Newsletter 9

9th Newsletter March 2nd , 2014       Dear Fellow Classmates, Schedule The timing of all the events has now been set, as follows: 1.     Memory Mingle – Friday May 2nd  from 5:00 to 7:00 at the school.  The school has given us a double room which will be decorated in a 60’s theme . 60’s music will be playing as we catch up with classmates. There will be a light dinner and a slide show. Send your jpeg photos to Ruth Rosen Levkoe at ruthleahlevkoe@yahoo.ca.   2.     Maytime Melodies –  Friday May 2nd from 7:30 to 9:30. The school is holding a block of tickets until April 17th so we can sit together. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by sending the music teacher your cheque . They can be picked up at the box office before the show.  Her address is: Deborah Pady c/o Music Department  North Toronto CI 17 Broadway Avenue Toronto, ON  M4P 1T7 3.     Bill and Cathie Humber House Party Friday May 2nd from 7:00 onward at 30 Maxwell Avenue ( four blocks from the school) .  For those attending  Maytime Melodies come on over after the cncert. There will be food and entertainment but bring your own alcohol. 4.     Doug and Lea Gammage House Party Saturday May 3rd from 3:30 to 6:00 at 38 Hillhurst Blvd.  There will be light snacks and soft drinks but again bring your own alcohol. 5.     Dinners at local restaurants. Saturday May 3rd  at 6:30.  For those who still want to keep talking there will be sign up sheets  on Friday for some local restaurants we can go to on Saturday night Confirmation Form We have to ensure we order sufficient food so we need to know if you will attend the Friday night Memory Mingle. It would be helpful to know if you are attending the other events but you do not need to commit now.   There is no cost for any events except Maytime Melodies as we hope to make money from a 50/50 draw and some of you have expressed interest in contributing to the event ( more details to follow) . Please fill out this  confirmation form and return it to me  as soon as possible but no later than April 11th.    Just type your answers next to the question and reply to lauriepascoe@gmail.com ( preferably taking out the rest of the  email). NTCI CLASS OF 1968 REUNION MAY 2ND AND 3RD CONFIRMATION FORM NAME       MAIDEN NAME HOME ADDRESS HOW MANY COMING TO  MEMORY MINGLE HOW MANY COMING TO MAYTIME MELODIES HOW MANY COMING TO BILL HUMBER HOUSE PARTY HOW MANY COMING TO DOUG GAMMAGE HOUSE PARTY HOW MANY GOING TO SATURDAY NIGHT RESTURANT WILL YOU VOLUNTEER TO SET UP FOR MEMORY MINGLE WILL YOU VOLUNTEER TO CLEAN UP AFTER MEMORY MINGLE WILL YOU VOLUNTEER TO WORK AT RECEPTION DESK OF MEMORY MINGLE WILL YOU VOLUNTEER TO SELL 50/50 TICKETS WILL YOU VOLUNTEER TO TAKE PICTURES WILL YOU VOLUNTEER TO TAKE VIDEO Blog If you have not already done so , please visit that great blog Bill Schabas has set  up at  ntci68.blogspot.ca   Or just google NTCI Class of 1968 Reunion and it is about the 10th entry.  We now have over 50 bios there and some pictures from the last reunion. Make some comments. Finding Classmates We continue to find more classmates but would like to find even more . Please take a look at the attached  up to date database and if you have any idea where some missing classmates are either try to find them yourself or give me the lead you have and I’ll try to find them.  The database shows who we have found , who has responded and who have said in one form or another that they are coming or not coming but I  still need your confirmation form. Looks like we will have a really good turnout. Bios Here is another group of interesting bios with more to come. Marsha Storm (Kagan) My attendance at NTCI was cut short, only two years, as my family moved from the NTCI school District. At the time, I was devastated, but in retrospect I was very fortunate to be able maintain the friendship of of my dear friend Lesley-Jo Gross and make new wonderful friends as well, who are a very important part of my life today. On completion of high school I attended the University of Western Ontario for one year with Lesley, then completed a B. Ed. at U of T. In 1973 I married the man I loved, Kenneth Kagan, and started a 34 year teaching career in the Business Department of a secondary school in the City of York. My career and family life flourished. I moved to Co-op and Career Education in Adult Education and completed my career as an Instructional Leader for the Toronto School Board. During this time Ken who was a lawyer and amazing father and I, had two wonderful sons. We worked, travelled and generally enjoyed our family life. Sadly, Ken passed away almost six years ago. Thankfully our sons are great. Alex my youngest is at law school and Jonah, my oldest, is a financial advisor, married to a girl who I adore. Since Ken was a lawyer, it is very special to me that my daughter-in-law named her firm Kagan Law. I spend the winters in Florida, have many many friends and family visit, and attend lectures at Ryerson while I am in Toronto. The last NTCI reunion was very special , I look forward to seeing everyone at the next! Paul Jaanimagi   After I “free-spirited” out of NTCI in the middle of Grade 11, it was a few years before I returned to high school.  