DIGGING
WINTENGRS IN HASTI COUNTY
MAGNETIC HAMLET OF
QUEENSBOROUGH
DRAWS VISITORS THE ARTS ABOUND IN HASTINGS COUNTY CULTURAL DIVERSITY EQUALS FUN WITH BELLEVILLE’S CANADIAN-RUSSIAN SOCIETY
COVERING THE ARTS, OUTDOORS, HISTORY, PEOPLE AND PLACES
WINTER 2019/20
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R AW D O N
We’re very social and we’d love to hear from YOU.
Letters to the Editor can be sent via www.countryroadshastings.ca, email or snail mail.
ON THE COVER
PHOTO BY HEATHER COWLEY
COUNTRY ROADS SOCIAL SCENE letters to the editor Dear Country Roads: A friend from Madoc called about the great Citizen Science article in Country Roads. Karin at Teddy Bear B & B had a copy for her guests, not realizing that the story and a picture of her Dad were in it. Sarah, I cannot begin to tell you what an incredible writing talent you have and the pictures are perfect. This article will have everyone putting up feeders and seeing what comes along. It is as easy as that then you start looking around for other animals. I was thrilled to see the list of different places they could get answers to their questions. Thanks a million for joining us at the building bee and the wonderful article that followed. Crystal Hayton Bradt Bancroft, ON
Once again we take pleasure in featuring Heather Cowley’s photography. This is in fact, the third of Cowley’s snapshots from our Photography Contest that have been featured on our cover. Readers may well remember the gorgeous Trillium featured on our Spring issue, and the pure joy and youthful exuberance pictured of the two girls jumping into the lake on our Summer issue. Contrast that summer vision with the cold shock reality of a Hastings winter morning, a hot beverage in hand, ready to go outside and enjoy your day, only to be greeted with the view of a completely snow covered car. Cowley’s eye for both the beautiful and humourous is within her description: “a snow-covered car, after an unusually heavy snowfall.” She goes on to state that she was “grateful that I could capture the beauty of the scene without having to worry about digging the car out, as it wasn’t mine.” The photo was taken at Lake St. Peter, Ontario. We at Country Roads know that “Digging Winter” is best done just one shovel-full at a time.
Dear Country Roads: I read with great interest your article on Tweed’s Memorial Window. When I first came to Tweed in 1967, I taught at the S.H. Connor Public School which was K-8, and under the principal-ship of Wes Hamilton. When I first visited Tweed High School I was struck by the beauty of the Memorial Window. Later I was privileged to serve as Principal of S.K. Connor Public School plus Tweed Hungerford Senior School. I was proud to become the “caretaker” of the Memorial Window which was located inside the main entrance — a place of honour! After retirement, I learned of the impending demolition of Tweed Hungerford Senior School. Immediately I contacted the Hastings Prince Edward School Board to voice my concern regarding the status of the Memorial Window. I was pleased to learn that the window would be relocated in the new Tweed Public School. I visited that school and was pleased to view the Memorial Window which was, once again, in a place of honour. When I think of all the students and staff who have walked by that window over the years, it is
a suitable “who’s who” of Tweed. The window evokes many memories in both mind and heart as I’m sure it does in many others. We not only remember those who fought and died in WW1, we also remember all those “touched” by the Memorial Window. Lest We Forget. Dave Weir Bath, ON Dear Country Roads: Glad to renew our subscription. We look forward to its arrival. Top notch work! Cheyenne & Paul Cooney Belleville, ON
poet’s corner country boy i want to love you like they do in old country music songs simple and true not embarrassed at the saturday night dance to dance close to fight the man in the parking lot who said something crude to you on the dance floor to drive you home crying in the car but not brave enough to kiss your wet cheeks to promise i will never start a fight like that again and to wait for your forgiveness like waiting for rain By Paul Brown
ARE YOU NEW TO THE NEIGHBOURHOOD? Visits are free. No obligation. Compliments of local businesses. Sharon: (613) 475-5994 sharon.welcome2014@gmail.com
1-844-299-2466 www.welcomewagon.ca
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Country Roads • Winter 2019/20
Roads
Tweed
celebrating life in hastings county
Country Roads
celebrating life in hastings county
E X P L O R E O U R B A C K YA R D
CR Country CO-PUBLISHER & EDITOR Nancy Hopkins 613 968-0499 CO-PUBLISHER & EDITOR John Hopkins 613 968-0499 ASSISTANT EDITOR Heather-Anne Wakeling 613 968-0499
Roads
SALES celebrating lifeDEPARTMENT in hastings county CENTRAL & NORTH HASTINGS & AREA Lorraine Gibson-Alcock lorraine@countryroadshastings.ca 613.902.0462 ART DIRECTOR Jozef VanVeenen CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Lorraine Gibson-Alcock Angela Hawn James Kerr Barry Penhale Lindi Pierce Victor Schukov Michelle Annette Tremblay Sarah Vance Heather-Anne Wakeling Shelley Wildgen CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Heather Cowley Lindi Pierce Sandy Randle Michelle Annette Tremblay Sarah Vance Jozef VanVeenen
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Winter 2019/20 • Country Roads
I 5
CONTRIBUTORS
EDITORIAL
The Community Archives of Belleville and Hastings County preserve the documents, maps, and photographs that make up the recorded memory of Hastings County. Their contribution to Country Roads’ Back Roads column each issue provides readers with an invaluable link to the heritage of the region. They welcome inquiries about the history of Hasting County and the Archives are located on the second floor of the Belleville Public Library building. You can contact them at archives@cabhc.ca or 613-967-3304 and visit www.cabhc.ca. Angela Hawn writes both fiction and non-fiction for various magazines and literary journals, both in print and online. There’s rarely a moment when some story of some sort isn’t rambling through her head, even if she’s making dinner for the family or chauffeuring a kid to swimming lessons while it’s happening. Lindi Pierce, of Prince Edward County United Empire Loyalist stock, enjoyed life in Vancouver, Grand Forks BC and North Bay Ontario before returning to her roots and settling in Hastings County. Lindi is an active volunteer at Glanmore National Historic Site. She indulges her passion for heritage architecture with her blog at ancestralroofs.blogspot.ca and by writing and photographing for Country Roads and other local publications. Vic Schukov was born and raised in Montreal, but finally found paradise in Brighton. He writes weekly columns for the Brighton Independent, the Belleville Intelligencer and the Montreal Gazette. Vic is a published novelist, a stage playwright, and a former stand-up comic in Montreal. He holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from McGill University. A tea reader once said he was Leonardo da Vinci in another life, but Vic is doubtful.
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Winter — Can You Dig It? We’re putting on a brave face and giving our best shot at digging winter this year. In the end Winter will probably win out, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to give it a try. In their own words, here’s how some folks around Country Roads plan to take a bite out of winter. Angela (Feature Writer) — “As firm believers in warming from the inside out, our household enters each festive wintry season armed with a battery of beverage recipes: deluxe hot chocolate, mulled wine, and hot toddies. Imbibing same alongside my fab little family of four, plus wonderful friends made since moving to Hastings County 20 years ago, warms my very soul!” Lindi (Writer & Photographer) — “Winter is for the birds. Literally! The constant activity around our well-stocked feeders and heated water bowl, from occasional appearances by pileated woodpeckers to daily visits by tiny finches and juncos, make this most dormant of seasons a constant delight. You ask, ‘My favourite way to take a bite out of winter?’ Load up a mug with something sustaining and pull up a cozy chair by the window!” Lorraine (Intrepid Sales Rep) — “Digging Winter you say? When I lived near the Rockies, I skied almost every weekend … even during minus 30C weather! My knees are older, so instead I say “THIS YEAR” is my year to build that kitchen island I’ve talked about for years. On sunny days, visit friends that are far away … like Hope McFall, our previous North Hastings rep in her new Ottawa abode. AND perhaps … just maybe go SOUTH for a week … and where to? … Who knows?” Nancy (Publisher & Paper Pusher) — “Readers may recall that we adopted a dog this past summer. Two dumping’s of snow before mid-November and we already know she’s a ‘snow dog’, bounding through and at times over the mounds of snow. If you’ve ever owned a dog and seen their joy for winter you know it’s a tonic for us humans. I’ve dug out the snowsuit (still fits) and when possible will try to make friends with winter via dog walks. And a big thank you goes out to Angela. She’s inspired me to stock up on a variety of hot beverages to be consumed by the fire post dog walks. It’s a start!” Shelley (Columnist & Feature Writer) — “I love the Danish Hygge lifestyle. It includes watching the outside from the comfy coziness of inside with pillows, throws, twinkle lights, books, and a couch that wraps around the fireplace. I then pepper my Hygge with pup walks to the Bayshore Trail, just often enough to make sure my legs still work.” Victor (Writer & Comic) — “I play with my red snow blower with a 60-foot discharge chute to bury the homes of neighbours I don’t like three blocks away. I wear a red snowsuit with an astronaut helmet with tinted gold visor, and a utility belt for Cheetos and Coors loaded like cartridges. Bring it on, Jack (Frost!)” . Couldn’t have said it better! Bring it on! Winter – we can dig it! And dear readers do let us know how you plan to take a bite out of winter!
