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here come the brides of stouf f ville tribune june 1 1988 c5 s walter kempin leads donna friesen down the aisle at the parkview home the pair participated in a fashion show of bridal attire last week brides on parade it was a display of wedding finery unlike anything seen in stouff ville before the promenade that included both staff and residents was held friday in the auditorium of parkview home on rupert avenue several models wore their own wedding gowns some dating back to the 1930s and 40s participants were lisa fockler carolyn reesor isabel couperthwaite marg jemmett jackie wilson jenny mcfadden donna friesen charlene pattenden cathy paszat karen nu gent alisha kerswill julie murray gail matthews lynn poeltl anne nikkei mim jones and ruth fockler their gentlemen escorts were walter kempin harold spof- ford clarence summerfeldt and orland elford the commentator was mim jones in addition mim combined with anne nikkei in a lovely duet pianists were anne nikkei and shirley gilham a number of wedding albums were on display along with an original wedding gift dating back to 1930 clarence summerfeldt escorted karen nugent down the aisle as she julie murray looks demure in her wedding gown she was accompa- modelled a classic and simple bridal gown the fashion show provided nied by flower girl alisha kerswill at the bridal fashion show a good afternoons entertainment sesqui fun in claremont by bruce stapley its party time in claremont as the village gets down to the busi ness of celebrating its 150th year sesquicentennial activities will be running throughthe early part of june heading toward the big celebration on the weekend of june 11 committee chairman george johnson said the whole town is getting involved in the festivities and people are developing a grea ter awareness of their heritage the main idea was to have a ron beckett closes books at ballantrae public school by kate gilderdale ballantrae public school will lose a popular and respected member of its teaching staff when ron beckett retires at the end of the month mr beckett was honored at a retirement party at the school last thursday evening although his life has been largely devoted to teaching he was in rcaf during the second world war and went into business for eight years in 1950 born in weyburn saskatchewan he moved with his family to newmarket in 1934 and completed his high school education there i well remember the dust bowl days in saskatchewan mr beckett says life was very different then after graduat ing from high school he went to church college and from there joined the rcaf worked with radar he worked with radar which was then a very new invention developed by the allied nations to detect the enemys approach i was tied up with secrecy and my letters were censored he remembers we were posted to labrador fogo island and the maritimes we were called the first line of defence to protect canada after the war i finished school and attended toronto teachers college recalls mr beckett jobs were hard to find then and he took a post at a rural school being a town boy i was shocked to arrive and meet 48 pupils in one room he observes he met his wife in the air force and they both taught at a school in east gwillimbury no tv the contrast between his experiences then and now are notable he points out we didnt have busing and pupils walked one or two miles to and from school he states there was no tv and when the kids got home they had to do chores clas ses didnt go on field trips the big events were the local fair which the school usually closed for the inspectors visit and the christmas concert they also had a special cleanup day after which everyone would go out for a picnic and that was a very important date on the school calendar the old schoolhouse didnt boast modern conveni ences such as central heating rural schools were heated by wood stoves and it was part of the teachers job to see that the fire was kept burning during the day recalls mr beckett in 1950 he took a break from teaching and went into the retail lumber and building supply business but his vocation kept calling him back i always had a yen to return to teaching he smiles he reentered the profession and spent 17 years as a teacher and principal at maple leaf public school in newmarket the school population initially small rose to a peak of almost 900 in the 60s during the last 14 years mr beckett has taught at sharon aurora senior public school and ballantrae he has seen a great deal of change in education since he started the rules were set down by the old grey book says mr beckett that used to be the teachers bible today with the expansion of inventions rapid communications computers and the global village concept the curriculum has expanded to meet our changing needs many more opportunities and ex periences are available in all areas children know more he feels children nowadays are much more know ledgeable about current events but at the same tme he sees value in some of the earlier educational procedures i tend to retain a more traditional approach using contemporary methods he com ments the basic premise is honesty and con sistency he claims noting that students respond to firmness tempered with common sense while mr beckett is looking forward to retire ment he acknowledges there will be a period of adjustment for both him and his wife im sure ill miss it for a while he admits he is very keen to do some travelling my wife wants to go to alaska and the yukon he declares im interested in the middle east they would also like to visit au stralia with missionary friends in japan it seems un likely the becketts will run out of places to visit for a long time to come in the meantime he plans to develop his cottage up north for year round use and spend some time doing wood work clearly ron beckett will have plenty to keep him busy after he says goodbye to his many friends at ballantrae public school a parting gift heritage weekend where claremont would get a better grasp of whats gone on in the past johnson says the people are working quite hard and the thing is well organized the celebration has been in the planning stages for about a year he claims and there isnt a group in claremont that is not involved the lions lionesses the legion the coop and the churches are all pitching in to guarantee its suc cess there is even a book chronicl ing claremonts past scheduled to come off the press in time for the big weekend compiled by loc al resident jill woolin the effort is a collection of pictures and cap tions and is expected to further awaken the awareness of claremonts history activities leading up to the big weekend include a fashion show tonight wednesday at the com munity hall a play to be per formed at the hall thursday at 8 pm and dances on friday and saturday nights there will be a tour of homes sunday proceeds are going to help pay for a replica of the vil lages gazebo that was located at the centre of town for so many years the structure will be used as a bandshell a heritage display will be set up at the library june 7 to 9 and the celebration weekend will be george johnson and his sesquicentcnnial committee arc ready and raring to go for the claremont celebration next weekend there are activities to suit every taste on june 11 and june 12 jim thomas kicked off with a mixed baseball tournament getting underway friday evening the activities taking place on the weekend of june 11 follow saturday 8 am to 10 pm mixed ball tournament 8 to 10 am pancake break- fast at the claremont united church house decorating judging 10 am parade including old car parade 1130 am to 1 pm home coming welcome at sports pad noon to 4 pm childrens games at the playground adult games of chance at the play ground i noon beer garden at the sports pad ted richardson at the sports pad 1230pm play performance at the community hall if 1245 pm shakespeare magic with david houston at the sports pad 1 pm historic display of artifacts at the masonic hall tug of war and horseshoe pitching at the parkgrounds 130 pm dennis martin kids folksinging at the sports pad 330 pm whitevale chimes 5 bell choir at the sports pad 415 pm junior farmers i square dance at the sports pad ft 430 to 6 pm roast beef din- ner at the community hall 8 pm community dance at the sports pad sunday 11 am church service at the park grounds noon community pot luck picnic lunch at the park grounds 1230 pm costume contest at the park grounds 1245 to 115 pm female barbershop group and games for all at the park grounds 3 pm guided walking tour of the village there is also a country night scheduled saturday june 25 at the claremont legion which will feature the music of don lloyd and country gold scenes from nature olive murphy stands with her painting of a winter scene at the stouffville silver jubilee club her art was included in the silver jubilee art clubs show and sale last week- jim thomas teacher ron beckett second from right accepts a camera tripod from ballantrae public school prin cipal jim jefferis mr beckett is retiring at the end of this month also present when he received his retirement gift were from left his son paul daugh ter gcncvra rucgg and his wife ruth jim thomas art show in stouffville joyce hyde of ballantrae painted this summer scene for the silver jubilee art clubs show and sale the show was held last wednesday jim thomas