It was a respectful ceremony as the school, like others across Canada, last week paid tribute to its fallen war heroes and to those who make the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country. Principal David Abracen opened both presentations by saying, “It was on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, a phrase that we have come to respect through the years.
During the presentation, and with a proud Principal Abracen looking on, students recited various readings related to our war efforts including poems, which were interspersed between audio-visual screenings including that now famous video made famous by Terry Kelly, called, “A Pittance of Time.”
Terry Kelly was in a Shoppers Drug Mart store in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and at 10:55 AM on Nov. 11th, 1999, an announcement came over the store's PA asking customers who would still be on the premises at 11:00 AM to give two minutes of silence in respect to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for us. Terry's anger towards a father for trying to engage the store's clerk in conversation and for setting a bad example in front of his child, while all customers showed their respect, was later channeled into a beautiful piece of work called, "A Pittance of Time".
Student TJ Vaudry- Read on trumpet performed “Reveille”, while student Amanda Pidlisny, played “Taps” on the flute with a moment of silence that followed which ended both presentations.
An inspirational song called, “Alleluia” was also sung by student Jessie Carty on acoustic guitar with a visual presentation on screen behind him.
Invited guest, Commissioner Doug Flook spoke about the valuable contributions made by Verdunites during the Second War and about the Italian campaign of WWII. 13.1 percent of English-speaking Verdunites were in uniform, compared to about 10.6 percent of English-speaking Canadians. This is a rate nearly 24 percent higher than the national average. Of 12,221 Verdun males aged 15 to 34, up to 6,144 (50.3 percent) are known to have served overseas.
Upwards of 93,000 Canadians fought in Italy and 6,000 young Canadians, with the average age of 19, gave their lives. Some were older and many were 16 to 18 years old not much older than those in attendance amongst the students, which brought a hush to the student body. Kudos to everybody for a dignified event.
A special congrats goes to a couple of Championship teams. The boys’ juvenile touch football team brought home the banner by edging out St.Thomas High 22-21 in sudden-death. Congrats goes out to Coaches Jeff Dort, Mike Loiseau, and Tarik Azouz.
The girls’ juvenile soccer team which was widely expected to go all the way also brought home the Division 3 City Title by beating Westwood High 3-0 with Bria John leading the way with two goals.MVP honors went to Angelica Di Criscio who scored one goal and goalie Ebony Clyke picked up the shutout. So an undefeated season and a City Championship. Not bad! Congrats here go out to Coaches Lisa Baylis, Jennifer Pinard, and Ed Humphrys.
The basketball season is now underway with BA fielding 5 teams. The juvenile boys and midget girls teams are winless so far in the new season, The juvie girls team is 1-1, the bantam boys are 2 and 2, and the midget boys team won their first game in grand style this past Tuesday by trouncing private school LCC 51-14.
