2020 Tales of Our Town
The following Tales were published in 2020
|
|
Samuel H. Ray, Strathroy photographer by Crystal Loyst
Curiosities and wonders abound when you open up an attic or unused room in a house or business. This was the case when thousands of fragile glass plate negatives, left undisturbed and tucked away on an upper floor of a downtown Strathroy business, were discovered in 2008. This treasure trove of local history had been left forgotten for almost 100 years. The negatives told the story of Strathroy and area during the late 1800s, showcasing everyday people, places and activities.
But who was the artist behind the lens that captured the images? The answer: Samuel Henry Ray.
Samuel was born in 1845 in Burford, Ontario, when photography was also in its infancy. This small town was located only eight kilometers from Brantford, which is where Samuel got his start in the world of photography. In the early 1860s he opened his first studio with a top-of-the-line camera for taking portraits. His chosen business name, S.H. Ray, would follow him throughout his career.
When Ray moved to Strathroy at age 19 it was becoming a prosperous village, with photographer W. J. Bradley already established on Front Street. In 1864 Ray opened a studio in the Union Block on Front Street with fellow Brant County resident John Irwin. At this time there were only 360 photographers in Canada. Most studios were set up above general stores and drugstores. If they were lucky, Ray and Irwin would have been on the top floor with a skylight to let in natural light.
Photographers in the early 1860s didn’t just point and shoot. Poses needed to be held for about 20 seconds. Cameras were cumbersome, and developing the images was a time sensitive job involving chemicals that could be toxic. So photography was considered a unique art form, an occupation listed in the census records as ‘Artist’.
Ray and Irwin worked together for about five years. In 1871 they went their separate ways, with Irwin buying out the studio and Ray moving to Petrolia where he set up shop. Petrolia was a booming oil town, and it is here that he married Jessie Gunn of Strathroy.
Ray’s stint in Petrolia was short lived as he was back in Strathroy by 1875, living on McKellar Street with a studio downtown. There were three other studios in town - Challoner, Crealy, and Emens – so competition was fierce. By this time factory-produced glass plate negatives were in use, allowing for quicker images and faster processing time. Ray adapted to the new technology as he continued to record the lives of Strathroy and area residents through his lens. However on April 25, 1885, fire damaged a number of businesses on Front Street including Ray’s Photography Gallery. As Ray was well-established he easily picked up and started again. By 1891 he had three employees and had moved to Frank Street, his final location, where the treasure trove of negatives was found.
Due to health concerns Samuel passed the baton to his wife and son in 1901. Over the next few years his condition deteriorated and, sadly, he became blind. The most important element needed by a photographer was taken from him. He died on May 8, 1908 and was buried in Strathroy Cemetery.
The business continued after Samuel’s death, with his son Ernest at the helm. In 1914 Ernest and his wife, Lenna Hill, travelled to Winnipeg to start a new adventure, which ended the 50-year run of Ray Photography. The negatives were left behind. Fortunately, when they were discovered almost 100 years later they found a new home at Museum Strathroy-Caradoc, where they have been preserved for future generations.
Many families own photographs taken in the S.H. Ray studios. Through his long career Ray captured thousands of moments in time and saw huge changes in photographic equipment and techniques, from formal studio images to cameras that could easily be used by individuals. Early photography artists, like Ray, laid the foundation for today’s vast digital profession.
Curiosities and wonders abound when you open up an attic or unused room in a house or business. This was the case when thousands of fragile glass plate negatives, left undisturbed and tucked away on an upper floor of a downtown Strathroy business, were discovered in 2008. This treasure trove of local history had been left forgotten for almost 100 years. The negatives told the story of Strathroy and area during the late 1800s, showcasing everyday people, places and activities.
But who was the artist behind the lens that captured the images? The answer: Samuel Henry Ray.
Samuel was born in 1845 in Burford, Ontario, when photography was also in its infancy. This small town was located only eight kilometers from Brantford, which is where Samuel got his start in the world of photography. In the early 1860s he opened his first studio with a top-of-the-line camera for taking portraits. His chosen business name, S.H. Ray, would follow him throughout his career.
When Ray moved to Strathroy at age 19 it was becoming a prosperous village, with photographer W. J. Bradley already established on Front Street. In 1864 Ray opened a studio in the Union Block on Front Street with fellow Brant County resident John Irwin. At this time there were only 360 photographers in Canada. Most studios were set up above general stores and drugstores. If they were lucky, Ray and Irwin would have been on the top floor with a skylight to let in natural light.
Photographers in the early 1860s didn’t just point and shoot. Poses needed to be held for about 20 seconds. Cameras were cumbersome, and developing the images was a time sensitive job involving chemicals that could be toxic. So photography was considered a unique art form, an occupation listed in the census records as ‘Artist’.
Ray and Irwin worked together for about five years. In 1871 they went their separate ways, with Irwin buying out the studio and Ray moving to Petrolia where he set up shop. Petrolia was a booming oil town, and it is here that he married Jessie Gunn of Strathroy.
Ray’s stint in Petrolia was short lived as he was back in Strathroy by 1875, living on McKellar Street with a studio downtown. There were three other studios in town - Challoner, Crealy, and Emens – so competition was fierce. By this time factory-produced glass plate negatives were in use, allowing for quicker images and faster processing time. Ray adapted to the new technology as he continued to record the lives of Strathroy and area residents through his lens. However on April 25, 1885, fire damaged a number of businesses on Front Street including Ray’s Photography Gallery. As Ray was well-established he easily picked up and started again. By 1891 he had three employees and had moved to Frank Street, his final location, where the treasure trove of negatives was found.
Due to health concerns Samuel passed the baton to his wife and son in 1901. Over the next few years his condition deteriorated and, sadly, he became blind. The most important element needed by a photographer was taken from him. He died on May 8, 1908 and was buried in Strathroy Cemetery.
The business continued after Samuel’s death, with his son Ernest at the helm. In 1914 Ernest and his wife, Lenna Hill, travelled to Winnipeg to start a new adventure, which ended the 50-year run of Ray Photography. The negatives were left behind. Fortunately, when they were discovered almost 100 years later they found a new home at Museum Strathroy-Caradoc, where they have been preserved for future generations.
Many families own photographs taken in the S.H. Ray studios. Through his long career Ray captured thousands of moments in time and saw huge changes in photographic equipment and techniques, from formal studio images to cameras that could easily be used by individuals. Early photography artists, like Ray, laid the foundation for today’s vast digital profession.
Royal Canadian Legion - Branch 116 by Robert Butler
The story of the Royal Canadian Legion is woven into the fabric of countless communities across Canada. Our local story begins with a group of returned Great War veterans meeting in the Strathroy Armory, the present site of the town library. A little over nine years had passed since the War’s end, and the men who had served were struggling. Many of them had left jobs and businesses and others had put their education on hold in order to serve their country. Those who returned were hailed as heroes and applauded by their fellow citizens, but there was no universal medical care available and no one knew how to deal with ‘shell shock’ (now known as PTSD). Help was needed. This historic meeting, held in January 1928, led to the organizing of a Legion branch known officially as the Strathroy Post of the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Services League. Sir Arthur Currie, Canada’s most notable military personality and a native of Strathroy, was elected Honorary President. The first meeting, in April 1928, was held in the IODE Hall on Front Street, above the Standard Bank, the present location of Laurentian Trust.
The Legion soon became a safe place for veterans to share their stories of the War. And the Branch became involved with a number of fundraising social activities in the community, including card games, picnics, dances and raffles. But its principal objective was to improve the well-being of veterans. With the onset of the 1930s Depression, Legion membership suffered, eventually declining to its lowest level, roughly thirty dues paying members. Despite the hard times felt by everyone, the Legion was determined to help those less fortunate, especially the transient ex-soldiers who came through the community looking for work and a helping hand. Probably the greatest threat to Strathroy`s Legion during that time was the possibility that the charter might be lifted and the Branch closed. But they persevered, believing that better days were ahead.
An article in the Age Dispatch (Sept. 25, 1930) noted that an unsuccessful attempt had previously been made to form a Ladies Auxilliary. Finally chartered in 1931, the Legion Ladies Auxilliary brought in much needed money from their many fundraising projects, even as the Branch suffered through financial difficulties.
With the end of World War II new members joined the Legion, bringing fresh inspiration and ideas. Before long these veterans were filling many executive and committee positions. And a new meeting place was sought. From mid-July 1945 through February 1948 various pieces of real estate were considered. In March 1948 the Langan Ford garage on Frank Street was purchased for $5000. (Until recently this was the location of Statham Plumbing & Heating.) According to the Age, it was to be converted into a Memorial Hall for ex-servicemen. “The Legion has been working on the matter of a Memorial Hall for several years. Originally, they purchased the former Wilson Tourist Home on Metcalfe Street, but disposed of this when it was found that it did not meet the needs of The Legion Branch”. Then, in October 1948, the Dr. O. R. Newton property at the corner of Front and Emily Streets was purchased, and after substantial renovations became the home of Branch 116 for the next 13 years. (It seems likely that the Frank St. property was sold.)
By 1960 plans were afoot for a new building for the Branch, under the leadership of the Branch executive: Albert Dunsmore (President), Bruce Gibson, H. McLean, Frank Miller, Grant Whiteside and Tom Healy. The site chosen was the Joe Lamantia property on Metcalfe Street West. Early the next year, plans were approved and excavation began in June. That September, 1961, the membership voted to change the name to “Sir Arthur Currie Branch Royal Canadian Legion”. Since that date the local Legion has continued to make significant contributions to our town.
The next time you pass the Legion on Metcalfe Street, think of the history of this outstanding organization and the countless hours that so many dedicated Legion members have spent since its founding to leave this active legacy in their community.
Thanks to Legion Branch 116 members Gloria Mullin, Thelma Bloomfield and Norm Giffen for assisting with this Tale; also to Jamie Medeiros, Bill Groot and Maria Damude.
