Regimental day kick-starts milestone year for St. Andrew’s College

The rich heritage of St. Andrew's College was on full display on Saturday as the independent school hosted the 48^th Highlanders of Canada for their varsity team's final home game of the hockey season.

The regiment helped open the game with their pipes and drums, but it wasn't just about pomp and circumstance; it signals the start of a milestone year for St. Andrew's College. (SAC)

This year marks both the 120^th anniversary of the regiment's affiliation with SAC and the school's 100^th anniversary in Aurora.

In the century since they planted their roots in the southwest quadrant of Yonge Street and St. John's Sideroad, the school has grown exponentially and the community along with it.

Saturday's ceremony brought much of this history together as they looked towards a fulsome community celebration this fall.

Saturday's extra special game was the brainchild of Dave Manning, Head Coach for the Varsity Hockey Team, who noted how much the team had embraced the Regimental motto of Dileas Gu Brath, Gaelic for “Faithful Forever,” and he and Brian McCue, Commanding Officer of SAC's 142 Highland Cadet Corps, set out to make a Regimental Appreciation Day a reality.

“Dave spearheaded the event and we ran with it. The nice thing is that right away I said, ‘Okay, this is not going to be a small event,' because we built a committee, got the approval of the Head of School and the Board of Governors to do this, we created a committee with all the major players involved, now suddenly it became an Old Boy event,” said McCue. “It's our parents, our current students, the community and then, as we built that committee, all of a sudden the layers started to show how exciting this day could be: it's the 100^th anniversary of St. Andrew's in Aurora and it's a celebration of community.”

From there, organizers strove to ensure it was also a day to honour all members of the Canadian Armed Forces – past, present, and future – and highlight the importance of the Royal Canadian Legion within the community.

“It is a community celebration as well as a recognition of our long-standing traditions with the 48^th Highlanders, but at the core, of course, was the hockey game and the team,” said McCue.

To celebrate the occasion, SAC players hit the ice with regimental jerseys featuring the 48^th Highlanders cap badge, and the day featured other nods to these long-standing links.

“The boys have embraced it,” says McCue. “[Students] hear the Regimental motto a lot throughout the course of their career here at St. Andrew's, but I think what's really important is they looked at it that it isn't just history; yes, we had Andrians fight in the First World War with the Regiment and in the Second World War, but it's not just history, this is a living regiment, they're going to be here, and we're going to celebrate.”

And the celebrations are only set to continue throughout 2026.

While the finishing touches are being made on a community celebration this fall, McCue said 100 years of links between the school and the local community here in Aurora are only getting stronger.

“I've been here at St. Andrew's long enough that I can remember when we were still kind of more attached to our Toronto campus and holding onto our traditions there. We had our annual church parade downtown at St. Paul's, which was our home there for a long time. Suddenly we thought, why are we still doing this? Our home is Aurora. We've built our partnerships and we've built our relationships,” he said. “The church parade is a prime example when we moved it up here. The feeling of parading out of the gates at St. Andrew's through Aurora is absolutely fantastic. In the 100^th anniversary of the Cadet Corps, the Town granted us the Freedom of the Town, so that was very meaningful for us as well building those official ties.

“It's ceremonial, yes, but it's something we cherish and celebrate every year.”

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter