From the archives brings you old news today. As time passes, the news we report on changes, as does the way we report on it. Conversely, we’ve been covering some of the same issues since 1872. Though Swan Pond may be thawing and freezing this year, 1972 was a colder time. Love warmed the air however, when two ingenious pranksters likely gave their unsuspecting dates the fright of their lives. An unlikely story even then, it’s harder to imagine anything like this taking place forty-six years later.
Thurs. Feb. 10, 1972: vol. 101.
Palmerite Ann Cloney and Gail McLeod from Windsor shared the first prize of $5.00 for the most original date during Coed Week.
According to the girls’ report to the Coed Week Committee, it all started as a simple expedition to the lily pond for some ice-fishing by moonlight. At approximately 9:15 p.m. we emerged from the male side of campus, equipped with one hammer, two dates, three candles, four sticks, four pieces of string and four safety pins. The sticks, strings and safety pins constituted our fishing rods.
After sliding down to the lily pond, we lit the candles, hammered a small but suitable hole in the ice and commenced to fish. The fishing excursion wasn’t too much of a shock to our men.
Of course, when the police arrived they did become just a little disturbed, to say the least.
However, initial shock of seeing the police car’s flashing light was soon overshadowed by their reaction to the gruff manner exhibited by officers of the Sackville Police Department as they confiscated our fishing poles – for evidence. (They were completely unaware of the fact that the arrest was prearranged and that our innocent-looking candles had served as a signal for the police). We were conducted to the Sackville jail where, with complete disregard for our constitutional rights, we were brutally shoved into cells. After twenty minutes as criminals the cell doors were opened, and we walked out – only to confront a $50.00 fine for illegal fishing on the lily pond. The boys became a bit perturbed over this and immediately returned to their residences, where we enjoyed listening to them relate the story of their unfortunate encounter to everyone they met.
Mr. Twirp was Russell Eddy of the class of ’75. Theme prize was won by Jill Lewis for her suggestion of Round-Up ’72.
The Coed Week Committee (Sandra Fraser, Paula Muise, and Sharon MacIntyre) would like to express its thanks to those committees which sponsored events during Coed Week, and to the social committees of the three women’s residences for their assistance.