It is often said teachers build bridges – but high school library teacher Richard Neff is in the process of building a wall.
Of course, that wall is being designed to build bridges – between the current Centre Wellington District High School and the former school a few blocks away – and also some bridges between current students, the community, and a number of former students.
“I’ve kind of become the custodian, by default, of a lot of old pictures,” Neff said in an interview last week.
It goes even beyond that. He has “custody” of the first Fergus high school yearbook – from the former school. The current school tries to keep a copy of all year books. The one that Neff has is so small that a number of them were actually taken to a bookbinders and turned into a book the size of a thick novel.
That is not Neff’s only connection to the past.
He has the opening day program from the former CWDHS, with listings of the trustees, the speakers, and the events of the day.
He also has a key that, he believes, was used at that opening day ceremony for CWDHS in 1928.
Engraved on it are the school motto, Per ardua ad astra. School mottos in those days were in Latin – and generally known and translatable by many students.
According to Wikipedia, it means Through Adversity to the Stars or Through Struggle to the Stars. that a is also the motto of “the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces such as the RAAF, RNZAF, and the former RCAF. It dates from 1912 and was used by the newly-formed Royal Flying Corps.”
Neff has more. There is a picture of the high school graduating class of 1906 – Form 3 – long before the old Fergus school at Tower Street and Belsyde Avenue was built. It is in a frame provided by J. Thompson Furniture Dealer and Funeral Director. Thompson Furniture still exists in downtown Fergus.
The students and teachers in that old photo were identified by John Simpson, who did not manage to remember them all. That’s forgivable, considering he was 90 at the time. Some of those students were born in 1890.
Neff also has pictures of the entire school student body – from 1931, 1951, and 1961. Those are in long frames, but some photos, like the 1953-54 school photo, do not even have a frame.
A woman living in British Columbia sent him her mother’s high school ring. Hey, remember high school rings?
It has the school crest on it, and was sized for a tiny hand.
The sender, D. Carol Hastings, wrote to Neff, “My mother grew up in Fergus. Thought this might be of interest at the school. If not, could you give it to the museum.”
There are many old posters of photographs of students involved in horticultural and animal husbandry projects, too.
All of which has caused Neff to see if he can make some connections through a wall.
He is hoping to remove two small display cases from the current high school’s main entrance, and ensconce some of the town’s scholastic history in a couple of walls at both sides of main entrance.
He would like to get new frames for the old photographs, and encase everything in plexiglass to protect it, yet allow students to see their predecessors, and perhaps even pick out their parents and grandparents. That, he believes, will build bridges across the generations.
“What’s really important to me is to make the connection between the old school and the community, and this new building,” he said, adding, “A lot of these older people are still around,” even as the old building “is gone and repurposed.”
Neff said he has enough material to make regular changes to the new walls of history he hopes to build – and he would really like to see modern displays added – again building bridges between the generations.
“We could change – and move things – and have a living collection as well,” he said, noting the current display boxes on the walls are not the right size or style.
He is also hoping to fill in some blanks in his collection.
He has provided a list of missing yearbooks and class pictures and said if anyone is willing to entrust them to the school and the display cases, he is more than willing to accept them for the school.
The school has a nearly complete set of yearbooks starting with the old school in 1928. It is missing the following years, and would love to have donations to complete the set. The missing yearbooks are 1951-52,1953-54, 1954-55, 1958-59, 1960-61, and 1961-62.
The old composite black and white photos also have some missing years.
Neff said he is unsure when they stopped producing that type of all-school photo. He already has the following years and asks that anyone who can donate the missing years would be more than welcome.
The years the school has include 1922, 1923-24, 1926, 1928, 1931, the 1931 Rugby team, the 1933 reunion, 1933-34, 1944-45, 1946-47, 1950, 1951-52, 1953-54, 1955-56, 1958-59, and 1961-62.
Neff said it would be great if people could make donations of the missing items or any other memorabilia by June 17.
People can contact him at 519-843-2500 extension 308, or by email at richard.neff@ugdsb.on.ca. The mailing address of the school is CWDHS, 905 Scotland Street, Fergus, Ontario, N1M 1Y7.
