoolstudents. Under the guidance of Mr. GregDevenish, Junior School Principal, "band"made the transition to a regular timetabledcourse over a period of three years.

With the completion of the new musicroom, the suite of practice rooms, theinstruments storage area, and the newmusic office nine years ago, St. George'swas fortunate to be able to hire Mr. RobMurray, with whom I worked to develop aremarkable Grade 5 instrumental pro-gram. Furthermore, we implemented atraditional concert band format for allstudents at the Grade 6 and 7 levels. Withthe increasing complexity of the schooltimetable at both the Junior and Seniorcampuses, Mr. Crompton and I graduallyshifted our focus to the Senior School andMr. Murray was joined by Mrs. MaryBackun. Together, they refined anddeveloped their methodology andcurriculum and raised music to newheights. St. George's Junior School is one ofthe very few schools in Canada, where allstudents have an enriched performance-based music education, with all boystaking part in concert bands, choirs, smallensembles, and musicals.

Almost three decades ago, the SeniorSchool's Music Program consisted ofconcert band, "stage band", and somechoir. Momentum started to build with Mr.Fred Gass' work with the Senior StageBand. In those days, this precursor to theJazz Ensemble rehearsed as an after-school club and the concert bandsrehearsed during specially created longlunch hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.Mr. Kevin Armstrong and Mr. Bob Brickerboth played a major role in thedevelopment of the department andfocused on refining and bringing "to thefore" the fundamental importance of theconcert band.

When I first joined the department 20years ago, the Music Program worked froma single small room which, after threerenovations, has evolved into the UpperMusic Room. Our bands, in those days, didquite well at local festivals, and began toappear on the National stage. The late1980s also saw Messrs Armstrong,


The Senior Concert Band perfomring inthe Farquhar Auditorium at the

University of Victoria

Wakeham, and I accompanying 35 students on thevery first European Band Tour travelling during thespring break in March.

During Mr. Gordon Atkinson's time as headmaster, anew larger and better equipped music room wasconstructed along with five dedicated practicerooms. Mr. Robson followed Mr. Armstrong for twoyears before departing for Vancouver Island. In 1992,when Mr. Crompton joined the team, he spearheadedthe Music AP program, the development of the Midi-lab, and brought the jazz program to new heights.

In the years since Mr. Nigel Toy has been Headmaster,all five bands at the Senior School have increasedboth in size and quality. The Senior Concert Bandexpanded to a record 122 members and the WindEnsemble and Symphonic Band became integralparts of the Program. Many initiatives, such as the"Musician in Residence" program, the "Guest Soloist"program, and the Concerto Competition for Grade12s became well established. With the renovation andincreased floor space of both the Lower Music Roomand the Auditorium, the Music Program has maturedand flourished beyond expectations.

Any former music student returning to visit wouldmost likely remark on how much has changed. Hewould see that each of our ensembles now performat the National level, with our seniors consistentlyearning gold ratings at the highest levels ofcompetition. Tours occur on a cyclical basis, with ourstudents performing regularly in Germany,Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Belgium, the CzechRepublic, USA, Australia, and New Zealand. The finestof Canada's conductors and performers have come tothe School for weeks at a time to teach and performwith our ensembles. However, beyond the new roomsand fine equipment, he may notice that the spirit andessence of the program has remained unchanged.

Music is so much more than the notes which you seeprinted or the technique used to play an instrument.Lessons and experiences are constructed to lead thestudent into the world of inspiration and creativity.They also teach of hard work, dedication, andperseverance which help to forge the strongest ofcharacters and develop the ability to rely upononeself. Kindness, thoughtfulness, and humour arethe threads woven throughout classes and rehearsalsto link the lessons together. Through the study ofmusic, we remain steadfast in helping each boy gaina greater understanding of himself and appreciationof what it is to be human.

16 • The Dragon

Marko Rnic, Head of MusicDirector of Bands.

Rob MurrayJunior School Music

Marc CromptonSenior School Music

Dr. Gerald King from the University ofVictoria leading a Master Class at the

Victoria Conservatory of Music

Mary BackunJunior School Music


Spring 2008 • 17

A copy of Nan Oliver’s Retirement Tribute to Rob Stickney, who retires from the Art Department after 27 years of service.

I'd like to start today with a story.

About 20 years ago there was a fire in theUpper Art Room. A member of the generalpublic had been upset with three Saints’students, who were blocking the sidewalkon Dunbar and he had decided that thebest way to express his anger was to setfire to the School. There was little securityin those days and having entered the Artarea at night, he found a can of solvent,doused the room, and lit a match. The firewas limited to the Upper and Lower Artrooms, but Mr. Stickney and I were forcedto count on the generosity of others forthe rest of the term and transfer all of ourclasses to the Library. The change wassurprisingly seamless. Classes proceeded

almost as normal and allobstacles were easily

overcome. I tell thisstory, because it

illustrates Mr.Stickney'sadaptability andwillingness towork with others

towards acommon goal. Hecan see the big

picture, neverworrying

abouthis

own space and always concerned with thegood of the whole department.

Rob and I worked together for over 25years and from the very first day, I knewthat he was a special person. He's not just amaster potter and Ceramics teacher; he'salso exceptionally knowledgeable aboutmany other aspects of visual expression.During our term in the Library, clay couldobviously not be used, but Rob had littledifficulty adapting his classes to teachWater-colour Painting, Drawing, and Print-making instead. We worked together toprovide the best possible instruction underdifficult circumstances and Rob showed methat two can be stronger than one. Fromprojects as diverse as European Art toursand designing the new Art Room, towriting curriculum and preparing for majorexhibitions, our shared ideas and mutualsupport always seemed to solve even themost daunting problems.

On those rare occasions when one of ushad to go at it alone, Rob was able to dothis without flinching. Once when wewere on an Art tour in Venice, our guidehad organized a gondola trip for thegroup. Several of our more observantstudents were already wondering aboutthe link between the money we werepaying the guide and his extensivecollection of designer leather jackets.When they discovered that we were beingcharged twice the going rate for thegondola trip, my response was to panic.

Rob, on the other hand, calmly clickedinto gear, and within 15 minutes, the

money had been returned.

In his own quiet way, Rob has always beena totally committed supporter of St.George's. He oversaw after-schoolswimming for many years, played softballas often as he could, showing amazingskill in the field, chaperoned dances,helped to provide the Hamper Drivebreakfasts, volunteered for School Fair set-up, and in all ways, showed the qualities ofa true “Saint”. These qualities were nevermore evident than when he was trying toteach me to type!

Of course Rob's greatest love at theSchool is his classroom, the CeramicsStudio. His patience and compassionateapproach made it possible for him to passon much of his encyclopedic knowledgeto his students. One only has to look at theresults to realize that Rob is a truly giftedteacher. This year, the Grade 12 Ceramicsstudents have been invited to exhibit theirwork at the BC Potters' Guild on GranvilleIsland and this is a first for any local highschool. The exhibition opens in May. Rob isalso a constant learner, taking courseswhenever he can, and this has helped himto bring fresh ideas to his classroom on aregular basis. I've been retired for almosttwo years now and I've had plenty of timeto reflect on my working years at St.George's. I always come back to therealization that working with Rob wastruly a blessing. He was a wonderfulmentor for me in so many ways and hisgentle presence is part of all the specialmemories I have of the Art Department. Iwish him every happiness in the nextstage of his voyage of artistic discovery!

Rob StickneyRob StickneyA TRIBUTE TO

by Nan Oliver, Former Head of Art Department


18 • The Dragon

Alive & WellTHEATRE ARTS AT SAINTS

by Ed Mortimer, Director of Theatre Arts

A Scene from Frankenstein

The fall season opened with a stunning production of MyFair Lady, directed by Mr. Luke Fredeman. With a cast of 40, afull orchestra, and a large supporting crew, the showentertained more than 1,100 patrons over five nights. MyFair Lady provided a renewal opportunity for Saints’ Players.Its large cast, full orchestra, and challenges for the technicalcrew offered our students, the girls in the cast, and thecommunity, an opportunity to bind the artistic energy andlove of Theatre Arts we find throughout the School.

In January, the Middle School theatre presented Cheaper bythe Dozen as its play. It was well attended and acclaimed.Many new faces were introduced to the Saints’ Playersaudience and we look forward to watching these fineyoung actors mature and continue their theatrical careers atthe Senior School.

A dark but intelligent production of Frankenstein roundedout the senior calendar. Ms. Jacobs’ direction took the senioractors on a difficult but rewarding journey, culminating in afascinating and rewarding production of Mary Shelley’sclassic story of the dangers of Man playing God.

The department welcomed two new faces to thedepartment this year. Robert Wisden teaches part time inthe Senior School and directed the Middle Schoolproduction of Cheaper by The Dozen. His passion for thetheatre inspired a very young cast to reach deep to performthis touching story with maturity and skill. Mr. Wisden brings25 years of professional acting experience to his classes andproduction work and he is excited to work with Mr. Fredeman to expand the curricular Drama experiencefor Saints’ boys.

Nicole Griffeth teaches most of the Drama classes in theJunior School and is directing the projected production ofRobin Hood, playing on May 29 and 30. Ms. Griffeth has castthis musical show with students from Grades 4 to 7. She fitsin well with the creative team at Saints and has beenintegral to the success of My Fair Lady, working with HeatherWilke on the choreography. The Primary Department(Grades 1 to 3) has been presenting a musical review eachspring. Saints’ Players will incorporate this show into thecompany, to provide support for the production, and


Theatre Arts at Saints continues the

traditions of excellence so characteristic

of our School. The program is energetic

and exciting and includes all grade levels.

Altogether, we have five exceptional

productions planned or already pre-

sented this year. We take pride in

including as many aspects and talents of

other departments to provide many

opportunities to all students to excel and

experience the joy of team work so

necessary in the field of Theatre Arts.

Spring 2008 • 19

A Scene from Cheaper by the Dozen


thereby involve every grade level at the School in Theatre Arts.

Theatre Arts has enjoyed the collaboration of otherdepartments to facilitate and perfect a united production.Examples of this collaboration range from teachingassignments shared between the departments, to theintegration of various aspects of each production. The VisualArts department has assisted with the posters, the scenicwork, and some properties used in the plays. The Musicdepartment has been instrumental (no pun intended) inthe preparation and presentation of the three musicalshows this year. The Technical Theatre students haveprovided video presentations for the Fair, for Arts Week, andfor other School events, coordinated and directed by

Mr. Tim Varro. Our students record music performances andprovide valuable technical support for Contemporary MusicNight, Tunes for our Times, and other concerts. Mr. Varroteaches not only technical theatre, but also Visual Arts andworks in Harker Hall Residences.

The Theatre Arts department now has a renovated and well-equipped, state-of-the art performance space. We have anArts community within the School, with whom we workclosely, and new faculty members with fresh approachesand new ideas. Moreover, we have vibrant, skilled, andenthusiastic students. It is easy to maintain an optimisticperspective for many future productions and it is myprivilege to be the Director of this fine department.

20 • The DragonA Scene from You Can’t Take It With You

Ed Mortimer, Director of Theatre Arts

Hayley Jacobs,Stage Director

Luke FredemanStage Director

Tim Varro, Senior SchoolTechnical Theatre Arts

Nicole Griffeth,Junior SchoolTheatre Arts

At St. George’s School, the ancient tradition of inculcatingclassical Latin is still strong. Our program, the onlycomplete one of its kind in Western Canada, spans Latin 8to an accelerated 11/12 and culminates in the AdvancedPlacement Latin Literature course in the students’ finalyear. Probably no other high school in the Provinceprovides its students with the opportunity to master theLatin language to such a degree that they can readoriginal classical literature (written 2,000 years ago) withinthree years of starting. The most that any other school willoffer is literature in translation.

Apart from the obvious academic pursuits, our Latindepartment promotes various co-curricular activities suchas participating in North America-wide competitions (theNational Latin Exam, the National Greek Exam, theNational Mythology Exam, and the Medusa MythologyExam) and conferences (the Junior Classical League), all ofwhich are sponsored by the American Classical League.Over 135,000 students throughout the world wrote theNLE last year alone. Students who maintain a high “A”average are enrolled in the National Junior ClassicalLeague Honour Society, receiving a special certificate andpin. The Classical Association of Canada, our Canadianorganization, also promotes the High School Sight LatinTranslation Competition every year, with entrants fromFrancophone as well as Anglophone schools. The Greekclub meets at lunch times, where numbers are sufficient.

This year, our students revived the custom of visitingadvanced Latin classes at UBC, through the kindness ofthe Classical and Near Eastern Studies Department.Professors from Western Washington University alsovisited us to give a workshop in conversational Latin, achallenge our students readily took up!

lingua Latina in schola Sancti Georgi

semper vivit, sine timore aut favore!

This year’s debating club participated enthusiastically in the usual number ofdebates: from Newman–FISA to UBC, Regionals, and Provincials. There were alsonumerous small invitationals geared towards training the novices. At the end ofApril, a new event involving a whirlwind trip to Phillips Academy, Andover,completed the debating season this year. Invited by former student Paul Hsiao tocompete in a mock trial, we gladly took up the challenge. The team took advantageof our stay in the Boston area, visiting the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, taking a DuckTour, attending the opera (the Abduction from the Seraglio) and touring Harvardwith former World’s debating champion Adam Goldenberg '04. The actual trial itselfwas a fine exercise in debate since it melded debaters’ practical skills with legaltheory. Our novice lawyers defended their client most skilfully against a seasonedteam of Seniors but in the judgment of the Massachusetts Superior Court judge welost by three points. Nevertheless, our youngest debater, Grade 9 student FrancisDowlatabadi was awarded “best performance” and won a commemorative gavel.Our hopes are that mock trial will become a regular event in our future calendar.

It is surprising how much Latin lurks ineveryday speech. If you have everexhorted someone with “carpe diem” ortaken advantage of “habeas corpus”, ifyou have ever been caught “in flagrantedelicto”, asked if there is a “quorum” andthen adjourned “sine die”, if you have evertold a person “ad nauseam” to hold histongue or spoken “sub rosa”, you werespeaking the ancient and still widelystudied Latin language.

Western Canada’s foremost high school Latin Program

CarpeCarpeSeize the day in Latin at Saints

Deb

atin

g Ne

ws


Spring 2008 • 21

Charlie Turton at the Junior Classical League

(Roosevelt HIgh School, Seattle)

Back row: Eric Cheng, Steven Cheng, Morris Choy, Catherine MoriFront row: Francis Dowlatabadi, Robert Patterson, Tony Goo

DiemDiemBy Catherine Mori, Latin Teacher

By Catherine Mori, Language and Debating Coach

22 • The Dragon

A PROFILE OF SOME OF THE UNIQUE ARTS PROGRAMS AT SAINTS

Spring 2008 • 23

MEDIA ARTS BY BRENTON WILKE

The Media Arts program at Saints reflects a dynamic andstimulating approach to aesthetics within the Visual ArtsDepartment. It is considered to be yet another tool within the vastrange of creative processes available to students. Cross-disciplinary explorations and multi-media works of art combiningtraditional techniques such as acrylic painting and digitalmanipulation are encouraged and are becoming more the norm.Nothing summarizes this more effectively than the exciting newaddition to the Mac Lab—the Wacom Cintiq (see separatedescription on Page 12).

Media Arts is first introduced in Grade 9 in the form of classicalanimation and graphic design. The animation course, which istraditional in approach, allows students to focus on the principles

by using a peg bar, pencil, and paper. The drawings are then shotindividually with a live digital video camera and sequenced frameby frame using istopmotion and Final Cut Pro. Photoshopbecomes part of the student’s visual vocabulary in the newgraphic design course.

The senior Media Arts courses are offered to students in Grades10, 11, and 12. These courses are based on the processes andcontent areas of the visual arts curriculum and provide anoverview of animation, film/digital video, graphic design, anddigital photography. With extensive use of Final Cut Pro,PhotoShop, and Illustrator, students learn the technical andfundamental aspects of image creation.

REACH FOR THE TOP — SCHOOLREACH BY ERIC STEWART (BC Coordination for the past 19 years)

From the television ashes of the old 1980’s game show, Reach for the Top, St. George's School embarkedon a new challenge: the question pack subscription program called Schoolreach.

The St. George's School juggernaut has produced 15 Provincial titles in the past 20 years, including a2004 National Championship team. Our junior teams have enjoyed equal success with similarnumbers since the early 1990s and are the present BC Champs. Since 2000, St. George's Senior Schoolteams have placed in the top three nationally a total of five times; a feat unmatched by any school inthe country. Here's to the titans of trivia!

24 • The Dragon

IMPROV! BY HAYLEY JACOBS

The Improv Club was created in 2006 withthe goal of bringing a new Theatre Art formto St. George’s School. The style of improv-isational theatre is a very popular yet littleknown method of acting. Actors are requiredto portray not only creative, originalcharacters and unique ideas, but there is acertain demand for being able to tickle thefunny bone as well. The Improv Club is aninclusive opportunity for students in Grades8 to 12 to be able to come out one lunch houra week and have a good time! The Improvteam is made up of a group of eight seniorboys who explore their comedic and stylistictalents in competition, namely in theCanadian Improv Games.

In the past two years, the team hasdemonstrated great promise, captivatedtheir audiences, and has impressed thejudges. Improv has been a wonderful meansof generating energy and laughter and thepositive response from members andaudience promises to maintain its popularity.

THE OPUSBY HAYLEY JACOBS

The Opus artistic and literary magazine has been a long-standing student-designed publication, which began in 1991 with one edition being pub-lished annually. The publication enables the amalgamation of cross-curricular talents to include works from various artistic mediums andwriting genres. The aim is to include pieces from students from Grades 8to 12 to reflect an inclusive publication. The Opus is another wonderfultool for encouraging creativity and appreciation. This year’s edition of TheOpus was financially supported by the Georgians.

Spring 2008 • 25

Back Row: Nick Sehmer, Matt Landels, Matt Lloyd, Matt McFetridge, and Alex RiversFront Row: Elvin Chang, Max Lloyd-Jones, Miggy Esteban

DESTINATION IMAGINATION BY ALAN SHERMAN

Destination Imagination, the world's largest non-profitcreative problem solving program for youth in K to 12,helps young people learn valuable, higher-level skills and,at the same time, develop an increased level of self-confidence. The program promotes creativity, team work,and critical thinking, while it exposes participants tobudgeting, project management, research, script writing,and presenting. This year, DI celebrates 25 years of"thinking-outside-the-box". St George's will once again becompeting in the Destination Imagination Globalstournament in Knoxville, Tennessee where over 1,000teams from around the world will meet to present theirsolutions to five different challenges.

26 • The Dragon

Spring 2008 • 27

SCHOOL LIFE

Having a good time,MR. STEWART?

by Daryl Wakeham, Senior School Counselling Department

He later learned to speak Italian and thenPortuguese, language skills which endearedhim to our maintenance and kitchen staff.More importantly, he embodied the essenceof a teacher of St. George's by becominginvolved in all aspects of School life, be it inthe form of academics, athletics, or extra-curricular activities.

Eric arrived at Saints during a time when themajority of the staff was British and had littleor no idea of Canada's favourite sports.Stewart had played hockey. When he came toSt. George’s, he was code-named "Howie",after Howie Meeker; and consequently tookover the nascent hockey program. During hisfirst 17 years at the School, he coached theJunior Team and managed the Senior Team,arranging fixtures, transportation, andtournaments. Indeed, his love for the sport isrecognized in a trophy that bears his namefor "The Most Enthusiastic Junior Player".

Under Eric's mentorship, St. George's Schoolwon the Provincial title in Reach for the Top for14 years out of 18 and the National title twicein 1991 and 2004. From 1982 to 1996, he alsoguided the teams to the BC Championshipevery year and the Western CanadianChampionship three times in theFrancophone version Génies en Herbes. As theProvincial Chairman, Eric promoted thecompetitions for over 19 years. The programoriginally involved the participation of only ahandful of Vancouver schools. It has nowgrown to over 50 schools competingthroughout the Province.

As Public Service Coordinator, he led tripsto Strathcona Park Lodge, with the Grade10s and memorable year-end trips withDaddy Stancombe '62 and his Venturers.

His quick retorts, effusive use of puns, oftenquirky and high-powered approach tolanguages, profuse use of music withaccompanying physical movements, andmaddening gesticulations, endeared Eric tomany students. As well, his organization ofQuébec, Spanish, Mexican, French, andGerman exchanges ensured that Saints' boys,and many members of his staff, hadopportunities to learn abroad. Hiscommitment to pedagogy will be foreverand fondly remembered.

Eric has taught German, Spanish, and French for over 29 years.He will be fondly remembered for leading the LanguagesDepartment into poly-lingual excellence as its DepartmentHead and by starting the School's Spanish language program.

COMMUNITY SERVICES ABROAD

BUILDINGOPPORTUNITIES

SAINTS’ STUDENTS IN PERU

Tyler Holland proudlystands on the newlyinstalled roof trusses.

by Andrew Cliff '08, Head Boy

28 • The Dragon

OVERVIEWHeading into the trip many of us had noidea what to expect. We faced manychallenges, but by the end we hadachieved our goals. The school was built,classes were able to take place, and we hadmanaged to provide medical attention forthe whole community. Between stages ofbuilding the school, we had theopportunity to put our Discovery 10 skillsto work, for example, hiking through theAndes at altitudes of 15,500 feet. After twoweeks, not one of us returned the same; wehad witnessed a degree of poverty andgained a connection with those plaguedby it that deeply affected us all.

PREPARATIONThe preparation for our trip to SouthAmerica took over a year. The adventurewould not have been possible without thecommitment of the whole St. George’scommunity. Donations poured in from theJunior and Senior schools as well as theSchool Auxiliary, the Georgians, a localsoccer club, and several local businesses.The financial support ranged from small tolarge, but it all made a difference. In total,

the sums of $24,000 in cash and over $6,000in equipment and supplies were raised.

Every student brought not only hispersonal equipment, but also a neatlyorganized, but massive hockey bag filledwith supplies for the community. Four daysworth of food had to be pre-made andpacked for the hiking component of thetrip along with stoves and tents for thewhole group. Compiling the inventory,organizing, and packing of all thisequipment began weeks in advance of thetrip and was achieved by a dedicated teamof parents, students, and even siblings!

THE JOURNEY DOWNThe group of 27 people and 54 checkedbags departed YVR at 10:00 am on BoxingDay, 2007. Our journey to Cuzco involvedthree flights and a night in Lima,altogether taking over 30 hours. Arriving inCuzco, we were awed by the beauty of thecity, with its narrow, steep, cobbled roadslined with little shops and bistros.Everyone in the group enjoyed the daythere acclimatizing to the altitude of11,000 feet and getting to know the area.

Early the next day we departed fromCuzco, driving 45 minutes higher into themountains to reach our destination,Pumamarca. Although it was a relativelyshort drive, it transported us to a differentworld, which was a world of severe povertyand hardship.

PERU’S CHALLENGEIt was imperative that we should find theright Non-Government Organization, orNGO, to work with in Peru. We wanted to besure our efforts would effectively benefitthe community with whom we were to beinvolved. Peru’s Challenge is a small NGOworking in the areas around Cuzco. JaneGavel, an Australian, and Selvy Ugaz, aPeruvian, founded Peru’s Challenge, in2003. Their goal was to assist indigenouscommunities of Quechua origin.

The organization works with volunteertravellers to improve the education, health,and hygiene standards in indigenousmountain villages. Within the Cuzco area,75 per cent of the population lives in abjectpoverty and 60 per cent of its inhabitantshave at least one unsatisfied basic need.Levels of education and literacy are worse

In December of 2007, a delegation of St. George’s volunteers embarked on an adventure to South America to try to

better the lives of underprivileged children. The group consisted of 22 former Discovery 10 boys, now in Grades 11

and 12, two parent doctors, and three teachers. Our destination was Pumamarca, a town located high in the Andes,

near Cuzco, Peru. Our mission was to build a school and aid in the education of the local children.

Spring 2008 • 29


than the Peruvian national average, withCuzco being among the worst in thecountry with 18 per cent literacy.

By working with communities, rather thanfor them, Peru’s Challenge is not onlyhelping people, it is educating them howto help themselves. The NGO functions byworking intensely in an area for two to fouryears and then phasing out itsinvolvement, thereby leaving the com-munity with sustainable improvements,starting with education and sanitation.

PUMAMARCAPumamarca is a small agriculturalcommunity located in the mountainregion above Cuzco. The 400 inhabitantslive in small mud-brick houses alongseveral narrow dirt roads. They survive ontheir agricultural products—fresh flowers,maize, potatoes, and other vegetables,which they sell at local markets in Cuzco. Inthe village they farm small plots of land. Tomaximize produce, farming occurs all yearround, which inevitably depletes thefertility of the land.

The surrounding landscape is completelydeforested and shows signs of continuousharvesting of trees for fuel and buildingmaterials. Because the community doesnot have any funds and the Department ofEducation in Peru does not support thelocal primary school, it is therefore left tofend for itself. The school had sub-sequently fallen into disrepair and disuse.

Unfortunately, money from the touristindustry in Cuzco does not make it toPumamarca, but the inflated prices of fooddo. This has plunged the village into anunsustainable economic situation. Theinhabitants of Pumamarca cannot affordto live with a reasonable level of sanitation,nutrition, or education.

THE PROJECTIt took seven days of heavy work tocomplete our goal of building a three-room school which would house the 40kindergarten students of Pumamarca. RizeAlliance Developments, a company ownedby a St. George’s family, kindly sponsoredthe construction cost of approximately$10,000 and Kerrisdale Lumber helped outwith a generous donation of tools. Thebuilding process was a real communityeffort. From day one, we found ourselvesworking along side the whole village.

We began by moving 5,000 adobe, or mud,bricks. Everyone pitched in; even thesmallest children would try to carry bricks.However, since each brick weighed 30lbs,almost as much as the childrenthemselves, they frequently ended uphopping into the wheelbarrows andhitching a ride to the site! After enoughbricks were moved, the local fathers, alongwith a few hired contractors, taught ushow to make a building out of mud andbricks. The construction techniques wereforeign to us; and a variety of challengeskept us on our toes.

The villagers spoke Quechua, the locallanguage, and a little Spanish. We, on theother hand, spoke English and virtually noSpanish. After much hand waving, we gotthe hang of things and despite ever-changing plans, the construction movedalong quickly. It was a constant process ofchurning up mud for mortar and thenlaying the bricks on the growing walls. Theair rung with cries for “barrow” (mud) and“adobe” (brick).

After the walls were built the rooms had tobe levelled and the roof constructed. Thefathers built the trusses for the roof and welevelled the muddy classroom floors andbuilt a fence around the schoolyard.Finally, came the process of raising thetrusses and panelling the roof. It took ateam of 15 students to raise the trussesand another two days of work to finishattaching the roof panels.

Between our hours of building, we keptbusy by immersing ourselves in thecommunity. We put the soccer equipmentbrought from Canada to good use andplayed several matches against the locals.Countless hours were spent with thevillage children, who soaked up anyattention we would give them, includingsitting on our laps or being carted aroundin wheelbarrows. All things bright andshiny fascinated them. Our possessionswere of constant interest; cameras andtents were particular favourites. One day,two of the St. George’s boys set up animpromptu hair-cutting salon. Wordspread quickly and soon a throng ofchildren lined up to have their hair cut in aunique Vancouver style!

For our time at the school, we lived insidesome of the older completed classroomsand in tents clumped together in the yard.This modest, and very local, accom-modation allowed us to gain an evencloser relationship with the villagers.Whenever it was light, there was some-thing going on with the kids.

THE LARES TREKAt the half-way point of our construction,we departed Pumamarca on a four-dayhike through the Andes and to visit MachuPicchu. This allowed us to see a little more

of Peru. At the same time, it gave the wallsof the school an opportunity to set, beforethe roof was added.

The scenery on the hike was spectacularand like nothing we had ever seen before.We found ourselves in deep valleysbordered by sharp awe-inspiring peaks. Enroute we would run into herds of goats,llamas, and alpacas, as well as wanderingthrough clusters of dwellings entirelyconstructed of piled rocks and straw.

The local people were very friendly andoften tried to sell their weavings as wetrekked past. The people we passed wereliving almost exactly as they had 500 yearsago. Traditional life in the Andes involvessmall self-sufficient communities growingpotatoes and raising animals. While cook-ing dinner one night, a herd of alpacasmeandered amongst our tents and stoves,an experience that truly reminded us alljust how far from home we were.

The hike also had a unique set ofchallenges. Our packs seemed muchheavier at 15,000 feet, than at sea level, andwater took over 45 minutes to boil on ourstoves. We didn’t move anywhere too fastand had to spend many hours purifyingwater and catching our breath. The slowpace really allowed us to look around andtake in the scenery.

MACHU PICCHUOne of the more coveted parts of our tripwas the journey to Machu Picchu. What asight! In an effort to avoid the crowds, wearrived at 6:00 am. The ancient city was stillcovered by a quiet blanket of fog. However,good things come to those who wait, andby 10:00 am, we were allowed a spectacularview over this amazing World Heritage Site.A local guide led the group on aneducational tour and we gained someinteresting insights into the theories ofwhy Machu Picchu was built. The rock workwas absolutely stunning. It is mind-boggling to figure how these massive rockstructures were built and what motivatedthe Incas to do such a thing on the top of amountain! We spent the whole morningthere and the group took countlesspictures. Soon, however, it was time to headback to Pumamarca and finish our project.

Andrew Cliff,helping withconstruction.

30 • The DragonMurray Wong plays soccer with the locals

IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITYPumamarca has many challenges, but withcontinued effort from volunteers, thesituation is improving. The people in thevillage lack the means necessary to survivewith a reasonable level of sanitation,nutrition, and health care. A vicious cyclehas emerged; the villagers need aneducation to improve their income, butthey cannot afford it. During our time weworked to explore effective ways to usethe funds we had raised to aid the village.After many group discussions, we decidedto continue focusing on improvingeducation in Pumamarca. Obviously, theschool we built was our largestcontribution. However, we chose tosupplement it by funding classes forparents, who wished to gain trade skills, aswell as by supporting further education forthe village children.

While in Peru our two parent doctors setup a medical clinic and provided a hugenumber of prescriptions and medicaladvice to the local families. This was anunprecedented and much appreciatedeffort. The medical supplies we broughtfrom Canada will allow for additionalclinics to be established to provide furtherhealth care for Pumamarca. A large section

of our funds will be put towards providingclean water for the village, one of the basicmissing necessities. Peru’s Challenge issetting up a mother’s craft group to helpraise money for extra food for the village.With the efforts of volunteers and theimprovements in education, Pumamarcawill continue to develop sustainability intothe future.

IMPACT ON ST. GEORGE’S STUDENTSThe trek to South America not onlychanged the lives of the people ofPumamarca, but also had profound effectson the boys from St. George’s School. All 22of us who ventured to Peru were deeplyaffected by what we saw. We returned witha much stronger sense of globalawareness and an understanding that it isimperative to look over your own fence tounderstand what lies beyond yourbackyard. Our brief peek outside our littleworld of Vancouver changed the way wewill think, forever. All the St. George’svolunteers returned realizing just howlucky they are and feeling theirresponsibility to help those who are lessfortunate than themselves.

After this trip one could not help but gainan appreciation for the amount ofsuffering caused by poverty. Yet, the mostimportant thing we learned is that we canmake a difference! The individual has thepower to make a positive influence on themany lives. We saw, in just two weeks, howthe efforts of 27 volunteers helped providehundreds of people with hopes for abrighter future.


Spring 2008 • 31

The Crew.

Although more common in eastern North America andEurope, the large stone buildings used for convent schoolsare a feature rarely found in the cities of western Canada.Therefore, the building housing the Junior School at St. George’s is unique. It was originally the home of theConvent of the Sacred Heart School.

The“Castle”A look back at the history of the Junior School building

and the Convent of the Sacred Heart School

32 • The Dragon

OUR STORIED PAST

by Airlie Ogilvie, President, Vancouver, Point Grey, Alumnae Association of the Sacred Heart

Spring 2008 • 33

The Beginnings

The story of the Sacred Heart Convent Schoolbegins almost a century ago with the earlybeginning of the municipality of Point Grey.At this time, the area west of the City ofVancouver was forested land, as yet undev-eloped. Founded in 1800, the Society of theSacred Heart was the brainchild of an edu-cated French lady named Madeleine SophieBarat. As a teaching order society that wouldrevolutionize the education of girls aroundthe world, Barat opened her first school inFrance in 1801. In 1818, her followers est-ablished their first school in North America.

However, it wasn’t until February 12, 1911 thatsix nuns of the Society arrived in Vancouver toestablish a temporary residence at St. Paul’sHospital. Their school consisted of twostudents who had attended Forest Ridge, theSacred Heart School in Seattle. A month laterthe nuns would open their first school onBurnaby Street and by September, 30 day stu-dents and five boarders were registered. Thefollowing year, enrollment had increased to56 pupils, thereby warranting the const-ruction of a new Convent school in therecently opened municipality of Point Grey,which at that time was a community separatefrom the City of Vancouver.

Frances Bartley, an early student at the school,accompanied Reverend Mother Gorman on atrip to Point Grey. She wrote: “We drove byhorse and carriage out to the west end,through sparsely settled Kitsilano to ‘PointGrey’ and then down a muddy little roadknown as Dunbar Street, to a spot which is now29th Avenue. There we had to alight and makethe rest of the trip on foot over a trail until wereached the property. This trail wound throughwoods and underbrush so dense, that it was

only when we reached a little clearing, whichnow marks the West Gate, that we could seethe sky.”

On the Feast of the Sacred Heart, June 14,1912, Bishop Casey officiated at the laying ofthe corner stone. The school opened inSeptember 1914. Superior General JanetErskine Stuart wrote from the Mother Housein Rome that the purpose of the school was“to make the Sacred Heart of Jesus knownand loved, so that for all who come to thisConvent, it may truly be to them the very Gateof Heaven.”

The Design and Layout

The Convent was constructed in the GothicRevival Architecture style so characteristic ofConvent of the Sacred Heart schools built in thelate nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Stone was used for the exterior and the roofwas of slate. The top of the building wascrenellated: crenellations are multiple regularspaces cut out of the top of a wall. In medievaltimes, these were used as defence mounts fromwhich arrows were aimed. Decorative featureson the exterior included a cross, gargoyles, andstone flowers.

Another prominent architectural feature ofthe Convent school was the port-cochère: acovered area embellishing the main entrance.During renovations in the 1990s, the originalentrance had been blocked but the elegantport-cochère still remains. Moving into thelarge entrance hall, on the left is a woodenstaircase leading to the fourth floor. A statueof Mary and of Madeleine, the founder of theorder, was displayed on the upstairs landing.Many arches were to be seen throughout theinterior and since it was a religious school,there was also a chapel.

The original plans included a second buildingon the west side which had been intended asa residence for the nuns. The onslaught ofWorld War I put these plans on hold, butevidence of the planned connecting walkwayon the fourth floor can still be seen in thelarge window at the top of the west side.

There was a grotto, a place for quietcontemplation, located behind the mainbuilding and also a small orchard and playarea. The current principal’s residence servedas a steam plant providing heat to the schooland laundry. Original bricks stamped 1909can still be seen in the basement and the tallchimney still remains today.

In addition to the ten acres of property wherethe school sits today, there was also a five-acreparcel of land west of Wallace Avenue. Thisincluded a garden area, chicken coop, andcemetery. When the Society sold this land in1953, the graves were moved to a cemetery inNew Westminster.

The Convent School

The Convent of the Sacred Heart served as aCatholic girls’ school from Grades 1 to 12.Some of the students boarded during theweek, where life included daily chapel andprayer services. The school emphasizedacademics and, according to one alumna,classes were small so that “each student wasan individual who was noticed and caredabout”. Social and charitable activities werealso part of the school curriculum andalthough the girls participated in sports, therewas no gym in the original school.

In 1953, the Society sold its five-acre parcelwest of Wallace Avenue and used the money toconstruct an addition. This is the present dayprimary wing and Blackmore gym.

29th Avenue, circa 1900s

A New Home for the Junior School

Several thousand students attended theConvent school during its 65 years. Nunsfrom the Society of the Sacred Heartworked and lived there, some of themremaining for many years. However in 1979,due to declining numbers, the school wasforced to close and there was a naturalconcern about the fate of the building.Fortunately, this unique architecturalstructure was bought by St. George's Schooland henceforth continued as aneducational institution. Almost 30 yearslater, the building remains as St. George’s

Junior School. In 1993, it was necessary tomake major renovations and implement aseismic upgrade. At the same time, aboarding house was constructed on thegrounds and the steam plant wastransformed into the principal’s residence.

In 2006, the Grade 7 Challenge Programstudents researched the architecture of theschool and its history. Working with St.George’s archivist, Mrs. Elizabeth Knox, theylocated several historical photographs andfound much new information about theConvent of the Sacred Heart School. Theproject provided the students with a betterunderstanding of the school they attended.

The Architectural Legacy

Today, the Society of the Sacred HeartConvent school building is almost 100 yearsold. It received a City of Vancouver HeritageBuilding designation and this recognitionplaque is placed in the front entrance.

Since its initial construction, Vancouver haschanged dramatically and the school is nolonger in the midst of a forest. Although, thesurroundings may have changed, many ofthe school’s original features remain. Thelibrary and chapel are still in the samelocation. Look carefully around the interiorand exterior of the building and you will seemany things just waiting to be noticed. Forexample, there is the cornerstone and theschool’s inscription over the front of theport-cochère. The recessed area where St. George resides originally held a statue ofMary. Above it there is a cross. Three of thefour original gargoyles stare down at you. Inthe back, the nun’s gallery which was usedas a walkway still remains and the fancywrought iron can still be seen.

On the north-east corner, the roofline markfor the wooden structure is still visible. Thiswas constructed when the second buildingwas prevented from completion in 1914. Onthe fourth floor, each of the narrowwindows on the north-west side marks oneof the small bedrooms where the nunsslept. Over one of the library doors theoutline of a transom still can be seen. Theoriginal wavy glass has survived in a few ofthe library windows. There are many otherdetails worth studying in this magnificentbuilding. If you listen carefully you mighteven hear the sounds of the people whohave walked these halls before you or theghost of the nun who is said to reside in thedark corners of the basement.

34 • The Dragon

The OriginalStudents

The Chapel

The Nuns of the Sacred Heart

Spring 2008 • 35

There are so very many reasons to feel blessed to send your sons to Saints. Wehave truly created an atmosphere conducive to learning at the highest levelsand a milieu which fosters the very best for our boys.

But if there is one discipline, though, which offers a student an opportunityto create his own expression, it is the Arts. Be it Music, Sculpture, Painting, orthe like, our students excel in their chosen artistic endeavours.

We have been blessed with so many fine talents: artists and musicians whoseskills and prowess are pre-eminent in their respective fields. In many cases, theinternational acclaim has been overwhelming.

Disraeli once wrote that without music, the beautiful is dead. I would speaksimilarly of all the Arts. They are, more often then not, symbols of our souls.

It is with this as back drop, that I salute all those students, past and present, whohave coloured (pun intended) our lives with their talents and work.

Blessed they be.

OF OUR SOULSSYMBOLS

by A.G. (Alex) Tsakumis '84President of The Georgians

As a recipient of the Order of Canada andthe Order of British Columbia, he has beenrecognized for making significantcontributions to the Province and theCountry. But underlying all of his passionsfor life is one that was instilled in him at avery young age: a love for the Arts.

“I was born into a family who embracedeverything artistic,” admits Kerr whoseparents were both art collectors andwhose mother was a concert pianist.

By the time Jake graduated from UBC inthe 1970s, he was already investinganywhere from 25 to 50 dollars in artpieces that captured his imagination. Oneartist that caught his attention was GathieFalk, who at the time was a relativelyunknown UBC art professor struggling forrecognition. Kerr’s $25 investment in apiece by this eccentric artist was one of the

best decisions he ever made. Today Falk isa nationally renowned artist and has worksdisplayed at the National Art Gallery inOttawa. Kerr also had similar foresight inthe 1980s when he invested a hundreddollars in a Gordon Smith painting. Today,that piece is valued in the thousands.

“But it’s not all about investment”, says Kerr,whose wife shares his same passion andtaste for the Arts, and whose brother is acollector of photography. “You have to lovewhat you are collecting,” says Kerr whoadmits to being a visceral collector ratherthan a technical collector.

Kerr also champions the relationshipbetween business and the Arts by servingon the Board of Business for the Arts. Thepurpose of this organization is to increaseprivate sector support and to help makepartnerships between the private sector

GEORGIAN: Jake Kerr C.M.,O.B.C., LL.D.YEAR OF GRADUATION: 1961OTHER SAINTS’ CONNECTIONS:

• Brother: Timothy C. Kerr ‘63• Son: Timothy B. Kerr ‘90• Grandsons: Alexander C.F. Bebb (Grade 5)

and Joe Walker (Grade 1)PROFESSION:

• Managing Partner of Lignum Forest Products • Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

of Lignum Investments Ltd.• Director of the Bank of Nova Scotia • Director of the Vancouver Foundation. • Member of the Chief Executive Organization

and Past Chairman of The International and BC Chapters of the Young Presidents'Organization.

• Recipient of the Order of Canada and theOrder of British Columbia

• Honorary Doctorate of Laws Degree fromSimon Fraser University

COMPANY: Lignum InvestmentsADDITIONAL INTERESTS

• Co-Owner of the Vancouver Canadians Baseball Club

• Art collecting, fly fishing, tennis, golf, and baseball.

36 • The Dragon

RENAISSANCE MANJake Kerr '61 can best be described as a prime example of aRenaissance man. Whether it is managing a successfulbusiness, serving on the board at the VancouverFoundation, or overseeing the Vancouver CanadiansBaseball Club, Kerr leaves a mark whereever he goes.

GEORGIAN PROFILE

by Gordon C. Allan, Managing Editor

and the Arts more effective. Kerr also helpsto support funding for the Arts as a boardmember of the Vancouver Foundation.

And, what about his grandsons, Alexander(Grade 5) and Joe (Grade 1)? How import-ant is it that they receive a good qualityArts education?

“Terribly important!” says Kerr. “The Arts arean integral part of a well-roundededucation and I am pleased to see mygrandsons taking an early interest in Art

and Design. The impact that my Artseducation had on my later appreciation ofthe Arts was significant.”

Kerr is also interested in the growth of theArts scene in Vancouver and happy to seethe proposed move of the Vancouver ArtGallery. “I foresee Vancouver becoming acultural centre in the next few years,something that cannot occur without amore spacious gallery.” He also refers tolocal artists like Jeff Wall and Brian Jungen,who are gaining recognition and who epi-

tomize the coming of age of Vancouver asa fertile ground for nurturing fine artists.

And, what of his own collection? “I woulddescribe it as quite eclectic,“ says Kerr, whoowns over five hundred pieces, includingworks by Lawren Harris, Emily Carr, JackShadbolt, and The Group of Seven.

And what advice would he give to buddingGeorgian art collectors?

“The best advice I can give is to follow yourheart. As long as you like what you’vebought, you can’t go wrong.”

Spring 2008 • 37

about, you see from our perspective,their performances seemed Herculean.Our names were in the program and wewere assigned blocking and simpledialogue. We may have been costumedlackeys, but we were nonetheless part ofsomething much bigger than ourselves.The feeling was infectious.

The Arts tend to be inseparable from thepassion that makes them possible. Foran audience member, the performer'senergy and conviction are central to theexperience of theatre, no less so thanthe substance of what's beingperformed. The gift of high schooltheatre is its amateurism and there'snothing that can sustain an actor in aschool play other than a desire to

perform and to perform well for its ownsake. So much of one's time in school isspent being evaluated by others; unlikewriting a test or learning Algebra,however, participating in the Arts forcesany student to look to themselves as thehighest court of appeal.

Malicious competitiveness with one'speers doesn't mix well with theatre.Compete with the members of yourown ensemble and you'll all wind upcovered in sophomoric muck. It's amixed blessing, to be sure, but it's theplaywright, not the actors or thedirector, who decides which character isto be the star of the show. The spotlightfollows the script, not the ambitions ofthe performers. Successful actors mightbe no less self-important than success-ful athletes or scholars, but if they don'tlearn to keep that ambition in check

when it counts the most, theyforfeit the rewards that theystand to gain for their talents.

It's not so much even aquestion of successful team-

work on stage. In the mostsuccessful productions,one would be hard press-ed to distinguish the teammembers, actors and crewalike, from the composite

of their efforts.

