2. Editorial: Message from Co-Editor
- Belinda (â81)
Hello all.
Hereâs hoping that I find
you all in good spirits and in
good health and ready to
face the winter months
ahead; let's hope it is not a
long winter!
You may have noticed
that we didnât produce a
Spring edition of The Har-
bordite. The fact is, there
was nothing to write! While
this may seem surprising,
the fact is that we rely on
our alumni to send us sto-
ries so that we may put to-
gether a âHarborditeâ. If
we donât get any news, then
we canât share any! As one
of the Harbord club direc-
tors and co-editor of The
Harbordite, I anxiously
await to receive emails and
letters from you about up-
coming events that I can
share in our newsletter,
website and on Facebook.
Were you in the news re-
cently? Do you have a re-
markable story to share?
Please donât hesitate to
send us an email update or
story; nothing is ever too
small or too big to send our
way!
In the spirit of the hol-
iday season and in honour of
our great school, we would
like to share with you some
interesting Harbord tidbits
you may or may not be
work hard at establishing
and maintaining a sense of
common identity among
former students and
teachers of the school.
Amongst many things, we
promote school spirit and
pride in the students
through historical
knowledge. The associa-
tion continues to give back
to the school by hosting
social events and fund-
raising activities as well as
assisting in class reunions.
An exciting event that we
are happily working on is
Harbordâs 125th
anniver-
sary which will be in April
2017. We are currently
looking for assistance
from any alumni wishing to
help on any of our subcom-
mittees. If you are inter-
ested, please let us know
so that we can create our
lists of volunteers. We
are so proud to volunteer
for such a remarkable
alumni club.
Another organization,
The Harbord Charitable
Foundation, was estab-
lished by the Harbord
Club in 1979 and it began
to offer many permanent
awards which are generat-
ed by the interest on capi-
tal funds. These awards
now amount to just over
$7000 annually and are
presented to Harbord C.I.
students yearly at both
aware of. The newsletter
was first produced back in
April of 1979 and was cre-
ated in order to reach out
to all alumni to share the
latest news from our Har-
bordites. The Harbord Club
originated in 1978 and was
organized by a small group
of alumni and is currently
the largest high school
alumni group in Canada with
a membership of over 14000
names in our database. In
1993, the work of the Har-
bord club was publically rec-
ognized by the Toronto His-
torical Board at a special
ceremony held at City Hall.
It was recognized for cre-
ating the one and only Mu-
seum and Archives and for
publishing The Happy
Ghosts of Harbord, a book
on the history of the school
from 1892 to 1992. The
Harbord club also received
a certificate of Honour
from the Toronto Board of
Educationâs Sesquicentennial
Museum for its
âdistinguished contributionâ
to the history of education.
If you havenât had a chance
to come visit the school Mu-
seum, please do so. It is a
beautiful room where his-
torical photographs, papers
and artefacts are collected,
preserved and displayed.
Currently, the Harbord
Club has seven directors
who meet monthly. We
3. the awards ceremony and
at Commencement.
At this time we
would like to encourage all
grads to become members
and establish a lifelong
link with H.C.I. Spread
the word. If you havenât
already, please let us know
a bit about yourself - the
year you graduated, your
full name when you attend-
ed Harbord, and of course
your email address so that
you can receive your Har-
bordite and all of our up-
dates. (Donât forget to
add our email to your âsafe
listâ so that our communi-
cations are sent to your
inbox!) We also want to
add you to our database.
Just in case youâve forgot-
ten, here are some im-
portant contacts:
email us at
contact@harbordclub.com
Join our group on Face-
book: Harbord C.I. Grads/
Alumni
And check out our web-
site: harbordclub.com
As we are nearing the end
of another year with the
holidays just around the
corner, we would like to
send our wishes to you and
your loved ones for a re-
laxing, heartfelt and safe
holiday season!
Continued...
So long for now, *HUGS*
Belinda
4. tiative and energy we would
not have achieved all we
have, many thanks.
And last but not least, Princi-
pal Vince Meade, whose quiet
encouragement has been of
untold support.
