Bessborough marks 50 years
Published Saturday November 7th, 2009
Ceremonies include music, memories and opening of time capsule
The first lady of the West End is now 50.
Bessborough School marked its 50th anniversary yesterday with pomp and ceremony, music and memories, new computers, an opened time capsule, and hundreds of wonderful kids on their best behaviour.
The ceremonies at the school included a visit from Leon Ward, the school's first principal, who recalled the first years of the school and the neighbourhood.
"There were no paved roads, sidewalks or school buses then," he said.
He also recalled one classroom having 43 pupils as the school swelled during the boom years of the West End, when the first families in the area grew almost as fast as the neighbourhood itself.
In a special treat, Ward was helped by celebration organizers Jocelyn Cohoon and Tracey Deware in opening the time capsule that had been sealed all these years. Tucked into the cornerstone of the new $400,000 elementary school on Friday, Nov. 6, 1959, the time capsule opened Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 at the now K-8 school contained copies of the Moncton Times and the now defunct L'Évangeline, a list of teaching staff from 1959, and the previous year's annual report of Moncton's Civic Government.
"I shall read that tonight!" current principal Sally Somers joked about that last less-than-scintillating artifact.
Principal Somers might just be earnest enough to read it, however, as one of the special displays set up to show current Bessborough students what our city was like five decades ago included her diploma from CKCW TV's Romper Room. Signed by Miss Phyllis herself, it solemnly certified little Sally Somers was at all times a "Good Do Bee."
Whether he was at all times a Good Do Bee or not when he was a Bessborough school student, Erik Gingles made an excellent master of ceremonies, keeping the kids laughing and the grown-ups laughing more. He recalled his own first day of school and the anxiety he felt at meeting the "towering Mr. Ward" for the first time on the front step.
"I might have piddled a bit. I'm not sure," Gingles told the audience. "It became a habit, so I'm not sure if that was the first time."
Moncton West MLA Joan MacAlpine-Stiles got the kids squirming in their seats as she floated the idea some of them might be sitting next to the boy or girl they would one day marry. As abstract a concept as that seemed to the school children, MacAlpine-Stiles said her daughter had married a Bessborough classmate from days gone by and was now expecting a child.
It was children who stole the show, though, with dazzling musical talent.
Adena Andrews and Kelsey Pitre sang The Greatest Love of All, the Bessborough Senior Choir sang We Rise Again and Moncton Tell us Your Story, and cellist Jae Chong performed Julie-O. The choir, under the direction of Dennis Livingstone, also sang a version of O Canada with an extra verse that Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe MP Brian Murphy was man enough to admit he'd never heard before.
He was far from alone among the grown-ups, but not a child in the crowded gymnasium missed a word.
And then there was Lauren Barnes, the 15-year-old soprano and former Bessborough School student who sang Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.
If it turns out there's some pure and perfect sound the air makes rushing past us as we fly up to heaven, then surely it will sound like Lauren Barnes in song.
Even Bessborough's scratchy PA system, showing all 50 of its years, could do nothing to mar her performance.
It was the ultimate tough act to follow, but a generous group gift from corporations and individuals might have done the deed. While many grown-ups came bearing greetings, the folks at GTECH and Spielo and some other corporate and individual sponsors came bearing gifts, helping Bessborough School mark its golden anniversary with a $30,000 Legacy Centre.
The centre is a state-of-the"'-art open"'concept space that includes the renovated Barbara Gingles Library and a computer centre with a Smart Board and 18 new computer workstations.
A Smart Board is an interactive whiteboard that provides touch control of computer applications.
Thanks to its donation of $15,000 in equipment and services, Spielo has provided and installed the centre's new computer workstations and two large illustrated murals, the last a project led by Spielo's Lee Tanner and illustrated by Nick Bradshaw.
The improvements were funded by GTECH's After School Advantage program, which has donated $2 million in computer equipment and technology to 132 after-school programs across North America since it began in 1999.
Bessborough School is now the second Moncton school to benefit from the program.
More The News
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
