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The Circle K Club

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An important component in defining the post-secondary experience is being able to take part in a club, sport, or other form of organization. Circle K International is the largest service-oriented, leadership-training, collegiate organization in the world and is a member of the Kiwanis International’s sponsored program. It is the university level of the Kiwanis Club but it maintains self-direction from its sponsor. There are currently over eleven thousand members in over five hundred colleges and universities worldwide. 

Circle K International brochure (RG 64.20)
The Ryerson Circle K Club banner (RG 64.28)

Ryerson’s Circle K Club belonged to the Eastern Canada and Caribbean District, one of the oldest districts. It was chartered at Ryerson on February 16, 1955 and became the second Circle K Club of the district. Ryerson’s Circle K Club included the clubs of Waterloo, Western, and Queen’s Universities as well as Ridgetown, Fanshawe, and Chicoutimi Colleges. It was the oldest continuous club in the district until it became inactive in 1988.   

Ryerson Circle K Club flyer (RG 64.12)

Circle K was:

  • A student movement: Students were becoming more and more interested in their environment and the surrounding issues such as lower school spirit, lack of trust in the government, and uncertainty for the future. Circle K allowed students to help shape their environment.
  • A people organization: People are both the cause and cure of problems. Circle K was interested in helping find a better life and a better world.
  • Involved with environmental, community, health, and student concerns. It raised funds for activities and charities and also attended to social issues on campus and in the community.
Member Handbook (RG 64.16)

The Circle K Club meetings were public and any student could join as long as they had good character and an adequate academic standing. They held a weekly one-hour meeting, which was the minimum involvement for maintaining membership.

The Circle K gong used at the weekly meetings (RG 64.29)

The motto for Circle K is “We Build”. The 1980 Ryerson Circle K President, Mark Donner, said the “main goal is to develop brotherhood and fellowship” through helping people.

Circle K advertisement in the 1980 School Calendar (RG 64.4)

Some of the main objectives of Circle K were to:

  • give primacy to human and spiritual rather than material values of life
  • encourage the daily living of the Golden Rule in all human relationships
  • develop a more intelligent, aggressive, and serviceable citizenship
  • promote the advantages of the democratic way of life
  • encourage the application of higher social and professional standards
  • participate in group activities, creating sound public opinion and high idealism
The Circle K Club School Calendar, 1980 (RG 64.4)

The Circle K Club at Ryerson found many ways of being involved. They organized dance marathons, car rallies, charity casino nights for cystic fibrosis, Shinerama, movie screenings, luncheons, parties, and blood drives at the school and provided funding for first year students with financial difficulties. One of their first campaigns was a safe driving campaign among students and staff.

The Man of the Year Award, presented by Circle K (RG 64.2)

Other events were bingo nights at a senior citizens’ home, sports nights at a local youth club, activities for mentally and physically disabled children, and career night for the Parkdale Boys and Girls Club. They aided organizations such the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre, the Big Brother and Big Sister Programs, and the Endangered Animal Sanctuary.

Samples of flyers by the Circle K Club (RG 64.12)

One of Circle K’s major advocacies was the blood clinics since the clinics first came to Ryerson. As incentives to donate blood, the Club issued prizes such as trophies, monetary awards, and dinner for two during their “bleed off” contests between course unions. 

Blood Donor Clinic posters (RG 64.12)
The Blood Donor Clinic at Ryerson, organized by the Circle K Club (RG 64.22)

What was once a club with as many as thirty-five members in the mid-1960s became a club with only six members by the 1980s. Low revenue at fundraisers as well as low turnout at clinics were partly the result of this lack of internal participation. Chuck Menezies, the 1978 Circle K Vice-President, attributed the demise to the club’s straight image as well as to the growing influence of the Student Union.

The Student Union became the leading campus organization and soon became involved with tasks that Circle K had been handling previously. They took over management of the used book store, the cloak room, the lost and found, and helped organize the blood clinics. The interest in and influence of the Circle K Club diminished and by 1988 the club was abolished.

Circle K Club Rally (RG 64.22)

 For more information, please visit Archives and Special Collections on the 4th floor of the library.

Feature from the Collections: Ryerson Opera Workshop

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This past weekend the Ryerson Theatre School celebrated its 40th anniversary, but the history of student theatre on campus goes back well beyond that of the school. In 1951 the Ryerson Opera Workshop was first offered, headed up by English professor Jack McAllister. Students across campus, in any program, were invited to participate. The inaugural production was an exciting double bill of The Devil and Daniel Webster and Down in the Valley; the first was a re-telling of the classic Faust tale using a poor farmer as the lead character who sells his soul to the devil, and the second, a folk-opera peppered with famous American songs, including the titular “Down in the Valley.” According to newspaper reviews at the time, the shows were a success for the new Workshop.

Newspaper photo of the cast of “The Devil and Daniel Webster” from The Alumni Reporter, Fall 1952 (RG 718.044)

Although the name implies something different today, the Opera Workshops focused on popular musical theatre, and the repertoire included Broadway hits like Once Upon a Mattress, Bye Bye Birdie, Snow White, The Wizard of Oz, The Beggar’s Opera and Peter Pan.

In the 1970s, Ryerson established the Theatre School and became one of the first professional schools in North America to offer training in all aspects of the theatre arts, from technical production to arts administration. It wasn’t long after the first cohort of theatre students appeared on campus that the extracurricular productions of the Ryerson Opera Workshops finally ceased. The last performance by the Opera Workshop was a children’s show entitled Stick with Molasses (1976). Today, the popular student musicals are replaced by an ambitious program of student-driven work throughout the year.

