Alumni activities

McGill Outing Club: Still Hiking and Eating 50 Years Later

by Pat Brown de St. Croix, BSc(PE)'48

Ties to McGill take many forms, including group camping and hiking activities by graduates who were members of the "MOC." For these older members, the name McGill Outing Club might take a moment or two for recognition. Our dear old club, the MOC, brings back memories of spaghetti suppers and sing-songs at the club house in Shawbridge after a long day's ski with such notables as F. M.Van Wagner and Jackrabbit Johanssen. No matter how many would squeeze in around the tables there always seemed to be enough for yet another hungry student.

Those memories are being revived, if not revised, by some of the stalwart members of the '40s and '50s at gatherings in such places as Camp Nominingue, Montreal, Shawbridge and Mont Saint Hilaire. Only a few of the 32 in attendance last fall made the climb all the way to the top of the mountain, but everyone was able to squeeze into one of the chalets at the Mont Saint Hilaire Biosphere Reserve in time for lunch. The menu has seen a turnaround since the spaghetti days at Shawbridge, but it could not have been any more enjoyable.

Credit must go to Ernie Taylor, BA'48, who started these reunions by gathering a few McGill friends, all now "retired," at his summer home for swimming, walks and good food. Growing popularity meant a larger venue was needed, and so Camp Nominingue, started and still run by the Van Wagner family, was the next site. In August that same summer, the temperatures dropped below freezing so tent life lost its appeal. In 1999, it was moved onto the McGill campus in June, when temperatures soared into the high 20s and heated the residences beyond the comfort zone. A visit to the MOC house at Shawbridge plus a hike and lunch brought an end to the festivities, until this past fall when we visited Mont Saint Hilaire.

Plans are under way for the 2001 reunion, to be held in the Wakefield, Quebec, area with accommodation right on the Trans Canada Trail! There will be an opportunity to hike on the trail in Gatineau Park and to look at the diversity of life on display at the attractive new Visitors' Centre. In 2002, many easterners will have an opportunity to meet with our western friends to reminisce and hike the Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains in British Columbia. For more information about these MOC reunions, e-mail me.

Shalom from Brooklyn

New York alumni took a tour of the Hasidic community in Brooklyn in November.

Grand River Valley

Guelph and Waterloo, Ontario, graduates came out to a November reception featuring guest speakers Derek Drummond, BArch'62, Vice-Principal Development and Alumni Relations, and Honora Shaughnessy, MLS'73, Executive Director, Alumni Relations/Advancement, who spoke about highlights of today's McGill. Pictured are Bruce Hill, BA'83, and Alumni Association guests.