The story of the Royal Canadian Legion is woven into the fabric of countless communities across Canada. Our local story begins with a group of returned Great War veterans meeting in the Strathroy Armory, the present site of the town library. A little over nine years had passed since the War’s end, and the men who had served were struggling. Many of them had left jobs and businesses and others had put their education on hold in order to serve their country. Those who returned were hailed as heroes and applauded by their fellow citizens, but there was no universal medical care available and no one knew how to deal with ‘shell shock’ (now known as PTSD). Help was needed. This historic meeting, held in January 1928, led to the organizing of a Legion branch known officially as the Strathroy Post of the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Services League. Sir Arthur Currie, Canada’s most notable military personality and a native of Strathroy, was elected Honorary President. The first meeting, in April 1928, was held in the IODE Hall on Front Street, above the Standard Bank, the present location of Laurentian Trust.
The Legion soon became a safe place for veterans to share their stories of the War. And the Branch became involved with a number of fundraising social activities in the community, including card games, picnics, dances and raffles. But its principal objective was to improve the well-being of veterans. With the onset of the 1930s Depression, Legion membership suffered, eventually declining to its lowest level, roughly thirty dues paying members. Despite the hard times felt by everyone, the Legion was determined to help those less fortunate, especially the transient ex-soldiers who came through the community looking for work and a helping hand. Probably the greatest threat to Strathroy`s Legion during that time was the possibility that the charter might be lifted and the Branch closed. But they persevered, believing that better days were ahead.
An article in the Age Dispatch (Sept. 25, 1930) noted that an unsuccessful attempt had previously been made to form a Ladies Auxilliary. Finally chartered in 1931, the Legion Ladies Auxilliary brought in much needed money from their many fundraising projects, even as the Branch suffered through financial difficulties.
With the end of World War II new members joined the Legion, bringing fresh inspiration and ideas. Before long these veterans were filling many executive and committee positions. And a new meeting place was sought. From mid-July 1945 through February 1948 various pieces of real estate were considered. In March 1948 the Langan Ford garage on Frank Street was purchased for $5000. (Until recently this was the location of Statham Plumbing & Heating.) According to the Age, it was to be converted into a Memorial Hall for ex-servicemen. “The Legion has been working on the matter of a Memorial Hall for several years. Originally, they purchased the former Wilson Tourist Home on Metcalfe Street, but disposed of this when it was found that it did not meet the needs of The Legion Branch”. Then, in October 1948, the Dr. O. R. Newton property at the corner of Front and Emily Streets was purchased, and after substantial renovations became the home of Branch 116 for the next 13 years. (It seems likely that the Frank St. property was sold.)
By 1960 plans were afoot for a new building for the Branch, under the leadership of the Branch executive: Albert Dunsmore (President), Bruce Gibson, H. McLean, Frank Miller, Grant Whiteside and Tom Healy. The site chosen was the Joe Lamantia property on Metcalfe Street West. Early the next year, plans were approved and excavation began in June. That September, 1961, the membership voted to change the name to “Sir Arthur Currie Branch Royal Canadian Legion”. Since that date the local Legion has continued to make significant contributions to our town.
The next time you pass the Legion on Metcalfe Street, think of the history of this outstanding organization and the countless hours that so many dedicated Legion members have spent since its founding to leave this active legacy in their community.
Thanks to Legion Branch 116 members Gloria Mullin, Thelma Bloomfield and Norm Giffen for assisting with this Tale; also to Jamie Medeiros, Bill Groot and Maria Damude.
October - Belonging by Konrad Hanz
My parents, Konrad and Marta Hanz had a dream: to leave behind a communist system where there was no economic, religious or political freedom, and military service was mandatory. We lived in East Prussia, a former German state which was now part of Poland and controlled by the Soviet Union. Despite having a large close-knit extended family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and first cousins, we felt we didn’t belong there.
Our family’s application to leave for Canada was finally approved, and on November 22, 1962 my parents in their forties, my younger brothers Norbert and Ulrich and I boarded the “Batory” in Gdynia, Poland. Our ship landed in Quebec City on December 2nd.
In order to come to Canada we needed a sponsor who would pay our way in Canadian dollars. My father’s brother Bruno, who had been in Canada since 1950, paid $2,500 to Poland to secure our passage in steerage, as well as our train tickets from Quebec City to London, Ontario. All our property, which had been in our family for 500 years, was turned over to the State in exchange for $10.00, hardly sufficient to pay our own way.
Uncle Bruno found employment for my father as a hired hand on a turkey farm near Thamesford. Unfortunately, the house we lived in burned down three months later. Bruno helped my parents rebuild their lives by purchasing a small farm on the 5th Concession of Caradoc Township and provided funds to modernize the existing barn to accommodate 6,000 laying hens.
There were no programs available for my parents to learn English and pursue their careers. My father was an electrician and my mother a teacher. Paying back the debt to my uncle was of utmost importance, and since the egg farm did not provide sufficient income my parents pursued factory work in Strathroy. Dad worked at Glendale and Mom at Clairtone and later at Tender Tootsies in Mount Brydges. They thought factory work would provide an opportunity to learn English. However, most of the workers spoke Dutch or Portuguese. In the early 1970’s, the Egg Marketing Board was established and the quota system allowed my parents to leave their factory work and earn a decent living on the farm.
In order to get ahead we all worked together. The farm buildings and land required repairs, upgrades and restoration. Those first few years were difficult. We slept on hay mattresses, but with the plentiful fruits and vegetables from our garden we were never hungry. Eventually we had our own cow for milk and a hog for meat. All family members had responsibilities for feeding the chickens, gathering eggs and cleaning out the barn. Christmas gifts were sparse: we were happy to receive used clothes along with oranges and bananas. In later years, there was used hockey equipment. My parents’ new friends gave them rides for work and shopping, and to All Saints Catholic Church in Strathroy. My mother and I would take turns riding our bicycle to Mount Brydges or Cairngorm for groceries until we purchased a used 1961 VW Beetle in 1966. When my brothers and I were old enough, we worked on local tobacco farms and later at Luxury Pools in London. Everyone’s income was pooled to repay the debt to our uncle and eventually to make improvements on the property.
Getting to know our neighbours made us feel part of the community. The Chisholm family welcomed us with open arms. Bruce took away our chicken manure for his corn fields, Rheta introduced us to apple pie and Donna taught us to play baseball.
In 1963, I was 12 and in grade six at Caradoc South School. Our teachers assigned other students to help us learn English, my fifth language. Watching TV and listening to the radio also helped to increase my vocabulary. So when I started at SDCI my English had improved and school was much more manageable. I joined the Saints football team, the 1970 Middlesex County Conference Champions. With my school friends I played chess, skated on the local ponds and watched movies. In 1971, I was accepted into the Motive Power Technology Program at Fanshawe College. This allowed me to pursue a successful career in purchasing, marry a local Caradoc girl (Liz Snyder) and raise a daughter and son.
My parents’ dream became a reality when their children successfully pursued opportunities that would never have been available in the Communist system. We all knew this country was where we belonged!
Thanks to Paul Long for submitting this story. Paul is the brother-in-law of the author, Konrad Hanz.
My parents, Konrad and Marta Hanz had a dream: to leave behind a communist system where there was no economic, religious or political freedom, and military service was mandatory. We lived in East Prussia, a former German state which was now part of Poland and controlled by the Soviet Union. Despite having a large close-knit extended family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and first cousins, we felt we didn’t belong there.
Our family’s application to leave for Canada was finally approved, and on November 22, 1962 my parents in their forties, my younger brothers Norbert and Ulrich and I boarded the “Batory” in Gdynia, Poland. Our ship landed in Quebec City on December 2nd.
In order to come to Canada we needed a sponsor who would pay our way in Canadian dollars. My father’s brother Bruno, who had been in Canada since 1950, paid $2,500 to Poland to secure our passage in steerage, as well as our train tickets from Quebec City to London, Ontario. All our property, which had been in our family for 500 years, was turned over to the State in exchange for $10.00, hardly sufficient to pay our own way.
Uncle Bruno found employment for my father as a hired hand on a turkey farm near Thamesford. Unfortunately, the house we lived in burned down three months later. Bruno helped my parents rebuild their lives by purchasing a small farm on the 5th Concession of Caradoc Township and provided funds to modernize the existing barn to accommodate 6,000 laying hens.
There were no programs available for my parents to learn English and pursue their careers. My father was an electrician and my mother a teacher. Paying back the debt to my uncle was of utmost importance, and since the egg farm did not provide sufficient income my parents pursued factory work in Strathroy. Dad worked at Glendale and Mom at Clairtone and later at Tender Tootsies in Mount Brydges. They thought factory work would provide an opportunity to learn English. However, most of the workers spoke Dutch or Portuguese. In the early 1970’s, the Egg Marketing Board was established and the quota system allowed my parents to leave their factory work and earn a decent living on the farm.
In order to get ahead we all worked together. The farm buildings and land required repairs, upgrades and restoration. Those first few years were difficult. We slept on hay mattresses, but with the plentiful fruits and vegetables from our garden we were never hungry. Eventually we had our own cow for milk and a hog for meat. All family members had responsibilities for feeding the chickens, gathering eggs and cleaning out the barn. Christmas gifts were sparse: we were happy to receive used clothes along with oranges and bananas. In later years, there was used hockey equipment. My parents’ new friends gave them rides for work and shopping, and to All Saints Catholic Church in Strathroy. My mother and I would take turns riding our bicycle to Mount Brydges or Cairngorm for groceries until we purchased a used 1961 VW Beetle in 1966. When my brothers and I were old enough, we worked on local tobacco farms and later at Luxury Pools in London. Everyone’s income was pooled to repay the debt to our uncle and eventually to make improvements on the property.
Getting to know our neighbours made us feel part of the community. The Chisholm family welcomed us with open arms. Bruce took away our chicken manure for his corn fields, Rheta introduced us to apple pie and Donna taught us to play baseball.
