My friends from Mt. Elizabeth School in beautiful Kitimat British Columbia, WELCOME!

Our School Motto is: Palma Non Sine Pulvere or    No Prize Without Labour

 It also suggests: You get no applause if you don’t perform.  I can still remember my wife Rosa’s applause from that first time I heard it many years ago after a particularly good performance.

 Over the past weeks and months, I have had the pleasure of communicating in a variety of ways with many of you.  The weirdest might have been when “big shot” condo developer Allyster Norman insisted that “his people contact my people”.   Through those conversations, it is clear that we have not been idle all these years.  We have followed our school motto and worked hard to achieve our goals or to overcome those challenges which life has thrown in our path.  We have become teachers and healers, builders and artists.  We play a host of roles, but for many of us, it is parenting that has provided the most challenge and reward.  For all our achievements these past 35 or so years, we do indeed deserve a round of applause!  And maybe a round of something else as the evening progresses.

We are gathered here to have a good time.  We will have a sumptuous feast, and listen to, and dance, to some great music by Classic Soda.  Tonight we will remember the friendships we held dear and the nurturing we received in that long-ago time.  We all recognize that those formative years, added some essential elements to our beings which made us the strong  men and women we are today.

 Perhaps a Kitimat analogy would be appropriate.  You see, in Kitimat, we produce aluminum that is 99.999% pure.  In that state, it is quite useless.  It too requires some essential elements added so as to give it the properties that make it a strong and useful product.  Our parents’ efforts could only take us part of the way on our journey.  I, for example, might have become a cod fisherman on the Grand Banks.  And Charlie Mueller could have been the pharmacist for the East German women’s shot put team.

 With the help of our school environment, not just the curriculum but also the social interaction, we were transformed into something more appropriate to the modern Canadian society.  Peer support and modeling particularly influenced me into taking my own path.  And of course we have all taken our own paths.  But still, in the end, those paths always seem to bring us back to the friendships that were so important in high school and that have endured over the years.  That is fundamentally what we are celebrating.  And I am completely thrilled to be in your company here tonight!

 We are a product of the 60’s.  On the front side of that decade, John F. Kennedy told our generation not to ask what our country could do for us, but what we could do for our country.  As we approached graduation, Harley Robertson, echoed the sentiment.  Who can forget his rant against becoming a “me-firster”.  Instead, he urged us to put others first, whether it be family or the community.  I believe that we integrated that theme into our principles and are today active participants in the well-being of our communities.

 Another 60’s philosophy centered on Peace and Understanding.  We may not have met the most idealistic goals, but friendship and understanding was nevertheless a big part of our high school community.  To suggest that ours was an inclusive community, I offer this story.  A young man, a total stranger, joined us in Grade 12.  He observed the strong bonds of friendship that existed then and indeed remain to this day.  He soon felt part of that tight group.  He went on to an influential role in the civil service including writing briefs for several provincial ministers.  It was only natural that his linguistic talents were called upon to assist us through this evening’s program.

 My friends, I thank you sincerely for coming to this reunion.  Now, please welcome your Master of Ceremonies for this evening.  Mr. Bill Parker!

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