Lakeway Collegiate and Vocational School

Memories of the Soo

Lakeway Collegiate and Vocational School
130 Wellington St. E.
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
P6A 2L5

The following is borrowed from the 1987 commemorative yearbook for Lakeway. The introduction is unsigned, but if you happen to know which of the yearbook staff contributed it I will happily credit them.
“In 1909 the people in Sault Ste. Marie decided that a technical training program was needed in the area. A technical wing a The Sault Collegiate Institute resulted. As the demand for this training increased, another major decision was made; the Sault technical and Commercial High School would be built. The doors of this institute officially opened in 1922. Generation of young men and women were educated at “Tech”. In 1969 the school changed from purely a technical and commercial school to become a composite school. The name also changed from Sault Technical and Commercial High School to Lakeway Collegiate and Vocational School.”
In 1987 the school was closed and given over to the Separate School Board. It has since been reopened as St. Mary’s High School.
My own memories of Lakeway start when I entered its hallways in the fall of 1982 as a very nervous and shy 14 year old that was tall for his age. Luckily this worked to my advantage in Grade 9 as I avoided most of the hazing other frosh suffered as I was often overlooked as being from an older grade.
My fondest memories of my time at Lakeway was probably of the friendships I made there and many of which I still cherish today. I could easily compile a list a mile long of the friends and classmates that made those awkward teenage years bearable. For fear of overlooking someone, I’d like to share some photos of my graduating year and Lakeway’s last year as a public high school. The photo’s that follow are not of my graduation or even the prom afterwards, but rather of a gathering of friends at a local bar where we partied into the night. For some of us it was the last night we ever spent together, for others we still talk regularly.
To all my classmates, thank you for those years we shared and my thanks to Lakeway’s teachers and staff for their dedication and the lessons they taught me inside and outside the classroom.
Andy Taylor
June 2001

Click on Images to View Larger Pictures

A reunion was held a year following the closure of the school. It was at a banquet hall on Great Northern Road. These are a few pictures that I had in my album and I have a few more to add. If anyone else has pictures they would like to contribue - please email them to soomemories@yahoo.ca. We would love to hear your comments if you attended this event.

“Do you have memories or photos of Lakeway from year’s gone by that you would like to share? You can contact us at Memories of the Soo at soomemories@yahoo.ca or post your thoughts on the Message Board.”

Lakeway Reunion - May 1988 Click on any photo to see enlarged view! Enjoy!