Collegian Summer 2019

cont'd from pg. 3
I roomed on the top floor of Belmont in
one of the two rooms facing north. The
window in the small room did not fit well
in its frame; after a snowstorm, we could
expect to see a small pile of snow on the
floor.
The school’s yearbook claims that I was
“a lively resident of the fourth floor.” That
claim could also have been made of my
roommates - Arthur Heise and Clarence
Climenhaga. Our combined liveliness one
night resulted in one of my teeth getting
chipped by a bottle thrown by Arthur from
the bunk above where I lay. I did not have
the tooth repaired until many years later,
thus I carried for decades a too visible
mark of my student life at NCC.
A quartet that sang together for part of the
1946-47 school year: left to right: Henry Regier,
Morris Sider, John Reesor, Carl Heise
Meals were adequate, even for hungry
teenagers. Mary Lyons made basic foods
enjoyable—as much as could be expected.
I best remember a dish comprised
mainly of hamburger and macaroni, but
containing other sometimes unrecognizable
ingredients (“leftovers” we thought),
leading some of us to label the dish as
Grand Old Mixture (or GOM for short).
Apple butter was in good supply, being
donated by someone in the Kitchener-Waterloo
area. But its flavour was too much
diminished by “filler,” which probably was
pumpkin.
As teenagers we were understandably
interested in sports. But sports had their
limitations. We had no gymnasium, thus
sports were limited largely to those that
could be played outdoors, mainly baseball
and hockey, the latter in a scooped-out
area shortly to the west of Belmont.
Another limitation was the understanding
that sports could not be extramural.
During the winter of that year, the boys
talked about playing a hockey game
against Eden (a Mennonite high school in
the Vineland area). I mentioned our talk to
my father who (inadvertently, I think) mentioned
it to a couple of other ministers.
Soon two trustees arrived on campus to
speak with me. There would be no game
played with Eden, they declared, and I was
not to spread such talk again.
Not surprisingly, music was an important
part of our student life. Quartets, trios, a
mixed choir, four-part singing in chapel reflected
the music heritage of the school’s
constituencies. For part of a year I sang on
a quartet that included Henry Regier.
As my first-day experience suggests, NCC
was a place where special relationships
could be and often were formed, some of
them eventually leading to marriage. But
like sports, dating had limitations, such as
no dating at movies or dances or other activities
considered “worldly.” Where then
could students date?
Leone and my dating was something of
a general pattern. Our first date was a
bicycle ride around “the circle” near the
school, with Leone sitting on the crossbar.
Subsequently we dated by attending
Bible conferences, revival meetings, and
love feasts (special weekend services of
the Brethren in Christ). For one date, we
joined another couple (Arthur Heise and
Verna Climenhaga, a faculty member) to
travel to a Mennonite church east of Buffalo
for a music programme given by Eastern
Mennonite College (now University). There
for the first time I heard the song “Going
Morris and Leone hang school laundry in the
early stage of their friendship
Home” based on Antonin Dvorak’s New
World Symphony. (Whenever I now listen
to that symphony, I reflect on the loveliness
and educational value of that date.)
On our return to NCC, we bought two dozen
donuts, thus adding to the sweetness of
the occasion.
When we returned to NCC in 1955 to join
the staff, much had changed. Now the
school could boast of having a new name,
a gymnasium-auditorium, a grade 13, and
extended sports activities which included
a few extramural sports (and, yes, a game
with Eden).
What had not so much changed was the
occasional need for disciplinary action, for
which in my years as principal I had a major
responsibility. We sent one student home
for several days for playing pool in Fort
Erie. When several girls left campus without
permission, we gave each the penalty
of writing one hundred times a promise
never to repeat the offense. One student
whom we expelled arrived home prior to
my letter to his parents explaining the reasons
for their son’s expulsion. The parents
never received the letter.
In one instance, disciplinary resolve quickly
dissolved. I was standing in the vestibule
of Belmont when a student, Ronald J. Sider
(who later wrote Rich Christians in an
Age of Hunger fame),
cont'd on pg. 5
NCC Gym 1957
page 4