Memories of Past Times

Memories of Appleby (continued) Music I love music of all types. In one of my last years at Appleby, I had two musical instruments, a radio, and a portable record player. Each morning, when I woke up, I’d listen to the morning man at CHUM 1050 radio, Al Boliska . Al was funny, interesting, and played the music I and many others liked! The second musical, the portable record player, I played at night. Back then, I was able to join the Columbia Record Club . They would send me a different LP record each month. Artists included Johnny Cash , Elvis Presley , Ricky Nelson , Roy Hamilton and more. It was a great time for music. I wish that I had keep the albums! (to be continued)

Memories of Appleby (continued) Chocolate Like most people, I am fond of chocolate. Okay, I really enjoy a chocolate treat, at least I did until my Appleby roommate (I think his name was Mike Ford … ( sorry, this happened a long time ago, so my memory is a little foggy! ) offered a piece of chocolate that he had brought from home. By the way, his home was in Brazil . That should have been my first clue. Anyway, he offered me the chocolate and I accepted. It was night, and the room was dark. I started to eat the chocolate, it tasted great, but it was a bit crunchy. I asked “ Mike ” what kind of chocolate he had given me. He said that it was a specialty in Brazil, and that the “crunch” were “ ANTS ”! I was stunned! It wasn’t that the chocolate tasted bad, it was just the thought of ANTS . I gaged and tried to spit it out. That was the last time I accepted chocolate in the dark and ate it. For Mike it was just natural, something he was use to eating. I am sure he thought that I would l...

Memories of Appleby (continued) Halloween The second teacher incident took place one Halloween evening. I was too young at the time, but several older boys were involved. The next day the whole story came out ( gossip ). As they say, “ Here’s the rest of the story ”! Late on that eventful Halloween evening a group of boys snuck out of their rooms. It was a very dark evening, so they were able to process undetected. One of the teachers had parked his car in the Colley House parking lot. His car was a Volkswagen “ Beetle ”. Together, they lifted the car off the parking lot onto the grass that surrounded the parking lot. From there they were able to push the car onto the lower football field. The car wasn’t discover until the next morning. During our morning breakfast, there was a lot of “ snickering ” going on, as the story was spread around the hall. Fortunately, the teacher who owned the car had an amazing sense of humour and took it all in stride. No vehicle was “ harmed ” in ...

Memories of Appleby (continued)   Science Class We had one science teacher who wasn’t appreciated. I can’t remember his name ( perhaps I just don’t want to remember! ), but I do remember the incident. We were in the classroom before he arrived and we all decided to trick him. We were all going to follow an " imaginary bug " around the classroom. We did this until he stormed out of the room. We thought it was very funny and that we were very clever, but in retrospect, it really wasn’t! Fortunately, we didn’t do anything like that again to him or any other teachers.

Memories of Appleby (continued)   Reading When I entered at Appleby Collage , I couldn’t read. With plenty of private lessons, I became a ferocious reader. At times, I couldn’t read enough! As I mentioned, I even read at night when the lights were out. You know, “ have flashlight, will read under the covers ”!  My love of reading, and writing, has followed me all through my life. Many thanks to that “ long ago ” English teacher! Teachers Speaking of teachers, believe it or not, sometimes, boys will be cruel, thinking that something is funny, when it’s not really. I can think of two occasions when “ boys shouldn’t have been boys ”! (to be continued)

Memories of Appleby (continued)   Daylight Savings Time Each May, “ Standard Time ” would become “ Daylight Savings Time ”. This gave us an extra hour to play! Appleby College has wonderful grounds that include ( is it still there?) a wooded area. It was a great area to play “ hide and seek ” or any other fun game or activity, we (I) could think of. During these Daylight Saving Time periods at Appleby , I can remember running through the woods. It seemed to be a time of “ ultimate freedom ”. I was always sad when the hour was up, but looked forward to the next evening when I could run again in the woods, and explore all it offered!