Museum Musings
- Syd Moscoe (â52)
Since the last Museum
Musings , the Museum vol-
unteers have completed
the oral history record-
ings to go along with the
photographs on our web-
site of those who gave
their lives in the First
World War. This can be
found under âVeteransâ
on the Home Page. Each
of the voices which you
hear is that of one of the
Museum Volunteers who
wrote what he/she spoke.
It was all transferred on-
to the website with assis-
tance of our webmaster
Sheldon Hua (HCI-2007).
It is hard to believe that
many of those who gave
their lives were barely out
of high school when they
enlisted to serve and gave
their life.
The Museum volunteers
completed a Directory as
to the location of the Mu-
seum contents. It will be
available in hard copy in
the Museum as well as
online on the Harbord
Club website.
For a change of pace, the
Museum volunteers had
the opportunity to take
photos with some old film
cameras courtesy of Mr.
Oscar Li, Archivist and
Librarian of The Photo-
graphic and Historical Soci-
ety of Canada. Mr. Li
brought some of his camer-
as and the film to go with
them. After taking the pic-
tures he developed and
printed the photos. Not as
quick as digital or iphone
photosâbut as they found
out, more challenging.
An inventory and a history
was made of each of the
cameras in our Museum col-
lection. They had been
used, as best we know, by
the Harbord Camera Club in
the 1920âs and 1930âs . Af-
ter that time, (1940âs
through the 1970âs) good
cameras became reasonably
priced and each member of
the Camera Club had their
own camera. It was the pic-
tures from these cameras
that were displayed in the
year books.
I would like to thank the
Museum Volunteers: Abby
Gopsill, Ben Heywood-
Macleod, Cameron McGlade
-Bouchard, Jane Ernszt,
Kira Knight , and Maddy
Whitestone who gave gen-
erously of their time, en-
thusiasm and good humour.
And to my long time staff
advisor , Daniel Leblanc ,
without whose support , ini-
5. Saying Goodbye to our first Editor!
On June 13th, 1918 a fu-
ture Harbordite was born.
His name was Julius Arthur
Molinaro; a name well known
amongst the Harbord Chari-
table Foundation and the
Harbord Club as one of the
original founders of both
groups as well as the first
editor of the Harbordite.
Sadly, we lost one of our he-
roes this past summer; Julius
Molinaro, passed away July
3rd, 2015 in his 98th year.
As a student in the 1930's,
one can only imagine what life
was like for him here at Har-
bord. He walked amongst HCI
friends, participated in HCI
activities including holding
the student leadership posi-
tion of the Harbord Italian
club and he sat in the same
classrooms and auditorium as
you and I have . Upon gradu-
ating in 1936 from, in his
words, his âbeloved high-
schoolâ, Julius went on to
study what was known back
then as "Romance Languages"
at U of T.
But life was not so easygoing.
As a young 21 yr old, after
recently earning his Bachelor
of Arts degree, he was de-
tained in his family home one
June afternoon by govern-
ment agents who barged into
the house on Gore Ave., ran-
sacked the house, and ar-
rested him along with his fa-
ther and brother.
This was the year that Benito
Mussolini put Italy on the
same side of Germany in
WWII. The government be-
lieved that approximately
700 men across the country
were interned as threats to
National Security, one of
these people being Julius Mo-
linaro. Rumour has it that he
was a suspect simply for be-
ing âItalian -Canadianâ and
because heâd won a University
of Toronto literary scholar-
ship in 1937 that included a
trip to Italy! Accusations
were also made that he was
anti-British. According to
Julius, this was shocking
news, and being kept captive
as prisoners leading up to war
was humiliating. Their uni-
forms had big red bullâs-
eyes to offer the guards a
target in case they were to
make a run for it.
He would not be freed
again for 4 months and 18
days with his father and
brother detained even
longer. After an informal
hearing, these prisoners
would all be released; no
one was ever formally
charged with an act of
sabotage or convicted of
any crime. They were nev-
er apologised to either.
Approximately 8 months
later, in June of 1940, Can-
ada went to war against his
ancestral home, a war
against their allies.
Later, Julius would serve in
North Africa and Italy
with the Office of War
Information for Allied
Forces Headquarters. He
was selected by the Cana-
dian government because
they considered him to be
a loyal citizen and of being
fluent in Italian and Span-
ish. During WWII he
served with the War In-
formation in both Canada
and the United States and
with the Psychological
Warfare branch of the
U.S. Army as a first Lieu-
6. ...Saying Goodbye to our first Editor!
tenant.