•
VOLUME 12, ISSUE 4, WINTER 2019/20
CONTENTS 8
12
Bancroft’s Retro Candy Store
Bancroft General Mercantile 16 foot candy counter Fudge, Black Licorice, Pop Shoppe, & Vintage Novelties
75 Hastings St. N
Downtown Bancroft on the Strip
613.332.2332
14
Also visit Stirling General Mercantile 26 West Front St., Stirling 613.243.8462
16 UNIQUE•TIMELESS•LOCAL
Handmade Beautiful Fun
FEATURES 8 WHAT MAKES QUEENSBOROUGH TICK?
16 ARTISANS AT HAND
By Angela Hawn
By Lindi Pierce
niffersclothing.com 12 Hastings St. N. Unit A Downtown Bancroft 613-334-6354
14 FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
By Victor Schukov
“Caring for your family’s dental health”
DEPARTMENTS 4 COUNTRY ROADS SOCIAL SCENE 6 EDITORIAL
20 JUST SAYING
6 CONTRIBUTORS
21 MARKETPLACE
12 REMEMBERING
22 BACKROADS
23 ADVERTISERS INDEX
History Lives On
19 THE VILLAGE IDIOT
Dog about town
Winter or Not ... here we come!
21 COUNTRY CALENDAR
Stirling Dental Centre Dr. Lauren Allen A N D A S S O C I AT E
Dr. Ross Erwin
Family & Cosmetic Dentistry New Patients & Emergencies Welcome Friendly people and gentle dentistry for your whole family.
9B Tuftsville Road, Stirling, ON 613-395-2800 Winter 2019/20 • Country Roads
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What Makes Queensborough Tick? It’s the gentle bond of community that brings people home STORY AND PHOTOS BY LINDI PIERCE
The road dips, curves over a narrow stone bridge, and snuggled around a mill pond a magical place is revealed.
T
he road heads north through the Cambrian Shield landscape, snaking around wetlands, climbing over rocky outcrops, past ancient maples and pine plantations. Suddenly the countryside opens up, fields falling away from the roadside, substantial farmhouses and barns revealing the earth’s secret, a band of good soil left by the glaciers for the settlers, who now lie in the roadside cemetery, to make something of. ‘Welcome to Queensborough.’ The road dips, curves over a narrow stone bridge, and a magical place is revealed. Natural and human-made beauty appears at every turn. The hamlet circles a mill pond, with tall pines reflected on its black surface. A picturesque weathered mill sits by the dam, and a sophisticated white house with its trellised verandah, a pristine board-and-batten church, an impressive frame hotel and homey Ontario farmhouses all wait to tell their story. There is a walking tour booklet to assist the curious visitor. And there are street signs, decorative planters, benches, historic plaques, an interpretive panel in a pond-side park that all contribute to a general spruced-up atmosphere. Leafy, wellgroomed streets lead off in several directions, and there is a feeling of having arrived at somewhere special, and not just of passing through town. Daniel Thompson, who bought the Riggs’ mill and built his house in 1845, had a vision: “this is going to be a place.” How many other hamlets have a town plan, the Elmore plan from 1854, with house lots and streets carefully outlined? (Even Sir John A. owned house lots here.) Today, 160-plus years later,
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Country Roads • Winter 2019/20
The signage welcomes visitors to “Queensborough: A Place of History and Beauty.”
Queensborough still feels like a special place, and it is one town that is generating quite a buzz. In August 2019, over 600 people attended ‘Art in Queensborough/Queensborough in Art.’ Five years earlier 250 had attended the inaugural Historic Queensborough Day and then in 2017, after having heard what they had missed, 500 turned up. And between these extraordinary public events, there is
a full year’s calendar of community activities: ham and turkey suppers, Easter egg hunts and pancake breakfasts, a trash-bash, and a children’s summer drop-in program, all held at St. Andrew’s United Church or the Queensborough Community Centre. And all this activity happens in a hamlet with a population of 75, expanding to 150 in the greater Queensborough area which includes the Rockies and adjacent roads. How does Queensborough do it? Friends Elaine Kapusta, Katherine Sedgwick and Raymond Brassard, members of the Queensborough Community Centre committee, sit at Kapusta’s welcoming dining room table in Daniel Thompson’s home, looking out over the millpond, pondering the question. It’s true; there is something magical about Queensborough, its history and natural beauty. But it is also about people, a plan, and just plain hard work. Kapusta recalls growing up here. Her parents bought the mill in 1947. The community held a welcome party, and presented a gift that is still in the house. Kapusta and her husband Lud returned to the hamlet in 2004. She muses, “From the time it was formed, with four churches and the Orange Hall for local events, there was always a sense of community, a kind of shared vision that there is something special about Queensborough.” There are the old country ways at work – people pitch in and get things done. Like weddings in the old days, groups of 100 people fed from farm-house kitchens by the Ladies’ Aid, the Women’s Institute, and the United Church Women. Kapusta said, “There’s a book of how to ‘do’ church suppers,
The Queensborough Community Centre is a central hub for many vibrant community gatherings that support a general population of 75, which expands to 150 in the greater Queensborough area which includes the Rockies and adjacent roads. If only those walls could talk. For decades the historic Queensborough Hotel was a “resting spot” for visitors seeking refreshment and conversation.
funeral receptions. Church and non-church people pitch in.” Organization — it’s in rural women’s DNA. Queensborough folk respond readily to a ‘call for pies’ and find themselves involved. There are leaders for each event, and younger folks are coming along to learn the skills – the torch is being passed. This was the inspiration for the Community Centre committee’s sold-out pie-making workshop last spring. Oddly enough, pie is one of Queensborough’s most effective promotional tools – for who doesn’t like pie? Somehow, pie is a symbol of the good old days. Rows of fruit and cream pies stretched out on tables in the church basement at the legendary ham and turkey suppers could be on a Queensborough coat of arms. Since 2006, Queensborough pie has been fortifying participants at MACKfest (Marmora Area Canoe and Kayak event) after their conquest of the mill dam during their spring junket on the Black River. Sedgwick also goes way back in this village. In 2012, Sedgwick and her husband Raymond bought the United Church manse, the house that Sedgwick grew up in. The couple made the transition from Montreal to Queensborough (likely as challenging as it sounds) to occupy the red brick house where Sedgwick was ‘child of the Manse’ from age four to 12. She ‘gets’ pitching in to make things happen, old-fashioned family values instilled by her father, the Reverend Wendell Sedgwick. But the hamlet’s success is more than nostalgia. A Queensborough renaissance of sorts has begun. Like most communities, Queensborough’s
Over 600 people attended Art in Queensborough/Queensborough in Art.
population is shifting, as older community workers retire from active duty, and urban folk return home (“the diaspora”) or move in, drawn to the beauty and historic charm of the area. Inclusiveness is a local value; inviting new arrivals with new skill sets and outlooks into local life ensures an infusion of energy and grows the community. Jos and Marykay Pronk, for example established a specialty machine shop in Queensborough, beautifying the old Bobbie Sager store in the process. Pronk donated
his technical skills to create attractive signage throughout the hamlet, enabling residents and visitors to see the community with fresh eyes. Jamie Grant and Tory Byers fell in love on-line with the long-neglected 1862 Orange Hall, and came home to Grant’s roots. They laboured to restore the hall, showcasing its historic elements, and have created a homespun venue for The Blackfly Shuffle and Harvest Dance, family Hallowe’en events, and last summer’s hugely Winter 2019/20 • Country Roads
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Standing true and white against a beautiful blue sky, the St. Andrew’s United Church is a cornerstone of community worship and activity.