Memories of Appleby (continued) Murray , because he and his family lived quite close to where I lived. As a result, we often car pooled on Sundays. We also played through holidays. I remember one Halloween we went “ trick or treating ” in his area. Frankly, it didn’t go that well! We ended up having neighbours and police looking for us. We, of course, we innocent of any mayhem, but our outing didn’t last as long as e had planned! Boys will be boys! Aubrey’s family lived close to the school. They had a large property and I remember one Sunday when my parents were away, Aubrey invited me to spend the afternoon (lunch) with his family. We had lunch, and then Aub introduced me to a different attraction, small electric cars (no Tesla’s back then!). I had never experienced driving on my own, but my mother had let me sit on her knee and steer her car. This experience was very different, driving on my own, driving a CAR! There were “roads” on Aubrey’s property, so we could “ drive ” a fair d...

Memories of Appleby I spent 5 years at Appleby College , from grade 5 to grade 9. They were, for the most part, happy years. As I said at the beginning of my Appleby stories, the first few weeks weren’t that happy, or promising. But, as time went on, I start to enjoy my new “ home ” away from home. I made new friends. There were a lot of us in the same boat, boarders, so we spent a lot of time together. I started out in a dormitory in Colley House and ended my time at Appleby in Powell’s House . In Powell’s House , I ended my last year with one roommate, Pete Donaldson . However, my main memory of individual friends was of Murray (Mo) Cole and Aubrey Baillie . (to be continued)

Life Goes On… (continued) NOTE : It’s been a long time since I attended Appleby (1959), my memory might be a little hazy. If you see something lacking, or something incorrect, feel free to let me know where I went wrong. School Sports Frankly, I wasn’t very good at sports! At least, the type that had at Appleby at that time ( I believe that that has now changed ). All students were required to be on a school sports team. The following are some examples of my sporting activities Other Sports - Dancing (continued) On the day of the dance, my father drove me to the neighbour’s home (not very far, but I was very nervous (my first “real” date!). Cheryl was a very pretty girl and was dressed beautifully. I was all “dolled” up in my best Appleby suit.   When I meet her at her door, I handed her a corsage that my mother had picked out for the occasion. My hands were shaking with excitement! On the drive to Appleby, Cheryl sat on one side the backseat and I was on the other side ...

Life Goes On… (continued) NOTE : It’s been a long time since I attended Appleby (1959), my memory might be a little hazy. If you see something lacking, or something incorrect, feel free to let me know where I went wrong.   Other Sports (continued) Now, we come to the “ sport ” of “ dancing ”. Each year Appleby held a “ Gala Ball ”. Girls from other private schools were “ bused ” in. To prepare for the “ ball ”, we gentlemen, had to learn the “ sport ” of “ ballroom dancing "! After all. we had to look good and properly represent our Appleby. They were “ Galas ” to remember! Our first “ real ” encounter with the “ opposite ” sex! In addition to “ busing in ” girls, we could invite our own dates. This is when, one year, and I think that it was my last year at Appleby, that my father and a neighbourhood friend decided that I should take the neighbour’s daughter to the “ Gala ”. Poor “ Cheryl ” ( that was the daughters name ) was “ encouraged ” ( by her father ) in to be my “ date...

Life Goes On… (continued) NOTE : It’s been a long time since I attended Appleby (1959), my memory might be a little hazy. If you see something lacking, or something incorrect, feel free to let me know where I went wrong. Other Sports...  Other types of sporting activities also took place, many of them in our “ new ” gym. Activities such as gymnastics ( I sucked ), basketball ( I was too short ), boxing ( I almost got knockout ) and “ dancing ”. Yes, I said “ dancing ”! I’ll talk about “ dancing ” a little later. First, let me get to the “ easy ” activities. Gymnastics wasn’t for me. I couldn’t climb a rope, even after the “ Sarge ” encouraged me to; going over the “ horse ” didn’t work out, nor did “ flipping ” or “ handstands ”! There were basketball hoops set up in the gym, but the basketballs that I threw, never quite reached the basket. Too bad, because basketball was created in Canada ( Almonte ) by James Naismith , a Canadian . Boxing was also, not in my “ wheel-house...