On May 26, 2009, the secondgroup of ten members ofLisgar's Athletic Wall of

Fame was formally inducted in a mov-ing ceremony in the AlumniAuditorium.

The ceremony was preceded by areception in the Lisgar Library whereinductees, friends, and family wereable to meet and learn of each other'sexploits. Displays placed around theroom showed the accomplishments ofeach inductee, and there were bothsmiles and tears in evidence as memo-ries were shared.

The ceremony itself took place inconjunction with the Lisgar AthleticAssociation’s awards night, so youngathletes of the school had a chance tosee and be inspired by their predeces-sors. For each inductee a brief biogra-phy was read outlining the reasons fortheir induction, and then the plaquewas presented. The plaques will bepermanently displayed on the Wall ofFame in the main hall of the Gymbuilding, but each inductee alsoreceived a smaller replica plaque tokeep as a memento of the occasion.

Of the six living inductees, BarclayFrost (1961, track and field and offici-ating), Margo Dewsnap (Green, 1991,squash) and Blake Dunlop (1971,hockey) were able to attend in person;

in Mr. Dunlop’s case, his presencerequired a trip all the way from St.Louis, Missouri. Nigel Stephens (1944,figure skating), our eldest livinginductee, was represented by his two

sons. Two other inductees, Leszek andDanek Nowosielski (1987 and 1985,fencing), had planned to attend butwere forced to miss the event due toscheduling conflicts and were repre-

sented at the ceremony by Joe Leggett,retired Head of Athletics. For theposthumous inductions, Alex Smith(1924, hockey) was represented byhis son David, who also accepted theaward on behalf of Mr. Smith’s team-mate Ralph St. Germain (1923), whileBud Clark (1934, skiing) was repre-sented by his daughter Mrs. FrancesMacDonnell. The family of Lt.-Col. Dr.Desmond Burke (1923, shooting) wasunable to attend but agreed to be rep-resented by Mr. Alain Marion of theDominion of Canada Rifle Association.Mr. Marion is regarded as Dr. Burke’ssuccessor as Canada's greatest marks-man.

Much thanks to all the Alumni whoparticipated in making the occasionrun smoothly, especially Joy Heft andTracy Finnigan for the wonderful dis-plays. Thanks also to Principal DavidMcMahon and Athletic Head John Rufffor their cooperation and assistance,and to the parents and students of theLisgar Athletic Association for theirattentiveness and enthusiasticapplause.

[Editor’s note: short profiles ofeach new inductee were published inour Spring 2009 issue, which can befound on our website.] ■

The newsletter of the Lisgar Alumni AssociationVolume XXIV • 2nd Issue • Fall 2009

Alere Flammam

Lisgar Athletic Wall of Fame Grows

INDUCTED: Retired teacher Bill Fraser poses with Athletic Wall of Fame inductee Margo Dewsnap(Green, 1991), 2000 Pan American Games and 2002 Canadian National Champion in squash.

Alere Flammam

I n s i d eMembers’ Forum 2In Memoriam 2Lisgar Archives 4Joan Finnigan Remembered 5Message from School Council 51958 Student Survey 6

Over the past three years, theLisgar Alumni Association has

funded a number of initiatives. In2009, we provided badly needed cur-tains for the Alumni Auditorium, andfunded the purchase of new cross-country skis for the Outdoor Educationprogram. During 2008, we providedfunding assistance to allow the LisgarSenior Boys Soccer Team to attend theOFSAA provincial championship in

Alumni Donations and Fees Hard at WorkWindsor. In 2007, our funds providedtwo new media carts for the English,science and art departments, and paidfor repairs to the stained glass over themain doors to the school, among otherthings.

