Frank Wiens

On September 18, 2010 a Testimonial Dinner will be held in honour of Frank Wiens. This dinner is being organized by alumni. The details are as follows:

Where: The Selkirk Inn – 166 Main St. Selkirk, Manitoba

When: 5:30 pm Cocktails  6:00 pm Dinner

How Much: $30.00 per ticket (the venue has limited seating – order your tickets early to be sure of a place)

Keynote Speakers: Ted Byfield & Don Forfar

Tickets can be purchased from Jim McKay. Contact information: 204-482-7284 or 204-771-7147

Or email Susan.McKay@gov.mb.ca

To ensure a reserved ticket, cheques should be mailed to Box 156.

East Selkirk, Manitoba, ROE OMO -   Made out to Jim McKay

Nahanni River

David Hibbard (AG’77) is looking for any alumni who are interested in a great canoe trip on the Little Nahanni River.

The crew of the "John Rae" 2010

On the July long weekend a group of intrepid canoeists braved the heat of the badlands to canoe from Red Deer to Drumheller – a four day journey of fun and relaxation.

The John Rae’s crew was made up of Richard and Cathy Bird (M’64), Jim and Susan McKay (MG’67), Keith and Barbara McKay (MG’69). Traveling with this crew in tandem canoes were; Heath and Lisa Foster (A’85), Charles and Michelle McKay (AG’01) along with their two year daughter Shayla, and Robert McKay (AG’04) and Joanna Kissick.

The trip was organized to keep the tradition of the ‘big boat’ canoeing alive. Richard purchased the John Rae and two other large canoes (the Radisson & the Pere Brebeuf) from the school after it’s closure.  Hopefully this will be an annual event!

Gym Lights Replaced

On June 23 rd the lights in our gymnasium were changed – no small feat as discovered by former headmasters Keith McKay and Peter Jackson.

After renting a scissor lift, collecting the lift, driving it out to the school and managing to get it off the trailer and in to the gym, the job of installing the new light bulbs was relatively easy.

PJ working in the gym

Thirty bulbs later the gym is now bathed in bright light. Just goes to show you that there is always work for the retired headmasters!

Chapel on June 5, 2010

On June 5th our chapel anniversary celebration went off without a hitch. Many of our alumni, former staff and friends came to share the day with us.

Thank you to all who attended. It was wonderful to see all of you out again and to be able to catch up with everyone’s news. The singing voices were greatly appreciated both in the chapel and around the fire pit later.

We were truly blessed with wonderful weather for the weekend. This enabled us to enjoy a warm, sunny outside breakfast on Sunday, and to watch all the little ones play. We will have to put our heads together to plan the next event.

Frank Wiens

It is with a very heavy heart that we announce the passing of Frank Wiens on May 12, 2010.  Frank was co-founder and headmaster (1962 – 1986) of the Manitoba St. John’s School. It was his educational philosophy that guided the three schools in their unique approach to educating boys. His legacy will live on in all the young men he mentored over the years. We shall all miss him very much.

A service was  held for Frank on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at St. John’s Anglican Cathedral. Many, many alumni, family and friends attended to celebrate Frank’s life, and to reminisce about their adventures with him. View Frank’s obituary in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Chapel 1976

While rural areas are dotted with hulks of abandoned school houses, churches and farm buildings, the city usually dispenses with such remnants of Alberta’s frontier days with almost indecent haste. Surprisingly, then, one of the Anglican church’s original missions in this area lasted for 65 years in the north end of Edmonton before finally facing condemnation proceedings by the city’s engineering department.  And Edmonton’s Mission Chapel at 11725-93 St. may survive for another 65 years, if St. John’s School of Alberta can raise the $12,500 it needs to move the chapel 40 miles southwest of Edmonton to the school’s property on the North Saskatchewan River.

The chapel was originally built to serve English immigrants who settled just north of Edmonton during the immigration boom which followed the turn of the century. Thinly-populated areas of the new province could not support their own parishes, so the mission was staffed by 17 priests sent in 1910 by the Church of England. With the church here as headquarters, the priests served a wide area. Although all returned to Europe when World war I began, and 10 died in the trenches as army chaplains, the mission continued to serve the district in different capacities as the population and parish increased in size and wealth. Now, many other modern structures have replaced the little chapel, which stands empty on the ground the city wants to make into a “quiet area”. The Anglican diocese is also anxious that the church should quickly disappear since some of its outbuildings have been condemned as firetraps.

But an unlikely rescuer has appeared in the Anglican private boys’ school situated just west of the Genesee Bridge, half way between Warburg and Stony plain. The school since its construction in 1967 has been without a church of its own. Plans to build one of logs fell through only four years ago, when several logistical problems prove insurmountable. Then the school’s small library was remodeled to fill the role. “But it was never intended to be permanent,” says Bud Brooks, science teacher at St. John’s, the man charged with finding money for the moving project. “We’ve always had our eye open for an abandoned church, but all the previous possibilities fell through for one reason or another.” Mr. Brooks heard about the imminent destruction and persuaded the city to hold off until he could raise the money to move it.

A brief to the Devonian Foundation in Calgary proved initially abortive, but one of the foundation’s members referred the brief to an anonymous Calgary philanthropist. He has agreed to pay up to half the $25,000 needed to move and re-establish the church, matching whatever Mr. Brooks and St. John’s can raise by other means. Mr. Brooks hopes to raise the money soon, because the Anglican church has already sold the land to the city. As for the staff and students of St. John’s, Mr. Brooks says they would like it moved as soon as possible, too. But since they have been doing their morning and evening devotions in canoes, around campfires and in mountain passes for years, a few more months in a cramped library isn’t going to cause too much suffering.

Chapel

St. John’s School of Alberta urgently needs a chapel and has no money to buy one. A chapel was not included in the original construction of the school as it was expected that the boys could worship in classrooms or the library until a proper chapel could be built. This has proved a delusion. Attendance at religious services in the Manitoba school has quadrupled since an abandoned church was brought onto the site to serve as a chapel two years ago. Last summer, the Alberta chaplain, Rev. Stanley Isherwood, examined three abandoned churches in the school’s vicinity. Two were too small, one too expensive to move. With a clampdown on all capital spending a new one cannot now be erected and paid for.

Chris Petrie

Chris Petrie (SJSA ‘01) will be continuing his journey by canoe from Edmonton to Churchill, Manitoba. Last summer Chris and a friend set out on this journey, but were not able to complete the trip. They are planning to finish this summer. For pictures and information on the trip check out their website.