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The Citizen, 2016-12-22, Page 8MEETING NOTICE Municipality of Morris-Turnberry The upcoming meetings for the Municipality of Morris-Turnberry will be held: Tuesday, January 10, 2017 Tuesday, January 24, 2017 Tuesday, January 31, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. Regular Council Meeting at 5:00 p.m. Budget Meeting at 7:30 p.m. Regular Council Meeting PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2016. WWII England made for lean childhood holidays Carved in history Ernie Phillips is famous for being one of only a handful to have engraved the Stanley Cup, but locally he's known as a philanthropist and a long-time member of the Blyth Lions Club. He spent his early years in England during World War II, which made for light Christmas celebrations, but since coming to Canada, he and his wife Emily have made the best of the holiday, including volunteering at the Lions Club's annual Christmas dinner and dance, as seen above. (Shawn Loughlin photo) By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Growing up in England during World War II, many Christmases were sparse around the Phillips household, usually consisting of a family meal and not much more. In addition to lean years due to the war, members of the Phillips family were also dealing with loss and charged with picking up the pieces in the years before Ernie Phillips, this year's Blyth Citizen of the Year, came to Canada. When Ernie was a young boy, he attended a family birthday party when two bombs hit the home. Ernie was the only person to make it out of the room alive, as the bombing killed his father and several aunts and uncles. His mother and sister also survived the bombing because they were in another part of the house. As a result, family Christmases have changed quite a bit over the years as the family has lost members, added members and Ernie has moved to Canada. As a young boy in England, Ernie was a choirboy for his local church and always performed as part of the 6'1 Maitside Orchards 23 Orchard Lane (West end of Brussels) Wishing all our customers and friends a Blessed Christmas and Joyous New Year. 25% discount on September apple varieties this week and next so stock up. Closed January 1-8, 2017 519-887-6883 choir at Christmas services. The Protestant Church played a big role in Ernie's life in his younger years, as, due to financial pressures and the ongoing war effort, Christmas spoils were few and far between. During those years, Ernie said his family never had a Christmas tree and any holiday decorations were hand-picked, or obtained by similar methods. In the absence of a Christmas tree, Ernie said he and some of the other neighbourhood children would hand-pick holly to decorate homes and, if Ernie was lucky and his aim was true, maybe even some mistletoe. Mistletoe grows on its own branch in high portions of some trees. Ernie was often charged with either throwing rocks at the top of the tree or swinging a long branch in an attempt to dislodge mistletoe. When it came to gifts, Ernie said he almost never received a toy when he was a child because toys were made of metal and all metal went to the war effort. In addition, candy was rationed, so there wasn't much of the sweet stuff around on the holidays either. What Ernie could count on around the holidays, however, was a new homemade pair of socks, a homemade pair of mittens and a homemade scarf. When he wasn't at home or singing in the church choir, Ernie said that he and other children in the church would make their way throughout the neighbourhood singing Christmas carols and collecting money for the church. Church was always a big part of Ernie's wife Emily's life as well, growing up the daughter of a pastor. For Christmas dinner, Ernie's mother would always special order a chicken in the fall, which was a big deal for the family in those days. It wasn't until Ernie moved to Canada that he had his first Christmas tree to mark the holidays. In fact, the first Christmas Ernie spent with Emily, included a 15 - foot -high tree in their Montreal apartment with ceilings that were likely about 10 feet high. After some trimming, Emily said, the couple was able to make the tree fit, but she remembers it being decorated sparingly because they only had a few bulbs and one string of lights. The couple's first Christmas dinner was also memorable for a number of reasons. It hadn't snowed for the weeks leading up to Christmas, but then that night Montreal received a dumping of snow that completely paralyzed the city. Ernie and Emily's car got stuck in the snow. So they attempted to travel on the subway, but they couldn't get to where they needed to go, missing out on a big Christmas dinner, as well as a Christmas party. The couple returned to Ernie's apartment and attempted to cobble together a Christmas dinner with what little food Ernie had in the apartment. The result was a version of breakfast for dinner that featured fried Prem, fried eggs, baked beans and fried potatoes. Christmas dinners have improved at the Phillips house since that first Continued on page 10 Wis, as eue'tgw e, a jwcpa.w3 fwitda y, BURKE'S RENTALS YOUR EVENT RENTAL SPECIALIST 519-887-8287 • 1-800-219-2947 www.burkestentrentals.com Season's Greetings to all my valued customers and friends from Joe's Automotive 611 Cedar St., Wingham 519-357-4527 Greetings from the Municipality of Morris-Turnberry Back row, from left: Dorothy Kelly, Jim Nelemans, John Smuck, Sharen Zinn. Front row: Clerk Nancy Michie, Mayor Paul Gowing, Deputy -Mayor Jamie Heffer.