eastwood RIP...hello old friend

it's been 36 years. 36 years since i last walked these halls since i stood on this stage, since i was a student at eastwood.

then, there was no such thing as an inner city school. it was a school, elementary and junior high .
during that era, we all watched paul henderson score the goal that beat the USSR hockey team in 1972, neil armstrong walk on the moon.
the cromdale hotel was still a local hot spot, the oil kings played in the old edmonton gardens, and rock concerts were held at clarke stadium, and in the kinsmen fieldhouse.
the only mall was westmount, our shopping experiences were at the store across the street, killing time before, after or during the school day, or at mac's store in fort road shooting pinball.

greenpeace was born, we protested while the newly formed protest group sailed a fishing boat up to alaska to protest the US testing a nuclear bomb in the aleution islands.
expo 67, a new canadian flag was introduced, woodstock, the vietnam war, watergate, robert kennedy, martin luther king jr., the WHA. the beatles began and broke up, the monkees, the first manned space flight.
big big hair was the style (remember miss rodney's afro, and well, calvin mayes' natural)
for the 9 years that my classmates and i attended eastwood, the world, well the world around the world changed, as did the world around our school.
our school reflected that. we had the coolest teachers. long hair, mini skirts (who could possibly forget miss rodney) long sideburns (mr jackson, mr ox), old volvos, vw's, guitar playing teachers. the teachers were hip, we were hip. heck even our principle, mr frost - he of the booming voice during the christmas carol time - was hip.
it's an amazing building. some have said it looks like an old shoe factory. i have no idea what an old shoe factory looks like, but on the inside it was unique. 3 floors. a glass floor in the center of the 3rd floor, which was the ceiling of the 2nd floor.
kissed my first girl in miss love's 1st grade class. twice. had a few fights, watched a few, won a few awards, played my guitar at a few school concerts, danced at a few sock hops, made some friends.
experienced multiculturalism before it became a buzz word. went to school with people of many colours, ethnic groups, and religious affiliations. we sang god save the queen, we never questioned why some remained seated when we said the lords prayer every morning,we never thought to, we didn't care. ethnic diversity, we were it.
this was our world, a world before special needs, racial profiling , and before we even understood what the word Muslim meant. we sat in classes, played sports, performed and watched some amazing school concerts and school plays, and when the temp was bellow minus 32F we all ate our lunches together.
we attended school dances, we cheered our school teams, we hung out before and after school, traveled side by side on school fieldtrips, and we were all the same. we didn't care what everyone's financial situation was, who were being raised in single parent families, or who's parents never seemed to be around. it was just what it was. those really were the days, my friend.
it's been 36 years. some things have changed since then. but, a lot changed around us while we were all in attendance at eastwood. but hopefully, some things haven't, and never will.
hello old friend, and good bye