SPOTLIGHT
From ‘three little maids’ James M. Beer ’63 reflects on the grand era When Pickering College re-opened in 1927 in Newmarket, a bright young man named Robert E. K. Rourke joined the staff, assembled by Joe McCulley, as a mathematics teacher. Bob, as he was called by his friends, quickly became involved in the many student activities that the PC life had to offer, including clubs, drama and sports. In addition to being an excellent math teacher, Bob was soon known for his limitless energy and wit, as well as his love of the operettas of Sir W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan. For the first few years of the ‘new’ Pickering, music was found primarily in the form of afternoon recitals. Then during the 1932-1933 school year, a Glee Club was created and, to quote the Voyageur, “Under the direction of Messrs Rourke and Godden; a membership of about 35 has been attained, including Messrs Widdrington, Blackstock, Veale,”—all such familiar names in the Pickering story. On Sports Day in 1933, they presented their first Gilbert & Sullivan (G&S) operetta, Trial by Jury. The Voyageur goes on to mention that, “Miss Alice Strong and Mr. Leslie Mardell of Toronto took solo parts.” This was so well received that in 1934, the Glee Club took on a more ambitious Gilbert & Sullivan project, The Pirates of Penzance. Among the leads, one finds Bob Rourke, Mrs. Alice (Strong) Rourke and Miss Elizabeth (Betty)
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