On his return from over-
seas, he assumed the job
of Lecturer in the depart-
ment of Italian and Span-
ish at the University of
Toronto. His career there
spanned over 37 years. In
that time he distinguished
himself as a dedicated
teacher and scholar re-
ceiving his PhD in 1954,
moving on to become a full
professor.
Julius was an overly busy
business man who co-
authored over 10 books
and dozens of articles. He
was also a family man;
husband to Matie, father
to Paul and Juliette,
grandfather to Lisa, Oliv-
ia and Sean and great-
grandfather to William,
Benjamin, Cole and Luke.
As well as once being the
Harbordite editor, he was
the editor of the Journal:
"Renaissance and Refor-
mation" for seven years.
He held membership in a
number of social groups
and founded many more
himself.
In addition to being a
Harbord club founder, he
was also founder of the
Dante Society of Toronto,
the Canadian Society for
Italian Studies and the Ital-
ian Club of UofT. He served
as President for many years.
In 1977, he was elected to
be a fellow of the Royal Soci-
ety of Canada. He was award-
ed the Queen's Jubilee Sil-
ver Medal and the Silver
Medal of the Societa Nation-
al Dante Aleghieri, in Rome.
He was also awarded the
UofT Sesquicentennial Long
Service Award and honoured
at a dinner of Centro Cana-
dese e Cultura Italiana where
he was presented with a
painting.
In 1990, Julius sought an
apology from the government
on behalf of all internees who
were wrongly arrested. He
decided to move forth after
seeing that the Japanese re-
ceived a settlement in 1988.
The Italian Canadian intern-
ees had remained silent
about their treatment, the
hurt to their families and their
financial losses for far too
long. This apology was never
given. It was warranted not
simply for the sake of the vic-
tims but as recognition of an
abridgement of civil liberties in
Canada and to help prevent the
recurrence of such discrimina-
tion.
In 1992, Julius was given the
Commemorative Medal for the
125th Anniversary of the Con-
federation of Canada. The
Medal honoured Julius for
making a significant contribu-
tion to his fellow citizens, to
his community or to Canada.
Julius Molinaro made a tremen-
dous impact on Harbordites
and many Canadians every-
where. His spirit will live on at
Harbord through a scholarship
in his name. I hope we make
him proud as we carry on his
legacy through the Harbord
club.
Editorâs personal note:
While attending Harbord as a
student, I had the opportunity
to meet Julius Molinaro during
the schoolâs 90th anniversary.
Years later, at Harbordâs 100th
anniversary, he was a known
figure in the public eye. De-
spite being busy with media
questions, I was able to get a
7. Continued...
chance to speak to him at
the school open house. I
told him of my intentions
to volunteer with the
club, and the next time I
saw him I was proud to
share with him that I had
taken on the role of Har-
bordite co-editor, a role
he had initiated. I missed
his presence at our
schoolâs 120th Birthday
Bash three years ago, but
know that he would have
come had he been able to.
I would like to take this
opportunity to say thank-
you to Julius for giving us
the Harbord charitable
organization, the Harbord
club and the Harbordite.
In October, I was put in
touch with Juliette, Jul-
ius' daughter, and was de-
lighted to learn so much
more about her father
and his connection to Har-
bord. I am proud to share
that his family piano now
lives in my home; a symbol
and reminder to me that
his spirit still lives on
strong to so many of us
who share our common
Harbord bond.
-Belinda Medeiros-Felix
8. Ken Mucha
Ken Mucha has been fondly
missed since his passing in
December 2002. Ken was a
history teacher at Harbord
C.I. from 1980 to 2002.
Those who knew him well
said that he had a lifelong
affair with education, having
graduated from Lakehead
University, Queens and the
University of Western On-
tario.
During his time at Harbord,
Ken was a devoted sports
and game enthusiast coach-
ing several Harbord teams
including hockey, softball,
baseball and basketball. He
was also a former TSSAA
President for the Board. Ken
had other interests which
included politics â serving as
President of the Toronto
chapter of the Canadian In-
stitute of International Af-
fairs - debating, curling, pi-
ano, cycling and bridge!
