by Jim Kearney

- The last hurrah

Of all the fine athletes who. passed through
North Vancouver High School in more than half a
century, Harry Jerome undoubtedly went on to
the greatest international fame.

Today, at 38 and 20 years
after his graduation, Jerome
admits he just happened to
be inthe right place, at the
right time and in the
presence of the right person,
R.J. (Robby) Robinson.

“He was a track and field
nut,” Harry was remem-
bering the other day. “He
also was the school coun-
sellor. He was always
pushing, track and field and
trying to push us kids into it.

“I didn’t start running until
grade 11. I was too busy
playing Babe Ruth and
- Connie Mack baseball in the
' spring and summer and
football in the fall. But the
enthusiasm Robby created
for track and field was in-
fectious and I was finally
hooked.”

After 55 years in business
up there on East 23rd, North
Van High closes its doors
forever in June. Age finally
has caught up. with the old
pile. But not with the
memories.

The jock reminiscences
will be revived: — and, no
doubt, expanded to larger-
than-life dimensions ~- on
the evening of March 15 at
the Plaza International. The
occasion has been named
‘The Last Hurrah’ and the
organizers expect a turnout
of ex-jocks (and some
current ones) dating back to
at least 1924, the year the
school moved from what is
now Queen Mary
elementary to its present
site.

If you plan to attend the
dinner and yarn-swapping,
you'd better get moving, for

RETIRED AND

LIKE TO BE
MORE ACTIVE?

Sumbit resume to:
Mr. J.T. Melvin
Regional Counsellor

there is a limit on the.

number of tickets available.
Get in touch with Angie
Chan or Del Harrison at the
school. The phone number is
987-2271.

While Jerome may have
become the most. in-
ternationally famous, the list
of other students who made

a name for themselves in -

sport is both long and
illustrious. =

Indeed, four guys who
attended North Van High for
at least part of their
secondary education, are
members of the B.C. Sports
Hall of Fame. Harry, of
course, is one. Jimmy
Spencer, Bill Parnell and
Dunc McNaughton are the
others.

Spencer, who retired four
years ago as North Van-
couver fire chief, graduated
“in the early 1930’s and went
on to become one of
Canada’s finest’ soccer
players.

A 1946 grad, Parnell went
to Auckland, New Zealand
four years later to win the
mile run in the first post-war
Commonwealth Games.
Then, in 1954, he captained
the Canadian team when the
Games came to Vancouver.

At 69, McNaughton is the
oldest of the quartet and, as
a geologist and oil consultant
based in Dallas, long
removed from this area. He
departed, via an athletic
scholarship to the University

of Southern California, in.

1929.

He won it for his high
‘jumping prowess and

the Vancouver area.

aos 2 ae
¢ a tee

CASE (Counselling Assistance to Small
Enterprises) requires a retired business
generalist as a Deputy Co-ordinator for

CASE Is a unique concept In which the expertise of
retired persons with business experience is made
available to small businesses through a low cost
management counselling service. The Deputy
Co-ordinator will work time under a Co-ordinator
on an annual contract from an office in Vancouver
This person will receive enquiries for the
service and direct the counselling work of a roster
of retired part-time counsellors. The ideal candidate would
be an active, retired individual with a well-rounded
. business background and a good understanding of the
nature of small business problems.

"1 100-900 West Hastings St.
Vancouver, B.C. V6C 1E7

parlayed it into a gold medal
for Canada at the 1932
Olympics in Los Angeles,
with a leap of 6 feet, 5 5/8
inches. High jumping
techniques and landing pits
have improved immensely
since then, adding another
foot to world class per-
formances.-

But NecNaughton’s gold
medal performance remains
unique on at least two
counts, one of which

represents an Olympic spirit

now almost forgotten in
what has become a
quadrerinial exercise. in
jockstrap nationalism, with
no holds barred. :

-At Southern Cal, an
American jumper named
Bob Van OQOsdel took the
green kid from Canada
under his wing, helping to
train him and polish his
technique. At the Olympics,
they were the final two high
jump competitors.

When McNaughton
missed the first of this three

jumps, Van Osdel came.

over, told him what he had
done wrong and gave him a
tip on how to correct the
mistake. Dunc took his
advice and made it over the
bar. The American missed
all three tries and had to
settle for silver.

The other unique cir-
cumstance, 47 years later, is

this: McNaughton was the ©

last Canadian to win an
Olympic gold medal in track
and field.

While Jerome cither set or
was the co-holder of world
records for both the 100-
yard and 100-metre sprints, a
bronze medal was the best
he managed at the Olympic
level. He won it in 1964 at
Tokyo, finishing behind Bob

CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

ews stodé dtvoVi - ETRE TS erewidsD Of agad

" Page 17, February 21, 1979 - North Shore News

*