This time it was in Oakville where the family had moved.  No, I did not play football again – I had a knee thing.  I continued my education earning a B.Sc. in Physics from McMaster, followed by an M.Sc. and PhD from the University of Waterloo, also in Physics.  While in grad school I married Charlotte, my wife of 36 years.  Our first son Karl was born as I was writing my thesis.  My best opportunities for employment were in the States so as soon as our green cards came through it was off to Boston where I spent 18 months at MIT.  This was followed by a lovely year at the University of Hawaii.  From there it was off to Rochester NY, working at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics.  My specialty was ultra-high speed photography – picosecond time resolution diagnostics.  It was a good career with fruitful collaborations with groups in France, England, Japan and many government research labs in the USA.  Last November I retired after putting in my 30 years.  Now every day is Saturday, and it is time to implement my 30 year retirement plan, 4 months down, 356 months to go.   Charlotte has kept me active over the years.  We still enjoy inline skating, biking, kayaking, and in the winter there is skating and cross-country skiing.   Karl still lives in the area and loves gymnastics.  He teaches gymnastics, coaches a boy’s Junior Olympic team as well as a college club team, and judges meets throughout Upstate NY.  We still go to all of his local competitions.   Our second son Erik who was born a year after we arrived in Rochester was the soccer player earning himself a D1 scholarship at the University of Buffalo.  He now lives high in the canyons north of Boulder Colorado and works in environmental education.  We enjoy our visits to the mountains.   See you all in May. Mary Anne Ward Peacock A little late but hopefully still under the wire. Before I start, I would like to thank the organizing committee for all their work. I realize the tremendous amount of work involved as I helped organize our 40th nursing reunion and that was so much less of an undertaking than this certainly is. When I looked at Bill Schabas’s blog and my write up for the grad picture for grade 13, I thought what was I thinking? Part of it was correct in that I did go on to the University of Toronto into The Bachelor of Science in Nursing. While at the University I carried on with majoretteing. In fact both Roz Zurkowsky and I had fun together doing the half time shows at the U of T football games. While at the University I met my husband David John Peacock who also graduated in 1972 but from Industrial Engineering. I worked in community health for the City of York at a staff and management level. My work involved visiting clients in their homes with a variety of health issues including teaching moms about new born care, counseling on mental health issues, cardiac care and general health prevention and promotion. For a while I was even assigned to a full time nursing position in a large high school. I can not remember at all if NTCI even had a school nurse. Can anyone recall? We have two children. Devon Ward Peacock, our son, works for Corus Entertainment as a journalist. He is the morning editor for AM980 in London Ontario and has his own talk show called “The Pulse”. Heather Leslie Ward Peacock is our daughter and she works for Toronto General Western Hospital Foundation as an event planner. Once the kids were born I decided to work part time and specialized in the area of Prenatal Health as well as coordinating a Sexual Health Clinic “Talk Shop” for the City of North York and then the newly amalgamated City of Toronto. Both Dave and I are now retired and split our time between our home in Willowdale and our cottage on Lake Rosseau. We have had the privilege of travelling as well. Some of our more interesting trips have been to Iran and Italy. When we were first married we had the opportunity to visit my Dad who was on loan from Ontario Hydro to work in Iran (when the Shah was in power).  And our most recent trip was to Italy in Sept.2013 for a month to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. See you soon!!! Linda Walsh   I was born in London, England, but, when I was 7, my family moved to Canada, following my father’s dream of life in a new country and involvement in a developing theatre scene.  There were just too many actors in London!  Edmonton was probably not the wisest choice in 1957, and, after living through nine Edmonton winters, we moved to Toronto.   