For the past two years, I'vebeen a member of the cast of

the Hasty Pudding Theatricals,

I started off as a longshoreman.

As a chipper Grade 9 wannabe, I scored abit part in the Saints’ Players productionof Agatha Christie's Murder on the Nile,and I couldn't believe my good fortune.Ms. Christie would have been similarly incredulous for myloud and valiant struggles with passengers' steamer trunkswere nowhere to be found in her script. Luke Fredeman, theplay's director, had turned the humdrum task of usheringaudience members to their seats into a part of the action,killing several birds with one stone. The small group of usconscripted to do the job couldn't have been happier.Though the actors with speaking roles scarcely noted ourpresence for they had much more important things to worry

38 • The Dragon

Sustaining artistic passion at St. George's School

by ADAM GOLDENBERG '04

GEORGIAN: Adam GoldenbergYEAR OF GRADUATION: 2004OTHER SAINTS CONNECTIONS: His brother Mitchell graduated from St. George's in 2007. Adam was a Philip N.Rigg Scholar in Drama in 2003–2004CURRENT UNIVERSITY: Harvard UniversityADDITIONAL INTERESTS: Beginning in the summer of 2008, Adam willwork in the Policy, Strategy, and ProgrammeSupport Division of the United Nations WorldFood Programme, based in Rome, Italy, andKampala, Uganda.

GEORGIAN PROFILE

PERILPERILCONSTANTCONSTANT

Goldenberg as Tevye inFiddler on The Roof

the oldest theatre troupe in the UnitedStates, which has been putting onoutrageous drag burlesque musicals since1844. The Hasty Pudding show is theultimate ensemble piece. Each year, thereare 12 equally sized characters. There is no"star". Every performance ends with a 30-minute kickline extravaganza, in which all12 (male) actors appear on stage inidentical showgirl costumes, high heelsand tights very much included, and we doour best to put Radio City's Rockettes toshame. Whether or not we succeed, theabsurdity of our combined efforts has keptthe show running for a century and a half.There are prima donnas to be sure, but fewthings smother hubris the way thatwearing fake breasts does. The satisfactionof being a part of the company, which hasproduced infinitely more bankers, lawyers,and doctors than dancers, depends on anindividual's glory being relegated to themargins. There are no small parts, after all,only small players. Try using that line on amember of the rugby team!

Participating in the Arts at a school like St. George's is a phenomenal luxury.Theatre, Music, and Visual Arts are each justa part of a much broader constellation ofextra-curricular pursuits, which areintended to broaden a boy's experienceand deepen his character, not to preparehim for a particular occupation. AlthoughI've continued acting at university, I'venever really intended to make performinga source of my future livelihood. I have,however, watched dozens of my peersgraduate and pursue careers in the Arts. It'sa bold step to take, given the state ofprivate patronage and governmentsupport. North American performers fundthe Arts with their blood, sweat, and tipsbut, it's one that has been motivated inevery case by the same passion thatcompels a bunch of Grade 9 boys to dressup like longshoremen to usher a St. George's play.

The best school plays rely on passion fortheir success, but that dependency comesat a price. Schoolboy actors, musicians, andsculptors might have passion inabundance, but glory can be in shortsupply. Art is subjective and there is noscoreboard, no winners and losers, nochampionship game. A spectacular sportsseason can produce a spiffy banner to behung from the rafters of the school gym,but a blockbuster performance has no realpermanence beyond the audience'sattention spans. Art doesn't exist for Art'ssake because it wants to, but because itmust; a non-professional play's success canbe measured in terms of fulfilledobjectives, but it otherwise defies

quantification. As a consequence, the Artsremain in perpetual danger especially at ahyper-competitive school with a proudtradition of collecting trophies and buffingthem until they shine.

The young actors who strut and fret uponthe St. George's stage, or practically anyother high school stage for that matter,tempt the dissatisfaction of having theirwork underappreciated or, worse, ignoredby their peers. Winning crew races tends tobe considerably more glamorous thanputting on makeup (ew!) in the eveningsand singing and dancing in front of thefootlights. Whether justified or not, there isconstantly the appearance of an implicitbias against the Arts in a school environ-ment, particularly one as self-consciouslymasculine as St. George's. For fledglingperformers to thrive, a school has to offsetthis perceived bias by making an extraeffort to celebrate and support the Arts.Otherwise, in an environment where win-ning seems to be everything, participatingin an activity where "winning" isn't even apossibility risks being quickly devalued.

However, St. George's isn't like mostschools and its proud artistic traditionspeaks for itself. The recent refurbishment

of the old School auditorium, whoseupholstered chairs used to produce acloud of dirt and detritus if sat down in tooforcefully and the reliably sold-out runs ofSaints’ Players productions both speak tothe depth of support for the Arts that theSchool community embodies. This isimportant in a context where the slightestsign of indifference is potentially devas-tating to the artistic opportunities thathave been enjoyed by so many St. George'sboys over the years.

I'm deeply grateful to St. George's forgiving me the chance to explore the Arts.The community one joins when oneperforms in any medium is an exciting one,fuelled by individuals' passion, creativity,and talent. The School has a history ofcultivating these personal attributes,which serve their bearers well even if theynever sing for their supper professionally.For decades, St. George's has learned toprovide its young artists with sufficientsupport and encouragement. In this way,they exceed their own greatest expect-ations. No lesson for both the School andits students could possibly be more vital.

Adam Goldenberg '04 will graduate fromHarvard University this June.

Spring 2008 • 39

Goldenberg as Poirotin Black Coffee

How did you develop a passion for Artand Music? I always loved Art and Music as a kid. I saw itas something bigger than everything else.My parents were always supportive of mylean towards Art and Music over sports andschool. I skipped class one day when I was inthe Junior School to buy a $30.00 guitar at ajunk store on Dunbar. I felt I couldn't tell myparents what I had done, so I hid the guitar inour garage for three weeks until it got toocold to play outside. I had to start hiding it inmy room, but when my parents found it theywere actually quite cool with it. My mom justshrugged. They have always given me gentleallowance for weird behaviour.

In what way did St. George’s School helpyou develop an appreciation for the Arts?Nan Oliver, period. I can remember being inGrade 10 and feeling dislocated anddisenfranchised. But, as much as being 15years old can feel absolutely hopeless, it’salso a fertile time for new ideas and newdirections. I had given up on Art. That year,Ms. O came back from teaching abroad withthe “exam” approach, where every studentwas required to work towards a finalsubmission piece that was based on a termof research and experimentation. It was thefirst time I felt that Art was being takenseriously. Before that it seemed like was aself esteem class. It was always “A for effort”.Anyways, it was the perfect time for me.That year and the next two I really exploredpossibilities. I directly hold Nan responsiblefor everything that has happened to mesince that year.

Who were those at Saints who inspiredyou artistically and how did they do that?There was a group of us in my year who gotserious about Art. We were pretty comp-etitive with each other if I can remember.

That sounds funny, right? I think our year wasthe first time that more than three kids wenton to Art School. Competition and ego areincredible motivators. Those traits also makeintolerable people and bad habits.

You have a huge following. What do youthink makes Bedouin Soundclash soappealing? I hope it’s our honesty. I’m not sure. We caredeeply about what we do. If we didn’t, wewould stop. But, we have also have had a lotof luck. There has been luck that we fellupon and luck that we created. I also thinkthat our genuine friendship carries over toour listeners. When we stand together onstage in Vancouver, London, Tokyo, or LosAngeles, we are truly in the moment andfeel grateful for what we have been given.I've also tried to write good songs, but thosecan come and go.

When forming your band, what weresome of the challenges that you faced? Our challenge was always on having peoplelook beyond the past and having theirattention focused on the Music. Surprising-ly, starting a reggae/punk/soul-influencedband in Canada with my background didn'twin us an immediate audience. A youngwhite kid, who grew up middle class andwent to a preppy boy’s school in Vancouver,is a long way off from Brixton orTrenchtown. But we wanted to use ourbackgrounds as our point. Creatively wehave a cultural meeting point or a cultureclash, which we are trying to express andmove forward.

All of us in the band come from reallydifferent places. That has been a challenge.But there is also the potential, becausewhere I live in Toronto, there are WestIndians, Europeans, and Africans, all livingand working together. It’s fertile. So our

challenge has always been getting beyondthe past and seeing our band in a newcontext of what it could mean to be aCanadian band. Sometimes it has been hardfor others to see our band as authentic. Ittook the American and then English punkaudience to embrace us for everyone elseto recognize us as valid.

In addition to being a talented musician,you’re also a gifted painter. What, if any,influence does your Music have on yourpainting or vice versa?The two are quite separate. Most people whohave come to a showing of my work havebeen shocked that it is much “darker”. Ourtour manager came to a Montreal show lastweek and used the word “depressed” (Jaylaughs to himself). I don't find the two crossover. In fact, if I am in a painting mode, I can'tlisten to Music or write. It clutters my space.

Who are some of your favourite artists?Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, Ray Johnson,Basquiat, Raymond Pettibon, Klein, I'mobviously pretty diverse, but I like anythingthat has or takes action.

What do you hope to be doing in ten years?In ten years? That sounds like a St. George'squestion! I have no clue. I hope I still havepassion and inspiration. I'm scared thatburns out.

Here’s another St. George’s question foryou: what advice do you have for anystudents or Georgians, who may beexploring their artistic or creative sides?Listen to yourself, work hard, sweat, and geta tough skin. Also you might want to startsaving some money now, because youwon't have any later. But, who cares...

Jay Malinowski ’00 is on a roll. The modest vocalist and guitarist has been catapulted to stardom. Jay, of course,is the front man of Juno award-winning Bedouin Soundclash, an Indie rock band formed in 2001. The group takesits name from a dub record by Israeli fusion artist/producer Badawi. Back when it released its début album, RootFire, Bedouin Soundclash was still a college band working gigs in and out of Kingston, Ontario. Today, the groupis in high demand, already having performed in over a dozen countries.

Despite Jay’s hectic schedule, he was able to share his interest in Music and Art with The Dragon. In addition tobeing a musician, Jay is also an avid painter, working mainly with wax and oil paint.

40 • The Dragon

Soundinga Mosaic

Soundinga Mosaic

Spring 2008 • 41

GEORGIAN: Jay Malinowski YEAR OF GRADUATION: 2000PROFILE: SingerGROUP: Bedouin SoundclashADDITIONAL INTERESTS: Paintingwww.bedouinsoundclash.com

Interview by: Bryan R. Ide '99

GEORGIAN PROFILE

Pat Pengelly

Eon Sinclair

Jay Malinowski '00

Photo by Matt Barnes

GEORGIAN: Vincent “Vinny” NgYEAR OF GRADUATION: 1999PROFILE: Theatre Project DirectorGROUP: Youth Bridge Global

www.ybglobal.orgwww.youtube.com/comedyoferrors2008http://comedyoferrors2008.blogspot.com

ADDITIONAL INTERESTS: Education, Filmmaking, Travel


GEORGIAN PROFILE

GLOBETROTTERTHE

42 • The Dragon

After graduating from university, youfirst were involved in education, thenfilmmaking, and now you’re producingplays. Can you describe the path yourlife has taken and what influenced youto get into these areas?After graduating from Dartmouth, I spentthree months in the Marshall Islands as avolunteer Math and History Teacher at ahigh school. My former professor and nowmentor, Andrew Garrod, had encouragedme to join as an Assistant Director for thefirst theatre production that had ever beenstaged in the Marshall Islands HighSchool’s 25-year history. To put it simply, itwas an amazing opportunity which I couldnot turn down. From working in theMarshall Islands, one of the poorestcountries in the Pacific, I came to realizethe tremendous impact a teacher canhave. After deciding to move to China, Iaccepted a position teaching Grades 3 and5 at the Shanghai American School.

The thing about China is that you neverknow what opportunities may come up.Sure enough, a year later I moved to Beijing

to work for an environmental documentaryfilmmaker. Film had been something inwhich I had always been interested butnever really had the opportunity toexplore. I was particularly excited by theintersections made with media, education,and the environment. Although when newexperiences present themselves, I must sayit is often hard to resist.

An opportunity to coordinate an Englishprogram at the International MontessoriSchool presented itself about six monthslater and it meant that I could explore myinterest in alternative educational philo-sophies. The flexible schedule of theschool allowed me enough time to workon several theatre projects in Beijing at thesame time. But to come back to the secondpart of your question—what influencedme to become involved in education, film-making, and theatre? I think it has stem-med from having truly inspiring teachersand a desire, not only to see the world, butalso to record and share my experiences ofit with others.

You talk about inspiring teachers. Whichteachers at St. George’s inspired you?There is no question that I was trulyblessed to have some of the mostinspirational teachers in my time at Saints.For starters, I don’t know where I would beif Nan Oliver hadn’t cultivated myappreciation in the Visual Arts and an earlypassion for photography. She really wassomeone who infused a contagiousenergy and passion among her students.With regards to theatre, I think it all startedin Luke Fredeman’s acting class in Grade 9.Were it not for his class, I don’t think Iwould have tried out for a part in my firstplay The Pirates of Penzance. However, thedefining moment in my theatreexperience came when I auditioned for alead role in The Cherry Orchard. I rememberlooking over the speech made byLopakhin. He was businessman, who hasjust realized that selling off an estate hadcompletely devastated a family.

I will never forget the risk I took as I collaps-ed to my knees on stage, drew my handsup over my face, and wept tears of bitter-

A true globetrotter, Vinny Ng ’99 seems to have a restless, energetic spirit. Bornin Hong Kong, Vinny found his way to Saints via Australia. After school, he madehis way to Boston and then to New Hampshire, where he graduated fromDartmouth College. He currently serves as the Project Director for the YouthBridge Global Marshall Islands 2008 Project. He assisted in directing in the firstever YBG production in the Marshall Islands and the first ever internationallytouring YBG production in the Balkans. Having previously served as the EnglishLanguage Resource Director at the Montessori School of Beijing, he has beenactively involved in co-founding the popular Beijing Improv Theatre Troupe. Hehas been active with a Chinese NGO that uses participatory theatre to empowermigrant workers and has done documentary film work in China and Israel.

sweet guilt. From up in the very last row ofthe auditorium where Dougal Fraserwould always sit during auditions, I heardthe sound of one man clapping. As I wipedaway the beads of sweat from my fore-head, Mr. Fraser later told me that it was thefirst time he had ever clapped in anaudition. Those words, I will never forget.

Your theatre production is not atraditional one. How did you come upwith the idea of marrying develop-mental work with theatre and what doyou hope to achieve?When Andrew Garrod originally set upYouth Bridge Global three years ago, hearticulated a vision for using theatre for thepurposes of reconciliation and develop-ment. In 2007, I joined him again when hetook the Shakespeare model to theBalkans in order to promote mutualunderstanding across the dangerousethnic and religious divides that threatenthe fragile peace in the region. The firstproduction in Mostar featured a MuslimRomeo and a Croat Juliet, forged a numberof inter-ethnic friendships, and generatedimmense communal support in a citydivided by deep-seated nationalism.