Scene from “The Beggar’s Opera” 1952 (RG 718.03)
Programme and photograph from the 1953 production of Brigadoon
Programme and photograph from “Once Upon a Mattress” 1963, the last production in Old Ryerson Hall Theatre
  • Playbill for the 1964 production of Brigadoon, RG718-2.
  • Scene from Brigadoon, 1964, RG718-2
Programme and photograph from the 1964 production of “Brigadoon,” the first production in the new Ryerson Theatre
Programme and photograph from ROW production of “Bye Bye Birdie”
Programme and photograph from the 1970 production of Alice in Wonderland
Newspaper clipping with a picture from the last Ryerson Opera Workshop production on Nov. 25, 1976, “Stick with Molasses” (RG 718.04)

To see what else we have regarding the Ryerson Opera Workshop click here

Feature from the Collections: Who is this man in the Archives?

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Peter. It’s his name. An interesting fellow, don’t you think?

“The Dream That Fagged Out” is Peter’s official title. The word fagged in its historical usage means completely exhausted, and there certainly seems to be a weight on Peter’s shoulders. “The work is so successful in its depiction of human despair and misery that no one at Ryerson has been able to keep it for long.” [The Lectern, October 1975, Works of Art docfl.]

He was created by artist Julius Damasdy, (1937/38 –  ) in the mid 1960s and was donated to Ryerson in 1967 by a founding member of the Board of Governors, Franc Joubin, who acquired him at an art show of the Ontario Society of Artists at the Toronto Art Gallery (now AGO).  Mr. Joubin stated he would purchase whatever statue won in its class at the art show.  As it turned out it was Peter who won and who became part of the university’s art collection.

He resided in the reception area of President Fred Jorgenson’s office (in Kerr Hall South).  After two years of dismally greeting staff and visitors alike, Peter was moved to where he could cheer up the students. What better place than the Library (located, then, in the former Business Building, now the Victoria Building).

General feelings were:

  • “[I] couldn’t stand the sight of Peter staring at [me] every day.” – 1969, executive staff
  • “I can’t stand him staring at my face whenever I come out of the elevator.” – 1969 library staff

When the Library moved to its current location in the Library Building in 1974, Peter insisted he come along. His new home was in a semi-dark area (they tried to hide him) near the 2nd floor elevators.  He later moved to the 6th floor stacks.

Peter got a medical diagnosis in the mid 1970s by a few Ryerson nursing students.  They posted their diagnosis from his neck, stating, for example, he suffered from: Malnutrition, Scoliosis, Stove Pipe Legs, Middle Age Spread, Facial Paralysis, and other interesting ailments.

Finally, in an attempt at banishment, Peter was offered to the Archives in the mid 1970s. He was cheerfully accepted and has been in safekeeping  there since, still creeping-out researchers and Archives staff.

Parades and Picnics from Ryerson’s Past!

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It is almost that time of year again…time for Ryerson’s parade and picnic.  The annual event has students marching down Yonge Street to catch the ferry for a day of music and fun on Toronto Island.  In honour of this rite of passage for all Ryerson students, please enjoy this selection of images of parades and picnics from decades past.

  • Ferry ride to the Island, 1963 Picnic
  • Photographic Arts float, 1963
  • Picnic tug ‘o’ war, 1966.
  • Parade, undated.
  • Viking float, ca. 1987.
  • Eggy in the parade, 1994.

A Contest that is for the Dogs!

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Help us name the Oakham House dogs

The Ryerson Archives are the proud owners of a beautiful set of matching Labrador Retrievers. They have settled in and gotten used to their new home and now it is time to give them names!

The contest is open to all University faculty, staff and students, and there is only one rule: The names MUST have significant meaning to Toronto Metropolitan University. This can include either historical (The Archives is a good place to look for this!) or contemporary significance. So enter and win prizes for first, second, and third place AND have your picture taken with the Archives’ mascots!

A bit of history on the dogs

The dogs were designed by architect William Thomas to hitch horses to and were located in front of his Oakham House residence. Thomas lived in the house until his death in 1860. The house was sold to another family and then in 1899 the house, along with the dogs, was sold to the Society for Working Boys- a home for disadvantaged youth in Toronto.  When Toronto Metropolitan University acquired  the building in 1958, the dogs, originally located at the building’s Church Street entrance, were no longer there.  They had been removed to the new location of the Boys Home.  When Ryerson retrieved the dogs in 1982, the Toronto Historical Board wanted the pair to be mounted in their historical place in the front of the house.  In the interest of protecting them from vandalism they were placed inside the house, and then adopted by the Archives in 2010.

Please send your name suggestions, along with an explanation as to why you chose those names, to archives@ryerson.ca.  Please include your full name and a number or email address where you can be reached should your submission be chosen.  Contest closes April 8th, 2011.

Feature of the Week: The Oakham House Dogs

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Remember the film “The Incredible Journey”? Much like the fabled animals in that movie, our featured archive items have been on quite the voyage.

Oakham House dogs (RG 114.38)

Designed by architect William Thomas to hitch horses in front of his residence, which he named Oakham House, these two handsome canines guarded the home until Thomas’ death in 1860.  In 1899, the house, along with the dogs, was sold to the Society for Working Boys; a home for disadvantaged youth in Toronto.  When Toronto Metropolitan University purchased the building in 1958, the dogs, originally located at the building’s Church Street entrance, were no longer there.  They had been removed to the new location of the Boys Home.  When Ryerson retrieved the dogs in 1982, the Toronto Historical Board wanted the pair to be mounted in their historical place in the front of the house.  In the interest of protecting them from vandalism, however, they were placed inside the house.  Since 2010, the Ryerson Library Archives has had the pleasure of their company.  Drop by and pay them a visit if you’re on the third floor of the library!