Over $21,000 in purchases havebeen made by the school in the pastthree years which would otherwise nothave been possible. The monies weregenerated by fundraising at the last

reunion, as well as through your regu-lar annual fees and donations. As youknow, the school budget is very tighteach year, and has very little room forextras. The generous alumni donationshelp the students to have the bestequipment and opportunities, and aremuch appreciated by the staff and stu-dents. Please consider making a dona-tion when you renew your member-ship, or if you are a life member. ■

Members’ Forum

Alere Flammam • Fall 2009 • Page 2

EditorSteve Sansom

Layout & DesignAvi Caplan

ContributorsRachel EugsterMarie FraserRod HagglundJoy Heft

Alere Flammam is the semi-annualnewsletter of the Lisgar AlumniAssociation.

For information contact our office:Telephone: (866) 236-1450E-mail: alumni@lisgar.net

or write:Alere FlammamLisgar Alumni Association29 Lisgar StreetOttawa, OntarioK2P 0B9

Visit us online at http://www.lisgar.net

Tom Huffman (2004) wrote: Callingall Classmates of 2004! Come to theFifth Year Reunion Party. LocationTBD. Look us up on Facebook oremail lisgarclassof2004@gmail.comfor details. Come spend some qualitytime with your former classmates. Seeyou there! �Leo Kamen (formerly Leo Ilgacs,1969) wrote: I recently read aboutMr. Behan in Alere Flammam (InMemoriam, Spring 2009) and remem-bered an incident from my highschool years. I was a student in hishomeroom class in 1969, a tumul-tuous year in Lisgar Collegiate’s histo-ry. The following anecdote might welldescribe Mr. Behan’s incredible coolin handling rowdy students at the time. One morning during a Math class, Mr.Behan called Bill Stevenson, who sat atthe desk in front of me, to the chalk-board to solve a problem. Bill’s facefell at the prospect. He knew his class-mates would swipe anything on hisdesk when he left it. Bill grabbedwhatever he could and walked up tothe board. The rest we filched andpassed around the room. In one finaldisappearing act we stole his desk aswell! Two rows of students moved upto fill the gap. During the heist Mr.Behan did not once pause from his

Members’ ForumBLOOM, William (1941)BRUNT-THOMPSETT, M. Isabella

(Steeds, 1942) on May 23, 2009. Sheis survived by 3 children, 12 grand-children, and 7 great-grandchildren.

HAMILTON, Bill (1961, teacher1967-68)

HUTT, Marie (O’Callaghan) on

December 7, 2008 at the age of 89.Both Marie and her late husband Jackwere students at Lisgar. She was veryactive with alumni affairs and Lisgaralways remained close to her heart.She is survived by her two daughtersand four grandchildren.

JONES, Janet (1964), in July 2008. ■

In Memoriamtask at the board. When Billreturned—now to no place in particu-lar—he plaintively muttered, “Sir, mydesk is gone.” Mr. Behan finallyturned around, paused to consider thegravity of the situation, cleared histhroat and spoke most sternly. “Allright, boys,” he declared. “Give Billhis desk back.” We did of course,making a great commotion in theprocess while Mr. Behan, serene as amonk, returned to writing his lessons.�Paula Pick (1966) wrote: Thenewsletter is great, read it cover tocover. I love hearing about the won-derful teachers we had in the ‘60s. Ifind it amazing to think of the impactso many of them had on me. My uni-versity teachers didn’t come close.�Dorothy Leith wrote from Australia:Received your Spring 2009 edition ofAlere Flammam and enjoyed it verymuch. Keep up the sending the newslet-ters. I send them on to my sister.�Andrew Anderson (1992) is inDublin, Ireland pursuing hisMaster’s of Science in WorldHeritage Management.�Irenka Farmilo (1966) wrote hopingto locate fellow Lisgarite ElizabethPorter (Meleghy, 1966) but we do nothave any information in our database.If you have any information, pleasecontact the Alumni office.�Joe Scanlon (1951) wrote: I foundthe story on George Toller (Spring2009) fascinating reading bothbecause of the content and because ofthe high quality of the writing. I wasnot at Lisgar when he was there,though my sister was, but I recall him(I think) at Golden Lake, where I wasallowed to attend as a 8 year-oldbecause my father, for the second timein his life, was overseas with theCanadian Forces. My counsellor wasBob Craig, another Lisgarite.

