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I 4 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanvillc, Wednesday, November 13,1991 Section Two Education r . Valedictorian Addresses Students at St. Stephen's Family, Friends and distinguished distinguished guests I would first like to thank you on behalf of my classmates for sharing in our ceremonies tonight. Your support as always is very much appreciated! When preparing for this evening I tried very hard to think of all the inspirational things I could say to you. Carpe dicm-scize the day came to mind, as did upwards and onwards, the future is ours! But what I want to say, is best summarized in "The Station" Station" by Robert J. Hastings: Tucked away in our subconscious subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We arc travelling by train. Rick Heffernan Valedictorian Out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of com and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls. But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there our dreams will come true, and the pieces of our lives will fit together together like a jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering-waiting, waiting, waiting for the station. "When we reach the station that will be it!" we cry. "When I'm 18." "When I put the last kid through college." "When I reach the age of retirement, retirement, I shall live happily ever after!" Sooner or later we must realize realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us. So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough. I always thought that tonight tonight the train would finally pull into the station. I now real ize that we are just changing tracks, or perhaps changing trains. Nevertheless the last four or five years has been an interesting trip. Our tracks have certainly taken us over the peaks and valleys of adolescence adolescence but always with the conductors and engineer carefully carefully guiding the train forward. I would like to thank the conductors for making the trip exciting but safe. St. Stephen's is blessed with an abundant number of conductors. They include our teachers, guidance councillors, pastoral care worker, worker, principal, vice-principal, secretaries, the priests of the four parishes we live in, and concerned members of the community like the Knights of Columbus and CWL. You skillfully made our educational and spiritual journey meaningful, meaningful, and you certainly did more than punch our tickets. You introduced introduced us to Shakespeare, the quadratic fonnula, thermochemistry thermochemistry and the socioeconomic socioeconomic consequences of the Great Depression. You even put in extra long hours coaching coaching our various teams, directing directing and producing our plays, overseeing our student government, government, and spending time with us on retreat. We even thank you for the pop-quizzes, the killer exams, and the homework homework assignments which we always always complained so eloquently about. I would like to thank Mrs. Rush-Jeans especially for always smiling when she handed handed out detentions, and who was never once fooled by our wild explanations for not being in class on bright sunny Fridays in May. We are truly grateful for our parents, the engineers on our trip. We may not say it enough, but thank you for always being there. You made the hardest four or five years of our life enjoyable. You understood when we went through our various various fads, after all, you had showed us the pictures of you and your classmates in mini skirts or with groovy side- bums. We thank you for your understanding; when we came home with a crushed heart or a slightly bruised ego, when we thought the teacher was out to get us, or when we had a fight with our best friend. We thank you for your patience especially especially when we talked on the telephone telephone for hours at a time, when we were learning how to drive ( sorry Mom and Dad I still can't parallel park) and when we spent an hour and a half in the bathroom getting ready for the prom. You gave us the courage and the freedom to make our own decisions, but were always willing to give us a truckload of advice. Finally, thank you to my fellow passengers, the class of 1991. We certainly look a lot different than we did four or five years ago. We have traded the blue polo shirts of the now ancient SSHS uniform and the good old highlop running shoes for academic robes and neatly polished dress shoes. Our voices have changed, and so have the opinions they express. express. We have grown in many ways thanks to the nurturing of our parents and teachers and yes, puberty! When looking back at our time at St. Stephen's Stephen's it would be dishonest to gloss over the hardships, but hopefully the great times far outnumber these instances. Do your remember your first high school dance? Or studying in the upstairs hall back at St. Stephen's Stephen's elementary? I do and I can't believe those things happened happened only a couple of years ago, it seems like centuries have passed. However other memories like the "Great Student Strike of 1987", when students at SSHS boycotted an afternoon of classes to protest against the ban on wearing shorts to class, seem like only yesterday. As grade nines we terrorized supply supply teachers and passed a zillion zillion notes. Well I guess we learned something in classes too, but an hour and ten minutes minutes seemed like an eternity then. Maybe junior courses should have commercial breaks or something like that. I know that at university