Today the hamlet’s original ‘General Store’ is lovingly cared for by current owners Jos and Marykay Pronk.
Two Haliburton arm chairs await, an open invitation to visitors to sit down, relax and take in a waterfront view.
Water enthusiasts enjoy a group kayak paddle at the MACFest event.
successful Art in Queensborough/Queensborough in Art event, which spilled outdoors into the Orange Garden. Grant and Byers bring design and networking skills — and loads of energy — to the hamlet. It was Grant who spun Sedgwick’s wording into the attractive chock-full Queensborough Events 2019 brochure. Sedgwick’s nostalgic blog, ‘Meanwhile at the Manse’ began in 2012 as a reflection of her return home, and recollections of the 1960’s and 70’s in the area (remember the Rock Acres Peace Festival?). Her popular blog has evolved into an interactive community bulletin board, celebrating
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Country Roads • Winter 2019/20
local events and Queensborough life, from deer flies on Bosley Road to the imperative for a community church. The indefatigable Kapusta, a lifelong Queensborough worker on countless successful projects, is now harnessing the marketing skills of a (for now?) city-based daughter to help with event promotion. There are so many more people contributing what they do and have in support of their hamlet: farmers and pie-makers, UCW members and pitching-in teenagers, retired business and media types, artists and musicians, designers and promoters, builders and handymen,
gardeners and chicken raisers, church workers and stewards of needy heritage buildings. And not to be under-estimated, social media (especially since the demise of local dial-up service) is everyone’s friend, replacing the 2004 community telephone tree as a way of connecting locals and sharing news. Facebook pages for the Queensborough Community Centre, St. Andrew’s United Church, the Orange Hall and Queensborough Beauty make hamlet doings readily accessible. But it takes more than skill and good will to put on an event; nothing happens without a plan. A community survey came first, then the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) First Impressions Community Exchange, when Queensborough folks visited nearby Arden, and vice versa, and participants shared suggestions for improvements to their respective communities. In 2012, a planning event facilitated by Karen Fischer, agriculture and rural economic development advisor (‘ag rep’ in the old days) led to refining a vision statement and four goals for the community. The vision: to maintain a quality rural lifestyle through building community pride and preserving heritage, and supporting and developing a vibrant commercial, residential, recreational and cultural setting. The goals were: to develop community pride, preserve heritage, develop economically, and enjoy. And who can resist fun? No small wonder Queensborough events are so popular. T h e r e w e r e l i ke l y t i m e s w h e n A r t i n Queensborough/Queensborough in Art didn’t
Queenborough offers a full year’s calendar of community events: delicious pancake breakfasts and in-famous berry and sweet pies can fortify even the most ravenous of kayakers before and after a day of paddling along the water.
feel like fun anymore. Brassard had the idea: it was a huge undertaking for a small community. The August 2019 enormously popular public event had it all. Heritage. The day celebrated Queensborough’s popularity as a destination for painting field-trips from the area’s celebrated art schools in Madoc and Actinolite – including one A.Y. Jackson, whose painting of a local house took
pride-of-place. Famed folk quilter Goldie Holmes’ Queensborough quilt was on display. Ninety-oneyear old Audrey Ross, an art student in the 1950’s, sat down for an interview with Sedgwick. Plein air artists worked around the natural beauty of the mill pond, acting as informal hosts, and people strolled in the sun. Food … church basement sandwiches, just for starters.
So … How does the community of Queensborough do it? Why not go to their next event and find out for yourself?
•
For more information visit Facebook: Queensborough Ontario www.QueensboroughOntario.ca
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I 11
R E M E M B E R I N G
Houston House, Debra Tate-Sears, watercolour, 10”x14.” Photo credit: Reproduced with permission of the artist, a former Tweed resident.
History Lives On at 40 Victoria Street North
S
By Barry Penhale
ince 1994, a charming sprawling building, known to many as the Houston House, has been adapted to serve as home to the Tweed & Area Heritage Centre. Here, all in one can be found: an information bureau, art gallery, museum, and archives. Annual visitors to this fascinating complex find themselves warmly greeted by one of Ontario’s best informed and most dedicated heritage advocates — the site’s genial curator Evan Morton. This writer’s appreciation of Evan’s important round-the-clock work preserving area history has grown steadily over time — a period that began when a former publisher of the Tweed News, the late Clive Bell, once took me to one side and said, “We have a fellow here who largely on his own is working wonders conserving historical objects from the past and I think you should meet him.” That person, of course, was Evan Morton who at the time was functioning from a temporary preHouston House location. Readers at this point need be informed that the writer, having already mentioned Evan’s name twice, is likely now on shaky ground in my relationship with the ever-so-modest curator. For modesty is one of his foremost traits and he is continually deflating compliments that come his way, preferring instead to speak of the individual members of his dedicated team of volunteers.
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Country Roads • Winter 2019/20
With great respect for the man, I have elected not to make this a Morton “Profile” piece, but rather to focus primarily on the known history of a prominent Tweed landmark that is his pride and joy and literally his home-away-from-home. I refer to 40 Victoria Street North in the village of Tweed. Any time spent examining materials within the Tweed Archives is time well spent, as was again the case during July of this year, the occasion being combined with family visiting on the Moira, near Lost Channel. Evan was his usual helpful self, saturating my interest in the history of 40 Victoria Street by producing mounds of historically interesting materials — a true bonanza that would delight any writer and historical researcher. It was then I became acquainted with the family of prominence who formerly occupied the residence that still carries the family name — “Houston House.” The Houston’s have long-held family ties to Tweed and environs. The original Heritage Centre building was constructed by Robert Finley Houston (1849–1919), expressly for a Bay of Quinte railway conductor. Tragically before they could move in, the man’s wife died suddenly and the bereaved husband chose not to live in the village. At this time the completed, but as yet unoccupied house was acquired by the builder and given as a wedding present to his son, John Finley Houston,
Sisters, Grace Porritt (centre front), Maude Rollins (also seated), and Doris Burgoyne (standing), grew up in Houston House, the daughters of John Finley Houston and Annie Elizabeth Easterbrook. Photo credit: Tweed and Area Heritage Centre.
and his bride, Annie Elizabeth Easterbrook, whose marriage took place on February 16, 1898. Upon settling into their own place the newlyweds would appear to have quickly established a comfortable family environment that proved ideally suited to child rearing. In due course, four children greatly enriched the lives of their parents, as John and Annie welcomed a son Bert in 1900 to be followed by three girls, Grace (1902), Maude (1903), and Doris (1912). During special celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of Houston House in 1997, the three sisters were in attendance. Grace (Houston) Porritt, as the eldest daughter, delighted those present by sharing treasured childhood memories. Among her nostalgic recollections, Mrs. Porritt, then 95 years of age at the time, spoke wistfully of her mother’s baking and it became apparent that Mother Annie’s personal “comfort zone” must surely have been the spacious always busy kitchen out of which came appetizing concoctions to please one’s palate — especially the always yummy Christmas season favourites — suet pudding and taffy on the snow! The anecdotal accounts of Houston House have been the subject of unpublished handwritten notes by at least one of the daughters and in local newspaper articles. Access to these papers provides leads not only to their personal family recollections, but also to useful surviving documents of a factual nature. For example, the funeral cards so common in their day, remind us of the passing of Robert Finley Houston in Tweed on Saturday, April 5th, 1919, at age 71 years, 3 months, and 26 days. Fortunately, in addition to genealogical information, surviving typewritten notes inform
R E M E M B E R I N G Robert Finley Houston, 1848-1919, began construction of the Houston House in 1897. Photo credit: Tweed and Area Heritage Centre.
us that the Tweed native had learned his carpenter’s trade as apprentice to the late Joel Jellyman — the latter identified as an Englishman and first-class mechanic. It is tidbits of this kind that encourage history buffs to look further as they assemble the pieces that make up one’s family’s unique place in history. The Houston family, and indeed Houston House itself, represent a significant chapter in Ontario’s past. Following Robert Houston’s death, son John moved his family to the father’s home at 37 Metcalfe Street and by 1922 Houston House had become the address for numerous physicians beginning with Dr. Gerald Foster Denyes. Other family doctors followed and the site achieved the status of a medical clinic. But such use was to come to an end in 1993 with the departure for Belleville of Doctors Jim and David Edwards and their colleague, Dr.
