Orillia considers naming school after gordon

[charlene]

http://www.orilliapacket.com/2014/11...fter-lightfoot
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By Dave Dawson, Orillia Packet & Times
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 6:39:49 EST PM

He was a quiet, unassuming student at what became known as Orillia District Collegiate and Vocational Institute (ODCVI). While a bit shy, his fellow students and the teachers at the West Street school helped him emerge from his shell as he started competing in track and field and joined the football team.

But where he really stood out was on ODCVI’s stage. Buoyed by the accolades he had received a few blocks down the street when he was a boy soprano at St. Paul’s United Church, he began to perform during his high-school years — and he’s never stopped.

Gordon Lightfoot, who turned 76 Monday, has had a career in the music industry few could match. With more than five decades of singing and writing songs, he is a living legend whose name — and music — is known, respected and loved around the globe.

Robbie Robertson, of The Band, called the balladeer “a national treasure” and fellow folk legend Bob Dylan said when he hears a Lightfoot song, he wishes “it would last forever.”

Sadly, Lightfoot will not live forever, though his legacy will undoubtedly endure. Naming the new Orillia high school after the internationally acclaimed musician would certainly help.

Earlier this week, the Simcoe County District School Board announced it is seeking input into naming the school currently being built at the corner of Park Street and Collegiate Drive. The building will house the former school communities of both Park Street Collegiate Institute and ODCVI.

Ultimately, a committee of students, parents, teachers and representatives from the school board and area municipalities will be charged with whittling the many suggestions down to three recommendations. Trustees will make a final decision.

The school board’s policy states the committee is to take into account prominent local figures and the history of the community. Lightfoot certainly fits that bill.

The ODCVI graduate who grew up in Orillia and was shaped and moulded here is a songwriting genius whose trademark voice, accompanied by his brilliance on a 12-string acoustic guitar, is synonymous with the folk genre. His name has appeared on marquees around the world; it would be apropos to see it etched on the sign of Orillia’s newest secondary school.

His signature songs — such as The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Black Day in July and The Canadian Railroad Trilogy — chronicle seminal international events, while his radio-friendly tunes — such as Early Morning Rain and If You Could Read My Mind — topped charts around the world.

Lightfoot has captured 16 individual Juno Awards, has been nominated for five Grammys and has been enshrined in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York City. He has also been awarded the Companion of the Order of Canada, been immortalized on a Canadian stamp and been inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame.

But there’s nothing in Orillia that pays proper homage to our most famous native son. Naming the school in his honour would begin to accomplish that.

— Dave Dawson

david.dawson@sunmedia.ca

What do you think? Submit a letter to the editor.

[jj]

maybe letters should go to new Mayor Elect Clark? he is a big supporter, as is the dept of Culture… at the moment, all could bit a bit swamped with Xmas events... and upcoming inauguration too

[jj]

Quiet?

The lady I talked to at the gordfest said she went to school with him and was known for his laugh that carried. A good thing

I think it also said that in his yearbook


I can't come up with fifth Grammy nom

Did she mention my name for best folk
If you could read my mind for best male perform
The wreck for best male performance
And for best song

Btw. Why don't they just rename the town?

Lightfoot? Tomorrow I'm visiting Lightfoot

It works....

[jj]

checked out the school lot today… it's huge… i also noticed the arena i played hockey in throughout the 70s was demolished this summer… Changes

[johnfowles]

But there’s nothing in Orillia that pays proper homage to our most famous native son. Naming the school in his honour would begin to accomplish that.

a singularly odd and misinformed statement I could have sworn there is already some sort of Auditorium in Orillia bearing his name !!

[johnfowles]

Well I never. YOWZA !!!!!

[jj]

yeah, Sir J… was chatting with a small sampling of locals who agree with you, but the columnist isn't some young, uninformed journalist ..probably just provoking conversation… there are many who given their lives to the education system but it will be interesting to see a nominee list

i think they have 'begun' to commemorate Lightfoot, but festival is new

Lightfoot Trail - who has walked it?

Lightfoot Days festival (3 day event with musicians performing Gord songs in multiple venues, open mic, locals sharing stories that you can't hear anywhere else, a memorabilia display like no other, cake cutting at Mariposa Market to rap )

Gordon Lightfoot Ave. (lol, it's cute but not official… it's an alley)

Fred from Leacock Museum just coordinated a 50 Poems for Gordon Lightfoot collection and it was launched last week… char posts lovely videos at her channel

renaming the Couchiching cruise (Island Princess) or Mariposa Festival or Tudhope Park or Harvey St. could upset many and puzzle the man himself… i think having a scholarship or music award in his name at the existing collegiate would be nice… maybe one of those "put an instrument into the hands of all students" programs might be nice… Gord must pay lots of tax and i think these initiatives help with that as well… he's s sharp man, and I'm sure he and his people have chatted about this and that…. i don't know if there is a Lightfoot foundation or if a section of the Memorial Hospital has a dedication for all the benefits he's done … as for Toronto, there Hugh's Room tribute and there is the the Walk of Fame…where did that Hamilton bust" end up?