After a few months at Jarvis Collegiate, I transferred to NTCI for grades 12 and 13.  All that time spent backstage in my father’s shows was good preparation for my involvement in drama at NTCI. Although I grew up surrounded by the arts, I’ve also always had an interest in science.  After leaving NTCI, I took both arts and science courses at the University of Toronto.  After finishing a Masters in Zoology there, I took some courses in Anthropology and worked on archaeology digs in Ontario and England.  In 1980, I graduated from Queen’s University at Kingston with a Ph.D. in Biology.  After post-doctoral work at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, I worked as a research scientist at Mt. Sinai and Toronto General Hospital and taught genetics at U of T.   Along the way, I got married and divorced. Sometimes, life takes unexpected turns and we come full circle.  My experiments with Chinese brush painting led to a night course in Mandarin at U of T and then a summer course in Beijing in 1983.  Two years later, I took a sabbatical from my job at Toronto General Hospital to study Chinese.  I also ended up teaching English at Taichung University.  While I was away, the director of my research group and his entire team relocated to the U.S.  I had to make the decision to move or join another research group.  Seeing this as an opportunity for a break, I pursued my interests in art and writing.  This new direction took on a life of its own, the break got extended, and I never went back to work in science.  I have shown my paintings and work in other media in art and craft exhibitions in Ontario and BC.  In 1990, I met Oscar, an artist from Buenos Aires.  After 5 years of living and working together in Ontario (Toronto and London), we lived in Vancouver for 6 years. We also spent some time in Argentina before returning to Toronto in 2001.  The marriage didn’t last, but the tango is still with me.  I have made several trips to Argentina and now teach Argentine tango, have written articles for dance magazines, and am a DJ for tango events. Winning the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Canada and Europe in 1999 was certainly a boost for my writing. Since then, I have had other short stories and poetry published.  I have one novel “in the drawer” and a second one in progress.  Writing is something I will always do.  Having my writing published and out there for others to read is an added bonus. And so, after a circuitous path, I am back to the arts again. For the last 5 years, I have also been managing an English language school in downtown Toronto, where I have taught off and on over the past few years.  The position involves a fair amount of travel, and my last trip was back to China after 30 years.  Another circle is complete.  What’s important is the journey. Lorne R. Smith Teacher, North Toronto C. I. Sept. 1966 to Dec. 1968 Graduated from University of Western Ontario and University of Toronto. Started teaching career in Orangeville District High School in 1959 Transferred to Lawrence Park C. I. in fall of 1961 Transferred to North Toronto C. I. in fall of 1966 Joined the Ontario Ministry of Education on January 1, 1969 in a new branch dedicated to assisting schools in computerizing their timetables. Served in various branches and positions within the Ministry of Education until retirement in November, 1993:  Inspector, Supervision Branch; Education Officer, Curriculum Branch; Evaluation Branch; Executive Assistant to Assistant Deputy Minister; Executive Assistant to Deputy Minister; Director, Computers in Education Branch. Traveled extensively across Canada, USA and Europe for the Ministry of Education. Upon retirement in 1993 appointed Official Historian, Town(now City) of Markham. Retirement has included many volunteer activities including: editing 10 historical publications, producing 8 historical videos, publishing newsletters for three organizations, secretary and treasurer for various organizations, managed 16 heritage cemeteries for the City of Markham, leading organized tours to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Europe, Jamaica and Israel Still live on the same property as in 1966, a portion of the original farm where raised.  This has involved continuing to farm the property but now down to pasturing our son’s cattle during the summer. A portion of the property has been turned into an environmental study area permitting the naturalization of an original pasture field.  Still have a snowmobile and a quad on the property to entertain the grandchildren. In 1980 purchased 125 acres of hardwood bush near Bobcaygeon and continue to manage the property under a Forest Management Plan.  Each spring tap the trees and make Maple Syrup.  Just purchased an adjoining 200 acre property.