David Barr. By November of 1994, the Tweed & Area Heritage Centre had acquired Houston House, and with a beaming Evan Morton present, the official opening took place in July 1995. Gone are those times when Tweed’s waterfront mills belched smoke and long gone is the day when John Houston dashed home from the nearby Houston company planning mill to check on his family and report that the ferocity that had rocked the house had been caused when the local dynamite works blew up! Gone too is the Houston House outhouse with the requisite newspapers and catalogues — the toilet tissue of that era — a privy once lovingly and regularly painted to match the same colour as the house. Fortunately as visitors to historic 40 Victoria Street quickly discover, much of the important local history has been saved and today lives on in many forms.
It is here through an extraordinary array of vintage reminders of a family, a home and a village that one is both informed and delighted. It is a place of continual discovery where history abounds and is charmingly crammed into almost every nook and cranny. A sanctuary of its very own that provides a great service to community and visitors alike. There are no employees on hand, but in any given week ten volunteers — men and women — show up for work shifts with a contribution of some 5,000 hours annually. As Evan said during my last visit, “Without the commitment of our dedicated volunteers our work would suffer greatly.” How true! And how truly fortunate it is that we have dedicated individuals such as Evan Morton and his amazing team that support 40 Victoria Street. To which, I must add that these champions of heritage should never be taken for granted, but rather cherished for their dedication.
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Acknowledgements: The assistance of Evan Morton and Roger and Roseann of the Tweed News is much appreciated.
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From Russia with Love
The Canadian-Russian Cultural Society of Belleville celebrates diversity BY VICTOR SCHUKOV Antonia Vassilieva-Durham’s kiosk is a fixture in the Belleville Market. Photo credit: Courtesy of Antonia Vassilieva-Durham.
Events are a joyful celebration of diversity and inclusiveness. Photo credit: Courtesy of Antonia Vassilieva-Durham.
B
orn in Tomsk, Siberia, which is a university town of over 500,000 people, Antonia Vassilieva-Durham emigrated from her homeland at the age of 44, with a Ph.D. in microbiology, and extensive experience in the field of agricultural development by bio-technology. “I moved to Belleville in 1999. My story is one of life and love. Through the Tomsk Rotarian chapter, I travelled on cultural exchange to the Toronto area a year earlier and met Tony from Kingston. I went home and wrote a hundred letters and fell in love.” In 2003, Vassilieva-Durham became a Canadian citizen. “My opinion on happiness is if you find peace with yourself, you will be happy no matter where you go.” Her kiosk is a fixture in the Belleville Farmers Market where Vassilieva-Durham sells her homemade Russian foods and items for local charities, while joyfully immersed in community spirit. “My drug is meeting local people. In 2000,
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I started the Canadian-Russian Cultural Society because I disagreed with the stereotyping of Russia. When I came here, the reaction of was, ‘Wow, she can even speak English!’” Laughing she said “Their clichés of Russia included Stalin, repression, and the killing of the Czar. On the positive side, talk was of ballet and Dr. Zhivago. And what I found interesting was Russians here were hesitant to tell others where they came from. I decided to introduce my culture’s traditional events to Belleville.” Membership with the Canadian-Russian Cultural Society has risen from a core of ten to a mailing roster of over 50 locals, with an eclectic variety of nationalities. Half of the members are Canadians by birth interested in Russian language and culture. One question she is often asked is, “Why do people immigrate to counties like Hastings?” Her answer, “The driving force is they are ready to change their life, and feel a need to change.
Looking regal in traditional Russian regalia. Photo credit: Courtesy of Antonia Vassilieva-Durham.
Reasons may be personal, like me falling in love with Tony. Professional is another reason. We have several doctors who are Russian and Ukrainian who came here recruited. Personally, I like the size of Belleville. It’s just right. You’re not lost. People know you. I can still wave to a bus driver, but it doesn’t mean he knows everything about me. I like my street because no one told me how to grow my garden. I planted all my own trees. I can do things here. Some immigrants also come here because their children are in Toronto. But you still have to be ready to move.” Laughing, she added, “In general, my belief is there are no boring places, just boring people, maybe.” She said that “Belleville has changed in the past 20 years. Less conservative, now more open-minded and multicultural. I enjoy these people. I have a strong desire to serve them. The Canadian-Russian Cultural Society introduces locals to the history, culture, traditions, life style, and just real faces of people originating from the Russian speaking parts of the world. Our group’s strongest bond is the Russian language even though English and other languages are often present in our conversations and events. With respect to language, the former Soviet Union was very similar to Canada with its two official languages. In the USSR, we practiced the ethnic language within each of the 15 republics plus Russian, so for many of us, Armenian, Belarusian, Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian, etcetera are common languages of communication.” According to Vassilieva-Durham, the Soviet Union was one of the world’s most ethnically diverse unions, with over 100 distinct national ethnicities living within its borders, and a total population close to 200 million people. All citizens of the USSR had their own ethnic affiliation and were bilingual, with an obligation at school to learn a foreign language (of choice) such as German, English or French. By far, Russia was the largest republic in the USSR in both population and geography, as well as the strongest politically and economically due to its vast natural resources. She explained that “For these reasons, until the 1980’s, the Soviet Union was commonly and incorrectly referred to as Russia. Diversity was a natural part of life for many centuries.”
Antonia Vassilieva-Durham founder and heartbeat of the Canadian-Russian Cultural Society, whose smile indicates a joyful philosophy where “In general, my belief is there are no boring places, just boring people, maybe.” Photo credit: Courtesy of Antonia Vassilieva-Durham. Members of the Canadian-Russian Cultural Society enjoy performing traditional music and dance. Photo credit: Courtesy of Antonia Vassilieva-Durham.
The Canadian-Russian Cultural Society is a diverse group of open-minded Baby Boomers and younger generations with a zest for cultural interaction and personal development. They are non-political with diverse roots and upbringings, respectful of each other’s backgrounds. The association offers private lessons in Russian to all who are interested along with ample opportunity to practice with Vassilieva-Durham. The Society makes use of various places for meetings and events which are always open to the public at no charge. Their annual events include: “Iolka” – The celebration of New Year in hospitable settings like Goody’s Pizzeria; “Maslenitsa” – Spring celebrations, Easter at the Belleville Farmers Market; “Victory in Europe Day” at Remembrance Ceremonies; “Slavic songs” – Summer in Corby
Rose Garden on Tuesdays nights at Bridge and William Streets, 7-8pm., and “Pinocchio Autumn Celebration” at the Belleville Farmers market. In addition “We are also involved in publications in local media, and join cultural and ethnic events like Night Kitchen too and the Waterfront Festival taking part in a parade of nations.” The organization participated in a ten year research project involving Canada, Estonia and Russia, related to the famous Russian writer Alexander Pushkin’s family who resided in Quinte-West for 60 years, finalized with the passing of archives to the Pushkin Museum in Boldino, Russia. Vassilieva-Durham said, “Sometimes I wonder how all these activities have changed the energy of this community I have lived in for 20 years, resulting in better acceptance of different cultures, including
Enjoying the Belleville Market. Photo credit: Courtesy of Antonia Vassilieva-Durham.
