Mahone Bay Old School_A Life and Times_Bob Sayer

“... In my yearbooks ... I have felt sadness, happiness, challenges and personal
awards [so many ‘thank yous’] ... ... her inclusion as clarinet player in the school
band was one of the highlights…’
Ted Veinot:
A Man for All Season: Mahone Bay
Teacher 1984-2006: The last person to
ring the bell in the Old School
Ted went on to teach at Bayview, but the
bulk of his career was at the Old School.
For years, the grade sixes passed through
his classroom on the top floor in the right
corner, and loved him. Mr. Veinot was
alive and bright, passionate and caring.
And very approachable: kids got in early
to have a chat. He was involved in coaching
multi-sports [soccer, track and field,
cross-country, badminton, volleyball and
basketball] at all levels, elementary and junior high: the champs like Lindsey
Duncan and Alex Legge learned their first basketball from him. He was “Mr.
Terry Fox Run” at the school. He also had a streak of mischief: “one day I took
all of [teacher] Dawn Fehr’s chairs and tied them to the rafters of the old school.”
During the official closing of the old Mahone Bay school in 2000, he was selected
to be the last person to ring the huge bell that hung in the tower. : “One of
the high points was ringing the bell for the last time…..it was the end of something, but
it was an end that I felt part of.” Principal [v.p. at the old School] Craig Pottie said,
“Mr. Veinot never failed to make himself available to help out…There isn’t anything
he won’t do for kids….and he’s so strong in connecting, finding out where they’re coming
from and what things interest them…he was willing to work with kids that had issues,
kids that didn’t particularly
enjoy school.” Although accomplished
as a coach, Teddy’s
true success “is the bond he
makes with kids,” said his
principal. In 1996, Mr., Veinot
started an annual grade 6 trip
to Ottawa
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