Considering the amount of time I’ve spent in my old hometown lately and the Facebook friends I have from high school including the group dedicated just to my class year, you’d think I would have caught wind of the farewell party for the school itself. But no one breathed a word about it until afterward. Looks like most of my old classmates didn’t even attend. Pity.Â
Would I have really driven two hours to attend the last event at the place where I spent four-and-a-half of my formative years? You bet I would. I did it 18 years ago for the school’s anniversary. (50th? 75th? Who can remember) And I have photographic evidence with my friend Corinne to prove it.
It was announced last year that South Lincoln High School (SLHS) would close, because of declining enrollment. Area secondary schools in Grimsby and Beamsville will close in 2020 and one centrally located school will be built to accommodate everyone in the area, making all kids into bus kids. It’s incredibly wasteful and short-sighted but they’re doing it all over the province, including here in London. No one knows what will become of the shuttered schools.
Those halls were where pink-bellies were given, dramas of who’s going with who unfolded, and senior boys struck fear into our hearts with one stare. It’s hard to believe now that there was a designated smoking area for students. In grade 9, my goal was to not get noticed. In later years, you come into your own and feel like you run the place. Oh, and we learned stuff, too. I took shop class and learned how to turn wood and bend metal. We baked cookies and cakes in home-ec and learned about clouds in geography. Our history course was redacted, like it was across the country, but its limitations prompted me to educate myself about the more shameful aspects of our country’s story. As for the building itself, the school board pumped millions of dollars into upgrades and additions over the years but I swear they kept the same doors.
One thing all of us students had in common over the years was our love for the Smithville Bears. Our football team was a formidable force and gave us opportunities to bond with each other over road trips to play other schools, and even to the old Ivor Wynne stadium in Hamilton for the season’s final game. With wine skins tucked under our blankets, we’d freeze our collective buns off while cheering enthusiastically to ward off frostbite.
So long Bears. So long SLHS. Mr. Portelli, I swear it was just Freshie in the wine skin.