Continuing my Back To School theme, I decided to take a look back a little farther than post-secondary and go back to high school. All the talk of Back To School shopping and visiting the school during the timetable pick up make me almost want to go back to high school…almost.
Malvern Collegiate Institute is one of few high schools in the Beaches area of Toronto. In 2003, it celebrated its 100th anniversary and shortly thereafter the alumni association was founded: The Malvern Red And Black Society. No one or rather very few people actually knew what this organization did. Red and Black are the school colours and the Black Knights are the sports’ team names. There was usually a photo in the year book with that title, but what better way to honour a 100 year old school but with a name from within the halls itself. And so it was born.
In 2004 the Charter was signed and we started to build the database of members. From the reunion, we gathered around 2,000 names and after cleaning it up and adding a few more, we are now over 3,000 members strong. Some of the members date back into the 30’s and 40’s even to this day and enjoy getting our printed newsletter, Musings (coined after the name of our yearbook, the Muse) that we put out twice a year.
Malvern was a great school even if I didn’t know it at the time. I still have friends that I made at that school and they are among the closest I have. There is such a wealth of information and heritage at this school, everything from the World Wars to famous people. Some of the notable Malvernites include Norman Jewison and Down With Webster. Next year, Malvern will celebrate its 110th Anniversary and the Malvern Red and Black Society is planning the next reunion. We’ve also just relaunched the new website this week! So make sure you check that out too. In the meantime, check out the Malvern Red and Black Society on Twitter for the latest updates on the reunion, Remembrance Day Ceremonies, archives and more!
Malvern Collegiate Institute Cenotaph Restored in November, 2011
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