As a student, I remember
Mr. Mucha from my last
year at HCI. Years later,
when I came to join the
staff at HCI, Mr. Mucha,
now a colleague, welcomed
me back to Harbord with
open arms. Ken was a caring
teacher with a great sense
of humour, who gave of his
time to volunteer wherever
possible. His presence as a
Prom chaperone was a hit
with the grads. I was so
touched to see so many of
his past and current stu-
dents come pay their last
respects at the funeral
home. As we held hands in a
circle sharing our memories
of him, it was clear that his
students just loved him!
His students fondly remem-
bered his infectious laugh,
his âtickysâ, and his famous
words, âExcellent, Excel-
lentâ.
After his passing, his
friends and colleagues Mike
Covello and Alex McIntyre
were able to organize a me-
morial in our school in hon-
our of Ken. More than 300
people were in attendance. A
slideshow was shared to
highlight Ken's life at Har-
bord. Friends and col-
leagues Boris Wolchuk, Doug
Walker and Ron Brown facil-
itated a collection of funds
that was decided would be
used towards a memorial
bench in his name.
After years of anticipation,
a beautiful memorial bench
now finally stands at Har-
bord; currently residing in
front of the schoolsâ main
office and soon to find its
permanent home in front of
the school in memory of Ken.
By Belinda Medeiros-Felix
Ken Mucha, Harbord Teacher and Coach
1980â2002
12. Alumni in the News!
Zsofia Balazs (HCI-2008)
Zsofia represented Canada as a
swimmer in both the Summer
Olympic Games and the Pan Am
Games!
As shown in the two newspaper ar-
ticles, she was a torchbearer for
the most recent 2015 Pan Am
Games. She is a local police of-
ficer with Metro Torontoâs 11th
Division.
Congratulations to Zsofia for her
numerous accomplishments!
Cheers!
13. MAX KERMAN (HCI-2003)
This Harbordite who was SAC President in his graduating year, is making a name for
himself with the ARKELLS - a Juno award winning Indi Rock group. Look for him and
his group. They were featured together with Boris Brott (former music director of the
Hamilton Philharmonic and now Director of the National Youth Orchestra) at the Juno
ceremonies.
Alumni in the News!
14. Harbordite named 2015 Alumni of
Influence at U. of T.
HCI alumnus, Giuseppe Mazzotta, has been selected by
University College, U of T, as one of the Alumni of Influence for 2015. Thank
You to Mary Mazzotta('69) for sharing this info with us.
The following is taken from the University of Toronto, University College,
Alumni, Alumni of Influence 2015 Winnerâs website:
Please see the following sites.
http://www.uc.utoronto.ca/aoi15
http://www.uc.utoronto.ca/2015-
winners
http://www.uc.utoronto.ca/
alumni/alumniofinfluence/prof-
giuseppe-mazzotta
Prof. Giuseppe Mazzotta
(BA 1965 UC) (MA 1966 Toronto) (PhD Cornell 1969)
Originally from Italy, Giuseppe Mazzotta came to Canada as a
child. While he spoke no English at first, through perseverance,
hard work, and encouragement by his father, he graduated from U
of T and went on to complete his PhD at Cornell University. A
specialist in medieval literature, he is one of the worldâs foremost
authorities on Dante. Since 1983, Mazzotta has been teaching at
Yale University, where he is Sterling Professor in the Humanities
for Italian, the highest academic rank at Yale, and also serves as
Chair of the department. His extensive writings address all peri-
ods of Italian literature and culture, and include Cosmopoiesis:
The Renaissance Experiment, which consists of a number of pub-
lic lectures he delivered in 1999 as the Emilio Goggio Visiting
Professor in the Department of Italian Studies at the University
of Toronto.
