Bidding Adieu

You’ve had a long-standing history with Ashbury College. Tell us about your connection to the school.

Growing up in the village of Rockcliffe Park, I was fortunate to live three blocks away from my grandparents who happened to live right across the street from Ashbury College. My aunt, Diana Wilgress, was best friends with Nancy Perry, the daughter of Ron Perry. At the age of five, in 1957, I joined my aunt and Nancy in having tea in the screened-in porch at Ashbury House.

I remember how I enjoyed watching the cadet corps practice their drills on the front lawn as a youngster. My sister, Willy, and I both attended Elmwood school in the ’60s. I remember how Elmwood and Ashbury students would put together Gilbert and Sullivan operettas under the direction of Geoffrey Thomson and Mrs. Harwood-Jones. This was our only chance to meet the boys once a week. We also had the Ashbury/Elmwood dances and the formals where we met many of the boys. To this day, I still keep in touch with many of the alumni from the early 1970s. Charlie Maclaren ’71, Charlie Barnes ’70 and Martin Connell ’71 were, and still remain, good friends since the ’60s.

Besides my connection with the school, I would learn more about Ashbury from my dad, Victor

’39, my Uncle Ted ’40 and my godfather Charlie Burrows ’41. My Uncle John Edwards ’27 also attended Ashbury in the junior school. Our annual Remembrance Day service was very special when Vic, Don Maclaren ’39, Bert Lawrence ’40, Angus Wilson ’40, Fred Sherwood ’32 and John Woods ’48 would attend and participate. My dad, Vic Wilgress, was very close friends with Don Maclaren throughout their lives. Our wonderful Maclaren Hall is named after Don.

My brother Ted ’75 and my son Tyler ’03 are Ashbury alumni. I was able to get to know Ted’s friends from the ’70s and Tyler’s friends from 2003. Now the next generation are coming. We have James Miller, who is in Grade 8, and his dad Jamie ’97, aunt Kyla ’00 and uncle Stephen ’04 who are all alumni of the school.

You recently celebrated retirement after 35 years at Ashbury. What was your favourite aspect of your job?

I started working at Ashbury on September 1, 1987, and retired on October 1, 2022. When Roy Napier hired me, I knew I would be perfect for the job, and I have truly enjoyed every minute of it. What I loved was the variety of my job. Running the Development Office, there were many alumni events, Guild meetings and their events, annual giving, preparing the Ashbury News three times a year with Drummond Lister, helping out with closing, running the United Way campaign, helping to organize funerals and memorial services, staying connected with the former Headmasters and staff, sitting on the Board of Governors, working with the grads, the grad dances and the capital campaigns… it was never dull! I also enjoyed the many events we had at the school: the antique fair, Valentine’s Day dances, Lobster Fest, homecoming, the Carol Service and our annual London, England event. Not to be forgotten were the 100th and 125th anniversary celebrations throughout the years. My biggest pleasure was meeting and getting to know the alumni, parents, and staff. I feel fortunate that I can remember most of my conversations, and people are always amazed how I can remember so many details. I absolutely love the stories that the alumni would share... how they ended up at Ashbury, boarding life and various antics!

Some highlights include meeting King Constantine, knowing Sir Michael Marshall, David Graham, and meeting the Abinger Hill alumni who attended Ashbury during our Second World War. The school is rich with history.

What will you miss most about Ashbury?

Now that I am retired, I miss going into work and sitting at our founder G.P. Woollcombe’s desk. Meeting alumni and parents who would drop by was a highlight for me. I will miss asking for support with one of our Ashbury annual giving projects. I enjoyed getting to know the teachers, the administration, along with the kitchen and maintenance staff. I will miss seeing our life governors, Jean Teron, Cynthia Baxter, Chris Carruthers, Stephen Woollcombe ’57, Tony Tattersfield and others. I never considered my career at Ashbury College to be a job. It was my life and I embraced it all.

I do hope to stay connected with the school and help out with our new archives. We have so much history and it is important to share it with our community. AN

By Adrian Harewood ’89