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Read Crewhouse Opening Address

It is a great pleasure to welcome you all, as Headmaster of Shawnigan, to this afternoon’s ribbon-cutting reception for the Rogers Wing of the Read Crewhouse, as well as seven new boat christenings and the presentation of the magnificent new docks – with a very special welcome to the Shaw and Rogers families and representatives from Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications.
 
I would also like to thank George and Jane Hungerford and our Board members Janet Griesdale, Matt Brister, Roy McIntosh, and Zev Shafran for their contributions to the development of this Read Crewhouse project.
We gather here today as a tribute to Jim Shaw.
 
I am sorry not to have had the privilege of meeting Jim. We planned to have dinner together in Calgary when I was visiting from Norway in mid-December 2017.
 
Jim was – and continues to be – an integral part of the Shawnigan community. His longstanding commitment and vision for the School has, in a very significant way, shaped the Shawnigan of today. He generously supported our students through Shaw Scholarships, enabling access to a Shawnigan education for those from underprivileged backgrounds.  He also created educational spaces, such as the Shaw Centre for Science and the Jim & Kathryn Shaw Library, which are both imaginative in their design and dynamic in their everyday use by our students. 
 
Jim’s spirit lives on at Shawnigan. His portrait greets students and staff alike as we walk into our wonderful library – and his love of art and nature transforms the Shawnigan Board Room into a creative meeting space for conversation and collaboration.
 
Beyond the bear sculpture, the Canadian flag, and suspended cedar strip canoe, one of my favourite parts of the library is the set of four pictures which captures Jim as a young Shawnigan student in the 1970s – standing on our docks sporting a fine set of Seventies red sideburns with his father on opening day and then, later, flame-haired with black and gold socks in No. 6 seat of a School eight on Shawnigan Lake.
 
Indeed we come full circle today – back to a sport and a place he loved.
 
Jim is a part of our rowing history. Rowing has a deep and strong connection with our School, dating back to our Founder, CW Lonsdale’s victory in the single sculls event at the 1917 Shawnigan regatta.
 
More than 100 years later, rowing is an integral part of the formative and unique education for boys and girls that Shawnigan continually strives to offer. We are extremely proud, in particular, of the girls' achievements at the National Championship at the end of last academic year – and, more recently, at the Brentwood Regatta.
 
Our senior girls, on the Saturday of the Brentwood Regatta, rowing together for perhaps only the third or fourth time as an eight, sat a long way behind a Seattle Club crew in their final.  Accelerating in the final 250 metres, the girls missed the gold medal by a matter of inches. It was thrilling and encapsulated all that sport has to offer for athletes and spectators.
 
With support from staff, board members, alumni, parents, and past parents, our rowing program continues to flourish. I am delighted to announce that in the coming weeks, we will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Rowing Canada. Our Crewhouse has been one of Rowing Canada’s training bases for decades, and it will remain so at least until the 2032 Olympics.  This provides Canada’s best an opportunity to train on this unparalleled lake and, at the same time, provides the School and rowers from the local community with the opportunity to connect with and learn from Olympians. I am delighted that Terry Dillon, CEO of Rowing Canada, and Iain Brambell, High Performance Director, have joined us this afternoon.
 
This reception also launches the inaugural Spring Festival of Sport here at Shawnigan. Our 59th annual regatta is already underway on the lake and at the grounds of West Shawnigan Lake Provincial Park.
 
This year, we have added a parallel event in Langford as part of our celebration of 30 years of co-education at Shawnigan. The HSBC Women’s Rugby Sevens Series comes to Vancouver Island this weekend – and we have been invited to partner with Rugby Canada at this event, with students contributing as volunteers and staff, alumni, and supporters coming together to enjoy an exhibition of strategy, skill and athleticism by the world’s best.
 
Jim was a great advocate of co-education and repeatedly challenged the School to develop our commitment to both boys and girls – he understood the importance of ensuring a level playing field.
 
I think he would have liked this weekend’s Festival of Sport. And I am delighted that his son Parker and his nephew Cole, a current Grade 12 in Lonsdale’s, are here with us today to celebrate Jim’s commitment to Shawnigan and the longstanding respect, friendship and admiration between Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications, and the respective families.
 
Both Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications are deeply respected throughout Canada not only for their relentless pursuit of innovation in a rapidly changing digital world – but also for their commitment to sport and education. Your combined contributions have helped us to develop an outstanding rowing centre – for beginners through to Olympians – and we are deeply grateful. Thank you.
 
The hardback book Above and beyond: The JR Shaw Family History in Life and Business stands sentinel in our Library.
 
In the preface, Jim’s father JR Shaw observes perceptively: "In order to know which way we are headed, we need to know where we have been in the past."  Today is about looking to our past as we turn and head towards our future.
 
Jim made an extraordinary contribution to future generations of Shawnigan students.
 
For me, he is caught immortal in the rowing photo: flame-haired with red sideburns, and his black & gold socks, pulling for his teammates and for Shawnigan.
 
A fitting and poignant photographic epitaph.  I rather like that.
 
 
Richard D A Lamont, Headmaster
10th May 2019
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We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.