Several hundred gathered Saturday afternoon in downtown St. Thomas to take a trip down memory lane.
Former students, their friends and families strolled the corridors of Arthur Voaden Secondary School, laughing, pointing and, most of all, reminiscing.
A bittersweet moment in the school’s centenary year. A last hurrah for the home of the Vikings.
A reunion weekend in September will be celebrated off site at St. Anne’s Centre as the school has officially been closed.
The Thames Valley District School Board announced at the end of April that it has received approval from Ontario’s Ministry of Education to build a new secondary school that will serve students in St. Thomas and the surrounding area, marking the first new high school for the board in more than 20 years.
The trade-off is the downtown school would close at the end of the 2025–2026 school year.
Former student Richard Haddow, co-chair of the Arthur Voaden centenary committee, pointed out that people were waiting in the parking lot a couple of hours before the school opened at 11 a.m. for one last glimpse at the photos, banners, trophies and murals.
Haddow added that when he attended the school, there were about 1,800 students filling the classrooms on all three floors.
Former MPP and St. Thomas Mayor Steve Peters credits his time spent at Arthur Voaden with allowing him “to do a lot of amazing things in my life.”
There were many years when the Vikings were powerhouses in football and basketball and St. Thomas Councillor Jeff Kohler remembers one game in particular against a Sarnia high school.
Kohler added, “We had some great coaches and great players, but at the end of the day, it taught us all discipline too.”
Former St. Thomas Times-Journal city editor Mark Butterwick fondly remembers lunch hour at Arthur Voaden.
Butterwick noted the significance of Talbotville native, Dr. Arthur Voaden, a prominent educator who became the first principal at what would eventually be his namesake school.
“You hate to see anything shut down,” admitted Haddow, “but maybe parts of it will be kept. Who knows?”
Written by Ian McCallum