In the Marshall Islands, the program grewout of the Dartmouth College volunteerteaching program, but was rooted inAndrew’s passion for theatre and what hesaw as its potential to help adolescentsdevelop self-confidence, public-speakingskills, and what many psychologists nowrefer to as emotional intelligence. Softskills, that is, the ability to communicate, towork in a group, to be able to take on theperspective of another person andconsider situations of conflict fromdifferent points of view, cannot be learnedfrom a textbook. These are the skills thatare absolutely essential to develop ageneration of young leaders who areempowered to create change.

Unfortunately, they also happen to be theskills that are not traditionally emphasizedin the Marshallese education system. In

order to address these issues, this year wehave developed a youth leadershipprogram to accompany the theatreproduction. The end goal of this newcombined program is to nurture creativeand theatrical skills and build long-termleadership capacities among the younggeneration. We hope we are planting theseed for a sustainable youth-led creativeArts movement.

To me, theatre is about a celebration ofwhat it means to be human. Whether weare moved emotionally by a character’stragic misfortune or are able to laugh at amisunderstanding that mirrors anexperience in our own lives, the theatreexperience is, in effect, a process of comingto terms with the struggles we all share incommon. I see the end result as strength-ening the bonds and ties within a com-munity and a step toward human progressand development.

Given your unique situation and yourlove of theatre production, can youdescribe the process and challenges ofputting together a play?There are really three major steps: buildinga team, fundraising, and producing theshow. In some ways, one could argue it isanalogous to any major venture. I guess ifyou look at the challenges I faced whenworking in the Marshall Islands, it helps toput it in a socio-historical perspective.

From 1946 to 1958, a number of locationswere used as nuclear testing sites by theUS government, killing many islanders andforcing others to relocate due tounexpectedly high levels of nuclear fallout.Today, US aid accounts for over 60 per centof the country’s GDP, making the MarshallIslands, per capita, the largest recipient offoreign aid in the world.

The legacy of destruction and aid hasrendered the country one of the poorest inMicronesia and school dropouts face littleopportunity in the work place. Thisdisaffection and the decline in traditional

values has created problems of alcoholabuse, drug abuse, and suicide among thepopulation and especially so among thoseunder 30 years of age. The vast dispersal ofislands presents challenges for the deliveryof health care and messages of goodpractice, causing high birth rates andchildhood mortality. Provided they areable to recapture some sense of theirtraditional identity, I really see the greatesthope for the Marshallese lying with thenext generation to move their com-munities forward towards a self-reliant andprosperous future.

There is no doubt it is a challenge. This is aplace where “on time” means showing upfor rehearsal half an hour late. Or, studentswill promise you to turn up, but will not,because they were too ashamed to tell youthat they could not afford to take publictransportation into town. That said, fouryears ago, we completely blew awaypeople’s expectations of what was possibleand we are confident that we’ll continue todo so this year.

Your story about helping the Marshal-lese is truly inspiring. What, if anyadvice, would you like to share withyour fellow Georgians?Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche once said:

“And those who were seen dancing werethought to be insane by those who couldnot hear the music.”

I suppose another way to put it could bethat we all have expectations of society, ofour peer group, or of our parents to be orto act in a certain way. However, those whodare not only to dream, but also who acton those dreams are the ones trulylistening to their own music. Although itmay sometimes feel like everyone iswatching and thinking that you are crazy, ifyou are hearing the music perhaps theonly thing to do is to keep on dancing.

Spring 2008 • 43

GEORGIAN: Jimmy VallanceYEAR OF GRADUATION: 2007PROFILE: House DJwww.jimmyvallance.com


Rockin’ DJAt the age of 18, you've already shared thestage with some of the world's top DJs, andyou are already considered an upcomingDJ to watch. To what do you attribute yoursuccess?I have a real passion for creating and playingHouse music. From the moment I heard myfirst House track in Grade 10, I knew exactlywhat I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Iconsider myself very fortunate to have foundsomething I love doing.

Can you perhaps explain what type ofmusic you mix? What exactly is Housemusic and what are some of the commonmisconceptions?I compose and perform a style of dance musicthat's called House. House fans are "die-hards". They know everything about theirfavourite DJs and producers. Being a Housefan requires that you dig a little deeper thanlistening to your local radio station.

The most common misconception withHouse music is that people label it as Techno,which is like calling Sarah McLachlan's musicHeavy Metal.

From an early age, you have been verymusically talented. You also come from amusical family. How did you find yourpassion for DJ-ing?I feel lucky to have had a bit of success already,but I'm a long way from achieving my goals. Ihope that one day I can have the same effecton someone that Armin Van Buuren had onme. I'll never forget popping his CD in myDiscman and pressing "play" for the first time.

In some ways, becoming a DJ has been anuphill battle. It's hard to be taken seriously. Myparents are both musicians and theysupported my musical career choice, butinitially they didn't understand the DJ thing.They didn't see turntables as being musical. Ittook me a year to win them over.

The fact that it's been a struggle has pushedme to do my best. I like the challenge. That'swhat makes it appealing to me.

When I started listening to House music inGrade 10, only two other students in my gradewere even aware of that style. We'd sharesongs and listen to "live" sets of our favouriteDJs online. By Grade 12 things had changedand for a lot of students, House music wastheir preferred genre.

You mention that your fellow classmateswere all drawn to House music. In whatother ways do you feel St. George’s helpedto foster your creative side?I owe a lot of my creativity to my Media Artsteacher, Brenton Wilke. He's a fan of Housemusic and he was always keen on listening tothe music I was composing. He pushed me tothink "outside the box" in the classroom,which had a direct effect on how I ap-proached my music at home.

St. George's taught me to believe in myselfand to trust my instincts. Anything is possibleif you put your mind to it. Now that I'vegraduated, those words ring very true.

I’ve seen you perform and know howengaged your audience is. Can youdescribe what it is like when you are DJ-ingin front of all your fans?

The first Dance CD I ever heard was by ArminVan Buuren, currently ranked the number oneDJ in the world. Two years later I was asked toopen for Armin, and I was blown away. It was adream come true.

For me, there's no bigger thrill than playingone of my own tracks "live" and seeing a greatreaction from the crowd. I live for thatmoment. When I DJ, I try to imagine what Iwould want to hear were I in the audience.Most of my listeners work "nine-to-five" jobs,and they've come to have a good time. I'm anentertainer, so understanding your audienceis essential.

This year I've been invited to play at theWinter Music Conference in Miami, Florida. It'sa prestigious event in the DJ world, and I wasreally honoured to be invited.

It's accurate to say that Jimmy Vallance ‘07 was rockin' before he was walkin'. He grew uplistening to the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones, and he was a decentdrummer before he was out of diapers. At the age of six, he began piano lessons but laterpursued more contemporary styles of music when he entered Saints.

At the age of 13 he formed his first band, Angel's Edge. Two years later Jimmy developedan interest in DJ-ing. He picked up a pair of turntables, a mixer from his local music store,and stayed up all hours of the night perfecting his mixing skills. After a year of endlesspractising, Jimmy decided he was ready to move out of the basement and on to themain stage. He assembled a ten-track promo CD and sent it to every promoter in thelocal area. By the age of 17, Jimmy had a residency at Vancouver's Cyber Night Club.

Now at 18, Jimmy has shared the stage with top DJs like Armin Van Buuren, Sander VanDoorn, ATB, Cosmic Gate, and many more. His productions have charted among the Top100 downloads on a number of websites and have been supported by major players likeMatt Darey, Simon Patterson, Graham Gold, and Cor Fijneman.

Jimmy is fuelled by a passion for creating and playing dance music.

44 • The Dragon

GEORGIAN PROFILE

Photo by Tom Hawkins

My involvement with the Arts at St. George’sprimarily involved two areas: Theatre and Music.With regard to Music, I was a member of theConcert Band for all five years at the Senior Schooland a member of the Jazz Band from Grades 9 to12. For my last two years at Saints, however, mymain artistic focus was as a member of the Saints’Players. My involvement with theatre at St. George’swas a defining period of my life, from which Ilearned many important and lasting lessons.

There’s nothing to fear but fear itselfTowards the end of Grade 10, auditions opened forThe Mikado, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta beingput on jointly by Saints’ Players and the MusicDepartment. Ever since watching a Saints’production of The Cherry Orchard in Grade 9, I hadwanted to take a shot at auditioning. However, Iwas quite honestly afraid to take the leap. I was veryhappy just being a part of the Music Department; I loved the music we performed, I enjoyed theensemble atmosphere, and just as importantly, Iwas comfortable.

There were many reasons not to try out for theplay: I had no previous experience. I knew very fewmembers of the theatre crowd and despite havinghad Mr. Fraser as a teacher for a whole year, I stillfound him a little intimidating. However, mycuriosity got the better of me and I went aheadwith auditioning. I walked into the upper musicroom and was asked if I had prepared any songs.Never having auditioned for a play before, I had noidea that I had to bring anything at all. With hiscustomary smile, Mr. Rnic asked me to sing “TwinkleTwinkle Little Star”. In a state of abject terror, I beganto sing: “Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I... uhm...”

At this point, my fear finally began to subside. Afterall, I had forgotten the words to a song I’ve beensinging since I was four; how much worse couldthings possibly get? I made it all the way throughthe song on my second try. When the final castingwas announced, I was shocked to discover I hadlanded the role of Pooh-Bah, the Lord HighEverything Else. Never again in my theatrical careerat Saints or beyond would I ever be as nervous as Iwas at that first audition.

At the first rehearsal, I met dozens of people withwhom I would spend most of my free time with therest of the year, didn’t faze me. Opening Night? Noproblem. After all, I had flubbed the easiest song inthe world, and lived to tell the tale. Years later, Ifound myself in a different room a continent away,auditioning for my first show as a college freshman.Once again, the show was The Mikado. They askedme what I would like to sing. My response wasimmediate, and a bit surprising even to me: “I’d liketo sing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’, please.”

The show must go onA lot of crazy things can happen leading up to andduring the run of any theatrical production. Mythree productions with Saints’ Players took placeduring a fairly tumultuous time in the program’shistory. A few weeks before opening night, Mr.Fraser, the original director for The Mikado, fell illand was unable to complete the rehearsal process.Messrs Fredeman and Mortimer ably stepped in tofinish putting the show together.

Directorial changes mid-production are rare andtend to be messy. For many of us in the cast, TheMikado was our first theatrical production. Mr.Fraser was tasked with the challenge of turning abunch of students into a real acting troupe; now,with the transformation almost complete, Mr.Fredeman had to help us finish the job.

It would have been easy for Mr. Fredeman simply tolet us coast, but instead he took Mr. Fraser’s visionand added his own spin to it, working with the castto get as much out of us as possible. Mr. Mortimerworked with some of us on character developmentand certainly taught me a great deal about how toget into a role. Through all the change, Mr. Rnic, ourMusic Director, was the lone constant voice. I wasalready familiar with his talents as a band teacher,but as a Vocal Coach and Choral Director he provedto be just as good. A situation that could have beena fiasco ended up becoming a great productionbecause neither the students nor the teachers werewilling to give up on it.

The next fall, very shortly before opening night forThe Man Who Came to Dinner, we lost a vital castmember. Mr. Sayers volunteered to take on the roleat the very last minute. As we worked to get all ofMr. Sayers’ scenes polished and performance ready,that last week of rehearsals proved absolutelynerve-wracking. In the end, all the scenes came offperfectly and Mr. Sayers stole the show.

My college production of The Mikado saw changesin both stage and music directors and four castchanges, one of which took place partway duringthe run of the show itself. Just as we did at Saints,the cast, crew, and directors came together, put inthe extra hours and hard work, and pulled a greatproduction from the brink of disaster. These days,cast turnover and garbled scenes have beenreplaced with lost proposals and garbledpresentation files, but the only way out is still foundonly through perseverance.

Everybody needs somebody sometimeEven more so than in band, teamwork is absolutelyvital in Theatre. Every part of the team has to be ontask and sure of what they’re doing in order toensure the best possible performance. A slip by anyone member can drastically affect the on-stageresults. This applies not only to actors, but also tothe behind-the-scenes crew. The greatest strength

of Saints’ Players was in the focus not only on goodacting, but also a polished crew and an experien-ced front-of-house team.

Our sets were always exemplary, and the studentStage Managers always ran the show with greatprofessionalism. The stage crew is what drives anysuccessful performance and in the years since highschool I’ve not yet worked with any crews aspolished and capable as the ones put together atSaints. As the voice of the Plant in Little Shop ofHorrors, crew member Eric Taylor literally acted asmy body, manipulating a life-sized plant puppet onstage, while I produced the voice from above. Everydetail had to be coordinated down to the seem-ingly spontaneous ad-libs that we would come upwith and rehearse before the show each night.

Working with the other actors themselves was alsoa treat. The focus on the team was stressed everyday by our directors and as a cast we always tried totake the advice to heart. I was fortunate to get anopportunity to work with many people who weretalented actors, great team players, and amazingfriends to boot. Many of the relationships forged atSaints’ Players have developed into lifelongfriendships and, in one case, opportunities to worktogether on stage after high school. After havingworked with Adam Goldenberg in The Man WhoCame to Dinner and his memorable performance inLittle Shop of Horrors, I was lucky enough to be onstage with him again years later in the Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players’ productionsof Pirates of Penzance and Princess Ida.

There’s no business like show businessAfter my time at Saints, I moved on to collegetheatre and put on a number of productions withvarious groups at Harvard, including the HastyPudding Theatricals, the Gilbert and SullivanPlayers, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatics Club.Since graduation, besides a weekly volunteer gig ata non-profit theatre class for kids, I’ve gone back tobeing a member of the audience.

In December, I watched Adam pull off an amazingPooh-Bah in The Mikado and have had theopportunity to come back to watch a number ofSaints’ Players productions as well. People oftenlook back on their own time in a program withnostalgia, referring to it as a “golden age”, inferringthat somehow nothing has been quite as goodsince then. A couple of years ago, I flew down towatch my own little sister star in a Saints’production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.The product on the stage was polished and full ofenergy, in the finest tradition of Theatre at Saints.It’s good to see that theatre at St. George’scontinues to thrive and grow, with bigger andbetter productions seeming to come up year afteryear. However, in the end it’s the people, studentsand teachers alike, who drive the program, andSaints’ Players has always had the best.

Spring 2008 • 45

EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW, I LEARNED FROM SAINTS’ PLAYERS

by Bo Meng '02

GEORGIAN: Bo MengYEAR OF GRADUATION: 2002PROFILE: Account ManagerCOMPANY: Guardsmark

GEORGIAN PROFILE

A scene from The Mikado

GEORGIAN: Alexis “Lex” AssadiYEAR OF GRADUATION: 2006PROFILE: Hip Hop ArtistGROUP: Violative Causewww.violativecause.com


THE BEATTHE BEATWhat attracted you in the firstplace to Hip Hop?I first fell in love with Hip Hopwhen I moved to Canada ataround 12 years of age. I loved thesound, swagger, and its means ofexpression. Though I have livedaround the world, I had neverbefore been exposed to RapMusic, nor did I grow up aroundthose who listened to it, so when Iheard my first rap song, “Children'sStory” by Slick Rick, I was complet-ely entranced by the new sound.

