The first day of school.

I found this image online. 

This is exactly like the notebooks which we received FREE from the Vancouver School board on the first day of school; one for each subject. We also got pencils, eraser, crayons, paste, scissors, etc, all provided for FREE. We didn't get a ball point pen until Grade 3 when we were 8 years old.

My Mom provided the box to keep our supplies in. It was always a used chocolate box, covered in mac-tac paper; sticky on one side, a pattern on the other side. I remember she bought it at Harvey's on Kingsway. We kept the box in our desks, and it was never stolen.

One of the very rare going to school photos I have.

We had a strict dress code in those days. Girls wore dresses and weren't allowed to wear pants. I didn't have a knapsack. I carried my books to school in a plastic bread bag, washed out and dried before using of course. I'm wearing a scarf on my head because I was prone to colds and later ear infections.

Here is Leona in the same year; 1967. She was in Kindergarten, so she was 5. I was 7 and in Grade 2 that year. I absolutely loved school! 

By Loretta Houben

School work in Grade One 1966 continued.

A scanned copy of my colouring skills at the tender age of 6.

I so loved to colour and I have kept all my colouring books.

This is underneath the little duck above, but I had to scan it in two sections.

I think my printing skills are exceptional for age 6, don't you?

I didn't like the hard crayons we had in school. They were given to us free with our other school supplies. They weren't made of wax but of some very hard substance. The colours were also very limited. We were given pencils, a jar of white paste, crayons, an eraser and a ruler. We were also given our lined notebooks, and notebooks which were half lined and half blank, for drawings.

We were also given lots of work like the images I'm scanning here.

We kept our school supplies in our own containers which we supplied, in our desks in the classroom. The door was kept locked after the bell rang, and nothing was ever stolen from my desk.

My school boxes were always a used chocolate box, covered in "mac-tac" paper which my Mom bought from Harvey's hardware store on Kingsway and Slocan Street. We were allowed to choose our own mac-tac paper, and we helped Mom cover the boxes on the Labour Day weekend.

If you read the above description closely you'll see that I didn't follow directions too well, and I guess I left off a drawing of the skates because I couldn't draw skates!

School work in Grade one: 1966

It's September which around here is school time for Canadian kids.

My only son left the nest years ago, and my school days seem a life time ago.

However I always remember school days during this month, as summer winds to a close, and before Thanksgiving arrives on the second Monday in October.

I dug through my old school things, and decided to scan some of my ancient school work into the computer and post a few choice items here.

Do any of you living in Canada remember Janet and John, Lucky and Buttons, Mother and Father and little Anne? (spelled with an "e") On the exercise above I had to cut and paste the matching names. I see I got an "A" but didn't have time to colour! I was always a perfectionist and found it a  little tricky to keep up in class. My teacher for Grade One at Sir Wilfred Grenfell Elementary School on Wellington Avenue in Vancouver BC was Miss White. I hated her with a passion. She was very young, blonde haired, stylishly dressed, strict and had beautiful printing and handwriting. I also had her for Grade Two. After two years of striving, I did manage to learn neat printing and handwriting, skills which I kept all my life. Thank you, Miss White!

Here is my Grade One Class. There is the pretty Miss White on the right.

Isn't her blonde hair lovely? But beware; she has no patience for young girls in class!

I'm sadly not in this photo. I had one of my perpetual fall colds at the time. 

Here are the names of the pupils as I remember them:

Back row, left to right: Paulo Burlo, Howard Bird, ?, ?, Michael Poropat

Next row: Steven Stack,?,?,?,?,?  I can't remember any of these!

3rd row from top: Stephen ?, Gordon ?, Debbie Bear, Carolyn Farrel, Heather Mason, ?, Miss White

Bottom row: Shirley Lee, ?, Tracy McGovern, Diana Scotland, Nancy Moore, Michelle Rafferty, Louise Haw, ?

Whew, that was a strain on the brain! 

All in all, I loved Grade One.

By Loretta Houben

A frosty ramble...

Today, January 3, 2013 was a gorgeous rare day in Vancouver!

The sun shone and it was -2 C.

I bundled up and headed outdoors for a walk in my neighbourhood at 9:15 am.

These photos are part of the frosty landscape.

I just love days like this. They are a rare jewel around here.

The frosty moss on our front sidewalk.

I love how this photo turned out!

Look at the size of the cedar tree on the left.

This is the back of the school building where I attended Grade 1 and 2.

The main school building. You can't see it too well, but there is a hopscotch pattern painted on the cement under the window. My friends and I used to play here for hours.

The side door is where my Mom used to pick me up after Kindergarten was let out.

The old building; Sir Wilfred Grenfell School.

The memories I have of this place!

Another view of the old building. A wheelchair ramp has been added.

Dan Partington used to eat apples underneath this side porch; he ate the seeds too!

I rambled about for 45 minutes and it was fun to take these shots.

My high school friends...

I've kept in touch with a few of my high school friends, and we meet once a year for our "40th" birthday. Tee hee...we are way past 40 now, but it's humerous in a way. And we need humour in our lives! So here we are on Sunday, Nov 18, 2012, meeting for a scrumptious lunch at the Bacchus Restaurant in the Wedgewood Hotel downtown Vancouver. I'm on the right with Heather and Helen beyond me, and Cyndy, Ellen, Anne and Georgina are on the left.

Here is our lovely lunch. I had halibut and it was superb.

The price here isn't cheap, but the ambiance is worth it! We had a room all to ourselves.

Another view with Anna on the right.

A delicious $30 dessert shared among 4 of us. It doesn't look like much, but it was wonderful, especially the banana pudding on the left.

It's so nice to keep in touch. I met all these friends in 1974, which is nearly 40 years ago! Most of them were in my Lit class or Social Studies class, and the rest always sat at the same lunch table for four years. I have many happy memories of my high school time. It was one of the highlights in my life. (believe it or not)

These photos are the bathroom in the Wedgewood Hotel.

I just love this place! Have you ever seen a bathroom like this?

Matthew's 1st day of school

Matthew with his teacher, Miss Tiu, at VCS.

He loved Kindergarten. He had no problem leaving me. I didn't worry about him at all, because he loved learning new things, and he still does. Because he was an only child, he had a bit of a problem with sharing, but on the whole he got along well with the kids, and enjoyed making friends. His favourite activity was the fire pole in the room. He loved to slide down it "one last time" when I came to pick him up. He also loved the monkey bars on the playground. It's been 16 years since he had his first day of school. I really don't know where the time goes! I'm glad we had the chance to send him to a private Christian school for his elementary school years.

A fond memory; Sport's Day!

This photo was taken in front of our home on Monmouth Street in May 1968.

The event we're all dressed up for was the parade at Sir Wilfred Grenfell School.

I'm on the left, Leona is next to me, and Marlene is on the right.

We're proudly wearing old dresses and our Mom's hats!

Our mom decorated our doll buggies with crepe paper and coloured Kleenex pom-poms. (do any of you remember coloured Kleenex and coloured toilet paper?)

I don't know what Leona had in her doll buggy, but I had one of my favourite teddy bears. He was huge!

We trudged up the street to school, and walked around the school grounds twice,

with all the parents sitting in chairs, drinking their coffee. Everyone's Moms were there, and sometimes a few Dads. Once or twice my Dad came too. We adored Sport's Day. We each got a free ticket for a hot dog and drink, and an ice cream bar. We ran in races and won lovely ribbons. I couldn't run well, so I wasn't in many races, but I loved it all anyhow!

Best of all, we got to go home at noon, and it was the start of

the long weekend, as Monday was always Victoria Day!