TRIBUTE FROM A TROMBONE TRIO
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GARDEN GROWS BRICK BY BRICK
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Serving Tavistock and area since 1895 VOLUME 124 • NUMBER 37
TAVISTOCK, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020
ONLINE & PRINT EDITION
ATTITUDE
COVID
-19
IS GRATITUDE
WEEK 14
MAIN STREET A Quick Look at Our Town THIS ‘N’ THAT This is our first printed edition since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared on March 11th - with many businesses and all events shut down we made the decision to carry on with publishing but only with the online version - thank you to all those who continue to support this 125-year-old newspaper by sending in your subscription payment … this coming weekend is Father’s Day … who hasn’t smelled the stench emanating from the lagoon over the past week - particularly difficult to breath during the hot weather and unbearable if you don’t have air conditioning and need to open your windows for an evening breeze … Canada's Covid-19 numbers continue to fall with Stage 2 (ontario.ca) opening in our area last Friday, June 12th - Canada’s numbers are 98,787 with Ontario’s number at 32,189 - please stay the course and keep up with physical distancing, hand washing and wearing a face mask when distancing difficult - remember by wearing a mask you are protecting those around you just as by them wearing a mask it protects you and your loved ones! . . . thank you to all the frontline healthcare workers who continue to fight against this virus!
BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES Sophia Chemerys is 8 years old June 17th; a 14th wedding anniversary for Jedediah and Lisa Zehr . . . on June 18th Natalie Puklicz is 13; Isaac Hammer, 16; anniversaries for Laurie and Oletta Faulhafer, 71st; Bill and Wanda Brown; Jordan and Kim Destun, 9th . . . Eliot Dart is 10 years old June 19th; Brooklynn Lange, 16; anniversaries for Don and Bernice Ramseyer, 66th; Jeff and Jenna MacLeod, 10th; Bryan and Chantelle McNeish, 10th; Brett and Lindsay Zehr, 16th . . . on June 20th Jacob and Kaylea Kropf celebrate their 5th birthdays; anniversaries for William and Katherine Gunn, 11th; Steve and Laurie Lindner, 11th; Barry and Sharon Zehr, 28th . . . Carling Schlosser is 15 June 21st; a 17th wedding anniversary for Mike and Darolyn Gilmore . . . on June 22nd Alex Baechler is 10; anniversaries for Ron and Carol Roth, 52nd; Chris Roth and Jen Moore, 7th . . . Jolene Herlick is one year old on June 23rd; Carter Faulhafer, 12; anniversaries for Joshua and Amy Stemmler, 2nd; Jacob and Jessica Byers, 8th.
CLANG YOUR POTS! in support of our frontline workers Every night at 7:30 p.m.
Don Junker BILL GLADDING / TAVISTOCK GAZETTE
avistock resident Don Junker, who retired this spring after 44 years with Oxford Milkway, says: “Life changes in a second, so take advantage of every minute of every day.” Don’s extensive career driving truck, hauling milk, working in the office and administering the company’s health and safety program was offset by an equally dedicated life of public service. He spent 30 years with the Tavistock volunteer fire department and continues to serve on the Tavistock Agricultural Society, the past twenty years as chair of the parade committee. Raised in Cassel, his father passed away when Don was 14 years old. His family came to Tavistock and lived in an apartment at 24 Woodstock Street South before moving into his grandfather’s home on John Street. During those teenage years, Don earned money by catching chickens for Bill Ducklow at his Adam Street barns. He distinctly remembers that each ‘catcher’ was required to pick up 10 – Don birds, five in each hand. Don’s hands were small, so it was difficult. An older employee, Ken Otto, told Don to catch nine and he would catch 11; so as long as they worked together, that was the arrangement. Don remembers hoeing turnips for Russell Yausie one summer so he could buy roller skates. He also set pins at the Les & Haps bowling alley and packaged plants at McConnell Nursery. He later loaded turnip trucks and made boxes at Roy Facey’s turnip plant. After graduating from Waterloo-Oxford high school, Don worked at Canada Fabricating and Imperial Furniture in Stratford before being laid off. His brother George and brother-in-law Glen were working at Thomas Bus in Woodstock and Don managed to find work 3 or 4 days a week. To supplement his income, he went to Lange Bros. (Frank and Ellard) painting houses and barns. That’s when his break came. Don’s brother George told him that Jim Strickler of Oxford Milkway was looking for a driver. Ellard Lange was a good friend
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of a Milkway director. Don got the job and thus began his lengthy career there. At first, because he only had his D license, Don rode with a driver for two weeks to learn the route and pass his Z test. In those days it was a straight truck that carried 12,500 litres of milk. In comparison, today’s tractor trailers can haul 42,000 litres. “There were a lot more stops back then,” Don said. With the bigger trucks, he would do a split week, delivering a load at 2:00 a.m. and returning to pickup another load by noon. After five or six years of this, and a management change, Don took on the health and safety program and shared supervisor duties with Brad Smith. Don spent 10 years in the office, on call for weekends - Friday to Monday - and driving part-time as well. In his last five years there he took care of health and safety, picking up parts and driving trucks from depot to depot. “I turned into a jack-of-all-trades,” Junker he said. “It was a great place to work. Everybody worked together to do whatever had to be done. I never missed a pay cheque,” he added. Don married Debbie Roth on November 2, 1974 and the couple raised three daughters, Carrie, Amanda and Jessica, who have given him six grandsons. Carrie and husband Coby Lamarche live in Guelph with their sons Ronan and Spencer. Amanda and husband Marcel Parent live in Guelph with their sons Marcus and Landon. Jessica and husband Jake Byers live in Oakville with their two sons Lucas and Christopher. Sadly, Debbie passed away in 2016. “We had our 41st anniversary at the hospice,” Don said. In those early years, Don wanted to give back to the community, so he joined the Tavistock fire department in 1982 under Chief Mahlon Leis. Don has vivid memories of the fire at the Innerkip Feed Mill. Chief Leis had handed out a special belt and (continued on page 8)
Take advantage of every minute of every day.
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