In 1963, I was 12 and in grade six at Caradoc South School. Our teachers assigned other students to help us learn English, my fifth language. Watching TV and listening to the radio also helped to increase my vocabulary. So when I started at SDCI my English had improved and school was much more manageable. I joined the Saints football team, the 1970 Middlesex County Conference Champions. With my school friends I played chess, skated on the local ponds and watched movies. In 1971, I was accepted into the Motive Power Technology Program at Fanshawe College. This allowed me to pursue a successful career in purchasing, marry a local Caradoc girl (Liz Snyder) and raise a daughter and son.
My parents’ dream became a reality when their children successfully pursued opportunities that would never have been available in the Communist system. We all knew this country was where we belonged!
Thanks to Paul Long for submitting this story. Paul is the brother-in-law of the author, Konrad Hanz.
September - The Glendale Fire by Libby Dawson
On the morning of August 18, 1966 Lyla Clark-Smith prepared breakfast for her husband Keith and their two children. After Keith left for work at the Glendale trailer factory, she spent the rest of the morning doing her normal chores. Around 2 p.m. the sound of howling sirens took her outdoors as fire trucks and police cars went speeding by. Looking toward the far side of town she saw a huge cloud of black smoke rising into the sky. Suddenly there was a loud boom and debris went flying through the smoke. The trailer factory was on fire! Lyla’s first thought was fear for her husband and all of the 170 workers, but she couldn’t leave her children to find out if they were safely out of the buildings. In the days before cell phones this kind of information was often hard to get. She just had to wait and worry.
At the same time, Strathroy Fire Chief James Markle was driving along Highway 22 from London and saw the giant column of smoke. Visible from 20 miles away, it signalled that this would be a difficult fire. Soon he had volunteer fire departments from Adelaide and Caradoc Townships arriving to help.
Christine Redfearn, Glendale owner Reg Thorn’s niece, was with several relatives at the Thorn house preparing for her upcoming wedding. Reg had offered his home for the occasion and retreated to his cottage at Port Franks. He was alerted by the Ontario Provincial Police and made it back to Strathroy in record time.
Mrs. Sigfried Woldenberg was at work in Glendale’s framing department. She looked up just as flames ran along the ceiling like lightning. Foreman Keith Clark was nearby shouting “Fire, fire!” A woman from the office started back in to get her purse, but Keith yelled at her to ‘Just go out, get on out!’. They both hurried out to the railway tracks where people were gathering to watch the fire. Within two or three minutes the roof collapsed in flames.
The fire was started by a spark from a faulty exhaust fan which ignited fumes in the paint shop, and spread quickly with flames 40 to 50 feet in the air. By the time the Fire Department arrived the fire in the main production building was completely out of control so they worked to save the surrounding buildings. Paint cans and containers of flammable liquids continued to explode. Near the end of the day spectators reported an unusual phenomenon: a drum of flammable liquid exploded, shooting into the air a 200-foot-wide black smoke ring which hovered over the ruins for several minutes. Firemen remained on site well into the night, watering down the last hot spots.
As frightening and dangerous as the fire was, it is amazing that there were no deaths and no serious injuries. There was a sigh of relief when all 170 employees were finally accounted for at 11:30 p.m. Chief Markle called it “the biggest and most serious fire I’ve ever seen in over thirty years of firefighting.”
Ever dauntless, the very next day Reg Thorn had plans drawn up for new facilities. Workers were back on the job by January 1967 with trailers coming off the line at 50 per day. Just in time for travel during Canada’s Centennial celebrations
On the morning of August 18, 1966 Lyla Clark-Smith prepared breakfast for her husband Keith and their two children. After Keith left for work at the Glendale trailer factory, she spent the rest of the morning doing her normal chores. Around 2 p.m. the sound of howling sirens took her outdoors as fire trucks and police cars went speeding by. Looking toward the far side of town she saw a huge cloud of black smoke rising into the sky. Suddenly there was a loud boom and debris went flying through the smoke. The trailer factory was on fire! Lyla’s first thought was fear for her husband and all of the 170 workers, but she couldn’t leave her children to find out if they were safely out of the buildings. In the days before cell phones this kind of information was often hard to get. She just had to wait and worry.
At the same time, Strathroy Fire Chief James Markle was driving along Highway 22 from London and saw the giant column of smoke. Visible from 20 miles away, it signalled that this would be a difficult fire. Soon he had volunteer fire departments from Adelaide and Caradoc Townships arriving to help.
Christine Redfearn, Glendale owner Reg Thorn’s niece, was with several relatives at the Thorn house preparing for her upcoming wedding. Reg had offered his home for the occasion and retreated to his cottage at Port Franks. He was alerted by the Ontario Provincial Police and made it back to Strathroy in record time.
Mrs. Sigfried Woldenberg was at work in Glendale’s framing department. She looked up just as flames ran along the ceiling like lightning. Foreman Keith Clark was nearby shouting “Fire, fire!” A woman from the office started back in to get her purse, but Keith yelled at her to ‘Just go out, get on out!’. They both hurried out to the railway tracks where people were gathering to watch the fire. Within two or three minutes the roof collapsed in flames.
The fire was started by a spark from a faulty exhaust fan which ignited fumes in the paint shop, and spread quickly with flames 40 to 50 feet in the air. By the time the Fire Department arrived the fire in the main production building was completely out of control so they worked to save the surrounding buildings. Paint cans and containers of flammable liquids continued to explode. Near the end of the day spectators reported an unusual phenomenon: a drum of flammable liquid exploded, shooting into the air a 200-foot-wide black smoke ring which hovered over the ruins for several minutes. Firemen remained on site well into the night, watering down the last hot spots.
As frightening and dangerous as the fire was, it is amazing that there were no deaths and no serious injuries. There was a sigh of relief when all 170 employees were finally accounted for at 11:30 p.m. Chief Markle called it “the biggest and most serious fire I’ve ever seen in over thirty years of firefighting.”
Ever dauntless, the very next day Reg Thorn had plans drawn up for new facilities. Workers were back on the job by January 1967 with trailers coming off the line at 50 per day. Just in time for travel during Canada’s Centennial celebrations
August - I had one just like this! by Mary Wright
For many of us, the cars of our youth hold special memories. Doug Statham’s “Tale” of the Lancers Rod and Custom Club of the 1960s captures that sense of nostalgia. (Age, Feb. 9, 2012) Nowadays the hobby of customization, collecting and restoring vehicles includes people of all ages and cars of all types and vintages.
Car shows are the public face of this hobby. Folks can display their cars and meet with other collectors, allowing spectators to enjoy them too. Conversations vary from casual appreciation to heated discussions about the merits of specific models or parts. It is a good place to meet someone who can answer questions that may be difficult to find online or in manuals. And there’s lots of reminiscing! “I had one just like this”, followed by “But ... it was green (or red or black)”; “it had a bigger (smaller) motor”; “I wish I still had it”.
"The Strathroy-Caradoc Cruisers is the current group of local car enthusiasts. It was formed in 1999 by a few individuals, including Tom Humphrey, Jim Wilson, Bob McIlmoyle and Clifford Kenney, who wanted to enjoy their hobby while supporting the community A constitution was written, an executive chosen, and the group was registered as a charitable organization with the motto they still embrace, “We Cruise for Charity.”
For the first few years shows were held at the parking lot of the Real Canadian Superstore. Cars were required to be at least 25 years old, and on most evenings about 50 cars turned up. The Club also attended shows as a group in Aylmer, St Thomas and Goderich and made road trips to the Henry Ford Museum and Detroit Auto Show.
Eventually the Club evolved to its present form: a place for anyone with a love of cars - classic, rare or otherwise cherished - to meet with friends and the public and to support local charities. President Bryan Watson has been a member since the beginning. Vice president is Darryl Thompson (who also provides the best old-time music at the shows) and the treasurer is Don Sinclair. Wayne and Louise Dix, Sam and Bruce Cuttell, Ray Poirer, Cal McCallum, Melissa Haskett, Mary Wright and various club members can be found helping out.
Businesses in town are incredibly supportive. NAPA/UAP has been a major sponsor and there are many behind the scenes contributors. Shops and services in Strathroy and Mount Brydges and area make donations to the operation of the Club and its fundraising efforts, enabling it to donate thousands of dollars to local organizations which do not receive full government funding. These include Strathroy Hospital, Middlesex Community Living, Peacekeeper Park (a youth camp in the Belmont area) and several others.
“Show and Shine”, part of the Hometown Festival (formerly “Turkeyfest”) is the Cruisers’ major annual event. On opening night of the Festival cars arrive from all over southwestern Ontario. Residents of Strathroy-Caradoc, past and present, come to reconnect, and downtown businesses showcase their wares. Last year, over 250 unique and prized cars were displayed on Front, Frank, Central and James Streets. Fire trucks (both antique and new), police cruisers, race cars and brand new vehicles from local dealers shared the space with cars from the earliest years, through the forties and fifties, the muscle cars of the seventies and the latest models. Hot Rods and modified versions of all kinds were there too. Meanwhile there was the usual midway and entertainment in the park a few steps away. Truly a great way to spend a June evening!
These days, weekly shows are scheduled for Wednesday evenings from 5 p.m. till dusk at the Walmart parking lot, weather permitting, from May to September. They are open to members and anyone interested in bringing their car. Spectators are welcome. A local business often donates prizes for a 50/50 draw, and food may be sold by local groups to support their own community projects. In August, there is a Swap Meet in Mount Brydges, a flea market of car parts and memorabilia. Unfortunately, the CoVID pandemic has led to the cancellation of the Club’s events for this summer.
Some may wonder if the car hobby can be sustained, as older collectors drive away with their unique vehicles from the early 1900s and the mid-century. But there is interest by younger people in these classics and also in the newer models with their retro looks and updated power and technology. Hopefully, the social events and continuing interest in the ever-changing automobile will allow car shows to adapt for many years to come.