How do you consider Hip Hopan art form and from where doyou draw your inspiration?Hip Hop is an art form because ofits true nature of expression. Thereis a lot of room for writers,dancers, singers, and painters totake part in the culture. Hip Hopwas born out of struggle and hasevolved into a contemporary formof positive expression. Most of myinspiration comes from mypersonal thoughts and feelings. Ienjoy analysing the self andwriting about it, although once ina while, I will embody the "fly onthe wall" and add my bit of socialcommentary. These days mymusic is more relaxed and calm,probably because my life rightnow is quite hectic (I guess I havefinally entered "the real world!").By creating smoother music, I amable to go to a place in my mindwhich is collected and stable.

So, what makes you differentfrom other Hip Hop artists?Most underground artists don'thave any longevity. They startrapping because it is "the coolthing to do" and give up shortlyafter. I have been rapping since Iwas 12 years old. I understandwhat it means to "pay dues" and

to work hard at music. I haveendured many losses throughoutthe years (music wise), and havestuck through the difficultperiods. I can honestly say that Ihave a deep love for Hip Hop,something which, because of thesuper-saturation of the industry, isbecoming increasingly rare.

How would you describe whatHip Hop is to those who don'tfollow that genre of music?Actually, Hip Hop is not a genre ofmusic. Rather, it is a culture whichencapsulates Rap Music, Break-dancing, Turntable-ism, and Graf-fitti Art. (Good) Rap is based uponclever lyricism accompanied by alooped soulful instrumental. Thereare different styles of Rapthroughout the world, most ofwhich have not yet surfacedamong the general population.Because Rap is so lyric dependent,the artist has so much room towrite exactly what he wants. Onecan almost fit an entire essay intoa single song!

You’ve mentioned the import-ance of language in Hip Hop.What role did St. George's playin helping you discover anddevelop your passion for beinga Hip Hop artist?First and foremost, the teachers atSaints are fantastic. They trulycared about my musical endeav-ours and nurtured my musicalpassion. They have, on many oc-casions, offered to me their bestwishes and advice, somethingwhich I only appreciated after Igraduated. The School’s out-standing Art and English prog-rams helped me develop into abetter writer. The first time I everperformed live was at Contemp-orary Music Night in the Auditor-

ium. This event, in my opinion, isthe best way for student con-temporary musical talent to beexposed to the rest of the School.

What did you appreciate mostabout the School's programs inthe Arts, including Music, FineArts, and Drama?The effort which Saints puts intodeveloping young artists is phen-omenal. What is quite remarkableis the amount of Arts programsoffered by the School which caterto the needs of so many individ-uals. I have vivid memories ofwatching the School plays andbeing astonished by the talentand professionalism which existsin the student body. Classical, Jazz,Choir, and Contemporary Musicare all facilitated, as well asnumerous art shows and demon-strations. My favourite time of theyear was always Arts Week.

So where do you hope to seeyourself in five years? In ten?In five years I hope to haveattained a degree in law. I alsohope to further my success inmusic. I have toured Europealready. I would like to perform inAsia and South America. Because Ihave other interests, I'm not yetsure that I will always choosemusic as a profession. Perhaps Iwould like to enter the world ofpolitics or diplomacy. However, Iwill always cherish music andcontinue to pursue it as much as Ipossibly can. Ten years from now, Iwill probably be hoping to settledown and focus on one careerpath. For now, I'm taking thingsone step at a time trying to do mybest in school and music andenjoying my young life!

46 • The Dragon

Lex Assadi ‘06 has been making Hip Hop music since the age of 12. His first performance was atSaints’ Contemporary Music Night. When he was 16, he released his first album entitled Freedomand within the next year , he had performed at numerous venues around British Columbia. By thetime he was 18, he had teamed up with a good friend Lenny Diko to form Violative Cause. Theiralbum Just Movement was a great hit, gaining them much recognition throughout Canada. In thesummer of 2007, Violative Cause toured Western Europe and performed for crowds of over 2,100people. Last November, they released their second album, The World Is Ours. Now, they are in theprocess of booking their second European tour and considering shows in Asia.

GEORGIAN PROFILE

Spring 2008 • 47

We normally hear of our grads going onto study Business, Law, or Medicine atuniversity, so what compelled all of youto study Art?We were motivated by a passion for thefield of Art and Design, combined with theinfluence of the outstanding Art Depart-ment at St. George’s. Of course, there washesitation in each of our minds whenmaking the decision to pursue a possiblyless lucrative path, but we came to animportant conclusion. It is love for whatyou do, and a devotion to your work thatdetermines your success, whatever yourwork may be.

This is the first time in Saints’ historywhere we have a significant presence atNSCAD. What drew you to Nova Scotiato study Art and what is it like having abunch of you studying and livingtogether?Through art teachers Nan Oliver and RobStickney, we learned that NSCAD has areputation of being the most well-rounded and progressive of the few

universities fully devoted to Fine Arts andDesign in Canada. Being on the other sideof Canada took some major adjustment. Amuch smaller city than Vancouver, Halifaxbrought on a change of pace and aheightened sense of community. Despitebeing in separate grades at Saints, we havecome together as a group of friends, dev-eloping a reputation here as the “BC Boys”.

What would you suggest is necessaryfor aspiring artists to become suc-cessful?Success in the fields of Art and Designpossesses some inherent uncertainties.But we cannot stress enough that successis relative to an individual’s work ethic anddevotion to their craft. Love what you do,and the rest will follow.

In what way did St. George’s School helpyou develop an appreciation for theArts, and who at Saints inspired you themost and why?Events such as Portfolio Day, Arts Week,Student Art Sales, Rigg Scholarship

Exhibitions, and Grad Shows providedsupport and exposure to the artisticcommunity. We found inspiration from ourpeers and Georgians, both practisingartists and students in university. With allthe different mediums of art, everymember of the art department was a greatsource of motivation and encouragement:Mrs. Oliver, Mrs. LeBlanc, Mrs. Dian, Mr.Wilke, Mr. Stickney, and Mr. Clarkson.

Why would you say it is important forstudents and Georgians to explore theirartistic sides? How do you suggest theygo about doing that? We encourage Saints students to exploreall avenues of the education available atour privileged school where there is suchdiversity in course offerings. Explore yourlocal art community, check out thegalleries and artist run centres, and nomatter what your line of work or avenue ofeducation, never suppress your creativeambitions.

ANDREW GERBER-TURRIFF ’03

is currently finishing up his degree taking Art History Classes.

DAVID FAIRBAIRN ’05

is currently in his third year having done two years in

interdisciplinary studies and is now majoring in Ceramics.

NICK FARRELL ’05

is currently in third year taking Painting,

Drawing, and Printmaking classes.

GRAHAM HANDFORD ’05

is in his second year, majoring in Design

and minoring in Drawing.

MACKENZIE SMITH ’06

is currently in second year, majoring in Ceramics.

CHARLES WILLS ’06

is in second year, taking a Design

Studio Class and Jewellery.

NOVA SCOTIAARTISTSIN

GEORGIAN

SAYING GOODBYE TO A LEGEND

DADDYDADDYGoodbye

a farewell to Geof Stancombe '62

by Pat Palmer '80

For over three decades, Mr. Geof Stancombe has been a vibrant personality of greatcharisma at St. George's School; a person who could be, in his versatile manner, a coach, ateacher, a counsellor, a salesman, an advocate, or a friend to any student walking throughthese halls. Although none of the current students has had the good chance to experiencehim as a teacher, his legacy at the School continues to enrich them in the same way GeofStancombe has made an impact on previous generations of students since 1970.

48 • The Dragon

Geof Stancombe was a student at Saints forten years, beginning his career in Grade 4 andfinishing Grade 13 in 1963. He was anoutstanding student athlete; representing theSchool in Athletics, Basketball, and Rugby. Onthe track, he was one of our best, settingrecords (his 400 m record stood for more than20 years) and ultimately competing at thenational level. Mr. Stancombe also playedrugby for the Georgians’ Rugby Club, and at ahigh level, playing for BC junior sides asfullback. If not for a major injury, he might havegone on to the national level. After graduating,Mr. Stancombe went on to the University ofBritish Columbia, where he completed hisbachelor’s degree and teacher training.

While attending UBC, Mr. Stancombecoached Basketball, Rugby, and Track andField at the School. He assisted with boardingand was involved in the Scouts programs. In1970, Mr. Stancombe started teaching fulltime and he continued to do so until a majorcar accident in the spring of 2003.

I have one story about Mr. Stancombe thatsome might have heard: in May of 1971, Mr.Stancombe distinguished himself by savingthe lives of two men. They were in two canoestrying to negotiate the Similkameen River’sBromley rapids in full flood. Mr. Stancombesaw their canoes overturn and dived in topull one man out. He then jumped into hiscar, drove a mile and a half along the highwayuntil he passed the second man flounderingin the river. He dived into the freezing watersagain, and pushed the second man to safety,breaking two fingers in the process. Given theconditions of the river, its speed, and coldtemperature, this rescue was a most remark-able feat, and Mr. Stancombe was subseq-uently recognized for his heroism.

Mr. Stancombe is one of the most powerfulmen that I have ever met. I mean powerful in

terms of strength, as this tale has shown, butalso in terms of character, personality, andheart.

It is his life as a teacher we are honouring inthis article and his achievements and legacyat St. George’s School. How do you capture ina few words the career of a man who hastouched and impacted so many young menin so many ways? A huge number ofGeorgians have their own personal recol-lections of their time with “Daddy”, and theSchool community will not forget the effortsand commitment of this dedicated educator.

But, first how did he acquire the name“Daddy”? At one dance in the early eighties,Mr. Stancombe was acting as chaperonewhen he was asked to help escort some un-savoury types off the premises after they hadcaused some trouble. His parting commentto one of the thugs was something in theorder of “…and if you come back, you’ll haveto deal with ‘Big Daddy’!” Well, this commentwas heard by several students and over timeBig Daddy was shortened to “Daddy”. Thename stuck. It is very fitting that someonewho helped and guided so many should begiven such a warm and endearing nickname.

One only has to look at the School’s calendarof events to see the legacy left by “Daddy”Stancombe. He was the motivating forcebehind a large number of School activities.Some of these were initiated by him andothers developed through his drive andenergy. For example, every February, 500students and staff travel to Whistler/Blackcomb to enjoy a day of skiing. Ski daywas started by Mr. Stancombe some 20 yearsago as an extension of his love of theoutdoors and outdoor pursuits.

This same love drove Mr. Stancombe to runthe senior scouting activities at the School,

which eventually turned into an extensive outdooreducation program. Initially, the outdoors programtook the form of weekend camping trips and an end-of-year trip for the Scouts, Venturers, and Rovers. In1979, he started the first grade-wide outdoors tripwhen the Grade 10 class went to Strathcona Park. Afew years later the Sea-to-Sky program wasdeveloped and over the next 15 years more gradesand trips were added. Eventually, this program washanded over to Neil Piller '85, one of Mr. Stancombe’sformer students, and now the program caters to tengrades at the School.

Mr. Stancombe was an active coach. He has been akey figure in organizing many rugby tours to variousparts of the globe, helping develop a tradition thatremains very strong today. For some 25 years, hecoached the senior basketball team, keeping thesport alive in a School which, at that time, wasconcentrating more on other sports like Rugby andTrack. After handing the senior team over to Mr. DaveWilson, in 1990 he started a program for the othersenior students who wished to play. This programand team was known for years as “Daddyball”. Allbasketball players, especially those who have played“Daddyball” owe Mr. Stancombe a great deal for hiscare and involvement in this sport for so many years.

Mr. Stancombe is an avid golfer, and despite coachingtrack as well, he started a golf team in 1980. Sincethen, golf has been another successful program. Theannual society golf tournament, the StancombeClassic, recognizes his commitment to this sport.Moreover, Mr. Stancombe ran the tuck shop for years,giving senior students a place to buy snacks andsatisfy a sweet tooth. The tuck shop has gonethrough several transformations over the years andhas most recently been scaled up to Saints’ Café.

Mr. Stancombe was the School’s first woodworkingteacher and he established that course in 1975. Healso developed the foundations of our currentbusiness courses. While veterans of Mr. Stancombe’sclass will have their own memories, we hope thefollowing items remind some Georgians of their timein room #25 later #212.

• In Raymond Alberta, they grow sugar beets; youcan remember this because Ray Stevenson is sucha sweet guy.

• In Cassiar they do “asbestos they can”.

• 25 cent fines for “swinging” on your chair.

• Eating in class? How about a free sample of Mr.Stancombe’s magic powder (a mixture of chalkdust, plaster of Paris, pepper, and chilli powder thatwould leave your mouth dry for a week).

Perhaps Mr. Stancombe’s most significant achieve-ment has been the initiation and development of theSchool’s Hamper Drive. This enterprise started as ascouting venture and involved about a dozen boysproducing 20 or so hampers in the mid 1970s. No onewould have imagined that those humble beginningswould have developed into one of the largestcharitable Christmas drives in Vancouver. Theinitiation and growth of this wonderful programcame from Mr. Stancombe alone. As you know, everyDecember the Hamper drive unites the society,bringing students, teachers, past and current parents,and Georgians together. Over the past 30 years,

thousands of needy families have had theirChristmas delivered in several large brown boxesfrom St. George’s.

An article about Mr. Stancombe would not becomplete without at least recounting a few of manythe many colourful stories about him.

I have been on several adventures with Mr.Stancombe, some as a student, and many as a friend.Many do not belong in this forum, some are too long,but three come to mind. At the end of each schoolyear, Mr. Stancombe organized a year-end campingtrip for senior students. Students would load up the“Country Van”, a green Econoline Ford van bought byMr. Stancombe to be used for the burgeoningoutdoors program. It was called the country vanbecause the radio tuner was stuck on a country-music station. The country van had only 12 seats(although on many trips to Balaclava Park for trackpractice, Mr. Stancombe managed to squeeze in afew more—I think 22 was the record) so a trailer wasneeded to hold supplies.

On this particular trip, Mr. Stancombe had comeacross a large rock that had some geologicalsignificance. It was picked up and put in the trailer tobe brought back to the School’s geography lab. Thetrailer always appeared to be a bit rickety, but it didhold a great deal of camping gear, and on thisoccasion carried a 30-pound rock. Even more ricketywas the trailer hitch. On a back road in the interior ofBC, the country van was loaded with boys, the trailerwas loaded, with “loaded” being the operative word,much like a catapult might be loaded. It was loadedand well balanced with camping gear and the rock.The road curved downhill and was a little bumpy,bumpy enough to shake loose the trailer from thehitch. Driving down hill, the van picked up somespeed and so did the trailer, which was nowoperating independently from the tow vehicle. Thevan might have been travelling at 40 or 45 miles perhour; the trailer a little faster—fast enough to passthe van on the inside shoulder of the road!

Now picture, if you will, the pastoral scene of acountry road in the interior of BC on a warm, earlysummer’s day. This quiet road is winding downhillthrough pines and grasses and at the bottom of thehill is a little cabin; someone’s homestead or retreatfrom the hectic city. All of a sudden, a small campingtrailer comes hurtling into the picture, runningdownhill with a mind of its own. Fortunately, as theslope diminished, so did the trailer’s speed, but onlyslightly. The bumpiness of the road did cause theload to shift, unbalancing the trailer, which begantilting forward. Short of the cabin, the trailer’s hitchhit the ground, and dug into the gravel, pitching thetrailer and all its contents forward with the force of asmall trebuchet.

Tents, pots, pans, sleeping bags, I think a cooler, andits contents, and other camping equipment wentflying, scattering across the front of the cabin. Therock however did have significantly more inertia thanthe other items. This rock shrugged off the binds ofgravity and arched into the blue sky travelling everhigher and further. Imagine the resident of this cabinseeing this accident unfold before him; the chargingtrailer, the flying camping gear, and the graniteprojectile. Within a few seconds the peaceful scenefrom his front porch is transformed and his cabin in

peril. Every imaginable piece of camping equipmentwas scattered across the front of his property. Thenthere was a flying rock, a projectile of considerableforce and apparent malevolence. Fortunately it hadsufficient energy to clear the front of the cabin andland, with significant impact, in an uncluttered anduncultivated area of the property.

Quickly, the trailer was recovered and repacked, withno significant damage to property, trailer, orequipment. The rock was recovered. A littlechagrined and a lot relieved, the troop moved on.Camping with Mr. Stancombe was always a littleexciting and very entertaining.

Some people have a sweet tooth, Mr. Stancombedoes not—he has a hot one. He loves hot peppers,hot sauce, anything spicy. I myself have fallen victimto his cooking and his random addition of chilliesand hot sauce to seemingly benign food. On oneoccasion we were in Sydney on a rugby tour. It wasvery hot. On our travels we came upon a pepperbush growing in someone’s front yard. You will havenoticed those ornamental pepper plants you canbuy and place on a side table as decoration. They arenot meant to be eaten, unless you are Daddy. Thiswas a large bush, full of ripe peppers. Mr. Stancombenot only tried one, but he managed to get themajority of the touring party to try one. Mr.Stancombe found them very hot; the rest of thetouring party found them to be life threatening!Bring out the water! We had none.

The bus, driving our tour party to our next venue, wasquite a sight. Every window that could open wasopened and out of every such window jutted thehead of one boy with his mouth wide open and histongue hanging out trying to catch some breeze in avain attempt to cool his burning mouth.

A final memory of Geof speaks to his considerableabilities as a salesman. In 2000, we were crossingfrom Chile into Argentina on a rugby tour and wehad been met by a border guard, who was preparingto have our entire bus unload—all the boys and allthe bags off the bus and all the bags unpacked. Mr.Stancombe started talking to him in a casual waythrough broken English and Spanish. Commonground was soon established; we played rugby andso did the guard; we were from Canada and thereforeharmless. Mr. Stancombe got more creative andsomehow the guard got the impression that theboys were impoverished youths, possibly orphans,racing to catch a connecting train or plane donatedto our use. The guard received a rugby tour pin and ahat (note: a single pin and cap!), and we were back onthe road with only a quick passport check and littledelay. The minivan with supporters and parentsfollowing us ended up getting through the border,but only after coughing up some $250 (US) to thesame guard.

Mr. Stancombe’s legacy will long be remembered. Hislong-term impact on the School, its teachers, and itsstudents will be felt for a very long time and notforgotten. He has been a mentor to many and afriend to all and the School has benefited from hisgenerous ideas and is richer for his energy andstrenuous efforts in these halls. Long may hismemory remain!

Spring 2008 • 49

SAYING GOODBYE TO A LEGEND

1965Jeff Goller completed a milestone ofinstalling his 50th water feature. After along banking career, Jeff wanted to trysomething different and is now in his10th year of Goller Grade and GravelLLC, which is an Envirostar-certifiedcom-pany. This Christmas he installed awater feature in San Jose to help hiseldest son get started in the business.He loves what he does and his webpagewww.WeDoPonds.com, reflects thesesentiments. Jeff enjoys spending hisleisure time with family and friends attheir Hood Canal beach house andplying the waters of the Puget Sound onhis boat, the Alice Louise, named after his28 year-old daughter. He also has threesons (13, 30, and 37), a wife of 19 years,artist Carrie Goller, plus three younggrandsons. It doesn’t get much betterthan this. Jeff believes he received agood foundation at St. George’s School.

1967Steve Housser writes: “Although I amnot the official ‘biographer’ for the Classof ’67, I have recently bumped into a fewmates from that fine year and am happyto pass on some bits and pieces.Recently four of us happened togetherfor lunch at the Bengal Room at theEmpress in Victoria. The sparkplug wasTerry Burns, who, like me, left Saints forShawnigan. Burns was in town for hisyoungest daughter's volleyball game.By coincidence, another travellingvolleyball dad was Duncan Manson.Duncan and Terry tracked down FrankGordon Rush, and I was summoned tojoin them for a quick catch-up. Mansonis a successful Vancouver lawyer, Burns athriving Vancouver special eventsconsultant. Rush, of Victoria, is trying hishand at retirement after being acontractor in Vancouver and thenVictoria. We traded news, which I willpass on here, but cannot vouch for itsaccuracy has apparently traded sides,going from the Prosecutor’s Officewhere he put baddies away to privatepractice and keeping them out. RickSterling is a space science engineer atUC Berkeley and big Al Hudson,another lawyer of several produced bythe Class of ’67, was recently seen by meat the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. He wasperched in the Grand Pooh Bah's box asone of the top 'adjudicators'—a seniorreferee watching the work of the on-field refs, ready to arbitrate any

accusations of incompetence orunfairness. Fraser Flemming wasmentioned in dispatches—somethingabout gold mines in Ghana. Craig Fleckplays a mean game of tennis and one ofClarke McKeen's five sons, Stanley ’00,is playing rugby for Canada. I am sureother names were mentioned but anyreport on them would either be toohazy or scandalous to print here. “

1975After 13 years in Sweden as Dean ofInternational Relations at JonkopingUniversity, Peter Hilton, together withhis wife, Sofi, children, Emily, 14, andNicholas, 10, are moving to Kamloops.Paul has taken a position as AssociateVice President of Enrollment atThompson Rivers University.

1978After a long professorial stint at theUniversity of Cambridge and a shortone at the University of St. Andrews,Markus Bockmeuhl moved again in2007 to become Professor of Biblicaland Early Christian Studies at theUniversity of Oxford, with a Fellowshipat Keble College. His wife Celia works asan art conservator at the OxfordConservation Consortium. They live in a

beautiful village in Buckinghamshirewith three daughters and two sons,born between 1996 and January of2007.

Paul Mitchell-Banks has returned torunning Central Coast Consulting(www.centralcoastconsulting.org), afirm that he established back in 1989when he left corporate banking.Focusing on environmental, business,First Nations, and forestry services, Paulworks in areas such as environmentalassessments, multi-party facilitationand mediation, socio-economic studies,strategic and business planning,regional economic development, landand resource management, andplanning and international research. InApril of this year he was invited as anexpert on mountains and planning toparticipate in a European StrategicWorkshop at Innsbruck, Austria. Thismonth, he goes to Holland toparticipate in a workshop meeting on alarge European research project onforests, trees, human health and well-being. In June, he is taking his father,William, to France for an InternationalForestry Symposium, forestry course,and forestry tour put on by ENGREF—France’s premier forestry institute. InAugust, he goes to Norway for anotherresearch meeting and to work on abook. He lives in Kitsilano with

50 • The Dragon

SAINTS’ NOTES

Jeff Goller '65 and family.

SAINTS’ NOTES

Spring 2008 • 51

Catherine Leckie, two boys, two dogs,and a cat . He would welcome hearingfrom old school mates.

1981Gordon Clark was recently appointedDeputy News Editor of The Provincenewspaper.

1983Paul Harder recently released anotherfine funk album, Dee-Funked, featuringhis sax playing and more great tracksincluding "Trail Of The Yellow Tail", "AllJammed Out", "Pulled The Plug For MyBaby", "Box Spring Boppin'", "Goin'Down, Down, Down", "We Want TheScotch", "Dr. Jekyll's Jam ", "Don't SmellThat Chig No More" and "Meet Ya AtBab"s".

Malcom Stewart lives in the Bostonarea where he is a partner in a tech-nology focused merchant bank.

1985Ian Indridson is taking a few months'career break after nine years with the BCGovernment and six years in advert-ising. Most recently, he served asManager, Writing and Editorial Services,overseeing the unit that producesspeeches, statements, and othermaterials for Premier Campbell. He livesby the sea in Victoria and remains anavid cyclist, car nut, and ball-hockeygoalie.

1987Peter Black writes that after almost 21years away from the School, it is time forhis first class note. After medical schoolin Mainz, Germany and Urologyresidency at the University ofWashington in Seattle and UrologicOncology Fellowship at MD AndersonCancer Center in Houston, Texas, he isreturning to Vancouver in July 2008 toassume a faculty position at UBC,Vancouver General Hospital and theProstate Centre as a urologist focusingon bladder, prostate, kidney, andtesticular cancer. He has been out of thecountry for 17 years and will return withhis wife of 17 years, Carrie, and theirthree children: Anna 11, David 9, andJulian 6.

Christopher Patton’s book of poems,Ox, was a finalist for the Dorothy LivesayPrize for poetry.

1988Peter Giles is currently working on aninteresting job as an actor—voicing aregular part on an animated comedyseries called The Life and Times of Timwhich will air in June on HBO for 10episodes.

Jens-Erik Walter has been married toMiranda for 12 years and has fourchildren (Aidan, Chloe, Isabella, and JackElliott). He was recently appointed theDirector of the Division of Urogynaec-ology and Pelvic Floor ReconstructiveSurgery at the McGill University HealthCentre and is Assistant Professor in theDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaec-ology at McGill.

1989J. Jasper Lament has been living in theUS for 15 years, but is moving back toVancouver. After nine years working inwildlife conservation, he has accepted aposition at BC Hydro. He will be workingin the Safety, Health, and Environmentgroup.

Andrew Warren has a two-year postingto Cyprus, where he will be a companycommander in the British Army. He willbe accompanied by his wife and son,William.

1990Michael Hungerford is a real estatedeveloper with the Hungerford Group(www.hungerfordgroup.com), and lives near City Hall in Vancouver.

After 10 years in the private sector withWCG International Consultants, CarlJensen has joined the Public Service asa Project Manager for the Ministry ofSmall Business and Revenue. He hasbecome a Scottish Highland Gamesathlete throwing cabers, stones,hammers, and weights and he sits onthe following boards: Peninsula Rec-reation Commission, Central SaanichAdvisory Planning Commission, VictoriaHighland Games Association, and thePacific Northwest Scottish Association.He lives in Victoria with his wife andthree children.

1991After 10 years in New York, ReyazKassamali has moved back to Canadaand is now based in Toronto. He isManaging Director at Hilco ConsumerCapital, a retail/consumer-focusedprivate equity firm.

Carl Laudan just completed his firstfeature film. It is called Sheltered Life, anensemble-drama. He produced (withLori Lozinski), directed, and edited thefilm. They were supported by TelefilmCanada, BC Film and the Federal andProvincial tax credits. They have beeninvited to Perspective Canada Cannesby Telefilm Canada, one of only ten filmsin the country to receive this honour.

1992Jason Chan is at Blast Radius, a strategicinteractive agency based in Vancouverand was working in the Toronto officefor two years. Last fall, he was promotedto Associate Director of Strategy andtransferred to New York to grow the USoperations.

1993Scott Earthy recently moved back toNew York with his wife, Carolyn, to take aposition with Ingleside Investors.Ingleside is an investment group thatprimarily manages money on behalf ofthe New York-based Israel family. He willbe making direct company investmentsalong with investing in private equityfunds and building a private equityfund-of-funds business. He looksforward to reconnecting with all NewYork-based Georgians.

Oliver Linsley is currently producinghis first feature film, Machotaildrop.

1995Andrew Carros is thrilled to share a fewmilestones in his life. He has beenworking in the real estate industry forthe past five years and has just joinedSothebys International Realty Canada asa sales associate working with his father,Greg, who is now the managing brokerfor the Vancouver office.

SAINTS’ NOTES

52 • The Dragon

Nicholas Harvey will complete his PhDin Theoretical Computer Science at theMassachusetts Institute of Technologyin June 2008. He will be a post-doctoralresearcher at Microsoft Research for oneyear and then start as AssistantProfessor of Mathematics at theUniversity of Waterloo in the fall of2009.

1997Robert Carruthers and fiancée, MollieDahlgren, are graduating from theTulane University School of Medicine inNew Orleans. After graduation, they willmove to Boston in order to start theirmedicine internships at MassachusettsGeneral Hospital, a Harvard affiliate.Following an intern year, Robert willbegin a neurology residency atMassachusetts General.

After spending his formative years inNew York on Madison Avenue, NickGudewill has returned home toVancouver to apply his trade tosomething he's truly passionateabout—adventure! Nick co-founded anew travel and tour operator calledExposure, which will be launched thisspring in British Columbia. It used to bethat one had to choose between high-intensity and high thread count whenbooking a vacation. Now, travellersdon’t need to decide between the thrillof off-the-beaten-path exploration andopulent accommodation, service, anddining. Exposure merges adventureand luxury while serving a niche groupof high-end travellers.

Nick believes that BC is the new frontierof adventure ecotourism. In an effort tokeep it this way, Exposure is one of anemerging group of Green companies, sotravellers can forget about their carbonfootprint and focus on their trailblazing.

For more info on how to book a trip seewww.exposure.travel.

Ben Remocker has qualified for the2008 Olympics in Beijing in the sport ofsailing. More information can be foundat www.49erskiffsailing.com.

1998Rehman Campbell recently started aposition as a Defence Policy Adviserwith the Privy Council Office Afghan-istan Task Force.

After stints in San Francisco withGrammy Award-Winning Acappellavocal group Chanticleer, and originatingthe role of Haldir in the world-premierestage adaptation of The Lord of theRings, Fraser Walters is involved with anew project called the Canadian Tenors.Following a cross-Canada tour with thePower Within conferences (where theyshared the stage with such luminariesas Bill Clinton, Quincy Jones, AnthonyRobbins, and Hilary Swank), they willsoon embark on tours of North America,Asia, and Europe. Their debut studioalbum was recorded both in Stockholm,Sweden, and Toronto with Grammy andJuno-winning producers and will bereleased in the fall. More informationcan be found at:www.canadiantenors.com.

2000David Hammond is graduating thisspring from the Canadian MemorialChiropractic College in Toronto and willreturn to Vancouver to start practisingthis summer.

Alykhan Sunderji was electedPresident of the Students’ Law Societyat the University of Toronto. In May, hewill be starting as a summer associate at

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton andGarrison LLP in New York.

