Many Maritimers plan their summer vacation around a reunion. It may be a family reunion or a community reunion or most often, a school reunion.

That was the case in Saint John this week, when former classmates returned to celebrate their school and school principal.

A stroll through West Saint John brings back a lot of memories for two men, one a former student, the other, a former principal of Beaconsfield School.

The school was located on the current site of Beaconsfield Middle School. Otty Norwood was teacher and principal there from 1946 to 1954.

“Discipline then, of course, was very different. I had a three-letter name: Sir,” Norwood said. “And when I spoke to them they would stand and say sir.

“And the interesting thing is, when they went to high school, they took that with them and the high school teachers were quite amazed at how polite the Beaconsfield kids were to them.”

“As he mentioned, he had a strap in the drawer of his desk,” said former student Ed Tracy. “Most teachers did in those days, and I don't think he used it any more than anyone else, but it was there and we knew it was there.”

Beaconsfield was just one stop in Norwood’s career. He went on to obtain his doctorate in education and take on some big responsibilities in the United States.

Norwood rose to become superintendent of a school district in suburban New York.

He visited his hometown and was the guest of honour at a Beaconsfield School reunion on Tuesday.

“He had a great influence on all of us young people,” said former student Peter Pitt. “He gave us our direction in life on where to go. I would have never been so successful had I been without him.”

“If we failed, he failed. He wouldn't tolerate failure. He pounded knowledge into us. He was a very good principal and a good teacher all around,” said former student Gord McKay.

Many of his former students haven't seen Norwood in decades. Some say he would still do well in a classroom.

“He’d probably fit right in today. He looks good enough to be still a teacher today,” said former student Marion Stevens.

Norwood now lives in Connecticut. He has long since retired from teaching, but still fondly remembers his days in the Beaconsfield classroom.

“To work hard with kids on learning something and see them do it well, gosh. There's no greater reward for a teacher, and I'm still a teacher,” Norwood said.

All of his former students agree that Norwood was a strict disciplinarian, but they also described him as fair-minded. Most of them said if you were punished, you probably deserved it.

More than 60 years later, Norwood remains in high regard among his former students.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron