Spray & Rhinelander, History of St. Thomas University: The Formative Years 1860-1990 -- page 94
Extra-Curricular Activities and Community Support Over the generations, from 1910 (and even before) until 1964 when St. Thomas would move to Fredericton, the people of Chatham and surrounding areas, and not just Catholics, adopted the college as their own. It helps to explain the huge uproar that the removal would cause, as we shall examine in later chapters. The public was always eager to hear news about the college. One of the local newspapers, the Chatham Gazette, became known as the college paper. Its editor was a strong supporter of St. Thomas and for many years ran a weekly column on what was going on there. For, in spite of the restrictions that St. Thomas's masters had imposed at the start, they nevertheless understood the need to provide sporting events, lectures, concerts, and excursions, not only for their charges as outlets for youthful enthusiasm but particularly as a way to repay the community for its support. A tradition of public lectures given by invited guests, for example, began in the first year of the college's existence. Fr. Stanislaus Doucet, as we saw a former French professor and music instructor at St. Michael’s in the 1860’s and more recently Vicar-General for the diocese in the 1890s, gave a demonstration of a “Planetarium” he had devised. It was reported to have been “of great assistance in understanding the movements, positions, revolutions, sizes and rates of acceleration of those heavenly bodies.” Although their studies kept students occupied for much of the time, a whole series of societies and clubs provided extra-curricular activities. Some were designed to strengthen the students' religious faith, others to build on the skills they were learning in the classrooms, yet others to provide opportunities for involvement in music and, especially, sports. Each society had a Director who was usually a faculty member, sometimes a senior student. The College Glee Club and the College Choir, for example, were founded at the very start of the college in 1910. J. C. Casey, a lay member of the faculty and himself an excellent singer, originally directed both groups. The Glee Club gave monthly concerts for students, faculty and guests. The Choir was said to be for those students who showed an