My sister, now Kathleen Pederson,living in Skagen, Denmark, and I arenot the only family connections with

Lisgar. My mother, Edna CoulterScanlon, did her 5th Form (grade 13)at Lisgar. Her favourite teacher wasElizabeth “Sis” Tomkins who taughtMaths. The next two Scanlons at Lisgarwere my daughters, Leslie andMeaghan.

My own memories of Lisgar aremyriad and vivid. I recall “Curly”Proctor and the pleasure of playing inthe orchestra every morning at assem-bly. He saw to it that I becamePresident of the Orchestra and thus, tomy surprise, a member of Student’s

Council. A number of the orchestrawere very gifted including EvelynGreenberg who I did not realize wassister of our former Mayor JacquelinHolzman.

I recall Mr. Meng, who nevertaught me, but who asked me and twofriends one day at noon if we wouldlike to learn to shoot. He took us regu-larly to the rifle range on the top floor.I suppose today that would cause areaction from most parents but myfamily thought nothing of it. After all,my father was a decorated veteran and

LISGAR CHEERLEADER: Cameron Hughes (1990) has made a career out of getting fans riled up atsporting events across North America. Most recently, he was hired by Pepsi to be one of the faces of

their "Join The Cheer" campaign to find a cheer for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Members’ Forum

Page 3

my sister belonged to a rifle club. Idon’t suppose I told them that onebonus was looking down through theskylight at the girls’ gym when weretrieved targets. Strangely my abilityto handle a weapon came into usewhen Canada Packers had me guard-ing the payroll (in those days everyonewas paid in cash).

I recall the sadness of our teacherswhen three classmates signed up tofight in Korea. Our teachers had reallyhoped that WW II was the war to endall wars. I remember Alex Grey scor-ing a touchdown—he was a linemanin the high school football semi-finalat Lansdowne Park—and later learn-ing that he had died in Korea.

I recall Mr. Carruthers making amark on the wall insisting all juniorbasketball players were tall enough toreach that mark. Don Peters was nottall enough so did not make the team.He did make the senior team the nextyear and was top scorer as Lisgar wentto the provincial championships.

I also recall Eric Nichols bringingsome peach baskets in the dressingroom at half time during a rainy Fridayafternoon at Varsity Stadium, suggest-ing they might help players stop fum-bling the football. They didn’t help.

I recall Maitland Flood and JohnKilrea (there may have been a 3rdplayer) playing country music one daya week at morning assembly. It wasyears later before I realized they wereinvited to the stage not because ourprincipal, John Dunlop, liked theirmusic, but because they were verygood at what they did. At Lisgar wewere taught to recognize all forms ofexcellence and achievement. Little didI know that my first out-of-townassignment for the Toronto Daily Starwould see me at the Grand Old Opry inNashville with Hank Snow.

I recall the Thursday morning skitsby David Blaisdell and Bob Barclay,our male cheerleaders. They wereLisgar’s own Wayne and Schuster.They performed on Thursday becausethere was no assembly on a footballFriday. I remember “Maw” Brownwho taught Latin explaining one oftheir lines to us. It was that Ceasar’slast words were a sneeze—“Et tu

Brute!” (Just try saying it quickly).I recall Betty Joe singing a solo at

the annual concert. I was also awed bythe singing talent of red-headedGeorge (I can’t recall his last name)who sang “The Trail of the TumblingTumble Weed” and “Rocking Alone inMy Old Rocking Chair.” Of course Ialso recall Ron Gould organizing aSpike Jones orchestra (it was “tooth-paste being squeezed out on the rail,”“cabbage by a head,” and “maple isleafing alone fine”). Ron is now inter-nationally renowned for his knowl-edge of elections.