Russian. I see such changes and I feel good about it. More and more people are crying out for a touch of new culture, to even listen to tunes close to their ethnic roots. You are always welcome to join us in our activities!”
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For more information on the Canadian-Russian Cultural Society: Phone: 613 968-9501 • Email: antoninavd@sympatico.ca Facebook: Antonina’s Heartbeat – RUSSIANBELLEVILLE
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www.madawaska-art-shop.com 613.338.2555 Winter 2019/20 • Country Roads
I 15
Artisans at hand
OFFER A WIDE VARIETY OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION BY ANGELA HAWN
RON PLAIZIER – WILDLIFE ARTIST
NANEEN TYNER – BASKET WEAVER
Ron Plaizier, an accomplished realistic wildlife artist is shown with one of his subjects. Photo credit: Courtesy of Ron Plaizier.
Naneen Tyner is an expert in the age-old practice of basket weaving. Photo credit: Courtesy of Naneen Tyner.
Ron Plaizier once drew inspiration from his home on the beautiful south shore of Quebec’s Saint Lawrence River, but the 60 year-old artist now finds plenty of subject matter right in his own backyard in Marmora, Ontario. Birds are a particular favourite. “I started out as a wood carver in my 20’s and 30’s,” recalls Plaizier, “but I had to quit when the wood dust started to bother me.” Now Plaizier paints, exhibiting and selling original paintings, prints and calendars from a small gallery operated out of his home. Plaizier also takes plenty of photographs too, although they aren’t for sale. “The photographs are just a reference tool,” explains Plaizier. “I might use a computer to superimpose an image of a blue jay taken on a fence over top of a stump or in a pretty garden setting to get a more interesting background to paint.” Retired from a career as Chief Information Officer for Kawartha Pineridge School Board, Plaizier notes a background in technology certainly comes in handy with his art. And it’s obvious he loves the research required for each piece as well. Frequently this homework takes Plaizier and wife, Judy, to the Maritimes or various provincial parks, like Algonquin or Lake Superior. This past summer he counted himself lucky to come across some Bald Eagles on a gorgeous northern Ontario river.
Bubbly basket weaver Naneen Tyner has just gotten back from yoga class when she picks up the phone and breathlessly agrees to be interviewed. This Tweed Studio Tour regular clearly loves her art and wants to share that passion with the world. “I’m busy; I don’t sit around,” she chuckles when asked what she does with her time when a basket project doesn’t have her full attention. Budding basket makers take note: Tyner frequently tutors others in the craft. The 70 year-old fondly remembers the first time she learned how to make a basket at a Loyalist College class in Belleville almost 25 years ago and there’s been no looking back since. “That first basket took me all day,” she reminisces. “But I loved it and afterwards I got in touch with the teacher and asked if she’d come out to my area to teach a class.” Tyner now designs and makes all manner of attractive and practical vessels, from apple baskets to wine baskets to a leather-trimmed woven backpack outfitted with a harness for the wearer’s comfort. She often comes up with the patterns herself, but also relies on advice and encouragement from her daughter.
Working from natural materials these baskets show the versatility and utility of basket weaving artistry. Photo credit: Courtesy of Naneen Tyner. This stunning realistic painting is but one of the masterpieces created by Ron Plaizier. Photo credit: Courtesy of Ron Plaizier.
A firm believer in environmental stewardship, Plaizier donates a portion of paintings sold through the group Artists for Conservation towards wildlife habitat preservation. Wetlands conservation advocate Ducks Unlimited selected one of Plaizier’s barn owl paintings for their 2018 National Art Portfolio, auctioning off 650 prints at various venues around the country. “When I’m not painting, I’m outdoors,” laughs the artist. “I love living here because it’s so rural, so beautiful; you’re never far from good kayaking or good hiking.”
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“She’ll see something when she’s out and come home and tell me about it,” says Tyner. “My daughter’s always thinking of new and different things she thinks people might want, like a cookie basket.” All of Tyner’s baskets start out as split ash, sold in rolls of various sizes. Whether she dyes her materials, stains them or simply coats the reeds with linseed oil, it is clear that Tyner derives a great deal of pleasure from the process. With unadulterated pleasure she describes one of her most recent projects: a cylindershaped vessel meant to hold contemporary cardboard tubes of tissues. “Sometimes I get ideas just looking in books or just seeing the shape of different objects,” Tyner chuckles. “If I can see it, I can usually make it.”
One need only look at the plethora of annual studio tours, craft shows, galleries and art shops in Hastings County to know that there is plenty of talent out there. These clever and innovative artists and artisans come from all walks of life, some of them born and bred in the area, others are happy to call Hastings County their new home. And lovers of the arts are happy to welcome them. Thinking of setting off on your own art tour? Here are just a few ideas to help get you started.
SHAWN DONNAN – METAL ARTIST This impressive fire globe is the result of a joint effort between Shawn Donnan and his designer sister Kelly Baldock. Photo credit: Courtesy of Shawn Donnan.
Before Horizon Metal Works artist Shawn Donnan even thinks about firing up his welding torch and creating a fire globe, his clients’ ideas go down on paper, with design help from his sister, Kelly Baldock. Donnan refers to these giant steel balls, illuminated by fire or LED lighting, as one-off artworks, custom-made pieces frequently reflecting the purchaser’s life story. “Everything always holds together on paper,” chuckles 49 year-old Donnan, noting the challenges involved in cutting out those same images once Baldock has transferred them onto a metal surface can prove to be quite tricky. Donnan got his start welding 30 years ago, fixing machinery on his family’s massive dairy farm. He ran a small business on the side that was primarily focused on making wrought iron furniture, but he wanted to go further. And while stepping away from a 300 plus head Stirling-Rawdon agricultural operation run by the Donnan clan for five generations wasn’t easy, the artist knows it was the right move for him.
This impressive fire globe is the result of a joint effort between Shawn Donnan and his designer sister Kelly Baldock. Photo credit: Courtesy of Shawn Donnan.
“There’s no life like it,” says Donnan of his days on the farm, happily noting he still helps out when needed. “But you don’t want to live your life with regrets.” Donnan now works full-time out of his workshop that is located in the Oak Hills area. There he fashions metal wall hangings, light towers and impressive globes. Consider the piece Donnan created for Canada’s 150th. Adorned with iconic national images including a polar bear, a Mountie and an intricate replica of Parliament Hill, the globe actually made the trip to Ottawa in the back of Donnan’s truck, where it received high praise from the Prime Minister himself. Donnan speaks with equal enthusiasm about a fire globe commissioned by the group responsible for organizing annual cleanup operations along a nearby section of the Highway of Heroes, the lengthy stretch of the 401 dedicated to Canada’s fallen soldiers. First unveiled at a charity hockey game, the memorial contains a number of emotional symbols, including a number of hearses wending their way from CFB Trenton to Toronto. Happiest with a plasma torch in his hands, this artist seeks rest and recreation on the open roads, occasionally cruising along the west coast between Vancouver and California on his motorcycle or hitting local snowmobile trails in winter. But no matter where the path takes him, Donnan is sure to pick up plenty of inspiration along the way for future artworks.
Top: Tyner with array of baskets. Photo Courtesy Naneen Tyner. Second row left: Donnan with Prime Minister Trudeau. Photo Courtesy Shawn Donnan. Second row right: Realistic Snowy White Owl by Plaizier. Photo Courtesy Ron Plaizier. Middle: Plaizier with additional art pieces. Photo Courtesy Ron Plaizier. Bottom left: Yrjola’s unique jewellery creations. Photo Courtesy Connie Yrjola. Bottom right: Woodpecker wire sculpture by Taxis. Photo Courtesy Wendy Taxis.
Winter 2019/20 • Country Roads
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A RT I S A N S AT H A N D WENDY TAXIS – WIRE ARTIST
CONNIE YRJOLA – JEWELLERY DESIGNER
Wendy Taxis, began her unique artistic expression by creating three dimensional wire sculptures from reclaimed materials. Photo credit: Courtesy of Wendy Taxis.