15. Thank You to Donors for new âOur
Soldierâ Plaque
WITH THANKS
WITH THANKS
The cost of the new plaque added to âOur Soldierâ was $2034.00
We thank the following groups for their generous contributions:
2014 Harbord Grade 12 Graduating Class Prom $ 215.00
Student Activity Council 2014-2015 $1115.00
And from the following:
ï· Richard & Sheila Rodney Fund
at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto
ï· The Harbord Charitable Foundation
ï· The Harbord Club
ï· Murray Rubin (HCI-1950)
ï· Helen Szony (HCI-1950)
ï· Syd Moscoe (HCI_1952)
ï· Alan Mason- (not a Harbordite)
19. 2015 Grad, Triple Harbord Club & Kensington Foundation
Award Winner Gives Thanks! - Victoria Luu
20. 2015 Grad & Harbord Club Award Winner Gives Thanks!
- Benson Chan
THE HARBORDITE
21. 2015 Grad & Harbord Club Award Winner Gives Thanks!
- Cleo Davies-Chalmers
22. 2015 Grad & Harbord Club Award Winner Gives Thanks!
- Emily Conkey
THE HARBORDITE
23. 2015 Grad & Harbord Club Award Winner Gives Thanks!
- John Bowley
October 7, 2015
Dear Harbord Club,
Thank you very much to the Harbord Club, the generous donors, and the staff who have
chosen me to receive the Harbord Club Stapleton Caldecott Award. I really appreciate the
acknowledgement of my hard work over my last and favourite year of high school.
I had an amazing time at Harbord C.I. It is an extremely well rounded school that was very
accepting to me as a young student. If thereâs one word to describe it, itâs family. Donât get
me wrong, high school is a trying time and not everyone enjoys everyone, however, kind-
ness is prevalent in Harbordâs halls. I will never lose some of the friendships I formed in
high school. I found a family outside of home that will always support me with people I now
consider my brothers and sisters.
The teaching at Harbord is also phenomenal, almost without exception. For a student like
me, who has always struggled with focusing in class and on finding motivation, I found a
community of teachers who care - people who genuinely want you to do well, as an individ-
ual. That caring is amazing enough on its own, as it truly is a major deciding factor in a stu-
dentâs success in school; in addition, they are extremely passionate. I found myself thor-
oughly researching, editing, re-writing, and prepping continuously, not because I had to,
but out of pure interest for the subject matter. From my perspective, when a student works
extremely hard, not for a mark, but for their teacher and for themselves, simply because
the assignments are intriguing, learning is achieved. This takes place at Harbord in every
department.
There are many ways to have an enhanced experience of learning at Harbord and for me
one of those was the LAWS program, which I benefited from tremendously. Another was
athletics. I played school and extracurricular sports since I was young, and that athletic fo-
cus continued throughout high school, where I received another very important type of
mentoring and support from the talented coaches, and my team mates, and had the oppor-
tunity to excel.
It wasnât until Grade 11 that I understood that I had a real interest in other subjects such as
History, Law, Economics, and English. This award means a lot to me because it recogniz-
es those different aspects of my learning experience at Harbord - sports and academics.
I do not know what the future holds for me but I know that when I undertake post-
secondary education I want to do so with a better understanding of what really interests
me. I have chosen to take this year off, to earn some money and explore options for my
future development. I have been involved in a pre-apprenticeship program that may lead to
an apprenticeship in the construction trades, and I am also looking at economics and busi-
ness courses at either university or college.
Harbord taught me something very important that will help me
throughout my life - I have what it takes to tackle any subject I am
interested in, and do well. I know I have lots of options, thanks to
my experiences at Harbord C.I
Thank you again, Harbord Club.
Sincerely,
John Bowley
24. 2015 Grad & Harbord Club Award Winner Gives Thanks!
- Ginger Howard
THE HARBORDITE
October 9th
, 2015
Harbord Collegiate Institute
286 Harbord Street
Toronto, ON
M6G 1G5
Dear Harbord Club,
This year I was the recipient of the Victor Wineberg Award, for which I am very grateful.
I have just graduated from Harbord Collegiate Institute and I am now attending the Uni-
versity of Guelph, majoring in animal biology. In the future I hope to attend veterinary
school and to one day open my own veterinary practice.
I have greatly enjoyed my time at Harbord and taking part in clubs that raise awareness
about social justice issues. In grade 12 I was the co president of Harbordâs leading social
justice club SLIC (Students Leading Initiative for Change), where I helped organize sever-
al events throughout the year.
