Feller memories from Lucy Anex Pelly
Graduation Class of 1956
Having attended Feller for 3 years, the last three years of
my high school, I experienced many emotions and experiences. However,
a few outstanding ones come to mind.
1956 Beauties - Grad. Girls of 1956
Carol Myers, Olive Kunzli, Claudette Lafrance,
Andrea Rossi, Lucy Anex
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Teachers
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Mr. Cram
The name Mr. Cram brings back some vivid recollections.
He taught us chemistry in grade 11, and for some reason, we took great
delight in getting him angry. We would play ‘stupid’ and make believe
that we couldn’t understand what he was talking about. Very often we really
didn’t understand. However, when he got angry and frustrated, he would
put his hands in his pockets and start to shake, and his glasses would
slide down his nose. One particular day, he was so angry that his false
teeth actually fell out of his mouth, onto the floor. Without missing
a beat, he bent over, picked them up, and popped them back into his mouth.
Actually we felt quite sorry for him, and we would pour on the charm, and
apologize, and he would then calm down. We were really all quite
frightened that he would have a heart attack. He never remained angry
with us for very long. He also took great pride in informing all
of us that he was the smallest baby born in Canada to that time (under
1 pound). If you knew Mr. Cram, and his girth, it was hard to imagine him
ever being that small. |
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Miss Hall
Miss Hall (our attentive nurse) was always on the go. She had
the same remedy for all problems, a little brown pill that would cure everything,
so she claimed. Although it only made you go to the bathroom. |
Miss Woodard
Miss Woodard (the music teacher) who also played the piano for chapel,
and at church when Mrs. Broulliet wasn’t available. I was in the
choir, and we had many giggles watching Miss Woodard. During the
sermon, she would sit beside the piano, out of sight of the audience, and
inevitably she would nod off, her head dropping forward. She usually
wore a broach at the neckline of her blouse, and when her chin would hit
it, her head would jerk back up. The audience would wonder why the
choir would giggle – the sermon wasn’t usually funny.
Miss Booth (not too sure if that was her name, it could have been
Mrs.Hunt):
She was one of the teachers assigned to the girls’ fourth floor.
She would strut down the hall just before lights out, twirling a whistle
on a string, making sure that everyone was in their rooms. We used
to imitate her, and sing ‘Ten cents a dance, fifteen without the pants!’ |
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Mr. Breggato
He was there in 1953. A great Italian gentleman teacher, who always
wore an ascot. He loved eating garlic. You could smell him
coming long before he came into view. In fact the floor which he
occupied reeked of garlic constantly. He would say that garlic was
good for his heart, and colds. Maybe he had something there!!!
I remember him handing out punishments to the boys for something or other,
and his favorite punishment was to make the poor fellow scrub a flight
of stairs, on the boys’ side, with a toothbrush. |
Couples- taken in 1955:
Bob Tinker - grad '56 - Lucy Anex -
Wilma Wilson - grad '55
Gilbert Lafrance - grad '56
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Punishments
Our chemistry classes where held in the lab below the gym, and it was
usually the last class of the day. On this one day, my boyfriend
and I decided to hide in the stairwell after class for a bit of necking.
After a few moments, the door at the top of the stairwell that led to one
of the apartments flew open, and there stood Mr. Lamb. He never said
much except stared at us. We must have looked awfully guilty, so we scurried
back up the tunnels to our rooms. The next day, during the announcements
after the dinner meal, the whole story was related to the entire school
that a couple had been caught necking in a dark corner of the gym stairs.
The names were read out, and we were banned from any further Sunday mixed
walks, and any other social activities until further notice. That
was really hitting us hard – in fact the ban lasted for a whole month,
until I went to see dear Mr. Boisvert and sweet-talked him into lifting
the ban. He said he would speak to Mrs. Broulliet who eventually
gave in and let us resume our “social activities”. Needless to say, the
notes flew back and forth between the two of us during this period.
Pranks
| The routine each day used to drive me crazy – I use to think up
ways of creating some kind of excitement to break the monotony, and to
this day, I can’t believe that I never got caught. We used to stick
pennies in the light sockets, and blow the fuse on our floor. |
| One particular night, during recess between study periods, two of
us sneaked down the back stairs to the dining room, which was vacant and
in total darkness. We had figured out that the electrical panel and switch
behind the head table served the whole school. Daringly we pulled
it, and sure enough the power went off. We quickly ran back up the stairs
and joined all the other screaming girls. It took about half an hour
before someone figured out that the switch was off. Nothing more
was ever said. |
| The girls’ bathroom on the fourth floor faced into the courtyard,
and in front of the frosted window was the bathtub. We alerted the
boys earlier in the day that they should watch the girls’ bathroom window
before lights out. One could only see shadows through these windows.
One of the girls, wearing only her bra and panties, would sit in the tub,
then stand up and do a hula dance in front of the window. From the
boys’ side, they thought that she had nothing on, and we could hear the
hoots and hollers. We thought it would give the boys a cheap thrill. |
| During my last year, my boy fiend and I thought we would start a
rumor. I borrowed someone’s small ring, which had a small diamond
in it, and wore it saying that we were engaged. The word got around,
and it created quite a stir amongst the students, so Mrs. Broulliet called
my father saying that she wanted to have a chat with him. Well, he
wasn’t too pleased at having to come all the way to Feller for a discussion.
The end result was that I went home for the weekend, where my Dad had a
few words with me, but actually he thought it was rather funny. Well,
I got to go home for a break, but had to give back the ring. |
Feller Boys on a visit to an RCAF base - 1956
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Aftermath to the Riot of 1956
Upon reading Olive and Albert’s account of the riot of ’56, many
memories were recalled, and I do remember the reason for the “Paper Chase”.
The staff were trying to appease the rebellious atmosphere in the school,
and thought that by letting us plan is Paper Chase, they would reinstate
some kind of order in the school. Well, their reasoning did work
– everyone had such a great time, with very little supervision, and things
sort of did return to near normal – if that’s what you called it.
Ian Kelso Grad. 1955 - Where is he now?? Does anyone know????
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