2004Alexander Demner has graduatedfrom the University of Calgary with adegree in Political Science, and a degreein International Relations (awarded withDistinction). In September 2007, hebegan studying law at Queen’sUniversity. He hopes to specialise inInternational Law.

Simon Dyakowski has graduated fromthe University of Western Ontario with aBA in Finance.

2007Matthew Hayto has completed his firstyear at Columbia University, studyingFinancial Engineering. He is a memberof the Global Recruitment Committee,which interacts with all prospectivestudents from around the world. He isalso on the rowing team. He hopes anyGeorgians visiting New York will contacthim.

BIRTHSAndrew Carros ’95 and his wife, Lisa, ason, Tyler Alexander, born July 29, 2007.

David Crerar ’87 and his wife JuliaLawn, a daughter, Isla Margaret LawnCrerar, born March 3, 2008.

Bryan Poon ’89 and his wife Kellie, ason, Dylan Alexander, born December29, 2007

Nick Gudewill '97

Dylan Alexander Poon

Malcolm Stewart ’83 and his wife,Michele, a daughter, Claire Virginia.

Bob Tinkess ’76 and his wife, Pam a son,Sean Alexander, born January 4, 2008.

Andrew Warren ’89 and his wife,Catherine, a son, William George Arthur,born October 7, 2007.

Brenton Wilke, faculty, and his wife,Joanna, a daughter, Annastasya Lynn,born January 13, 2008. Brenton is acomputer graphics and animationteacher at the Senior School.

MARRIAGESMichael Hungerford ’90 to JenniferLaderoute on September 8, 2007.

John McCormack ’99 to HannahChapmanon September 29, 2007 inVancouver BC. Groomsmen werebrothers Brendan McCormack ’02,Liam McCormack ’06, and classmateAndrew Davidson ’99. Beau Chapman’01 was head usher.

Wai-Shan Lam ’92 to Noelle Ho in May2008 in Hokkaido, Japan. Eric Yau ’92was one of the groomsmen.

PASSINGSPeter C. Claman ’47 on October 26,2007 at Merritt, BC.

Kathleen Crerar on February 25, 2008at Vancouver, BC. Kathleen was a long-time kindergarten teacher at AthloneSchool in Kerrisdale, mother of formerSchool Governor Tony Crerar, andgrandmother of David Crerar ’87.

William (Bill) J. Curran ’57 on October12, 2007 at Vancouver, BC.

Grant Wilcock Dominy ’46 on January10, 2008 at Victoria, BC.

Gordon (Buck) R. Gilley ’42 onDecember 31, 2007. Head Boy and apast Member of the Society Board ofDirectors. Father of Ross ’73 andGraham ’76 and grandfather ofSpencer ’08, Patrick ’10, and Blake’13.

Thomas P. Graham ’54 on October 13,2007 at Victoria, BC.

Andrew J.K. (Budge) Jukes ’38 onFebruary 8, 2008 at Parksville, BC. Fatherof Andrew ’65 and grandfather of Mark’00 and Jeffrey ’01.

Donald P. B. Napier on December 5,2007 at Salt Spring Island, BC. PastMember of the Society Board ofDirectors and father of Christopher ’96.

Arthur H. Sager on September 22, 2007at Victoria, BC. A former faculty memberwho received both a DFC and theFrench Legion d’Honneur during histime as a spitfire pilot during World WarII, and father of Eric ’62.

FACULTY NEWSCongratulations to Emek Benny whoreceived the Edith May Sliffe Award in2006 for “distinguished teaching inmathematics” in preparing students towrite the American MathematicsCompetitions. This award is givenannually to 24 North Americanteachers. Duoli Peng’07 and James Chen’07 recommended that Mr. Benny be arecipient at the request of theMathematical Association of Americathe School having achieved a very highteam score.

Mr. Christian Duhme, who is theSchool's Head of Biology, was awarded a2007 BIOTE Canada–Biogen IdecTeaching Excellence Award by PeterBrenders, President and CEO ofBIOTECanada, in recognition of hisachievements in providing studentswith curriculum focused on biotech-nology discovery. The award waspresented during the BioPartneringNorth America conference recently heldin Vancouver. The prize includes a$2,500 award presented to the winningteacher and their school. Visitwww.biotech.ca for details on the 2008competition.

Eric Stewart is retiring after 29 years.See Page 27.

Rob Stickney is retiring after 27 years. See Page 17.

Michael Hungerford '90 and wife, Jennifer

SAINTS’ NOTES

Spring 2008 • 53

Sean Alexander Tinkess

John McCormack '99 and wife, Hannah

54 • The Dragon

Craig stepped into God’s other country fromVancouver General Hospital in the wee hoursof the morning after a difficult time withesophageal and stomach cancer. He was mostgrateful for the care given to him by the staffwho did their best to find him some measureof comfort and was at peace in his final hours.

Craig was best friend and husband to Gail,loving father to Jeremy (Erin), and Robert(Alexa) and proud grandfather to Joshua.Craig was most pleased that his father James(Mary) brother, Brian, and sister, Megan, madeit from Ontario to say good bye, his othersister, Marcia, predeceased him. At the last,Craig had put away regrets and wascelebrating his blessings.

There were blessings in abundance. Inaddition to the joys of family, Craig had a lifelong passion for mathematics and education.He inspired his students to be able to do mathand love it. He mentored and inspired hiscolleagues to excellence in teaching. He was

working on a PhD in Math education in hisretirement and enjoyed teaching pre-serviceteachers. Craig also had a passion for sports.The teacher came out in him again as hecoached generations of kids in track and fieldand cross country. Craig and Gail both lovedthe outdoors and spent many days, weekendsand holidays in God’s creation, from the localriver and mountain hikes to the heights of Mt.Killimanjaro. Craig also gave of his blessings,active in environmental action and peace andjustice issues through the Anglican Church.

A memorial service was held on SaturdayMarch 29 at St. Anne’s, Steveston AnglicanChurch, 4071 Francis Road, Richmond, BC.

In lieu of flowers and enabling Craig’s lifelongwork and interest in mathematics educationto continue, donations may be made to theCraig Newell Memorial Mathematics Edu-cation Scholarship Fund Care of Simon FraserUniversity, Advancement Office, 8888University Drive, Burnaby BC V5A 1S6.

NEWELL, JAMES CRAIGMarch 28, 1950–March 27, 2008

Reunion WeekendSaints

September 19 and 20, 2008

1932–1958 | 1963 | 1968 | 1973 | 1978 | 1983 | 1988 | 1993 | 1998 | 2003

We invite all Georgians from classes ending in 3s and 8s, alongwith all Senior Georgians (those celebrating their 50th reunion

and beyond) to enjoy a weekend of fraternity and reunion.

Friday, September 196:00 pm: Reunion Weekend Kickoff Reception for all Participants

St. George’s School, Senior Campus, Great Hall

7:30 pm: Class Dinners (organized by each class)Venues Off-Campus

7:30 pm: Senior Georgians’ Dinner for Those Celebrating their 50th Reunion and Beyond St. George’s School,

Senior Campus, McLean Hall

Saturday, September 20School will be open for those who wish to tour or to make use of the facilities.

Classes events are organized by each respective class.

For more information:

www.reunionweekend.ca

Want to know what’sgoing on at the School?Want to make sure thatyou get invitations to allof our exciting events?

Then make sure to signup on the

Georgian Directory.

By doing so, you willreceive our

email updates and our E-Newsletter,

the Dragon’s Lair!Also, you can locate andcontact other Georgians!

DIRECTORYGeorgianGeorgian

Visit:

www.georgians.ca-> Staying Connected

-> Georgian Directory

STAFF PASSING

From The Vancouver Sun. March 28, 2008

1960Barry F. Adams Nicholas Bazovsky David R. Beach Robert L. Beach Evan A. Burnett Richard B. Campbell Timothy J. Cummings Donald F. Dally Edward A. Emerson T. Michael Ferguson George E. Horsman J. Barry Hughes W. Peter Marshall John G. McCracken J.F. Ian Murray Richard A. Pearse

Gary J. Pringle Ian A. Rogers Ross Y. Simpson William "Bill" R. Strachan J. Michael Vaux Keith A. Werner

1961 Bruce H. Arbo Christopher C. Atkins Douglas C. Brazier Harvey R. Brown William R. Copp John A. Currie Grant W. Ferguson Roderick D. Jermain Bruce M. Lambert G. Stephen W. Nicoll Douglas B. Robson Donald A. Shaw D. Michael Treloar Floyd A. Trotter

1962 J. Kent Barbour Brian Campbell Robin W. Carlsen Richard E. Gibbs Michael C. Gow Cecil Hahn John S. Kennedy Ian D. Lambert Donald B. Magor Donald G. McAndrew R. Moodie John A. Porteous Ross W. Porter S. Murray Sager J.W. James Torrance Earl E. Wilder J.S. Wright

1963 R.V. Warren Bell J. Arthur Clark Michael B. Cox Edwin E. Crawford Patrick F. Crooks Kenneth A. Edwards Douglas C. Gordon David F. Gow Patrick H. Gray Andrew M. Harper J. William "Bill" Mackie William "Bill" A. McCleary Norman G. Patterson Gerald W. Potter J. Woods Adrian J. Wright

1964William E. Allan Brian R. Aycinena Michael A. Barratt David C. Brown Kenneth G. Brownridge Aidan P. Butterfield Ian M. Clay Bruce P. Dunlop Peter G. Ewart David W. Fladgate Paul Friser-Fredrickson Richard D. Gordon R. Shane Gordon William Hugh Lochhead Bruce W. McArthur Angus McDonald Nicholas J. McGowan David S. McPhee Blair R. McRae William "Bill" F. Morton Ralph D. Payne Donald A. Ratcliffe Robert J. Reynolds C. Kent Steele Benjamin A. Stevenson Peter Van Gelder Michael Vitins Wayne L. Wicks Donald A. Willan John H. Young

1965 David W. Ayre Robert W. Brown David D. Buchanan John M. Dean Douglas J. Ellis Paul H. Gilley N.A. Ranji Grewal

John F. Horsey Thomas Irwin William "Bill" B. Lewis David MacFarlane B. Neville George A. Norton P. Purdy Ronald A. Reinertson H. Alan Robitaille James S. Robson Christopher Rogers Paul S. Rogers Frank W. Skinner James P. Taylor A. West Philip M. Whitlock

1966 John C. Allan E. Dale Berry Christopher B. Blake P. Britton J. Brown Gregory H. Caple Donald N. Clay A. Crippen Alan W. Denis Robin M. Elliot Bryce G. Fleck B.J. Glendinning M. Robin Guss Douglas A. Hartt Roy M. Horie Brian T. Jackson Lionel R. Kent James "Jim" E. Macdonald Timothy I. McGee I.R. McClure John R. Nairn Timothy N. Richardson William "Bill" D. Ripley George B. Rush Robert L. Steele Arthur Van Gelder C. Andrew Wallace M. Warrior Bruce D. Waters G. Scott Williams

1967 Fraser M. Begg Robin A. Beukers James K. Bishop Richard Brenner Terrence Burns J. Chow Norman Clark Miles Clarke

M. Deacon Lee Dezendorf J. Doherty Grant Hadwin Brian Hardy J. Jongeneel A. Larkin J. McCarvill William "Bill" McCuaig Peter McGill D.I. "Mac" McLaren Richard R. Orr Peter B. Paine Michael Payne Richard Stevenson M. Vaughn N.R. "Deg" Whittall

1968 Richard C. Bell-Irving Daniel Bernstone Peter A. Bull John Burge Robert "Bob" H.J. Burgess Robert J. Cluff Nicholas P. Farr K. Hill Mark E. Huggard Brian A. Jones C. James K. Leedham Christopher B. McGill William J. Moore W. Clyde Morrison Wayne T. Naylor Marke A. Noble James J. Parker Robert "Bob" D. Phippen David Q. Potter George "Sandy" A. Ross Harvey F. Schroyen Robert "Bob" H. Scurlock David A. Shaw John P. Sigmundson Andrew L. Smith D. Stafford David H. Thomson

Duncan J. Thomson Robert J. Tyhurst Craig M. Walker Dana L. Wallace Rodney B. Wolfe William "Bill" G. Wright Timothy C. Yeomans

1969 Adrain Belshaw Paul Conway Lyall Davidson Robert Dodds Arthur Dunn Terence Dyke Robert Emerson Richard Farrant Kenneth France William "Bill" Fraser Robert Galpin David Harkness Douglas Jennings Douglas Jessiman Douglas Kerr Peter Leggat Thomas Luckey Marc McAllister Thomas McAndrew Charles Mitchell Alan Mitchell Michael Neilson Charles Parker Alistair Pollock Stephen Powell Michael Price Philip Schreiber Angus Stewart F. Alan Sweet Christopher Treasure Charles TupperJonathan Waddell Charles Woollett

HELP FIND AN OLD BOY!Not all of our Georgians worldwide are reading this issue of The Dragon.

That’s because we have lost touch with them over the years.

Without current contact information, we cannot communicate with them about upcoming events or meetings in their local areas,keep them updated with what is happening at the School, or even send them this magazine.

If you know the whereabouts of anyone on this list, please let us know how we can get in touch with them. Anything at all helps: anaddress, telephone number, e-mail, or work information.

Please contact Bryan R. Ide ’99, Manager of Georgian Relations, at [email protected] or (604) 221-3885.

THANK YOU!

For a complete list of lost Georgians, please visit our webpage at:www.lostgeorgians.ca

St. George’s School3851 West 29th Avenue, Vancouver BC V6S 1T6 Canada

RETURN ALL UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO:

40580507

Here is your opportunity to make your mark on ourbeautifully renovated Performing Arts Centre by purchasinga seat, on the site of the original Woodward Auditorium.

Your reasons for naming a seat in our theatre would bepersonal, but, no matter what they are, they would provideyou and your family with an excellent opportunity to:

• GIVE A UNIQUE GIFT

• HONOUR SOMEONE SPECIAL

• COMMEMORATE A SPECIAL OCCASION

• PAY TRIBUTE TO ST. GEORGE’S SCHOOL

Great seats are still available for only $1,000. You will receivea tax receipt for the full value and you may name the seat asyou wish. Not only is this a great way to recognize someonespecial or honour a significant event, your seat purchase willsupport the Endowment Fund for the Saints’ Players andensure that the School’s stellar Theatre Arts Programcontinues to thrive for years to come.

If you would like more information about the Saints’ Playersor to reserve your seat, please contact:Sara Getz Office of AdvancementTel: 604.222.5884 | Email: [email protected]

please take your seat.Ladies and Gentlemen,

“ You need t hree t hi ngs i n t he t heat re— t he pl ay, t he act ors, andt he audi ence, and each m ust gi ve som et hi ng.” - K ennet h Hai gh

The Dragon Spring 2008 Issue

Documents

georges schooleditorial3

junior school

georges school4175 west

georges old boys associationa

profiling georgians

arts saints

alex tsakumis

andrew cliff