I am very grateful to be receiving this award. Commitment surrounding the awareness of
social justice is very important, and I am honoured to be a part of it.
Sincerely,
Ginger Howard
25. 2014 Grad & Harbord Club 120th Anniversary Award Winner
Gives Thanks!
- Rebekah Johnson
26. Harbord C.I. Commencement!
Class of 2015
THE HARBORDITE
Ms. Belinda Medeiros-Felix(â81)
presenting Rebekah Johnson
with this yearâs 120th Anniver-
sary Scholarship Award.
On- ward Harbord, On
to Victory! Grads sing together
one last time!
Principal V. Meade congratulates
the Class of 2015.
27. Remembrance Day at Harbord C.I.
As part of this yearâs Remembrance Day program, Harbord Collegiate was
honoured to have Nate Leipciger (photo below) as our keynote speaker. Nate
is a Holocaust survivor who came to Harbord C.I. after the Second World
War.
Nate graduated from HCI in 1950. Nate, was one of the persons who initiat-
ed the movement to restore âOur Soldierâ, Harbordsâ First World War me-
morial and the development and dedication of Harbordâs Second World War
memorial. He was welcomed by students, staff and alumni.
We are very grateful for his offering of his autographed book entitled, The
Weight of Freedom to anyone who waited patiently to receive it.
Watch on CBCâŠ
http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2678643615
Or on Harbord Club websiteâŠ
http://harbordclub.com/blog/2015/11/16/cbc-television-harbord-
remembrance-day-service/
28. Harbord alumni who attended the 2015 Remembrance Day Service.
Remembrance Day, Continued..
29. 2015 Annual Meeting of the Harbord
Charitable Foundation
The annual general meeting of The Harbord Charitable Foundation took place on
Wednesday December 9th
at 1:00pm in the Harbord Club Museum. All former
students and staff of Harbord Collegiate Institute were invited to attend.
The Harbord Charitable Foundation is pleased to announce that a total of
$7,236.00 has been paid out this year in awards and scholarships to Harbord
student and graduates. The Harbord Charitable Foundation administers the
funds of 79 awards and scholarships named after and honouring former stu-
dents and staff.
At a meeting of The Harbord Charitable Foundation held October 28, 2015, the
following were confirmed as Officers and Directors of the Foundation:
President/Treasurer - Josephine Zilavec (HCI -1984)
Vice-President â Peter Miller (HCI -1948)
Secretary â Syd Moscoe (HCI -1952)
Director - Murray Rubin HCI- 1950)
We would like to thank Peter Miller for all his hard work as President and
Treasurer of the Harbord Charitable Foundation over the years. He is stepping
down from his position to allow for new blood to carry on. He will continue on as
V.P.
We would like to welcome Josephine (Bergoc) Zilavec (â84) as our new President
& Treasurer
30. ATTENTION All Harbordites:
As we plan for the 125th
Anniversary Reunion, we are finding that our fi-
nancial needs are greater. As you know, our mandate is to raise money for
scholarships, and most of our funds go towards this purpose.
At this time, we are calling on all Harbordites to send a donation to facili-
tate this event.
Charitable tax receipts will be issued for donations of $50.00 and over. All
cheques of $50.00 and over for which a charitable receipt is required
should be made payable to âHarbord Charitable Foundation,â
and on the face of the cheque in the memo line insert the words
âFor the Harbord Club.â
For any amount less than $50.00 or if a receipt is not required, please
make the cheque payable to âHarbord Club.â
We want to thank you for your continued support for your alma mater, and
we hope to see you at the reunion in April 2017.
Onward Harbord!
31. Harbord Club Executive
President Emeritus - Murray Rubin -HCI-1950
President Pro-Tem - Syd Moscoe -HCI-1952
Harbordite Co-editors - Ben-1978 & Belinda-1981 -Staff
Director - Ben Lee -HCI-1978
Director - Sidney Ingham -HCI-1978
Director - Belinda Medeiros-Felix -HCI-1981 âStaff
Director - Vasan Persad HCI-1994 - Staff
Director - Diana Da Silva -HCI-2009
Director - Sierra Medeiros-Felix -HCI-2010
Student Representative - Cameron McGlade Bouchard - HCI-2016