While some of the memories arevivid, I am less sure of the spelling ofnames. However, I am sure classmateswill fill in the gaps and correct someof my errors. �Wynn Quon (1978) wrote: The Spiritof ’78 is alive and well! On VictoriaDay weekend, a hearty crowd of grad-uates from the Class of 1978 gatheredtogether to reminisce, catch up andhave an all-around festive time. Namedthe “Reasonable Facsimile 30thAnniversary Reunion” by our tirelessorganizer, Janet Fraser, the festivitiesbegan with Coffee “After Class” at theMayflower Restaurant (yes, it’s still

there) followed by a group photo op atLisgar and the Canal. But that was justa prelude. Saturday evening saw usraising our glasses at the Fox andFeather Pub, swapping war stories andletting the thought of thirty years sinkin. Then on Victoria Day, Janet and herhusband Chris (also a Lisgar grad!)hosted a barbecue at their house thatmellowed into an evening party featur-ing fine wine and well-thumbed VoxLyceis. Thirty years! Holy cow!

For those who missed the party,here are some stories: someonereceived a cheque for a million dol-lars, someone was in a movie withTori Spelling, someone sings in achoir, someone argued a case in theSupreme Court of Canada, someonebuilt a house, someone was in Kuwait,someone lived in Hong Kong, some-one is a child psychologist, someonestarted and sold a dot-com, someoneis a vice-principal, someone is a VP ata tech company... but if you want toknow who, you need to come to the35th anniversary celebration!�Donald Wolochow (1950) wrote:With the increasing prominence ofsocial networking websites, e.g.,Facebook, it occurred to me that even

if we didn’t have actual class reunions,with your help we might be able to puttogether “virtual reunions” in whichclass members could reconnect on adedicated Facebook page, for exam-ple. I managed, through Facebook toreconnect with a classmate, but theremust be many others still around(class of 1950) who might be trace-able and, if contacted, might be willingto go onto Facebook and join the classpage. Other classes may have alreadystarted this (the younger ones espe-cially).

Next year will be our class’s 60thanniversary and I doubt if there wouldbe time (or interest?) in organizing anactual physical reunion. But a “virtu-al” one would be practically freeexcept for the time and effort to trackdown e-mail addresses and send out amass mailing inviting alumni to jointheir class web page. What do youthink?

[Editor’s note: We do have agroup page on Facebook that every-one is welcome to join: search forLisgar Collegiate Institute AlumniAssociation. Also see the note else-where in this issue about the Classof 2004 reunion being organizedwith the help of Facebook.] ■

IT WAS LIKE THAT WHEN WE GOT HERE... REALLY!: 1978 grads pose on the Lisgar field for their 30-year anniversary (photo courtesy of Chris Shearly).

Features

Alere Flammam • Fall 2009 • Page 4

From Joy Heft

The long-term project of provid-ing complete copies of the print-

ed Vox for the school library, theLisgar Archives and the Ottawa PublicLibrary is nearing completion.Eighteen editions dating from 1929 to2009 were delivered to the library inthe Spring. Since then, a yearbookfrom one of the missing years has beendonated by an anonymous donor. Weare still lacking seven editions, howev-er: 1922, 1925, 1928, 1939, 1960,1973 and 1990. The AlumniAssociation has also paid to have fif-teen of the Lisgar library copiesrebound to replace copies that hadtorn or missing pages. It was also theyear to create a composite copy of thefive Vox from 2005-2009 for the col-lection housed in the principal’soffice—these date back to 1910. Thenewest volume is inscribed to honourPrincipal Karen Gledhill, who retiredin January of this year. The inscriptionreads: “This volume is dedicated toPrincipal Karen Gledhill by the LisgarAlumni Association in grateful recogni-tion of her dedicated service to LisgarCollegiate.”