we arc pushing for a half hour nap between between each of our classes! In grade nine we also had our first Camp Northern Lights experience. experience. And you have to admit nothing brings a class together like granola bars, wet mittens and a communal case of bedhead bedhead and morning breath. The years between grade nine and today arc full of great memories. We must have laughed 2000 hours in the last five years and its hard to imagine imagine ever having been the person person we were in grade nine or ten, With our memories of canoe canoe trips, cramming for exams, pulling allnightcrs to finish essays, essays, of playing soccer in the rain, dissecting frogs in biology biology class, working on our tan in spare, of, forgetting our lines during the school play, of having having pillow fights at Manresca and of bush parlies and house parties is it any wonder that we have made such good friends : at St. Stephen's? And the funny funny thing is we got an education out of the deal too. True our parents and teachers may have thought that we were crazy at limes but we found our own ways of coping with the very real stress of high school. And very often we turned to each other for support. For often the best advice comes from fellow travellers. Now that we are all boarding boarding for different destinations I hope that our different trains will not lead us too far apart, besides the world is a small place, I'm sure that all train tracks cross somewhere. I believe believe that St. Stephen's will nevei leave us, and that our memories of high school will be important luggage we carry onto the next train, a train with more passengers, and more memories. \ Vim PAPER CHOOS THE BES IN HOME COMFORT Now you can choose the home comfort deal you want with the Lennox Best Choice Bonus Card. Scratch and save with instant rebates or Home Comfort Cash on dependable, high efficiency Lennox heating and air conditioning. Or you can defer payment until May '92...it's your choice! Call your local participating Lennox dealer for details, but hurry -- offer ends November 16,1991. Cm no l be combined with any other Lennox offer. Deferred payment subject to credit approval. Ramnor Gas 161 King St. E., Bowmanville Telephone 623-0877 Must be a - LENNOX A 'Twist of Life' on St. Stephen's Stage On Thursday, November 14 and Friday, November 15, St. Stephen's High School's OAC Drama Class will present "A Twist of Life" by Robin Carrey and John Sheridan. This cabaret features, seated from left: Stacey Gonder, Lisa Hot- tot, Sarah Goggin and Angela Day. Standing is John Robichaud. There are two shows nightly at seven p.m. and nine p.m. Tickets are available at the door. by Nicole George St. Stephen's O.A.C. Drama Class, as you probably already know, is presenting a cabaret entitled "A Twist of Life" on November 14 and 15. It is a musical-comedy that is set in a trendy restaurant called Remis'. The show attempts attempts to provide insight into the phases in romantic relationships relationships through the discussion of four women and their interaction interaction with two male waiters. Mr. Sheridan, the drama teacher at St. Stephen's High School co-wrote this cabaret style production with Robin Carrey an O.A.C. student. The show is packed with fun and familiar tunes from the 60's, 70's and 80's played by a live band. The cast of "A Twist of Life" arc very talented. There arc experienced actors and ac tresses such as Sarah Goggin, Angela Day and John Robichaud Robichaud who have been successful successful in previous productions. There is also fresh new talent. talent. This creates a nice balance that has, according to Mr. Sheridan and cast members, produced an excellent working atmosphere that will definitely result in a high-quality performance. performance. Sarah Goggin, who was brilliant in the part of the wife in last spring's production of Blood Wedding, stars as Dianna Dianna in a "A Twist of Life". Dianna is the wise, motherlike motherlike figure to the other three girls. Sarah explains: "When Dianna speaks, they listen." Sarah believes in the slogan of the Cabaret. "Something every woman can relate, to ... and every man should see!" She predicts all audiences will enjoy the show because it is humorous and is something everyone can relate to in some way. Sarah also says men could gain in sight into what females want and don't want in relationships. She stated "It's like listening in on a girls' locker room discussion. The presentation dates arc November 14 and 15 in St. Stephen's Stephen's auditorium. There arc two shows nightly: One at 7:00 p.m. and one at 9:00 p.m. Tickets arc available at the door. Adult tickets arc $5.00 and students arc $4.00. Senior Citizens are welcome to attend a dress rehearsal free on Wed. November 13 at 7:00 p.m. Come out for a good laugh. Come to see "A Twist of Life" at St. Stephen's High School. (We won't be beat) INVENTORY (The best selection in Durham Region) cavauer inggg; STK. #806096 8.9% Financing or ■ Cash Back OVER 100 AVAILABLE AIM CONOIÎIONINO • HLATIMO Lennox Is A Proud Sponsor Of The CBC Olympic Winter Games Telecast Vehicle not exactly as illustrated. Financing O.A.C. Cost of financing $10,000 over 48 months at 8.9% is $1,922.24 - payment is $248.38. Vehicle price has factory incentives and cashbacks assigned to Dealer. Freight, license, and applicable taxes extra. If 8.9% financing is used, cashback of $500. is not available and will be added to the above price. See Oealer for details. ■■ BOND ST. to LU ONTARIO MOTOR SALES 8 KING ST. GO 140 BOND ST. W CHEVROLET • 0LDSM0BILE • CADILLAC