Port Hope excursion

Recently, the husband and I went away for a couple of days. Our first stop was Port Hope, Ontario. This was a few hours from our home and we were happy to get there after realizing that people on the 401 highway are impatient and in an almighty rush to get somewhere. Husband was driving 120 (this is km/hr) and people actually honked and passed him. The 401 is a three lane highway and apparently 120 is not fast enough for the outside lane. Chill out people. You'll get there.

Anyway, the reason for choosing Port Hope was that many years ago, in his youth, hubby stopped off there with his family on the way to somewhere else. His father wanted them to see the place where he attended school for a while. My husband's father died a few years ago. He was a warm, kind man who we all still miss very much. He was brought up in very different circumstances than my husband, growing up in Montreal with substantial priviledge and prestige. That was not the way my husband was brought up, however, but life changes.

So, we decided to go have a look at Trinity College School in Port Hope with the hope that we could perhaps find some old pictures of sports teams lining the halls and find my husband's father, who was quite the athlete. When we came to the visitor's entrance, the people there were more than helpful. Of course, school was out for the summer, so the students and staff were not in attendance. But after introducing himself and explaining his reason for being there, husband was reassured that someone could find some pictures and information. We followed a staff member across the wide expanse of freshly mowed lawn to a different building where a woman at a desk already had our name typed into her computer and was trying to locate information in their archives.

We were thrilled when she was able to quickly find football team photos, as well as hockey, prefects, and a graduation announcement, all of which she sent to our home email address, so that we can print them out and keep them on file.  We found out that his father attended for grades 10, 11 and 12 in the 1950's. Trinity is a very old private school in Ontario and at the time was just for boys. Now it is co-ed ranging from grades 5 to 12. It is still a private school. The school has, of course, added on over the years, but the beautiful old original buildings still stand. The grounds are lovely and it must be incredible to experience being a part of it in the autumn when the leaves are turning.

Out of curiosity I looked up the tuition fees if one were to currently send their child to this school. If you live close enough and wish to send your child to "dayschool", it is $22,950 for grades 5 and 6, to $31,850 for gr. 11 and 12 per year. However, if you wish to send your gr. 10, 11, or 12 student to boarding school there, it is $52,450.  With your remaining funds, you should factor in the first year uniform costs of about $750 to $1000, approximately $500 for books, and of course, a laptop is mandatory.  I suspect the costs in the 1950's were all relative.

Wow. I just can't comprehend that kind of money. And that's one year. What if you send your child from grade 5 all the way through to the end of grade 12? What if you have more than one child??
This is just not our world. I'm sure these youngsters get a great education there. They undoubtedly make valuable connections which hopefully they will be able to use in the networking sense as they go into adulthood and life in the businessworld. And, it really is a beautiful place.

While in Port Hope, we also took in a show at the Capital Theatre called "Shout" put on by five very talented women who belted out great songs from the sixties. We stayed at a bed and breakfast where people were very friendly and provided a great breakfast. Our trip then continued on in beautiful Prince Edward County, but that's another post.