I don't think anyone would object to anything being named after Gordon. I think the Trail and Auditorium are terrific. Rename the Aqua Theatre perhaps. I don't know how many towns these days have welcome signs that name their favourite sons or daughters? Anyhow?

great pic, John … the sound in that room is wonderful… as Gordon would want it

[charlene]

new school in Orillia will not be named after Gordon Lightfoot... http://www.orilliapacket.com/2015/03...chosen-as-name

The proposed name of Orillia’s new high school will leave no doubt where its students are from.

The new facility, which combines students and staff from Orillia District Collegiate and Vocational Institute and Park Street Collegiate Institute, will be called Orillia Secondary School.

The name was approved by the Simcoe County District School Board’s business and facilities committee at a meeting Wednesday night. Trustees are expected to give final approval to the name at a board meeting at the end of the month.

“The name was so important to everyone,” said Jodi Lloyd, trustee for Orillia and Ramara Township and member of the naming committee. “It recognizes the community and the history of the schools in the community.”

Maintaining the history was important to committee chair Jim Sammon, principal of OD/Park Secondary School. There has been a secondary school in Orillia with the city in its name for nearly 140 years.

“As a member of the community and person who chaired the committee, I think it’s a great name,” Sammon said. “It’s something the student body can embrace and then begin to build strong traditions on.”

Driving the push to name it Orillia Secondary School were the students who will be attending there, Lloyd said.

“The students said they wanted a name that identified where they were from,” she said. “This recognizes what the students were looking for.”

“It’s simple, elegant and powerful,” Sammon added, relaying the thoughts of another committee member, “something kids in the community can be proud of.”

Board policy calls for a naming committee to provide three options for a school’s name, including the preferred choice. The Orillia Secondary School committee felt so strongly about its choice, it is not providing any other options for the board to consider.

A variety of names had been suggested before Orillia Secondary School was unanimously selected by the committee, made up of 15 people, including students and staff members of the school and community members.

Lloyd said those suggestions ranged from unique creations to reflect the area, such as West Park Secondary School or Orillia United Secondary School, to honouring Orillia’s famous residents, such as Gordon Lightfoot, Stephen Leacock, C.H. Hale or Dr. Philip Bernard Rynard, who donated the land where Park Street stood and Orillia Secondary School is being constructed.

The committee felt strongly enough about the other suggestions to ask Lloyd to look at other ways to recognize them in the school, such as through the dedication of a music room or science wing.

Construction is ongoing at the new building. Students are expected to fill up its halls in time for the start of the second semester in the 2015-16 school year.

patrick.bales@sunmedia.ca

[charlene]

http://www.orilliapacket.com/2015/03...-of-creativity

It’s rare for people to immediately embrace a new name for almost anything — whether it’s a sports team, a restaurant or, evidently, a school. However, it’s also relatively rare for a proposed name to be so universally panned.

But that seems to be the case when it comes to the decision, announced this week, to name Orillia’s newest high school Orillia Secondary School (OSS).

The “new” school, expected to open midway through the next school year, is on the site of the former Park Street Collegiate Institute and replaces both Park Street and Orillia District Collegiate and Vocational Institute.

A naming committee comprised of 15 people — including students, staffers and community members — voted unanimously in favour of the new moniker. In fact, they felt so strongly about the name, they flaunted board policy and opted not to provide two options in addition to their preferred choice, which is curious in and of itself.

Trustee Jodi Lloyd likes the name, noted it was agreed to by each member of the committee, which is meaningful, and pointed out these mostly volunteer committee members put in a lot of time and effort before coming to their conclusion.

“They felt it recognized the history of the two schools, was inclusive of both communities and acknowledged that students wanted the name to identify where they were from,” Lloyd said, noting it is consistent with names of other high schools in the area, citing Midland Secondary School and Collingwood Collegiate Institute.

If there was just one high school in Orillia, OSS might be more palatable. But there are two others — neither of which, ironically, includes Orillia in its name.

While the committee members are to be applauded for volunteering their time, if a report card was being given on the end result, a teacher might write the following: “While accurate and technically correct, the name lacks creativity and individuality. Bland. Banal. Try again.”

That, however, is unlikely to happen. The school board is expected to rubber-stamp the unanimous decision just as its business and facilities committee did earlier this week.

It’s not only that the name is disappointingly unimaginative; it just seems like such a missed opportunity to choose a name that is unique to Orillia and reflects the community in a meaningful way.

Lloyd said she will lobby to honour some esteemed graduates of the former schools within the new school — perhaps a Gordon Lightfoot Music Room or a C.H. Hale Library or a Donald Tapscott Technology Wing or a P.B. Rynard Science Lab — which would be a great step.

Perhaps the name, Orillia Secondary School, will catch on. Right now, though, that seems doubtful.

— Dave Dawson

david.dawson@sunmedia.ca