Great photo of Soryl (Shulman) Rosenberg meeting with fellow MCHS teacher Graeme Decarie in Montreal

Soryl Rosenberg and Graeme Decarie at a get-together in Montreal, May 2016. Both Soryl and Graeme taught at Malcolm Campbell High School in the 1960s. Photo source: Soryl Rosenberg. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Jaan Pill wrote (May 10, 2016  in response to the photo you see on this page):

That is awesome! – can I post it?

Can you tell me briefly the backstory behind the photo?

Best,

Jaan

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Our most recent post featuring a message from Graeme Decarie is entitled:

“Jus’ thinkin’” post from Graeme Decarie, who taught at Malcolm Campbell High School in the early 1960s

Soryl Rosenberg wrote (may 10):

Hi Jaan,

Hope you are enjoying what some days we can call ‘spring’.

Graeme’s son Alex, who has a twin brother in Moncton, is at Concordia and Graeme’s sister also lives here. He came over with Alex. This is what prompted his trip here. He is 83 now and writes a blog in Moncton. While he was here we spoke to Lynda Spence (married to Barclay Allen) who is in Penticton B.C.

His visit in Mtl was short – 3 1/2 days,

And of course you can post it!

All the very best – until the next reunion!

Soryl

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Graeme Decarie wrote (May 10):

I visited Soryl and Gibby just yesterday. So you must be talking of the photos her daughter took of us. I was some days in Ottawa and Montreal, visiting my daughters and grandchildren in Ottawa, then to see my sister and nephew and niece and my Concordia son in Montreal. So, of course, I also dropped in on Soryl and Gibby, It was, as always, a pleasant visit – with some very pleasant munchies.

Lots of changes in Montreal, though. The whole north west part of it has become a jungle of new roads, new business towers. I was constantly lost, and felt I was in an alien land. And for this small-town boy, everything was a hell of a long way.

Sure, go ahead and run the pictures.

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Jaan wrote (May 10)

Most interesting to know about how Montreal has changed.

I was contacted recently by a researcher with an interest in 1970s cultural history, who sent me an old article that I had not read in about forty years; it provides an interesting overview of Canadian non-theatrical film production in that era:

Precarious Establishment [late 1970s Cinema Canada article by Jaan Pill]

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Graeme wrote in turn (May 10):

I had some contact with the film world of the 1970s – and later. I did the voice-over for an NFB effort on the Notman photographs of the late 19th century. I also did one on the English of Montreal (can’t remember the name of the film), and was consultant for a film on the girls who performed in Black nightclubs in Montreal. And somewhere there must be a copy of a half hour show I did for Global TV on Montreal and the story of the Decarie Melon. I should have kept a note of these things – but I didn’t.

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Additional comment from Jaan: So, when’s the next MCHS 1960s reunion?

A number of people, in messages that have circulated since the time of the MCHS 2015 reunion, have said (I paraphrase), “Let’s have another reunion, perhaps in Montreal or Vancouver.”

I want to say, by following up on Soryl’s comment of May 10, 2016 – “All the very best – until the next reunion!” – that I very much like the idea of a next reunion. I have some friends in the United States who had a sixtieth high school reunion on Oct. 17, 2015 – that is, on the same evening as the MCHS 2015 event in Toronto.

So, if any MCHS grad or teacher is interested in working with me to organize the Next MCHS 1960s Reunion, please let me know. We can form a committee and get to work. I would not be involved with the same level of intensity as was the case for the MCHS 2015 reunion, as I have many other volunteer and personal projects to attend to, which I put on the back burner to some extent during the planning for the Oct. 17, 2015 event. However, I know there are other people who can do a great job in organizing such an event, and I am keen to help them to make the event a huge success.

Please contact me at jpill@preservedstories.com if the concept of organizing the next Sixties reunion appeals to you; we can work together to take such a concept and make of it a reality.