For many of us, the cars of our youth hold special memories. Doug Statham’s “Tale” of the Lancers Rod and Custom Club of the 1960s captures that sense of nostalgia. (Age, Feb. 9, 2012) Nowadays the hobby of customization, collecting and restoring vehicles includes people of all ages and cars of all types and vintages.
Car shows are the public face of this hobby. Folks can display their cars and meet with other collectors, allowing spectators to enjoy them too. Conversations vary from casual appreciation to heated discussions about the merits of specific models or parts. It is a good place to meet someone who can answer questions that may be difficult to find online or in manuals. And there’s lots of reminiscing! “I had one just like this”, followed by “But ... it was green (or red or black)”; “it had a bigger (smaller) motor”; “I wish I still had it”.
"The Strathroy-Caradoc Cruisers is the current group of local car enthusiasts. It was formed in 1999 by a few individuals, including Tom Humphrey, Jim Wilson, Bob McIlmoyle and Clifford Kenney, who wanted to enjoy their hobby while supporting the community A constitution was written, an executive chosen, and the group was registered as a charitable organization with the motto they still embrace, “We Cruise for Charity.”
For the first few years shows were held at the parking lot of the Real Canadian Superstore. Cars were required to be at least 25 years old, and on most evenings about 50 cars turned up. The Club also attended shows as a group in Aylmer, St Thomas and Goderich and made road trips to the Henry Ford Museum and Detroit Auto Show.
Eventually the Club evolved to its present form: a place for anyone with a love of cars - classic, rare or otherwise cherished - to meet with friends and the public and to support local charities. President Bryan Watson has been a member since the beginning. Vice president is Darryl Thompson (who also provides the best old-time music at the shows) and the treasurer is Don Sinclair. Wayne and Louise Dix, Sam and Bruce Cuttell, Ray Poirer, Cal McCallum, Melissa Haskett, Mary Wright and various club members can be found helping out.
Businesses in town are incredibly supportive. NAPA/UAP has been a major sponsor and there are many behind the scenes contributors. Shops and services in Strathroy and Mount Brydges and area make donations to the operation of the Club and its fundraising efforts, enabling it to donate thousands of dollars to local organizations which do not receive full government funding. These include Strathroy Hospital, Middlesex Community Living, Peacekeeper Park (a youth camp in the Belmont area) and several others.
“Show and Shine”, part of the Hometown Festival (formerly “Turkeyfest”) is the Cruisers’ major annual event. On opening night of the Festival cars arrive from all over southwestern Ontario. Residents of Strathroy-Caradoc, past and present, come to reconnect, and downtown businesses showcase their wares. Last year, over 250 unique and prized cars were displayed on Front, Frank, Central and James Streets. Fire trucks (both antique and new), police cruisers, race cars and brand new vehicles from local dealers shared the space with cars from the earliest years, through the forties and fifties, the muscle cars of the seventies and the latest models. Hot Rods and modified versions of all kinds were there too. Meanwhile there was the usual midway and entertainment in the park a few steps away. Truly a great way to spend a June evening!
These days, weekly shows are scheduled for Wednesday evenings from 5 p.m. till dusk at the Walmart parking lot, weather permitting, from May to September. They are open to members and anyone interested in bringing their car. Spectators are welcome. A local business often donates prizes for a 50/50 draw, and food may be sold by local groups to support their own community projects. In August, there is a Swap Meet in Mount Brydges, a flea market of car parts and memorabilia. Unfortunately, the CoVID pandemic has led to the cancellation of the Club’s events for this summer.
Some may wonder if the car hobby can be sustained, as older collectors drive away with their unique vehicles from the early 1900s and the mid-century. But there is interest by younger people in these classics and also in the newer models with their retro looks and updated power and technology. Hopefully, the social events and continuing interest in the ever-changing automobile will allow car shows to adapt for many years to come.
July - More Tales revisited by Libby McLachlan
As I look through our second volume of Tales of our Town, (‘the green book’), published last fall, it seems we may all be re-living Larry Peters’ story of “The Spanish Flu of 1918” (pg. 157). We are currently in the midst of the corona virus pandemic that brought us to a lockdown by the end of March. Many of the measures - quarantine, restrictions on gatherings, closure of businesses – were the same ones brought in 102 years earlier. Until a few months ago, who imagined that this could possibly happen today, with all our sophisticated technology and the scientific advances since 1918?
Still, Larry notes the differences between the two pandemics. It took years to identify the 1918 virus. The 2020 virus was identified quickly. Research labs are already looking for a vaccine and better treatments. Today there are more hospitals to isolate and treat victims, with ventilators for the most serious cases. Technology keeps us informed and entertains us while we are isolated at home. Medical specialists and political leaders bring us daily updates. We can contact our doctors, family, and friends by phone, internet or social media. Churches are streaming services for their congregations, and schools are sending out lessons via the internet. Mental health services are available online. Health needs are being addressed by all levels of government. Research is being funded and financial help is available for people and businesses.
In both pandemics the Strathroy area has been fortunate to have relatively few serious cases and deaths. But we are still trying to figure out how to ‘open up’ safely again. What does the next year hold? There is hope for a vaccine, but no guarantee. Will this virus return in a second and third wave? No one knows. So as we cope with the recommendations around hand-washing, mask-wearing and social-distancing the general state of anxiety continues.
There was other feedback on our book. With Bill Groot’s help we learned more about the cover photos. Jackie (Hudson) Bishop named the majorette on the front cover as Donna Boyd. Jackie was also in the parade, although not easily found in the picture. She and her friend Laurie Cascagnette won a prize for their clothesline costume, each inside a cardboard sleeve. John Cann of East Centre Street has identified two of the women with the wonderful hats on the back cover as his aunts. On the left is Bertha Cann, standing next to her sister Charlotte “Lottie” Cann (later Milne). The third lady is unnamed.
The front cover was a trip down memory lane for Janet Cummer, who writes:
For those of us who grew up in Strathroy after the War, this Frank streetscape looks oddly familiar. In those days, businesses didn’t change all that much. The big changes came in the 1960s when buildings were taken down to make way for a new, modernized look. The street lamps, which are making a comeback today as heritage lighting, disappeared, replaced by fluorescents. Anchor stores were Anthony J. Read Jeweller, Newton’s Menswear, Evans Barbershop and Rivers Shoes. The Lyceum Theatre, looking old and vacant, was waiting to be renovated. Unfortunately it did not survive as a theatre. But the big change came with the demolition of the Queen’s Hotel at the corner of Frank and Front. By the 1950s, it had taken on a seedy appearance and become a hangout. Were the upstairs rooms used? Not sure. We are fortunate to have photographs of the downstairs in its heyday- the dining room, stairs, barbershop. The Queen’s had outgrown its usefulness and the Royal Bank across Front Street was ready to build on this desirable location.
Pat Fraser, a former Ailsa Craig resident, recognized the four young men from Ailsa Craig chatting with Doug Harvey of the Montreal Canadiens (pg. 3). Left to right are Carl Walker, Art Meadows, Bob Park and Bob McIntosh.
That 1954 Montreal Canadiens game reminded Brian Angyal of another exciting hockey game in town. On March 13, 1960 a teenage Brian and his father were part of a sellout crowd that watched the Strathroy ‘Senior B’ Rockets play the Czech National team on their post-Olympic tour. The final score, a 2-2 tie, indicated that the teams were fairly evenly matched. Stan Long, the longtime defenceman, was in the game and thrilled the local crowd with a solid hip check that knocked one of the Czech players to the ice.
A final note: Our book sales have been another casualty of COVID-19, since they were handled by Strathroy Library until it closed in mid-March. With 438 copies already sold, more will be available when the Library re-opens to the public.
As I look through our second volume of Tales of our Town, (‘the green book’), published last fall, it seems we may all be re-living Larry Peters’ story of “The Spanish Flu of 1918” (pg. 157). We are currently in the midst of the corona virus pandemic that brought us to a lockdown by the end of March. Many of the measures - quarantine, restrictions on gatherings, closure of businesses – were the same ones brought in 102 years earlier. Until a few months ago, who imagined that this could possibly happen today, with all our sophisticated technology and the scientific advances since 1918?
Still, Larry notes the differences between the two pandemics. It took years to identify the 1918 virus. The 2020 virus was identified quickly. Research labs are already looking for a vaccine and better treatments. Today there are more hospitals to isolate and treat victims, with ventilators for the most serious cases. Technology keeps us informed and entertains us while we are isolated at home. Medical specialists and political leaders bring us daily updates. We can contact our doctors, family, and friends by phone, internet or social media. Churches are streaming services for their congregations, and schools are sending out lessons via the internet. Mental health services are available online. Health needs are being addressed by all levels of government. Research is being funded and financial help is available for people and businesses.
In both pandemics the Strathroy area has been fortunate to have relatively few serious cases and deaths. But we are still trying to figure out how to ‘open up’ safely again. What does the next year hold? There is hope for a vaccine, but no guarantee. Will this virus return in a second and third wave? No one knows. So as we cope with the recommendations around hand-washing, mask-wearing and social-distancing the general state of anxiety continues.
There was other feedback on our book. With Bill Groot’s help we learned more about the cover photos. Jackie (Hudson) Bishop named the majorette on the front cover as Donna Boyd. Jackie was also in the parade, although not easily found in the picture. She and her friend Laurie Cascagnette won a prize for their clothesline costume, each inside a cardboard sleeve. John Cann of East Centre Street has identified two of the women with the wonderful hats on the back cover as his aunts. On the left is Bertha Cann, standing next to her sister Charlotte “Lottie” Cann (later Milne). The third lady is unnamed.
