GarthWunsch.com

Posts Tagged ‘George Vanier Public School’

Well, George Vanier Public School is no more. The Demolition crew moved in this morning and by nightfall, the entire old school was nothing but twisted steel, concrete rubble, and broken glass.. I previously photographed and posted about the last “official” day of school at GVPS a year ago. Just as a side note, Mrs. Grace Murray, who was in the photos, passed away shortly after the images were made.

It was interesting and touching to see how many people actually parked along the side of the street, and some even with lawn chairs, paused to watch the passing of a bit of our history. I have recently been reading Frances Mayes Every Day in Tuscany . In it she talks of coming across ancient Roman ruins in her walks through the mountainous countryside. Well, future generations will have no such luck around here. When we demolish something, it’s DEMOLISHED! So in my own little way, I have tried to capture a bit of our history, as it existed… and as it exited. Many of you will have fond memories of GVPS, our own daughter included.

Garth

Friday, June 26, 2009, last day of classes at George Vanier Public School also marked the last day of the school, well at least the original school. I thought it would be useful, interesting, fun, maybe even important to photograph this passing moment of time. I never attended this school, but our daughter did… all of her public school years, and so did most of her friends. The school has been very much a part of our community, but it is not “gone”, it is just changing. I don’t know if the building is coming down or not, but a brand new “George Vanier” is being constructed right beside the old one. They say it will be a “green “school, but right now, it’s a really blue school… insulation on the insulation.

I was deeply rewarded for the small effort of getting to the school at the proper time, because just as the kids were racing out, a gentleman assisted a very elderly lady around to the back of my truck so she could witness the end of an era… the lady was former teacher Grace Murray. She taught her entire career at GVPS. I was honoured to witness her silent vigil, and I greatly respect her for it. I never met this lady, at least not that I remember, but I think her obviously substantial effort to attend the last exodus of “her students” speaks volumes of the kind of person I believe she must be. Memories can be wonderful things, and I’m thinking she has lots of them. Thanks.