2001 April 3 / Oh to be in Oak Bay, now that April's here Hi, all... Haven't seen any msgs for a while. Have had a nice email from Andy Cleland of OBHS Class of 62...inspired by our example, he is trying to reach members of his class for a reunion next year. It must be nice to be in B.C. in the spring. Just wanted to note that for those of you who worry about the state of the Canadian dollar, our Aussie buck is worth 42.25 cents to the Yankee greenback, and about 78 cents to yours. So this may be a good time to come and visit us Down Under!! (and as Charmaine says, the rates are good at the "Redoak B 'n' B!" Cheers... Sandy Canberra / redoak@dynamite.com.au April 6 / Ooops! Correction: while the Aussie dollar is VERY low, that was a typo. It shd have read 48.25...which is bad enough. Hope that won't stop you booking fares to Oz right now! Cheers... Sandy April 11 / Is This The Oak Bay Spirit??? In the early seventies my wife and I took a weeks charter (read cheap!!!) to Rome. . .One day we were at a bus stop or our way to something cultural (no doubt) when a couple of Canadian girl backpackers came to take the same bus. The inevitable 'where are you from' showed one from Victoria and one from somewhere else. . .Well the bus came and we sat down and the girls with their packs stood at the back of the bus. The one girl came forward and out of the blue asked me which high school I went to. . .I answered 'Oak Bay' and she turned to the other girl at the back and yelled 'See I told ya'. . .I thought that this was a bit strange, but just assumed that when you met someone far from Victoria that they were of course from Oak Bay. I guess that it is a sort of the old school spirit etc. All is well in Denmark at present. I have just been given an assignment in Saudi Arabia which means a trip there just after Easter, which should be a bit different. All the best to everyone. Don Don Ingham / Odense, Denmark / di.fks.bow@12mail,dk April 16 / Spring Greetings It's Spring here in L.A. too! And, yes, we DO have Seasons..just not as pronounced! Spring Fever has me thinking about going back to Victoria soon. I will be there sometime in June, will let the dates be known when I have them.. would love to hook up some of you! Does ANYONE ever come down here?? I'll be around pretty much all summer, except for mid- July weekend women's retreat. diane diane wilson / ddyer2001@excite.com April 18 / Spring Travels Hello all. Just returned from San Francisco today where I visited with my sister, a 1951 (note: 50 years!) OBHS grad. Today was the anniversary of the 1906 earthquake. We crossed the Bay from Larkspur on the ferry with the remaining earthquake survivors (those who could come). Just before leaving the city the siren blew marking the time of the earthquake (about 11:23 a.m.) Lynne Lynne (Maclennan) Schulnik / lynnelj@hotmail.com April 21 / April Walk Hi Older Guys, Davida and Ronalda from Freddy's fifth grade at Willows accompanied big Frankie on a warm and wonderful stroll to the Royal Oak Golf Club Restaurant. A couple of pints served on the outside deck under the hot sun quickly loosened jaws and whetted appetites. A couple of sandwich specials and a delicious burger were served. Conversations: Frankie's secret opera career (he showed us his foreign words) The horrors of our early smoking habits were revealed (did we really puff those things?) Ron's new kitchen has a convection oven. You tell me about your aching body parts and I'll tell you about mine. A future walk to the "new" Oak Bay pub is a must. (Phil says so) Do it yourself probating is the way to go. (Frank can advise, Ron's doing it) Dave is a "Survivor" fan and loves to talk about it. (Keith is off next) We will plan a walk for Vancouver... one day trip... Wilcox will lead us. Will all the old guys who don't get up at 2am for a pee, please stand up! Dave davfoste@mail.islandnet.com April 21 / Monthly Walks Glad the monthly walks are continuing. Sure, you guys get over here and I'll lead a Vancouver walk. Perhaps others will join us. Should I look for a map that indicates public washrooms? Gary Vancouver / gwilcox@direct.ca April 23 / Survivor Ok, now the Dave's broken the ice, I'll admit to my only TV vice... I too am a Survivor fan. Honestly, it's the only one of the so-called Reality Shows I watch. My usually very sensible and responsible daughter, Kirstin, has even gone so far as to send off her application to be a contestant on Survivor 3! diane ddyer2001@excite.com April 24 / Survivors II I totally understand (in a masculine manner) the attraction Ladies. The handsome Texan, Colby is stealing and controlling the show! My heart goes out to the sweet Elisabeth, who will probably get the boot this Thursday night. G'Day