HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-07-21, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2016.
Unexpected visitor brings history to Blyth for Blairs
Welcome back
Jimmy Miller, centre, now of the Isle of Wight in England, spent several summers in the Blyth
area decades ago on the farm of Hughie and Annie Blair, the parents of Alex, left. Miller made
his way to Blyth through the Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund and became something of an
adopted son to the couple, who had lost their son one year earlier. Miller unexpectedly visited
Alex and his wife Bev earlier this month. (Photo submitted)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Alex Blair of Blyth had a reunion
of sorts earlier this month that was
decades in the making.
Blair was unexpectedly off work
early one afternoon and was working
in his garage when a car pulled up
the driveway and several people
exited. One man asked Blair if he
was Alex Blair and when he said yes,
the man identified himself as Jimmy
Miller.
Miller was born in eastern Toronto
near The Beaches in the early 1930s,
but now lives on the Isle of Wight, an
island off the south of England.
However, from 1939 to 1942, Miller
spent his summers in Blyth on the
400 -acre farm of Hughie and Annie
Blair, Alex's parents, on the Sixth
Concession of East Wawanosh, now
called Nature Centre Road.
Miller, who is now in his 80s, was
in Toronto visiting some friends and
made his way to Blyth in an attempt
to track down Alex and his wife Bev
in the village.
Anticipating that the couple
wouldn't be home, he prepared a
note to leave, but was surprised to
find Alex in his garage.
"Hello Alex, your parents Annie
and Hughie were very kind to me
during the war, from 1939 every
summer to 1942. The brother you
never knew, Billie, had drowned in
the creek in 1938, just after his sixth
birthday and your Irish mother
spoke with my Irish mother and
arranged for me to spend the
summers on the farm. I was just two
days younger than Billie," the note
read. "It was brave of your parents to
take in a young tearaway from
Toronto, and I am pleased that they
did, for I learned a great deal from
them that has stood me in the good
all my life. I hope to meet you some
day to express my gratitude in
person"
At a time when polio and
tuberculosis loomed large in an
overheated Toronto, the Toronto Star
Fresh Air Fund was working to send
15,000 children on "happy and
appreciated" vacations to 20 camps
in the summer of 1938.
The camp, however, didn't limit
itself to formal summer camps, and
additionally arranged get-aways for
Toronto-based youth to rural settings
across the province, which was said
to be a more healthy environment
than Toronto at the time.
Jimmy and his four-year-old sister
Lorna travelled to Meaford that
summer and spent three weeks with
a United Church Minister and his
wife.
The next summer, a seven-year-
old Jimmy read an article in the
Toronto Star about a rural couple —
the Blairs — whose son Billy had
drowned in a nearby creek the
summer before. The couple was
looking to provide a happy summer
to another little boy. Jimmy's mother
Lily bonded with Annie over their
shared Irish heritage and an
arrangement was made to send
Jimmy to Blyth for the summer to
the Blairs' 400 -acre farm, paid for
by the Fresh Air Fund.
A story printed in the Toronto Star
just over 10 years ago reported that
at the time the Blairs were
"prosperous enough to have a 1937
Dodge, a new John Deere tractor,
indoor plumbing and electricity."
The farm was largely comprised of
beef cattle, but also included 14
milkers and acreage in hay and
grain.
Jimmy was born on July 8, just
two days after Billy Blair, and
Jimmy came to fill a hole in the
Blairs' lives for that summer and the
History
Jimmy Miller, now of the Isle of Wight in England, spent
several summers in the Blyth area decades ago on the farm
of Hughie and Annie Blair. The Blairs had lost their son Billie,
above, one year earlier when he drowned in a nearby creek.
Miller unexpectedly visited Alex and his wife Bev earlier this
month and brought along this picture of Billie. (Photo submitted)
three summers that would follow.
Alex says that his parents would
often speak of Jimmy in glowing
tones, saying that he would always
hold a special place in their hearts.
When Jimmy spoke to Alex, he said
the feeling was more than mutual,
telling him that those summers north
of Blyth were some of the best years
of his life.
In the Toronto Star article, Jimmy
said that the experiences he
remembered best were carrying
water to the farm's threshing gang in
five -pound honey tins. He also
recalled some of the rich, homemade
food of Huron County, including
raspberry and elderberry pies.
When Jimmy returned home from
that first summer on the farm, he told
the Toronto Star that his mother
scrubbed and scrubbed him,
accusing him of not washing, but he
was tanned from being in the sun all
day.
"I was brown as a berry from the
sun. I went barefoot all the time. It
was wonderful," he said in the article
written 10 years ago.
Alex said that several years ago,
he and Bev attempted to track
Jimmy down after the Star article
was given to them, but they had no
luck. Bev began researching the Isle
of Wight, but found hundreds of
Jimmy Millers and dropped the hunt.
When Jimmy introduced himself
to Alex just a few weeks ago in
his Blyth driveway, Alex said he
was surprised and had a hard
time believing what was happening
right there and then.
Alex called Bev, who immediately
left work to come home. She too
couldn't believe what was
happening.
The trio visited and reminisced for
over an hour before Jimmy went on
his way. They have exchanged e-
mail addresses and plan to get
together again the next time Jimmy
is in Ontario. The visit will be longer
this time, Alex says.
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