Connie Yrjola is known for her classic yet trend-setting jewelry. Photo credit: Courtesy of Connie Yrjola.
Cheerful and accommodating, Wendy Taxis happily explains the origins of her surname before the conversation winds itself around to her wire art. She’s come by the moniker thanks to her late husband, whose long ago German ancestors represented some of the very first taxi drivers, those who made a living via horse-drawn buggies versus contemporary cabs. “I get phone calls in the middle of the night,” jokes 66 year-old Taxis, “people looking for a ride at three in the morning.” Fortunately, any potential lack of sleep doesn’t prevent Taxis from creating her wire art, a skill set she began to develop ten years ago when she moved to Bancroft from Roseneathe. She would come home to find all of the little bits of copper wire electricians had left lying on the floor of her new house and see potential in the mess. “I picked up the pieces and began twisting them into shapes,” recalls the artist, whose work can be found at Bancroft’s A Place for the Arts, the Bancroft Art Gallery and various local shops. “I just started playing with them.” That desire to create goes back to Taxis’ childhood when she watched her mother paint with oils. Wendy experimented with both oil and acrylic paint herself before turning to more three-dimensional art forms. “I started out by creating a form and filling it in and I’ve also taken one, long continuous wire and twisted it into something,” explains Taxis. “But now I use multiple pieces of wire at the same time and work with it much the same way you would use clay.”
Home renovations are temporarily keeping jewellery maker Connie Yrjola from doing what she loves best, but she promises customers they can still get in touch for repairs, redesigns or custom orders such as bridal collections. The 58 yearold hopes to open her studio sometime in the spring. In the meantime, those wishing to check out Yrjola’s work can currently find her Glamour Junkie brand jewellery at various nearby locations such as The Quinte Arts Council Gallery and Gift Shop, as well as Diva Adornments in Bloomfield (where Yrjola holds down a part time “day job”).
Connie Yrjola creates quality jewellery for those seeking just the right accessory to transform an outfit from ordinary to distinctive.
Wire sculpture of a peacock shoe by Wendy Taxis. Photo credit: Courtesy of Wendy Taxis.
Taxis also loves to “draw” with wire, using her medium the same way an artist might sketch with charcoal. She frequently makes two-dimensional wire pieces suitable for hanging on a wall. When not busy with her art, Taxis plays music. After thirty plus years teaching at the Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music, she can play almost anything, from piano to clarinet. Six years ago she took up the cello and during her free time, she directs Bancroft’s two hand-bell choirs. “I find Bancroft very warm and welcoming,” chuckles the artist. “If you want to get involved in the community, you just have to put yourself out there.”
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Country Roads • Winter 2019/20
“I need to create,” laughs Yrjola, who also helps to promote other artists with the two annual enormous local arts and crafts shows she produces alongside friend and fellow artisan, Barb Forgie. “When I’m not designing jewellery, I’m sewing or knitting or making soup stock.” As a little girl, Yrjola loved to comb through the costume jewellery boxes of her aunt and cousin, learning early on to appreciate masterpieces such as vintage Sherman brooches made with Swarovski crystals. In grade six she started making her own rings out of telephone wire and selling them to her mother’s friends for 25 cents apiece. The art of salesmanship comes easily to the friendly and easy-going Yrjola, who worked in the Incentive Travel Business for many years and has a background in marketing and communications. But jewellery has always spoken to her and once she moved to Hastings County with her CN worker husband, she decided to devote more time to designing her own creations. “My husband registered me for a business license,” explains Yrjola, “and I signed up for silver-smithing courses at George Brown College.” Not the sort to limit herself to just one medium, Yrjola loves to experiment and often works with recycled and upcycled materials. She claims she likes to throw everything down, take a look at it, arrange and rearrange, and then see what transpires from there. “I let the materials inspire me,” Yrjola says, noting that she frequently finds ideas in the kind of show-piece jewellery models wear on the runway. “I like to do trend-setting pieces and I change up my collections all of the time.”
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THE VILLAGE IDIOT BY JOHN HOPKINS
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At some places she would get fussed over, others make a point of having a treat ready for her (good thing she is getting plenty of exercise). Our next door neighbour is a particular favourite. On an almost daily basis Mika will trot over, stand outside the door or bark if she feels it necessary, and stay and visit for as long as three or four hours. During the summer, when our neighbour left her porch screen door open, Mika would calmly just wander into the house. One afternoon, however, the screen was closed and we heard a loud commotion as Mika burst through the screen to get into the house. A few minutes later, as I made repairs to the damaged screen door and reproached Mika for her carelessness, I wasn’t sure what our neighbour was more upset about, the damaged door or the possibility I might revoke Mika’s visiting privileges. Eventually, our neighbour took the blame for the whole incident, saying it wasn’t really Mika’s fault, since the door was usually open. Mika is still permitted visits, and she is a little more careful with screen doors. Mika is truly an anomaly. She is the uninvited guest who is nevertheless welcome at any social occasion. She has unceremoniously crashed a family barbecue only to be welcomed with smiles, laughs and squeals of delight from the kids. She is Norm from Cheers, getting a rousing welcome from everybody in the room when she makes her appearance. She may even be turning into a bit of a society status symbol. “Where’s Mika? I was told she was going to be at this bonfire.” “I think she stopped at the marshmallow roast three doors down.” “Ugh. I told you we shouldn’t have come here. No wonder it’s so dead.” Nancy and I knew that it would be beneficial to keep Mika in the community for her sake. She would benefit from the familiarity of the neighbourhood. But we hadn’t really appreciated how much the community would benefit. Without trying to sound presumptuous, we feel pretty good about how she is still able to connect with the folks who have known her for so many years, and how she can wriggle into the lives of new residents, even when they’re not “dog people”. Our next door neighbour is retired and lives alone; it is probably not practical for her to have a dog of her own. Yet Mika will regularly stop by, trot inside, and keep her company for a part of the day. We are less uptight about Mika wandering off, or – “taking herself for a walk” as we now call it. She has her own agenda – people to visit or places to stop in. She will make her social calls and eventually trot back down the driveway for some dinner and a nap. And we will be ready for her, making sure she’s well looked after until it’s time for her to make her rounds again.
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n my last column I had indicated that we had adopted a dog, but my terminology might not have been completely accurate. Oh, she sleeps in our house, eats her meals here and torments our cats (for the most part unintentionally) but really we are just the current custodians of her. She in fact belongs to the whole community. Mika is a very social dog. She likes to visit, mingle, and cavort about the neighbourhood. The nice thing is that nobody seems to mind. In fact, she is a welcome visitor virtually everywhere she appears. We probably shouldn’t have been surprised. Mika lived in our little area six or seven years before she came to stay with us permanently early this past summer. We live on a private road surrounded on three sides by the river, so there aren’t a lot of places an animal can disappear to, and we rather expected that Mika had established a pretty comfortable territory. We didn’t want to keep her tied up outside the house or walk her on a leash unless it was absolutely necessary. We felt that one of the benefits of living where we do is that an animal like Mika can have a little bit of freedom and roam around the neighbourhood. Still, we were a little concerned when she disappeared the first few times. One minute she was lying peacefully on the porch and then she was gone, nowhere to be seen. Sometimes she would come calmly trotting down the driveway after 20 minutes or so, but on a couple of occasions she didn’t, and we would start walking through the neighbourhood anxiously calling for her. Inevitably we would find her, sitting on a nearby porch, perhaps getting a view of the river from a different location, sniffing some new scents or, more likely, visiting old friends or making new ones. As we learned, there are folks Mika has been visiting on a regular basis her whole lifetime here. As we also learned, she is very eager to introduce herself to newcomers and make them feel welcome. Once I found her on the deck of a family that had once been her next door neighbour. Worried that she had been a nuisance, I asked if she had been there long. “Oh no,” the wife of the family replied with a casual smile. “Only half an hour or so.” On another occasion, when she had gone to pay her respects to the new owners of her previous home, I apologized and acknowledged that not everyone is a dog lover. “Oh, we’re not dog people,” one of the family members said, “but this one’s lovely. She can visit any time.” It has been much the same when we take Mika for walks. One minute she is trotting alongside us, the next she is darting down a driveway to say hello or check if anyone is home. Initially we cringed as she barked at a door or made a fuss around someone. But then we came to realize she’d been doing it for years and she was always welcome.