The front cover was a trip down memory lane for Janet Cummer, who writes:
For those of us who grew up in Strathroy after the War, this Frank streetscape looks oddly familiar. In those days, businesses didn’t change all that much. The big changes came in the 1960s when buildings were taken down to make way for a new, modernized look. The street lamps, which are making a comeback today as heritage lighting, disappeared, replaced by fluorescents. Anchor stores were Anthony J. Read Jeweller, Newton’s Menswear, Evans Barbershop and Rivers Shoes. The Lyceum Theatre, looking old and vacant, was waiting to be renovated. Unfortunately it did not survive as a theatre. But the big change came with the demolition of the Queen’s Hotel at the corner of Frank and Front. By the 1950s, it had taken on a seedy appearance and become a hangout. Were the upstairs rooms used? Not sure. We are fortunate to have photographs of the downstairs in its heyday- the dining room, stairs, barbershop. The Queen’s had outgrown its usefulness and the Royal Bank across Front Street was ready to build on this desirable location.
Pat Fraser, a former Ailsa Craig resident, recognized the four young men from Ailsa Craig chatting with Doug Harvey of the Montreal Canadiens (pg. 3). Left to right are Carl Walker, Art Meadows, Bob Park and Bob McIntosh.
That 1954 Montreal Canadiens game reminded Brian Angyal of another exciting hockey game in town. On March 13, 1960 a teenage Brian and his father were part of a sellout crowd that watched the Strathroy ‘Senior B’ Rockets play the Czech National team on their post-Olympic tour. The final score, a 2-2 tie, indicated that the teams were fairly evenly matched. Stan Long, the longtime defenceman, was in the game and thrilled the local crowd with a solid hip check that knocked one of the Czech players to the ice.
A final note: Our book sales have been another casualty of COVID-19, since they were handled by Strathroy Library until it closed in mid-March. With 438 copies already sold, more will be available when the Library re-opens to the public.
Thank you to Mark McElwain of Toronto for sharing this photo of Nicolae and Mary Homorodean’s family, taken about 1948 by Wright Studios. Left to right: Cornell, Mary and Nick. Mark, the son of Mary (Homorodean) McElwain, discovered my story of the Homorodean family online. He has fond memories of visiting his Strathroy family. Mark noted that Nick’s younger brother Cornell died in Welland, Ontario in January 2020 at age 91.
June - The apple orchards of Caradoc by Aileen Cnockaert
Strathroy had its turkeys, Caradoc had its apples. There is a long history of apple growing in the former Township of Caradoc. I recently chatted with Jerry Veale, retired owner of Sandy Ridge Farms, about his family’s leadership in the development of the local apple industry.
Jerry’s great-grandfather, Richard Veale, was born in England in 1825. He came to Canada in 1845 and purchased a large tract of land in Caradoc in the block bounded by Adelaide and McEvoy Roads, and Century and Olde Drives. Later he planted an orchard along Olde Drive where he grew Baldwin, Blenheim Orange Pippin, Scarlett Pippin, Winesap and Wagner apples. At harvest they were picked, graded and packed into barrels which had been made at Harvey Mitchell’s Cooperage in Mount Brydges or Pincombe’s in Strathroy. Richard shipped the Baldwins to England from the CPR Caradoc Station or the CNR Station in Mount Brydges, where they headed for Montreal and were loaded onto boats. He was so successful that his apple operation was written up in “Dun and Bradstreet”, the financial journal of Wall Street. In Caradoc he became known as a pioneer in the apple business.
At some point, Richard Veale and other area apple growers formed the Caradoc Fruit Growers Association, and hired Richard’s grandson, Ed R. Bond, as manager. Growers Association members brought their apples to the packing house at the Caradoc Station to be graded and packed. The packing house was rented from Canadian Pacific Railway for $50.00 per year. Some apples were loaded into an ice cooled rail car and shipped to Winnipeg to be sold through a wholesaler, while others were sent to different companies to make cider.
The local Association, along with the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, met with the provincial government on behalf of the growers to look after their concerns. This continued until the early 1950s when smaller Caradoc growers had stopped growing apples and the larger growers had found their own market, and the Caradoc Association eventually disbanded.
Richard Veale and his wife Catherine had five children. Their youngest son John R. took over the farm when Richard retired. When Catherine died in 1908, Richard stayed a few months at a time with each of his children until his death in 1914. Both Richard and Catherine are buried in Mount Carmel United Church Cemetery.
John R. Veale had five children, four of whom became involved in the apple business. John R. sold most of his apples through the Caradoc Fruit Growers Association. His son Ellice took over the orchard and added a pick-your-own business. His daughter Mabel married Kenneth Arnold, who grew apples along the 20th Sideroad and at the corner of Adelaide and Mill Roads. Kenneth’s son Stuart took over the Mill Road orchard and planted his own orchard on Adelaide Road, south of Mount Brydges. His son Vincent is now the fifth generation of apple growers in the Richard Veale family.
Another of John R’s sons, Howard Veale, bought 50 acres across Adelaide Road from his father and planted an orchard in 1934. He added more trees until he had 35 acres of apples. In 1950, the farm became Sandy Ridge Orchards, named for a sandy ridge running through the farm. The orchard produced about 30 different varieties of apples, including Baldwin, Scarlett Pippin, Winesap and Wagner. Howard too sold most of his apples through the Caradoc Fruit Growers Association until it ceased operation, and stored his unsold apples in his basement. In 1974 he and his son Jerry put up a storage building. In the past, apples had been stored in cold cellars or in pits lined with straw. The advent of controlled atmosphere storage allowed growers to control the temperature, humidity and oxygen levels by sealing out the outside air. Today apples can be stored in lower oxygen controlled atmosphere storage for up to a year.
In 1975, after 21 years with the CPR, Jerry, with his wife Helen, took over Sandy Ridge and expanded the storage capacity and retail business. Their dog Muffin greeted customers as Jerry and Helen continued to sell their apples to the community. In 1997, they decided to sell the farm and retire.
Through the years, the apple industry provided seasonal employment in the Mount Brydges area. Some people worked at the CPR packing station, others peeled and cored apples at the dried apple plant, and still others built barrels at Mitchell’s Cooperage. Lower quality apples went to the cider mill, with some of that product destined to be a substitute for other forms of liquor during prohibition. According to author W.J.D. McAlister in Chronicle of a Village, during the fall of the year the whole village of Mt. Brydges smelled like apples!
Strathroy had its turkeys, Caradoc had its apples. There is a long history of apple growing in the former Township of Caradoc. I recently chatted with Jerry Veale, retired owner of Sandy Ridge Farms, about his family’s leadership in the development of the local apple industry.
Jerry’s great-grandfather, Richard Veale, was born in England in 1825. He came to Canada in 1845 and purchased a large tract of land in Caradoc in the block bounded by Adelaide and McEvoy Roads, and Century and Olde Drives. Later he planted an orchard along Olde Drive where he grew Baldwin, Blenheim Orange Pippin, Scarlett Pippin, Winesap and Wagner apples. At harvest they were picked, graded and packed into barrels which had been made at Harvey Mitchell’s Cooperage in Mount Brydges or Pincombe’s in Strathroy. Richard shipped the Baldwins to England from the CPR Caradoc Station or the CNR Station in Mount Brydges, where they headed for Montreal and were loaded onto boats. He was so successful that his apple operation was written up in “Dun and Bradstreet”, the financial journal of Wall Street. In Caradoc he became known as a pioneer in the apple business.
At some point, Richard Veale and other area apple growers formed the Caradoc Fruit Growers Association, and hired Richard’s grandson, Ed R. Bond, as manager. Growers Association members brought their apples to the packing house at the Caradoc Station to be graded and packed. The packing house was rented from Canadian Pacific Railway for $50.00 per year. Some apples were loaded into an ice cooled rail car and shipped to Winnipeg to be sold through a wholesaler, while others were sent to different companies to make cider.
The local Association, along with the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, met with the provincial government on behalf of the growers to look after their concerns. This continued until the early 1950s when smaller Caradoc growers had stopped growing apples and the larger growers had found their own market, and the Caradoc Association eventually disbanded.
Richard Veale and his wife Catherine had five children. Their youngest son John R. took over the farm when Richard retired. When Catherine died in 1908, Richard stayed a few months at a time with each of his children until his death in 1914. Both Richard and Catherine are buried in Mount Carmel United Church Cemetery.
John R. Veale had five children, four of whom became involved in the apple business. John R. sold most of his apples through the Caradoc Fruit Growers Association. His son Ellice took over the orchard and added a pick-your-own business. His daughter Mabel married Kenneth Arnold, who grew apples along the 20th Sideroad and at the corner of Adelaide and Mill Roads. Kenneth’s son Stuart took over the Mill Road orchard and planted his own orchard on Adelaide Road, south of Mount Brydges. His son Vincent is now the fifth generation of apple growers in the Richard Veale family.
Another of John R’s sons, Howard Veale, bought 50 acres across Adelaide Road from his father and planted an orchard in 1934. He added more trees until he had 35 acres of apples. In 1950, the farm became Sandy Ridge Orchards, named for a sandy ridge running through the farm. The orchard produced about 30 different varieties of apples, including Baldwin, Scarlett Pippin, Winesap and Wagner. Howard too sold most of his apples through the Caradoc Fruit Growers Association until it ceased operation, and stored his unsold apples in his basement. In 1974 he and his son Jerry put up a storage building. In the past, apples had been stored in cold cellars or in pits lined with straw. The advent of controlled atmosphere storage allowed growers to control the temperature, humidity and oxygen levels by sealing out the outside air. Today apples can be stored in lower oxygen controlled atmosphere storage for up to a year.
In 1975, after 21 years with the CPR, Jerry, with his wife Helen, took over Sandy Ridge and expanded the storage capacity and retail business. Their dog Muffin greeted customers as Jerry and Helen continued to sell their apples to the community. In 1997, they decided to sell the farm and retire.
Through the years, the apple industry provided seasonal employment in the Mount Brydges area. Some people worked at the CPR packing station, others peeled and cored apples at the dried apple plant, and still others built barrels at Mitchell’s Cooperage. Lower quality apples went to the cider mill, with some of that product destined to be a substitute for other forms of liquor during prohibition. According to author W.J.D. McAlister in Chronicle of a Village, during the fall of the year the whole village of Mt. Brydges smelled like apples!
