My (Bill Ranford) Farewell to NWSS.
I was a student for 2 years from 1983 to 1985 while playing for the New Westminster Bruins. As a young 16 year old, attending a new school was very intimidating for me and my teammates. Our introduction to the school was through the vice-principal at the time, Mr Popowich. He was a big part of making us feel comfortable at the school so we hung out by the office for the first few weeks we attended. Mr Popowich finally asked us to move from the nest and get out into the school instead of hanging out at the principal’s office. That is when we made the move to a table in the hallway outside of the Chemistry room. This would be our home away from home for our two years at NDub.
It didn’t seem very significant at the time but it would be the place that we would spread our wings and become more part of the school. Our fellow students came to recognize it as the Bruin’s table, just down the hall from where the “jocks” hung out. There were some positives that would come out of this spot, meeting lots of people, as just about everyone would walk past our table and as the popularity of the team grew, people would stop by to say hello or talk hockey. But the most significant memory for me is that this is where I first saw my high school sweetheart, now my wife for 33 years.
My final year at NWSS was pretty cool, I got the opportunity to build relationships with my fellow Grade 12 graduating class. I stayed in New Westminster after the hockey season so that I could be involved with all of the graduating festivities. This also gave me and a few of my teammates to get involved in some after school programs. Mr Strugnall convinced a few of the players to get involved with the track and field team. We formed a 4 X 100 relay team to compete in the local trackmeet. Somehow we found a way to place in that meet and move on to the provincials. It was a blast to interact with Strug and put together the relay team to represent our school. But the funniest memory that I look back on is sneaking into the senior girls basketball practice to watch my girlfriend (now wife) and finding out as adults that Woody knew I was watching and turned a blind eye on the event.
Even though it was a short two years at NWSS, it will always have a special place in my heart. I still have many great friends from my high school days. Moving back to New Westminster after my hockey career, both of my daughters (Cassady and Tristan) attended and graduated from NWSS with great memories of their own. So we say goodbye to a school with numerous great memories for the Ranford/Atkinson family.
- Bill Ranford