mates Mike Sunny Cedar by the Sea / mgibbs@webtv.net April 27 / Spring in Victoria I had a meeting in Victoria yesterday and, after I was done, opted to head out to Oak Bay Avenue for a quick bowl of soup at "Octavia" (eaten at a sidewalk table -- did you ever think you'd see the day..?) It was so beautiful that I went to see a friend who lives near Windsor Park, on St. Louis St, so I could have a tour of her garden. All the gardens in the area were just lush with so many shades of new green as well as spring bulbs and rhododendrons at various stages. Heading out Beach Drive, I was delighted to see the wonderful blue camus blanketing the areas around Cattle Point, under the oak trees. A lovely memory from my childhood is picking camus bouquets (snake flowers we called them) and not thinking that they wouldn't survive -- my grandkids will never have that luxury. Does that mean I lived in "the good old days?" Happy spring to you all. Therese Pender Island, B.C. / chickiedoc@yahoo.com April 27 / Spring in Victoria in the Good Old Days Ah, yes. And the skylarks when crossing an open field . . . Gary Vancouver / gwilcox@direct.ca April 28 / Spring.....the early years Therese's comments about spring at Cattle Point with camus in bloom brought back some memories from circa grade five. We used to ride our bikes up to the bluff overlooking the north end of Willows Beach and uproot wild onions which grew in great numbers. How they got there was a mystery but tasted particularly good owing perhaps to the added garnish of dirt which did not entirely wipe off onto our jeans. Our bikes were typical of the time with seats as high as possible, bars as low, no fenders or other non essential parts, and the many oddities in our pockets or attached to our belts were suitable for a time capsule. Marbles in a Crown Royal bag, a victory nickel, a two cent mini pack of Adams Chicklets, a priceless hockey card of the "Rocket" folded in two, a clothes peg gun that could fire a piece of pea gravel across the classroom with stinging accuracy, a jack knife used for the skillful game of "pie" where you and your opponent in turn threw the knife so it stuck blade first into a circle scribed into the packed dirt of the playground, a .22 shell casing, some string, a Green Hornet weather ring and a brass Zippo lighter might round off a major proportion of your entire estate. Suddenly winter was behind and it was now baseball, Stubby cream soda, the new Cadillac and checking out the snowy T.V. sets in Eaton's window. The simplicity of life at that time was all too short. In seven years we would graduate. In seven years many of us would be married. In seven years and many seasons it would be spring once again in the seventies with our children asking if bikes, T.V. and Chicklets had been invented when we were young. Turn..... Richard rgoodall@sunwave.net April 28 / Trombolies, etc... Richard's reference to marbles brough back some memories...At any opportunity - before school, recess or lunchtime - circles would be drawn in schoolyard dirt and you'd start hearing "no steelies, no flicksies, no fudgies, no trombolies and no eyedrops and buttercups." And across the pavement the girls were throwing lacrosse balls against the school brick wall and singing out something like "one, two, three o'larry." Are these games still being played? Or are they just another memory filed under "good old days?" Gary Vancouver / gwilcox@direct.ca April 30 / Childhood Memories Reading Richard and Gary's comments brought back memories about one of my childhood hangouts, Gonzales Hill. Paul Lawrance and I used to spend hours up there. We used to build forts and hide acorns and chestnuts around the hill to ward off attacks (quite good natured) from John Youson, Brian Wallace (Vic High) and a few others. I think Ron McMicking might have been one of John's gang. (This was elementary school Margaret Jenkins) We used to tear each others forts down, and if we were in ours when they came around we defended it by thowing the nuts at them. A year ago our eldest son and his family were visiting Victoria at my mother's for Christmas. I took my eldest grandson for a hike up Gonzales hill and told him all about Opa's exploits when I was a little younger than he is now. I tried to show him where we hid the acorns in Walburn Park but couldn't find them because the area is now overgrown with oak trees. So the next time any of you visit Walburn Park just to the left of the parking area you will see a lovely grove of trees which you can thank Paul and I for. Matthew, grandson number 1, thinks I had the best place to grow up in. He lives in a massive subdivision in Edmonton with no interesting rocks or trees. Tom Comox / teemiles@home.com