May - Memories of the Liberation of Holland by Jessica Baptista
Every year on May 5th, Dutch families around the world celebrate the Liberation of Holland from the Nazi occupation that ended in 1945. This year marks the 75th anniversary of that unforgettable day. Over the years, many Strathroy residents have shared their stories, their memories, and their family history. They have recounted the parades they partook in, the songs and cheers they heard, the dances they remembered and the faces they saw.
I sat down with my grandfather, Dr. Thomas Wolder, and asked him what he remembered of the war in Holland. He told me that he was four years old when Holland was liberated. At the time, he lived in Northern Amsterdam with his father and his younger brother, Theo. His mother had died in October of 1944. He remembers that the radio station in Hilversum announced that the Nazis had capitulated, and on May 8, 1945, Tom, Theo and his father went to the centre of Amsterdam to join the celebration. Everyone was waving Dutch flags, and there was singing and dancing on every street.
The Wolders were one block away from the Dam (the town square of Amsterdam) near the Bijenkorf (a department store that still exists today) when they heard shooting and saw a rush of people charging towards them, fleeing the area. It wasn’t until later when they learned that a number of German soldiers from the Kriegsmarine had a machine gun and were firing on the square from the balcony and the roof of the nearby Grote Club (Grand Club). Tom remembers his dad carrying Theo, grabbing his arm, and pulling him along as they ran away. The firing lasted for an hour and a half; 32 people died, and more than 200 were injured.
At the 40th anniversary celebration of Liberation Day, Rev. Anthonie Vanden Ende, former pastor at the Westmount Christian Reformed Church in Strathroy, reminisced and shared some of his memories with the community. When I spoke with him recently, he remembered being 14 years old in September 1940, when his father told him the devastating news that “de oorlog is begonnen” (the war had begun). He recounted that he was going to school for the five year duration of the War and he saw the oppression becoming steadily worse. By the last winter his family was starving because there was no food. Rev. Vanden Ende also told me of his memory when the Canadian soldiers entered his town in their tanks. “We were so thankful, and it was a joyous time. At the same time, there was a lot of grief too because of what happened during the War and all the people that were lost.”
It is hard for those who were not present on Liberation Day to imagine how the announcement affected the Dutch citizens when they heard that they were finally free after five long and difficult years of terror, hunger, depredation and destruction in their beloved country and home. Liberation Day, 1945 marked the dawn of a new era and the beginning of a new life for everyone. A large number of Dutch families immigrated to this area in the post-war years with their own vivid memories. For those of us who have relatives that remember what it was like during the war, I encourage everyone to capture these stories before they are lost. Lest We Forget.
Every year on May 5th, Dutch families around the world celebrate the Liberation of Holland from the Nazi occupation that ended in 1945. This year marks the 75th anniversary of that unforgettable day. Over the years, many Strathroy residents have shared their stories, their memories, and their family history. They have recounted the parades they partook in, the songs and cheers they heard, the dances they remembered and the faces they saw.
I sat down with my grandfather, Dr. Thomas Wolder, and asked him what he remembered of the war in Holland. He told me that he was four years old when Holland was liberated. At the time, he lived in Northern Amsterdam with his father and his younger brother, Theo. His mother had died in October of 1944. He remembers that the radio station in Hilversum announced that the Nazis had capitulated, and on May 8, 1945, Tom, Theo and his father went to the centre of Amsterdam to join the celebration. Everyone was waving Dutch flags, and there was singing and dancing on every street.
The Wolders were one block away from the Dam (the town square of Amsterdam) near the Bijenkorf (a department store that still exists today) when they heard shooting and saw a rush of people charging towards them, fleeing the area. It wasn’t until later when they learned that a number of German soldiers from the Kriegsmarine had a machine gun and were firing on the square from the balcony and the roof of the nearby Grote Club (Grand Club). Tom remembers his dad carrying Theo, grabbing his arm, and pulling him along as they ran away. The firing lasted for an hour and a half; 32 people died, and more than 200 were injured.
At the 40th anniversary celebration of Liberation Day, Rev. Anthonie Vanden Ende, former pastor at the Westmount Christian Reformed Church in Strathroy, reminisced and shared some of his memories with the community. When I spoke with him recently, he remembered being 14 years old in September 1940, when his father told him the devastating news that “de oorlog is begonnen” (the war had begun). He recounted that he was going to school for the five year duration of the War and he saw the oppression becoming steadily worse. By the last winter his family was starving because there was no food. Rev. Vanden Ende also told me of his memory when the Canadian soldiers entered his town in their tanks. “We were so thankful, and it was a joyous time. At the same time, there was a lot of grief too because of what happened during the War and all the people that were lost.”
It is hard for those who were not present on Liberation Day to imagine how the announcement affected the Dutch citizens when they heard that they were finally free after five long and difficult years of terror, hunger, depredation and destruction in their beloved country and home. Liberation Day, 1945 marked the dawn of a new era and the beginning of a new life for everyone. A large number of Dutch families immigrated to this area in the post-war years with their own vivid memories. For those of us who have relatives that remember what it was like during the war, I encourage everyone to capture these stories before they are lost. Lest We Forget.
April - Strathroy Mourns President Lincoln by Chris Harrington
As many of us are taking a keen interest in President Donald Trump’s 2020 election campaign, it is a fitting time to look back at Strathroy’s relationship to our American neighbours and their presidents. The town of Strathroy, situated about 75 kilometers from the border, has long enjoyed close ties with the United States. Our proximity to bordering Northern Union states likely explains the town’s outpouring of sympathy and mourning when news of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln arrived in town 155 years ago this month.
Lincoln was elected 16th President on November 6, 1860. The following spring, April 1861, the Civil War began between seven secessionist slave-holding states known as the Confederate States of America, and the national government of President Lincoln leading the 20 Free States known as the Union. It may come as a surprise that “Honest Abe” Lincoln was a member of the same Republican Party as President Trump. How the times have changed!
The war ended after four long years, on April 9, 1865. On the evening of April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated. He was shot in the back of the head while he was watching a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, by John Wilkes Booth. On the morning of April 15, Lincoln died from his injuries.
News from the U.S regularly appeared in early Canadian newspapers. Unfortunately, very few pre-1870 Strathroy newspapers have survived. One exception is a photocopy of the Home Guard from January 1863. A scan can be found at Strathroy Library. In this edition, townspeople read about the latest developments of the “American War”. Area residents were not necessarily pro-Union and anti-slavery. Middlesex County merchants and farmers were quite content to sell war materials such as horses, food, and other military supplies, to both the Union and Confederate armies.
I recently came across an article in the April 20, 1865 Globe & Mail describing what happened when Strathroy received news of Lincoln’s assassination. This article mentions that Town Council called a meeting for Tuesday afternoon (April 18, 1865) where Council unanimously adopted the following resolution:
“Moved by Mr. [Alexander] Robbs and seconded by Mr. [John] Frank, and resolved, that in consideration of the great affliction which has fallen upon the Government of the United States by the sudden and untimely death of their late President, Abraham Lincoln, it is expedient that the people of the Municipality of Strathroy should show a manifestation of sympathy for their loss by the suspension of all matters of business for the space of three hours, vis.: from 11 a.m. till 2 p.m. on Wednesday the 19th April inst., for Divine Service, being the time when the funeral services of the late President are to be held in Washington, and that the Reeve be requested to issue his proclamation to that effect immediately.”
The bells of the Wesleyan Methodist Church at Maria and North Street tolled for fifteen minutes beginning at 11:30 a.m. After this, a mass meeting took place at Town Hall. The choir, composed of singers selected from several Strathroy churches, provided the music. Reeve William Rapley, Bishop Philander Smith, and Reverend Michael Benson, Secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Church Conference, addressed the crowd. As luck would have it, Bishop Smith and Rev. Benson were both visiting Strathroy, since the town was hosting the Methodist Episcopal Church Annual Conference (known as the “Niagara Conference”). So on this extraordinary day, Strathroy was bustling with more than 70 Wesleyan Methodist clergymen and elders from across Southwestern Ontario.
In the United States, grieving the President’s death continued for three more weeks. After lying in state at the White House on April 18, 1865, Lincoln’s casket was put aboard a funeral train escorted by Union soldiers. Its final destination was Lincoln’s home state of Illinois, where he was buried in a tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield.
These new-found newspaper accounts provide evidence that many Strathroy residents in 1865 believed that Lincoln was a remarkable man of his time who now belonged to the ages.
As many of us are taking a keen interest in President Donald Trump’s 2020 election campaign, it is a fitting time to look back at Strathroy’s relationship to our American neighbours and their presidents. The town of Strathroy, situated about 75 kilometers from the border, has long enjoyed close ties with the United States. Our proximity to bordering Northern Union states likely explains the town’s outpouring of sympathy and mourning when news of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln arrived in town 155 years ago this month.
Lincoln was elected 16th President on November 6, 1860. The following spring, April 1861, the Civil War began between seven secessionist slave-holding states known as the Confederate States of America, and the national government of President Lincoln leading the 20 Free States known as the Union. It may come as a surprise that “Honest Abe” Lincoln was a member of the same Republican Party as President Trump. How the times have changed!
The war ended after four long years, on April 9, 1865. On the evening of April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated. He was shot in the back of the head while he was watching a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, by John Wilkes Booth. On the morning of April 15, Lincoln died from his injuries.
News from the U.S regularly appeared in early Canadian newspapers. Unfortunately, very few pre-1870 Strathroy newspapers have survived. One exception is a photocopy of the Home Guard from January 1863. A scan can be found at Strathroy Library. In this edition, townspeople read about the latest developments of the “American War”. Area residents were not necessarily pro-Union and anti-slavery. Middlesex County merchants and farmers were quite content to sell war materials such as horses, food, and other military supplies, to both the Union and Confederate armies.
