1967 was an exciting year for every
elementary school Canadian child and, from my youthful perspective, it
felt like a great year to be Canadian.
At Arthur Hatton Elementary School our music teacher wrote the words to a
new song on the blackboard. I vaguely remember a piano in the room. The
sheet music to a song by Bobby Gimby was open on the piano. But I know
memory is a funny thing. Maybe it was a tape recorder or a 45 record on a
player. Arthur Hatton was a new school and pretty high tech. It had all
the bells and whistles.
The class lined up, tallest kids at the back. The music teacher sat at a
right angle to us, conducting from the piano, keeping her eye on one of
the tallest boys. He was doing an unconvincing job of mouthing the
words.
Every music period we practiced “CA-NA-DA, We love thee…” in unison. Her
plan was simple. She was going to teach the song to all the kids in her
music classes. The whole school was going to sing the song at an
assembly.
My brother and sisters came home humming the tune. Inspired, our mother,
a former school teacher, gathered us around the kitchen table. That
year we were going to send a piece of Canada to our grandparents in
England. She told us to write short essays about our lives, what we
liked most to do. I’m pretty sure she helped the youngest, Joey, with
his assignment.
Mom
had it figured. There was time to rehearse after school and before
supper. There was a deadline. Dad had a trip planned to visit his mother
and stepfather. Mom convinced Dad to tape us on his
not-to-be-touched-by-children’s-hands reel-to-reel tape recorder to take
as a gift to his mother. “CA-NA-DA, We love thee…”
We made the deadline. I don’t remember if there was a responding tape
that made its way to Canada, but I remember there was a complication.
The recording speed was different in England. The tape had to be
converted. Perhaps there was a message back, but that’s where my memory
fails me. It was a long, long time ago.
Near the end of the year there was an essay contest open to kids
throughout the school district. The topic was What Centennial means to
me. I ran across my entry in an old trunk last year, searching for
something else. My mother had saved it for me. I unfolded the legal
foolscap paper. It was cursive writing, penned in blue ink, big letters
as if I had hoped my big hand would lend importance to the entry. It was
three pages long. My handwriting has changed.
The essay was accompanied by a black and white newspaper photo taken at a school assembly. I had placed first and won $100.
The prize wasn’t the only highlight of
the year. It was an exhilarating time. In July we gathered for cultural
days at Riverside Park and tasted foods from around the world. I wasn’t
lucky enough to take in Expo ’67, but classmates came back with stories
of a summer adventure in Quebec.
For those of us who were sedentary, the
Centennial Train came and went. I don’t remember the event, but I do
remember the Centennial Caravan and my family eagerly lining up to see
the joined tractor trailers with exhibits that told the Canadian story.
It all seemed magical to me. It was an innovative approach I had not
seen before….museum stories on wheels!
What was my personal centennial project
besides writing my first essay? To take a French course before it was
compulsory. I was concerned hearing about Charles de Galle’s speech in
Montreal ending with and emphatic "Vive le Québec libre! Vive, vive,
vive le Canada français! Et vive la France!"
In my young mind I needed to learn this other official Canadian language. Fifty years later, I’m still working on that project.
Trumpeter and songwriter Bobby Gimby was born in Cabri,
Saskatchewan, in 1918. In 1967 Gimby, 'The Pied Piper of Canada',
achieved national fame with CA-NA-DA, the most popular song of Canada's
Centennial celebrations. Awarded an Order of Canada for his song, Gimby
donated his royalties to the Boy Scouts of Canada. Read more...
From the Niagara Railway Museum: The Confederation Train was
sponsored by the federal government for Canada's Centennial Year. Both
CN and CP contributed equipment to the train including a locomotive
each. The train consisted of 13 cars of which 6 were exhibit cars which
told the history of Canada from early exploration to the present. Read more....
From the Canadian Encyclopedia: Celebrations, activities and events
of all kinds were held across Canada in 1967 to mark the 100th
anniversary of Confederation, and promote the country’s achievements,
history and cultural heritage. The federal Centennial Commission funded
thousands of special events and activities, such as the Centennial Train
and Caravans, the Centennial Medal, and numerous music and sporting
events across the nation. A focus of Centennial Year was the immensely
successful Expo 67 World’s Fair in Montréal, which was visited by 50
million people. Read more...