“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” So begins the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. This is actually quite an astute observation when you think about it and it could be applied to almost any era or time period through history. Every age has certain things to commend it or condemn it when compared with other times.
Attending P.C.S.S. in the 1960s we didn’t know how good we had it in some ways. Mass school shootings were a thing of the future. We didn’t have to practise Code Red drills because they had not been invented and there was no such thing as a school lock down. Yet we were children of the Cold War and M.A.D. (Mutual Assured Destruction). There was an air raid siren across the street from my house and the school had to know in the event of a nuclear attack how long it would take us to get home. It was never said in so many words but it was a case of do we die at school or can we make it home before the missiles come in. Being located close to Toronto and knowing the radius of a nuclear blast we would inevitably become collateral damage.
I apologize if this seems to be an awfully grim beginning to one of the most unusual events I witnessed in school. But don’t worry, nobody was hurt, not a drop of blood was spilled and we all went home happy that day.
Within my particular circle of friends there we two rites of passage we all went through in our mid-teens. At sixteen we each got our driver’s license along with the rest of our peer group. The year before, at the age of fifteen, we had taken the Hunter Safety Course, written the exam and bought our first hunting licenses. The combination of these two slips of paper gave us the ability to do something we had wanted to do for a long time, go hunting.
During this age of innocence acquiring a gun to hunt with was easily done. You did not need a license to buy or own a rifle, a shotgun or ammunition. Many of us owned several guns and this was with the full knowledge and consent of our parents. From the time I was in Grade 7 until I reached Grade 11 I was given a new gun each year for Christmas. Needless to say guns had not acquired all the negative connotations, regulations and restrictions that are attached to them today.
During the summer of 1966 one of my hunting buddies who was also a fellow student at P.C.S.S. worked hard, saved his money and bought a semi-automatic 12 gauge shotgun. When August gave way to September he took his new gun out to a range to shoot a few clay pigeons in preparation for the hunting season to come. It soon became apparent that something was mechanically wrong with his shotgun and it would require the attention of a gunsmith. The recommended gunsmith was located in downtown Toronto.
Here is where the Port Credit connection comes in. On September 20, 1966 P.C.S.S. was to play an exhibition football game against a Toronto private school called UTS (University of Toronto Schools). The game was to be played at Varsity Stadium on Bloor Street in Toronto. Numerous busloads of excited supporters would make the trip into deepest, darkest Toronto to cheer on the Warriors. As coincidence would have it the required gunsmith was located just a few blocks from Varsity Stadium. Do you see where this is going?
On the morning of September 20 my friend arrived at school with his shotgun correctly cased as required by law. He kept it in his locker throughout the morning. Then at the appointed hour he boarded one of the fan buses along with a lot of other students, only he was carrying a shotgun. He was never stopped or questioned by anyone in authority. People probably thought he was bringing along some form of musical instrument. When the caravan of buses reached Varsity Stadium he departed his bus as just another person in the throng of fans. At this time he detached himself from the crowd and set off to walk the short distance to the address of the gunsmith. Can you imagine the consternation that would ensue if someone attempted this today? In 1966 all this was done without raising an eyebrow anywhere. Before half time he was back sitting beside us in the stands munching on a bag of popcorn. The shotgun had been left with the gunsmith to be picked up at a later date. To complete the happy ending Port Credit won the game 15-6.
Needless to say none of the events as described above would be allowed to happen today. There would be sirens and flashing lights everywhere! Hopefully nobody would be foolish enough to try and bring a gun to school under any circumstances. You could have a long argument and heated debate about whether school life is better now or as sit was in the 1960s. When all is said and done I think Charles Dickens had it right.
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