In the last newsletter you wereinformed of our communication withauthor Linda Granfield regardingAlexis Helmer in connection with herforthcoming book Remembering JohnMcCrea. The school has received acopy of the beautiful publication of thebook in recognition for services pro-vided. It will be included in this year’sRemembrance Day display. We havealso received an anonymous donationof several Vox dating from the ‘50s and‘60s, as well as a small gym bag bear-ing the Lisgar crest and a poster adver-tising the play The Death and Life ofSneaky Fitch. Through a bit ofsleuthing I was able to identify thedonor but since he chose not to identi-fy himself, I do not feel free to divulgea name. However, the items are grate-fully received! We also received fromElizabeth Sullivan Ruch three pins: aStudents’ Council pin from 1947, a Hi-

Y pin, and a Vox pin, and several ath-letic crests and a beanie from BrendaClarke Lailey. Thank you both.

Several displays were created usingarchival material to feature the exploitsof those honoured in the spring for theupdating of the Athletic Wall of Fame.These displays formed a rotating dis-play in the archival showcase for anumber of months, but have nowmade way for a Remembrance Day dis-play which highlights the life of Alan

Hague (1939), whose family hasloaned some of Alan’s memorabilia tothe school. Alan was an exceptionalstudent and athlete, track star in par-ticular, and head of Students’ Councilin his graduating year. An album onloan chronicles his exploits as an air-man in many parts of the world afterhis enlistment and includes a note ofcondolence from King George VI at thetime of his death on October 27, 1943at age twenty-two. One interesting

newspaper article is entitled “FindsLisgar Yell in N. African Book.” Thearticle speaks of a letter which waswritten from India on Sept. 3, 1943 byLAC. A.E. Wilcox, a former Lisgar stu-dent who was being moved fromEngland to India and who had visitedNorth Africa en route. At a visit to aclub for Canadian and American ser-vicemen, he signed the visitor’s bookin which he found the signature of AlanHague, a former schoolmate; besidethe signature was inscribed “Phi, Chi,Psi,” the opening line of the Lisgarcheer. Alan’s death occurred shortlyafter the receipt of the letter.

Another Lisgar alumnus from thesame era, David Rouleau (1938) wasthe subject of a presentation duringthe Remembrance Day Assembly.David was also an airman during theSecond World War—a Spitfire pilot. Arecently found jacket belonging to aSpitfire pilot was traced back to David,who also lost his life during the SecondWorld War, and inspired DaveO’Malley of Vintage Wings to write anaccount of historical fiction based onhis last flight entitled All the ThingsNever Done – The Last Day and FinalSacrifice of Ottawa’s Son – DavidFrancis Gaston Rouleau (availableonline at http://www.vintagewings.ca/page?a=66). This was brought to ourattention by Mike Purdy, former Lisgarteacher, who suggested it as an appro-priate subject for this year’s assembly.The jacket was on display and theschool was the recipient of a plaquehonouring David Rouleau. On hand toaccept the plaque was Joe Leggett, for-mer Lisgar student and teacher, andHead of Physical Education for manyyears. Joe was a contemporary of bothAlan and David, played on some ofAlan’s teams, and was a Spitfire pilothimself during World War II. It was afitting tribute to honour the loss ofthese promising young lives. Moreextensive coverage of the school’sRemembrance Day Assembly, includ-ing photos, is available on our websiteat http://www.lisgar.net/newsletter/.

The trivia question in the last

From the Lisgar Archives: Notes from “Down Below”

LISGAR PILOT: A jacket belonging to Spitfire pilot David Rouleau (1938), who lost his life in theSecond World War, was on display at the school’s Remembrance Day assembly this year.