I recently came across an article in the April 20, 1865 Globe & Mail describing what happened when Strathroy received news of Lincoln’s assassination. This article mentions that Town Council called a meeting for Tuesday afternoon (April 18, 1865) where Council unanimously adopted the following resolution:
“Moved by Mr. [Alexander] Robbs and seconded by Mr. [John] Frank, and resolved, that in consideration of the great affliction which has fallen upon the Government of the United States by the sudden and untimely death of their late President, Abraham Lincoln, it is expedient that the people of the Municipality of Strathroy should show a manifestation of sympathy for their loss by the suspension of all matters of business for the space of three hours, vis.: from 11 a.m. till 2 p.m. on Wednesday the 19th April inst., for Divine Service, being the time when the funeral services of the late President are to be held in Washington, and that the Reeve be requested to issue his proclamation to that effect immediately.”
The bells of the Wesleyan Methodist Church at Maria and North Street tolled for fifteen minutes beginning at 11:30 a.m. After this, a mass meeting took place at Town Hall. The choir, composed of singers selected from several Strathroy churches, provided the music. Reeve William Rapley, Bishop Philander Smith, and Reverend Michael Benson, Secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Church Conference, addressed the crowd. As luck would have it, Bishop Smith and Rev. Benson were both visiting Strathroy, since the town was hosting the Methodist Episcopal Church Annual Conference (known as the “Niagara Conference”). So on this extraordinary day, Strathroy was bustling with more than 70 Wesleyan Methodist clergymen and elders from across Southwestern Ontario.
In the United States, grieving the President’s death continued for three more weeks. After lying in state at the White House on April 18, 1865, Lincoln’s casket was put aboard a funeral train escorted by Union soldiers. Its final destination was Lincoln’s home state of Illinois, where he was buried in a tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield.
These new-found newspaper accounts provide evidence that many Strathroy residents in 1865 believed that Lincoln was a remarkable man of his time who now belonged to the ages.
March - The Glendale Story by Libby Dawson
Over fifty years ago, Strathroy's name was put on the map by one of Canada's most colourful and innovative businessmen, Reginald Thorn. Reg was born in 1917 in Peterborough, England. At age 19 he left the family grocery business and spent several years gaining practical experience in various trades before going to work for a cousin who had started a company building small travel trailers (“caravans”). Reg was soon running the company. Two years later he seemed on the road to success, but WWII changed his plans. Colour blindness prevented him from enlisting in the Air Force, so he returned to the family grocery and served in the local special wartime constabulary.
With the end of the war, Reg found his efforts to re-enter and expand the caravan business in England blocked by red tape. By 1947 he decided to check out opportunities in Canada, and emigrated with his wife and son. They purchased a property with a house and barn on the Glendale curve at Wharncliffe and Southdale Roads, then a rural area on London’s outskirts. Here, the Glendale Trailer Company was born in 1950; the first travel trailer was sold in 1952. It was a time when people wanted some fun and recreation after the war years, and Glendale made a product that was functional and economical.
Soon the business was working at capacity, until a fire destroyed the barn in 1956. Reg had already started a second location at 145 Queen Street in Strathroy, so within a few days he had moved the work there and carried on. In those early years Dutch immigrants provided a ready labour force for the expanding factory, followed by many Portuguese a few years later. They were all hard workers who appreciated their jobs and helped to make a quality product. In 1966 another massive fire destroyed much of the factory. Again Thorn rebuilt quickly, getting his employees back to work. Some buildings still on the Queen street site are from that recovery period.
Between 1969 and 1973 branch plants were opened in small towns in Alberta, New Brunswick, Quebec and Manitoba. Thorn even opened a plant in Australia. Other trailer-related businesses were acquired and merged into the Glendale operations, and almost all the components needed to manufacture the trailers were made on site. To diversify the company’s products, Reg began making modular buildings such as portable classrooms and offices for construction sites. With the oil boom in Alberta, modular homes were marketed for workers and their families. All this growth was a jobs bonanza for the town of Strathroy, still the location of the company’s headquarters.
In 1975 sales slowed. Reg Thorn sold his controlling interest to Morgan Firestone who moved the company to Oakville in 1978 under the name Firan-Glendale. Only the trailer section remained in Strathroy, with about 110 hourly workers. By 2003 the company had become a victim of high gasoline prices and a slow economy, and Firestone sold his interest in Glendale to his senior management team. In 2010 the new owners opted for voluntary bankruptcy. Sadly, Glendale Trailers had reached the end of the road.
Reg Thorn was well-liked by his employees. He hosted annual staff Christmas parties, as well as a special party for their children where he showed up as Santa. On summer weekends staff gathered in small ‘Orbit’ trailers at his Rendezvous Trailer Park at Port Franks. On other weekends owners of popular Glendale models would be his guests at the Park. Family members were roused at dawn to prepare for a breakfast barbecue, then serve bacon and eggs and do the cleanup. Reg was at the grill cooking his special treat, smoked kippers.
As the factory grew, Reg promoted people from within to management positions, including Keith Clark who started in the wood-working shop and moved up to become plant manager. Among office employees over the years were Harold Stewart, a draftsman and designer, Wally Callaghan, who became executive vice president, Tina Downham and Sue McLean. Other Glendale workers included Isaac Ataide, Leo Hafnagels, Ray Nydam, Ralph and Jim Tamming and Hank Kok.
Reg Thorn made his home in Strathroy until his death in 2004. His vision and business acumen brought many years of prosperity to the town. Today, a few Glendale models can be found in regional trailer parks and on internet used vehicle sites. They still bring back great memories of holiday fun and relaxation. Many locals claim, perhaps with a little bias, that they are the best vacation trailers ever made.
Over fifty years ago, Strathroy's name was put on the map by one of Canada's most colourful and innovative businessmen, Reginald Thorn. Reg was born in 1917 in Peterborough, England. At age 19 he left the family grocery business and spent several years gaining practical experience in various trades before going to work for a cousin who had started a company building small travel trailers (“caravans”). Reg was soon running the company. Two years later he seemed on the road to success, but WWII changed his plans. Colour blindness prevented him from enlisting in the Air Force, so he returned to the family grocery and served in the local special wartime constabulary.
With the end of the war, Reg found his efforts to re-enter and expand the caravan business in England blocked by red tape. By 1947 he decided to check out opportunities in Canada, and emigrated with his wife and son. They purchased a property with a house and barn on the Glendale curve at Wharncliffe and Southdale Roads, then a rural area on London’s outskirts. Here, the Glendale Trailer Company was born in 1950; the first travel trailer was sold in 1952. It was a time when people wanted some fun and recreation after the war years, and Glendale made a product that was functional and economical.
Soon the business was working at capacity, until a fire destroyed the barn in 1956. Reg had already started a second location at 145 Queen Street in Strathroy, so within a few days he had moved the work there and carried on. In those early years Dutch immigrants provided a ready labour force for the expanding factory, followed by many Portuguese a few years later. They were all hard workers who appreciated their jobs and helped to make a quality product. In 1966 another massive fire destroyed much of the factory. Again Thorn rebuilt quickly, getting his employees back to work. Some buildings still on the Queen street site are from that recovery period.
Between 1969 and 1973 branch plants were opened in small towns in Alberta, New Brunswick, Quebec and Manitoba. Thorn even opened a plant in Australia. Other trailer-related businesses were acquired and merged into the Glendale operations, and almost all the components needed to manufacture the trailers were made on site. To diversify the company’s products, Reg began making modular buildings such as portable classrooms and offices for construction sites. With the oil boom in Alberta, modular homes were marketed for workers and their families. All this growth was a jobs bonanza for the town of Strathroy, still the location of the company’s headquarters.
In 1975 sales slowed. Reg Thorn sold his controlling interest to Morgan Firestone who moved the company to Oakville in 1978 under the name Firan-Glendale. Only the trailer section remained in Strathroy, with about 110 hourly workers. By 2003 the company had become a victim of high gasoline prices and a slow economy, and Firestone sold his interest in Glendale to his senior management team. In 2010 the new owners opted for voluntary bankruptcy. Sadly, Glendale Trailers had reached the end of the road.
Reg Thorn was well-liked by his employees. He hosted annual staff Christmas parties, as well as a special party for their children where he showed up as Santa. On summer weekends staff gathered in small ‘Orbit’ trailers at his Rendezvous Trailer Park at Port Franks. On other weekends owners of popular Glendale models would be his guests at the Park. Family members were roused at dawn to prepare for a breakfast barbecue, then serve bacon and eggs and do the cleanup. Reg was at the grill cooking his special treat, smoked kippers.
As the factory grew, Reg promoted people from within to management positions, including Keith Clark who started in the wood-working shop and moved up to become plant manager. Among office employees over the years were Harold Stewart, a draftsman and designer, Wally Callaghan, who became executive vice president, Tina Downham and Sue McLean. Other Glendale workers included Isaac Ataide, Leo Hafnagels, Ray Nydam, Ralph and Jim Tamming and Hank Kok.
Reg Thorn made his home in Strathroy until his death in 2004. His vision and business acumen brought many years of prosperity to the town. Today, a few Glendale models can be found in regional trailer parks and on internet used vehicle sites. They still bring back great memories of holiday fun and relaxation. Many locals claim, perhaps with a little bias, that they are the best vacation trailers ever made.
February - Caradoc names more roads by Paul Long
During the mid-1990s, the county-wide 911 emergency response system was introduced. Lots and concessions were replaced by urban style addresses that included road names. It was an opportunity for townships to recognize places, events and families. Here, we add a few more stories to an earlier Tale about the naming of Caradoc’s roads.
On the new map, roads running east-west became ‘drives’. A number of these, including Calvert Drive at the north boundary of Caradoc, span both Caradoc and Metcalfe townships. Along with Calvert Post Office and S.S.#7 Calvert School, it was named after William Calvert, the M.P. for Middlesex West from 1896 to 1909. Previously he had served as Metcalfe Reeve and County Warden. One road south is Walkers Drive. Walkers was a thriving hamlet at the crossroads of Tait Road and Walkers Drive. The Walkers were early Metcalfe settlers, and family members still reside in the area. Olde Drive honours Neil Olde, a community member who served as a Caradoc school trustee, councillor and reeve, and as an M.P.P. representing Middlesex South from 1963 to 1969.
