Acceptance Letter December 1973

December 7.1973

Mr. Charles Hardy, President,

Surrey Association for the Mentally Retarded,

Box 1204,

Station “A”

Surrey, BC V3S 2B3

Dear Mr. Hardy;

     I have just received a copy of the minutes of the

Meeting of the Board of Trustees held on December 3, 1973 at

which the motion was passed that the North-West Cloverdale

Elementary School be named in my honour.  This motion

indicates  that the suggestion for the naming of this school

came from the Surrey Association for the  Mentally Retarded. 

     It was indeed a great surprise to me when I was

first informed of this on the morning following the meeting,

and asked whether I would accept this honour.

     I hope it is without any vanity that I was pleased

to accept. My reason for accepting it is that I think it is

very fitting that that school, into which the classes operated

through your Association will soon be moving, should bear a

name which has had some connection over the years with the

Surrey Association.  Naturally, I appreciate very much that

you put forward my name to typify that connection.

     Members of the Surrey Association have made, and are

making a very important contribution to the welfare of retarded

persons.  They have always held a profound conviction of the

unique worth of every person, handicapped or not; they  have

recognized every person’s capacity for love and the need to be

loved; and they have been keenly sensitive to the fact that

retarded persons possess hidden capacities for joy, respect,

understanding and insight.    

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     Members of the teaching staff employed by the Association,

with whom I have been the most closely connected, have always in

my view epitomized those attitudes and qualities in a very special

way.  I have always admired them for that reason, just as I have

always been impressed and, as well, felt humility and gratitude

in knowing over the years so many faithful parents and friends of

the Association who have laboured to improve the well-being of

retarded persons,  and to provide for them the opportunity to

discover and share in those dimensions of affection and meaning

which are often ignored in our sophisticated and materialistic

society.

     I hope that the name you suggested for this school will

personify in future years these important attributes which have

characterized both the staff and members of the Surrey Association

during all the years in which I have known them.

     And I thank you most sincerely for the honour you have

accorded me.

                                                                                                 Yours sincerely,

                                                                                                G. J. Greenaway

                           Supervisor of

                           Special Education

GJG:mms