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Winter 2019/20 • Country Roads
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JUST SAYING
BY SHELLEY WILDGEN
Winter or Not … here we come!
“I
f we line ‘em up in the banks, it’ll be amaaaaazing!” So my dear friend Susan said while prying a bedraggled, tinsel strewn tree off of its frozen landing-pad. We were strolling the wintry Belleville streets a week or so after the Christmas of ’72. Susan was a born leader. It was a mild, moonlit night with snow falling and banked as far as our eyes could see … and there were Christmas trees — tossed all willy nilly onto the snowbanks awaiting the next day’s pick-up. We had nothing but time, so five hours later, we had plucked and propped up every tree on Bleecker Avenue from Pine to Dundas and then admired our handiwork under the streetlights. “Magnificent!” That’s how pre-teen Bellevillians did winter back when winter was winter. We were a couple of creative tweenies; too old to frolic, but too young to drive. Back then, almost every Christmas tree was real and snowbanks lined every street, so enhancing the combination just felt natural. That was a time when snow-packed winter weather never saw a false start or a mid-season thaw. Another stalwart tradition of winters in Quinte was the Fosters’ Christmas display. Along with the anticipation of the big day, each season would include several Emily Street drive-bys. The Fosters lost their son one Christmas Eve, and to preserve his memory they decorated their front yard with animated decorations that included elves hammering in a workshop and an incongruous whirring helicopter. Mesmerizing! Over 50 years later, the original display has been added to and can be seen, with or without snow, at the Jane Forrester Park in Belleville. Back in the pre-climate change years, our world spun in accordance with a seasonal plan that could be counted on year after blissful year. Here in the Quinte area we knew for sure that November through March could be solidly devoted to snow and all that came with it. It was a natural, seasonal rhythm that we relished and took for granted. Oh, it wasn’t all chuckles and chilblains. Along with forts, tree propping and skating rinks that lasted all winter, there was the drudgery of earning
206 Hastings St N Bancroft, ON K0L 1C0
a living, day in and out, on those snow-laden streets of Belleville. For me, at ten years old, I scraped by with my paper route. One might think that slogging the streets of east-end Belleville with a big ol’ canvas newspaper bag slung over my head and 27 Toronto Telegrams slapping my spine wouldn’t be anyone’s version of living the dream — but that would be wrong. Appetite driven, I loved my route for five happy reasons; corner stores. See, there were five of them on my route and on collection day each one featured fresh honey dipped bakery donuts on their front counters. Predictable slushy sidewalks were A-OK because they led me in and out of each corner store where I regularly lightened my coin bag and filled my belly. I also liked the smell of customers’ cooking as their suppers’ roasting goodness hit the frosty air. My wraparound scarf left only eye room on my face and my breath crystallized the material around the mouth and nose area, but nothing stopped those aromas from enticing me to continue my five kilometer tromp.
Snow-pants, bulky scarves and goulashes were worn all winter long because every day was snowy and cold and there was never a shortage of fun to be had. Whether we were hauling our toboggans to Herchimer Hill (before the Pine Street extension) or just sitting on a Queen Street snowbank watching the big kids bumper jump their way downtown, winter was always four solid months of non-stop action.
Snow-pants, bulky scarves and goulashes were worn all winter long because every day was snowy and cold and there was never a shortage of fun to be had. Whether we were hauling our toboggans to Herchimer Hill (before the Pine Street extension) or just sitting on a Queen Street snowbank watching the big kids bumper jump their way downtown, winter was always four solid months of non-stop action. Every winter was kicked off by the first real snowfall. Not that light, pretty stuff in early November, but the huge dumping that was sure to follow before the end of the same month. Big snow meant big fun. We’d run and skid over frozen puddles all the way to school and hope that the snowplough had arrived before we did, because that meant King Hill would be there. To a grown up, King Hill might have looked only as a big pile of parking lot snow stashed in a corner of the school grounds, but to the kids at Queen Victoria school it symbolized nothing short of world domination. How it worked wasn’t so different from what we’d experience later in life. The boys would run to the top of the snow-stuffed hill and push each other off until one would declare himself, “King of the Hill.” And, you may ask, “Where were the girls?” Oh, we were there too, scrambling up the sides trying to find our place at the top only to be shoved back the way we came. Over and over we’d try to get to the top with all hopes dashed before ever reaching the summit. It was recess. It was so much fun. Most evenings, big and medium kids alike went to the outdoor rink at the Quinte Skating Club. On a good night, we could skate down the street all the way to the rink. The club’s loudspeaker would blare a crackly version of, “Don’t Sleep in the Subway” while couples holding hands circled the rink and the rest of us would practice our backward skating, often careening into their mid-sections. Winter is somewhat different now, but occasionally, after a warm spell or a blizzard – sometimes in the same day — winter will grace us with outdoor rinks, frozen roads and gargantuan snowbanks. When they arrive, you know what to do.
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Country Roads • Winter 2019/20
C O U N T R Y
C A L E N D A R
Things to see and do in and around Hastings County.
To submit your event listing email info@countryroadshastings.ca or call us at 613 968-0499. ART GALLERIES/EXHIBITIONS ART GALLERY OF BANCROFT, 10 Flint Avenue, Bancroft. 613 332-1542. www. artgallerybancroft.ca Dec 5 – Jan 25 – 37th Invitational Juried Show. Opening Reception Friday, Dec 6; 7:30pm BELLEVILLE ART ASSOCIATION STUDIO & GALLERY, 208 Front Street, Belleville. Open Tues. to Sat. 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Paintings change every month with a different theme. www.bellevilleart.ca Dec 10 - CELEBRATION THEME Jan 14 - ARTIST’S CHOICE STIRLING LIBRARY ART GALLERY, 43 Front St., Stirling, 613 395-2837. Public viewings: TWT: 10-7; F&S: 10-3. stirlinglibraryartgallery@gmail.com Nov 12 - Jan 18 - THIS IS ME! CLASSICALLY CONTEMPORARY: A MULTIMEDIA EXHIBITION & SALE featuring Artist Bob McIntosh of Stirling, and Blown Glass Artist, Mark Armstrong of Wellington adorning the Gallery Windows. Opening Reception: Nov 16th; 1-3 pm. All welcome. Feb 4 - March 29 - FAMILY TRADITIONS: A MULTI-MEDIA EXHIBITION & SALE FEATURING THE ARTISTIC GIBSON FAMILY showcasing original paintings, pencil drawings and photography. Please join Carol, her daughters, her son and grand-daughters at the Opening Reception: Feb 8th; 1-3 pm. All welcome! March 31 - May 30 - CAPTURED MOMENTS: AN EXHIBITION & SALE featuring Photographers Megan Bush of Stirling and Daphne Creasy of Picton together in one gallery. Opening Reception: April 4th; 1-3 pm. All Welcome! BELLEVILLE THEATRE GUILD - Pinnacle Playhouse, 256 Pinnacle Street, Belleville Tickets: www.bellevilletheatreguild.ca or 613-967-1442 Adults $20, Seniors $18, Students $10 JAN 30 - FEB 15 - TEMPTING PROVIDENCE by Robert Chafe- True story of nurse’s life of love and courage in Newfoundland. STIRLING FESTSIVAL THEATRE, West Front St., Stirling, 613 395-2100, or 1-877 312-1162. www.stirlingfestivaltheatre.com Nov 22 - Dec 31 – MOTHER GOOSE - Mother Goose is a writer and she has run out of ideas. She calls on her Fairy Tale and Nursery Rhyme friends to help her. This brings back Panto favourites J.P. Baldwin as our Dame in the
Celebrating Life in Hastings County