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AIR OPERATIONS: A 1942 telegram informs Gertrude Rouleau that her son David (1938) is missing.

newsletter was “What Lisgar teacherwas a forerunner in championingwomen’s rights and how?” There wereno responses to this question to whichthe answer is Jesse Muir. Miss Muirtaught Modern Languages at Lisgarfrom 1909 to 1939 and was head ofthe Moderns Department for part ofthat time. Finlay Hood’s diary for theyear 1920 indicates that “TheCollegiate Board raised the salaries ofteachers almost to the schedule inforce in Toronto Collegiate.” An April27 entry states: “Lady Teachers’request for salary schedule equal tomale Teachers’ salaries was refused tothe Coll. Inst. Board.” Jesse Muir’ssense of justice and her mettle is evi-denced by the May 7 chronicle “Miss

Muir resigned as a protest to the O.C.I.Board’s refusal. Her salary was raisedto that of male heads of departmentsand resignation was withdrawn.”Several years later on April 29, 1939Jessie Muir died. A final entry abouther indicates the regard in which shewas held: “The school suffered asevere loss in the death today of MissJessie Muir. She taught Moderns in theschool from 1909 and was head of theModerns Department from 1919 whenshe succeeded Miss Marty. The schoolwas closed on May 2 to allow teachersand students to attend the funeral.”

The trivia question this time is“Who was Lisgar’s longest servingprincipal?” Send your answers in toalumni@lisgar.net. ■

In honour of the late JoanFinnigan (1944), a memorial lec-

ture and dinner were held at Queen’sUniversity on October 22 and 23,2009. Joan was Lisgar’s 1944 Vox edi-tor, and edited the History publishedin conjunction with our 150th reunion(readable on our website; copiesremain available for purchase throughthe Alumni Association). A delegationof Lisgar Alumni attended the eventsincluding Pat Hood, Doug Arrand,George Toller and Rod and WendyHagglund. Joan was famed as a poet,folklorist and historian of the peopleof the Ottawa Valley.

The memorial lecture, delivered by

Prolific Author Joan Finnigan RememberedSean Conway, long-time MPP andJoan’s close friend of many years,movingly covered her life and achieve-ments, from her turbulent childhoodas daughter of hockey star FrankFinnigan, through personal tragedyand hardships, persevering with witand intelligence to carve a uniqueplace in the hearts of those who knewher personally and/or grew to love herthrough her many books. Joan’s vastcollection of books, audio recordingsand notes now resides in the Queen'sarchives.

George Toller, long-time memberof Lisgar’s Alumni Association execu-tive, thanked Mr. Conway for his

A TEMPERMENTAL IRISHMAN: Joan Finnigan’s grad writeup from the 1942 issue of the Vox Lycei.

The Lisgar School Council (LSC,http://lsc.lisgar.net) is Lisgar’s

Parent Teacher Advisory Committee.LSC would like to forge more connec-tions with alumni. A few ideas for jointprojects that have come up around theLSC table include:

Participating in Doors OpenOttawa. This city-wide event is heldevery year on the first weekend ofJune, and the LSC organizes parentand student volunteers to lead tours ofLisgar. This task fell into the LSC’s lapwhen the Alumni Association had itshands full with the 160th reunion.Since that is no longer a distraction,we would welcome any and all alumnivolunteers who would like to join us.

Arranging a mentorship programthat matches students with particularinterests with alumni who work inthose fields.

Matching students with alumniwho have interesting jobs and canoffer to host them for the annual TakeOur Kids to Work day. Not all parentsare in a position to take their childrento work on the appointed day, and notall jobs offer much to watch.

If you are interested in any of theseideas, or have some of your own,please send an e-mail to the LSCSecretary at secretary@lisgar.net. ■

Message fromSchool Counciladdress and recounted his own mem-

ories of Joan dating from their birthon the same day in the same hospital,through their years together at Lisgarand their lifelong friendship.

At the memorial dinner it wasannounced that subsequent to Joan'sdeath a supply of many of her classics,now out-of-print and thought to nolonger be available, has been locatedand can be obtained through GeneralStore Publishing House. Alumni wish-ing to obtain more information orpurchase copies of these uniqueworks can visit the publisher’s websiteat http://www.gsph.com or phone(800) 465-6072. ■

Features

Alere Flammam • Fall 2009 • Page 6

50 YEARS AGO: A student survey from the 1958 Vox Lycei. For the rest of the survey results (on education and religion) see p. 125 of the 1958 volume, available online at http://www.lisgar.net/yearbooks/.