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Is It Better to Give or Receive?
We are born with instincts, learn to temper them with reality, and eventually build a set of values for the “public good”. Leaning to balance these forces is a lifelong challenge and process.
Magee has always had a system of club and volunteer activities which are, in part, aimed at developing the “public good” in students. We all need to learn that “public good” goes around, comes around, and can be stored like a currency. Conversely, if we constantly grind against 7 billion people, there is only one result ... we will be turned to dust.
The stories on this page illustrate ways in which students and alumni have engaged in doing the “public good”.
(Click to view or hide story ... scroll down)
Roy Borthwick '38 ... Bridge on the River Kwai
These are excerpts from Roy Borthwick’s obituary written in 2007 by Tom Hawthorne, Special to the Globe and Mail.
“RCAF bomber pilot destroyed the real bridge over the River Kwai; Skilled flier from Vancouver won the DFC for his part in a daring, long-range attack on a vital link in the ‘death railway' the Japanese laid across Burma and Thailand”
“Roy Borthwick piloted the bomber that destroyed a bridge known to movie-goers as the famous span in the movie The Bridge On the River Kwai. At the time of the 1945 attack, the Vancouver pilot and his crew had no idea their dangerous mission would one day become one of the more renowned incidents of the Second World War.” ...
“Only many years later did the mission and, especially the target, become iconic in the popular imagination thanks to a novel written by a Frenchman. Pierre Boulle had been the overseer of a Malaysian rubber plantation when war broke out, after which he worked as a secret agent organizing resistance to the Japanese. He was captured by the Vichy French while trying to escape by floating along the Mekong River on a makeshift raft, and spent a year in prison.”
“After the war, he wrote several stories, novels and memoirs about his wartime escapades, the most famous being The Bridge Over the River Kwai, published in 1954. The movie, which had a slightly different title, was released three years later. Starring William Holden and Alec Guinness and directed by David Lean, it was a huge hit at the box office and won seven Oscars.” ...
“Shortly after war's end, Mr. Borthwick was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for displaying “cool
judgment”, courage and great devotion to duty.”...
“Roy McIntosh Borthwick's father was a Scottish émigré who opened a grocery in Vancouver with a man
named Killick. Their B&K Economy Stores would grow to become a citywide chain. At Christmas, young Roy accompanied his father in delivering food hampers to needy families. He played on rugby and swim teams at Magee High School.”...
Read Tom Hawthorn's full story here
Roy Borthwick Obituary
Read Roy Borthwick's own memories here
Roy Borthwick's own memories
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Lou Beaubien '51 ... Burnaby's Outstanding Citizen 2012
Mayor Derek Corrigan (right) presents the Koshiro Cup to Lou Beaubien, Burnaby's Citizen of the Year 2012.
The essence of life is compressed, stored, and passed along in many marvelous ways – seeds and such in the plant world, chromosomes and the like in the animal world, etc. Are the basic lessons in living similarly compressed, stored, and passed to the next generation?
If you ask Lou Beaubien, Magee ’51, the answer would no doubt be a resounding “Yes”!
Lou now holds the Kushiro Cup as Burnaby’s Outstanding Citizen in 2012. Behind this award are many hours and years of volunteer work with Knights of Columbus Council 5423, Burnaby Amateur Radio Club (VE7CGE), Burnaby Radio and Communications Emergency Services, BC Seniors Games, Vancouver Sun Run, and Boy Scouts.
So, how did all this start? What were the basic lessons in living that Lou seized on and nurtured into his lifelong passion for volunteering? Was it his father’s example of playing Santa Clause at Senior’s homes or his mother’s special gift to a Premier’s wife? Was it the thoughtfulness of one neighbor who gave young Lou an old radio set or the co-worker who happened to mention that young Lou could fix anything electronic?
Take a moment, visit these articles, and explore the origins of Lou’s volunteer spirit and how it has evolved:
Vancouver Sun
Burnaby News Leader
Burnaby Now
Congratulations and well done Lou! What a great example for others to “unzip” and follow!
In this YouTube video, Lou explains how ham/amateur radio operators participate in today’s world.
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