ARTS & CULTURE
title role and Debbie Collins as Patty Cakes! Also returning are Sal Figiomeni as the villain Humpty Dumpty, Dan Curtis Thompson as Jack B Nimble and James Island as Dr. Hickory Dickory. 2 pm & 8 pm. Naughty New Year’s 9:30pm. Pre-show meals available for some shows. For ticket and meal prices visit www.stirlingfestivaltheatre.com Dec 14 – MOTHER GOOSE RELAXED FAMILY PERFORMANCE – a special performance designed to welcome audience members who will benefit from a calmer sensory experience and a more casual environment. These patrons include, but are not limited to, individuals with an autism spectrum condition, a sensory processing disorder or a learning disability. 2pm show TWEED & COMPANY THEATRE, www.tweedandcompany.com Dec 21 - A TWEED & COMPANY CHRISTMAS - After the sold out inaugural Tweed & Company Christmas Celebration the troupe is returning to Tweed for the holiday season with an all new Christmas sing song extravaganza! Join all your Tweed & Company favourites, as well as some local talent for a beautiful evening of Holiday songs and laughter, this season to be hosted by St. Andrew’s Tweed. Request your favourite carols now, and get your tickets for this popular event which will most definitely sell out again for the second year. Admission Fee:$20.00 Location: St. Andrew’s Church Tweed, 55 Victoria St N, Tweed, ON. www.tweedandcompany.com
EVENTS Dec 14 – DINNER WITH DICKENS - Come and enjoy Dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dickens and enjoy Mrs. Dickens’ favourite Christmas delights as Charles reads excerpts from his “Little Christmas Book”. 5 pm, Cocktails; 6pm Dinner and Reading begin. $20 per person includes: Traditional Victorian Dinner And Reading of A Christmas Carol by local Artist Todd McGowan. Call or email to reserve your place: St. Georges Church: (613) 394-4244 Or email: stgeorgeschurch1@cogeco.net 25 John Street, Trenton, ON Dec 14 – CHRISTMAS IN QUEENSBOROUGH - An old-fashioned Christmas concert in historic Queensborough. At 6pm young and old will be caroling thru the village, sipping hot chocolate by a blazing fire then off to enjoy more music, Christmas skits and dances. All ages welcome! Info Katherine Sedgwick, 613-473-2110, or Facebook pages: Queensborough Community Centre and St. Andrew’s United Church. Jan 18 – CHILI COOK-OFF. Do you have a great chili recipe? Are you willing to put it to the test against other great chili recipes? Or do you just love to eat chili on a cold winter day? Then come and take part in the second Great Queensborough Chili Cook-Off at the Queensborough Community Centre, 1853
Queensborough Rd. Info Stephanie Flieler, 613-438-0934, or Facebook page: Queensborough Community Centre. Feb 16 – COMMUNITY POTLUCK SUPPER AND GAMES NIGHT. Bring your family’s favourite dish and join us for an evening of comfort food, good conversation, and family games at the Queensborough Community Centre, 1853 Queensborough Rd. Doors open at 4 p.m.; we sit down to eat at 5 p.m. Games for all ages after the meal. Info Joan Sims, 613-473-1087, or Facebook page: Queensborough Community Centre. MAR 6-8 - BELLEVILLE DOWNTOWN DOCFEST– 3 days of outstanding documentary films celebrating life and human dignity around the world and right here at home. www.downtowndocfest.ca.
CLUBS, LECTURES, MEETINGS HASTINGS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Free public presentations held on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 7:30 pm at Maranatha, 100 College St. W., rear entrance, Belleville. Ample parking and level access at the rear of the building. Bring a friend and enjoy refreshments, conversation and displays following the presentation. www.hastingshistory.ca Jan 21 - RESEARCH CASTINGS INTERNATIONAL - Peter May will speak on the amazing and world-renowned work of Research Castings International located in Trenton. March 17 - WHISKEY AND WILDNESS with speaker Larry D. Cotton April 21 - THE LOST VILLAGES OF THE ST. LAWRENCE with speaker, Jim Browning QUINTE FIELD NATURALIST MEETING. Sills Auditorium, Bridge Street United Church, 60 Bridge St. E., Belleville. All welcome, by donation. 7.00 pm. Jan 27 - ZERO WASTE LIVING – FOR THE LOVE OF NATURE - Laura Nash, host and producer of The Zero Waste Countdown, the leading international podcast on sustainable living, will share insights on living more while consuming less from interviews with everyone from fashion designers to the federal Minister of Environment & Climate Change. Feb 24 - QUINTE AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS - Degrees in wildlife biology and forestry and 15 years experience with Quinte Conservation gives Brad McNevin, Quinte Conservation’s new Chief Administrative Officer, knowledge of how climate change is affection us locally and ideas for what can be done. March 23 - STORIES FROM A MIGRATION HOTSPOT! - A raft of birds, butterflies and dragonflies migrate through Presqu’ile every Spring and Fall. Naturalist David Bree will share his favourite migrant stories from 35 years of visiting and working at the park.
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TO BOOK YOUR MARKETPLACE ADVERTISEMENT PLEASE CALL 613-968-0499
SPECIALTY SHOPPING
Celebrating Family, Friendship & Love
613-395-2596
www.stirlingmanor.com 218 Edward Street, Stirling
CONTRACTING
LAWN & GARDEN
TRAVEL SALES & SERVICE
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• Lawn & Garden Tractors • Roto-Tillers With 35+ years experience, Small but knowledgeable. (613) 473-5160 • R.R. #5, Madoc, ON K0K 2K0 (1 mile N. of Ivanhoe on Hwy. 62 - #11700)
Winter 2019/20 • Country Roads
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Back Roads
The Latta Grist Mill on the Moira River Pictured above is the former Latta Grist Mill that was located on the Moira River near Plainfield as photographed by Garry Sherman in or around 1970. John Latta (1782-1846) owned the land on either side of the river at this point and in his will he left his mills to his two youngest sons: Archibald (1821-1900) and Gilbert (1822-1906). Both of the Latta brothers are listed as millers in the 1861 Hastings County Directory. By the late twentieth century the Latta Grist Mill had fallen into a gradual disrepair until its’ final collapse in 1995. Photo credit: Courtesy of Community Archives of Belleville & Hastings County.
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Country Roads • Winter 2019/20
ADVERTISER INDEX
Hastings County
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6 BANCROFT Bancroft General Mercantile Bancroft Sport and Marine Necessities Retail Store Niffers Old Tin Shed Zihua Clothing Boutique BELLEVILLE Loyalist College Ruttle Bros. Furniture HASTINGS COUNTY SERVICES Dream Travel Connections Welcome Wagon MADOC 762 Craft Brewers Hidden Goldmine Bakery Kellys Flowers & Gifts Mackenzie Mills Emporium Madoc Home Hardware Oats and Honey Bulk Foods Renshaw Power Products MARMORA Esso Marmora, Pizza Pizza, KFC Possibilities Inc.-furniture & home décor Powell Powersports MAYNOOTH Gallo-Teck Electrical Contractor Hastings Highlands, Municipality of Madawaska Art Shop Gifts & Gallery ORMSBY Old Hastings Mercantile & Gallery SPRINGBROOK Springbrook Diner STIRLING Back 40 powersports Barrett’s Satellite Solutions/Xplornet dealer Black Dog Family Restaurant & Lounge Lavish Gardens Pro Gas Stop Rawdon Creek Soap Co. Rona Rollins Building Supplies celebrating life in hastings Sandra Lee Randle Photography Skinkle’s Feed Depot & More Stirling Dental Centre Stirling Manor Stirling-Rawdon, Municipality of The Apple Store TWEED Haid’s Hideaway Family Campground Quinn’s of Tweed Fine Art Gallery celebrating life in hastings county Rob Haid Contracting Inc. Stoco Jewellery Studio Tweed, Municipality of
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JOE VANVEENEN MAP
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3 HASTINGS COUNTY SERVICES
Country Roads
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Country Roads
Country Roads
celebrating life in hastings county
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celebrating life in hastings county
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