Parkhouse Drive runs west to the former site of the Parkhouse Hotel (now a private residence) in Glencoe, Ekfrid Township. Inadale Drive was the original town line between Ekfrid and Metcalfe Townships. From 1908 to 1914 there was a home-based post office at the corner of Inadale and Thames Road. Charles Towers, the first postmaster, named the post office Inadale after his wife’s birthplace in Nebraska.
Switzer Drive in South Caradoc, acknowledges a local farm family. Wilford Switzer was a long-time Caradoc road superintendent. His son Clayton graduated from O.A.C. in 1951 and began an outstanding career in Ontario agriculture. He became a faculty member and Dean of O.A.C., and was Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture, 1985-1989. Clay Switzer is now retired and living in Guelph.
A few short ‘drives’ run east from dead ends at Highway 402 to the Lobo town line, including Skinner, Union and Avro. The Skinners are a North Caradoc farm family; Bill Skinner was township reeve and 1987 county warden. Union Drive captures a spirit of cooperation, as Union School was attended by students from both Lobo and Caradoc Townships. And Avro Drive commemorates the tragic events of April 5, 1951, when an Avro CF-100 airplane exploded after nose diving from 38,000 feet into a swamp near the Caradoc-Lobo townline. The two occupants of the jet were killed in the crash, which scattered debris on several neighbouring farms.
Old Mill Road was changed to Gibson Road, recognizing George “Mooney” Gibson, a catcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the early 1900s. Gibson was named Canada’s baseball player of the first half of the 20th century and was the first baseball player elected to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Of the ‘roads’, running north and south, McEvoy Road captures a family name associated with education. Andrew McEvoy was born in Ireland, raised in Lobo Township and began his teaching career at S.S.# 10 McEvoy School in the late 1850s. Besides teaching and farming, he served on Caradoc Council and as township clerk. His son John practiced law in London for many years and became a judge on the Ontario Supreme Court. The school closed in 1959, and the 16th Sideroad (McEvoy Road) was rerouted through the school property to allow the building of the railway overpass on Highway 81.
The short Tobacco Road is a nod to a crop that improved the township’s economy in the last half of the twentieth century. Tobacco grew well in Caradoc’s sandy soil and provided employment and investment opportunities for newly arrived European immigrants.
Troops Road recalls a forgotten family name. A log schoolhouse was built in 1845 on the 20th Sideroad near Concession 3 (Glendon Road). The adjacent farm was purchased by the Throop family in 1847, and a burying ground was established directly behind the school yard. The Great Western Railway also purchased land from the Throops to build a wooden railway bridge. Over time the spelling of Throops school, cemetery and bridge evolved to ‘Troops’. Across Highway 402 from Troops Road is the short Wonnacott Road. The Wonnacott family attended Troops school and still owns property along the Thames River.
Although it is only 25 years since Caradoc named its roads, it took the collective memory of the following to help put this Tale together: Ron Doane, Crystal Loyst, Keith Wilton, Marie Kingma, Steve Dausett, Marion Loker, Bonnie Gough, Peggy Peirce, Bill Groot and Glencoe & District Historical Society.
January - The ‘Kist’ has arrived! by Bill Groot
The news that the ‘kist’ had arrived brought both excitement and sighs of relief to many post-World War II Dutch immigrants. ‘Kist’ is a Dutch word meaning ‘crate’. From mid-1947 through to the 1960s, most emigrants left with several suitcases and one or more large wooden crates. These crates were shipped separately and didn’t arrive until many weeks after the immigrants had settled in their new homes. In the meantime, where would they sit, or sleep, and what would they use to prepare meals? While the suitcases carried clothes and personal effects, the crates carried everything from the furniture and household goods needed to furnish a new home to the equipment needed to establish a trade or business. A few people even shipped farm machinery or a prefabricated house.
So why did these families emigrate, and why did they bring so much? It would have been easier to bring money and buy goods on arrival. But their story is unique. Postwar, the Netherlands economy was in shambles and many citizens despaired over their future opportunities. The country was recovering from five years of occupation by Nazi Germany. The Germans had destroyed its shipping ports, plundered its industrial resources, flooded 8.5% of its arable land, emptied its warehouses and government treasury, destroyed its transportation system - and even stolen 90% of the national vehicle, the bicycle. Once liberated, the Netherlands had to impose strict currency exchange rules to protect the value of the Dutch currency. This meant that emigrants could take only a small amount of currency out of the country. But they were allowed to purchase goods within the country and have them shipped to their destination along with their personal belongings. Thus, the need for the ‘kist’.
Adrian Groot’s fiancée, Katrien Keesom, was still living with her parents so she had few possessions, but she planned to marry and start a household once she arrived in Canada. She left the Netherlands on October 18, 1950, crossed the channel and then the U.K. to Liverpool, where she boarded the Franconia. It arrived in Quebec City on October 26. Trien’s kist weighed 300 kg. and was shipped on the Prins Willem V from Rotterdam to Montreal. It cost $15 to ship the kist to Strathroy via the CNR, arriving on Dec. 2, 1950. The shipping manifest read: “Used Household and Personal Effects including – Dishes, Bedding, 2 Floor Coverings, Hand Sewing Machine, 2 Bed Lamps, Curtain Material, Kitchen Utensils and Personal Clothing”. The kist was made into a baby bed which was used for all eight Groot children. Later, it was converted into a small table with two chairs so the youngest child could have tea with her dolls.
The Willem ‘Bill’ Bruinink family came to Canada on the S.S. Volendam in October 1951. Their kist contained equipment required to operate a bakery. After converting the machines to Canadian electrical voltage, they opened the Bill Bruinink Bakery in Chatham. The wood from the kist was used to make shelving. After operating successfully for a few years, the bakery was sold and the Bruinink family moved to Mount Brydges, where they started Hollandia Bakery.
Cornelius, 56, and Theodora Timmermans, 57, with five of their children, came to Canada in May 1950 on the S.S. Volendam. Their kist measured 14 cubic metres in size. Among its contents were seven bicycles. It arrived first in Winnipeg, but a few months later ended up in Tupperville, Ontario, when their sponsor, located near Portage La Prairie, failed to adhere to the terms spelled out on the immigration document. After working in the fall, harvesting sugar beets in Tupperville, Cornelius purchased the Knight farm in Adelaide Township. The kist was moved one more time and became a mud room attached to the house.
Most Dutch families have a story to tell about their kist. It became part of their family lore. The wood from larger ones was often repurposed for practical uses, while smaller kists were saved to become family heirlooms
The news that the ‘kist’ had arrived brought both excitement and sighs of relief to many post-World War II Dutch immigrants. ‘Kist’ is a Dutch word meaning ‘crate’. From mid-1947 through to the 1960s, most emigrants left with several suitcases and one or more large wooden crates. These crates were shipped separately and didn’t arrive until many weeks after the immigrants had settled in their new homes. In the meantime, where would they sit, or sleep, and what would they use to prepare meals? While the suitcases carried clothes and personal effects, the crates carried everything from the furniture and household goods needed to furnish a new home to the equipment needed to establish a trade or business. A few people even shipped farm machinery or a prefabricated house.
So why did these families emigrate, and why did they bring so much? It would have been easier to bring money and buy goods on arrival. But their story is unique. Postwar, the Netherlands economy was in shambles and many citizens despaired over their future opportunities. The country was recovering from five years of occupation by Nazi Germany. The Germans had destroyed its shipping ports, plundered its industrial resources, flooded 8.5% of its arable land, emptied its warehouses and government treasury, destroyed its transportation system - and even stolen 90% of the national vehicle, the bicycle. Once liberated, the Netherlands had to impose strict currency exchange rules to protect the value of the Dutch currency. This meant that emigrants could take only a small amount of currency out of the country. But they were allowed to purchase goods within the country and have them shipped to their destination along with their personal belongings. Thus, the need for the ‘kist’.
Adrian Groot’s fiancée, Katrien Keesom, was still living with her parents so she had few possessions, but she planned to marry and start a household once she arrived in Canada. She left the Netherlands on October 18, 1950, crossed the channel and then the U.K. to Liverpool, where she boarded the Franconia. It arrived in Quebec City on October 26. Trien’s kist weighed 300 kg. and was shipped on the Prins Willem V from Rotterdam to Montreal. It cost $15 to ship the kist to Strathroy via the CNR, arriving on Dec. 2, 1950. The shipping manifest read: “Used Household and Personal Effects including – Dishes, Bedding, 2 Floor Coverings, Hand Sewing Machine, 2 Bed Lamps, Curtain Material, Kitchen Utensils and Personal Clothing”. The kist was made into a baby bed which was used for all eight Groot children. Later, it was converted into a small table with two chairs so the youngest child could have tea with her dolls.
The Willem ‘Bill’ Bruinink family came to Canada on the S.S. Volendam in October 1951. Their kist contained equipment required to operate a bakery. After converting the machines to Canadian electrical voltage, they opened the Bill Bruinink Bakery in Chatham. The wood from the kist was used to make shelving. After operating successfully for a few years, the bakery was sold and the Bruinink family moved to Mount Brydges, where they started Hollandia Bakery.
Cornelius, 56, and Theodora Timmermans, 57, with five of their children, came to Canada in May 1950 on the S.S. Volendam. Their kist measured 14 cubic metres in size. Among its contents were seven bicycles. It arrived first in Winnipeg, but a few months later ended up in Tupperville, Ontario, when their sponsor, located near Portage La Prairie, failed to adhere to the terms spelled out on the immigration document. After working in the fall, harvesting sugar beets in Tupperville, Cornelius purchased the Knight farm in Adelaide Township. The kist was moved one more time and became a mud room attached to the house.
Most Dutch families have a story to tell about their kist. It became part of their family lore. The wood from larger ones was often repurposed for practical uses, while smaller kists were saved to become family heirlooms