HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1975-06-26, Page 76RNs
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Our
Congratulations
to the
Town of Seaforth
100 Years of
Growth
Progress
rid Service
JAMES F. Mac EN LTD.
Environmental Consadtarats
London Toronto Waterloo
Monition Windsor Halifax
A Complete Service in Environmental Engipeering.
— —
4
At the gg ondville dam
Remember Gypsies and skinny dipping?
the floating water lilies. Lovers
swooned with ecstacy over the,
glinting moonlight reflected on
the silvery patches on the surface.
The soft plinking of a mandolin
blended well with the subdued
sounds of fading twilight. It was
a matchmaking dream. The
romantic atmosphere prompted
many swains to pop the question.
Winters at the dam were
beautiful but very, very cold.
Sports included
snowshoeing, sleighing and
hockey. Hockey was called shinny
and was played with, or without
skates. The pucks were either
frozen horse buns or the heels off
old boots. It was a rough and
tumble game with no set number
of players forming a team. There
were no rules, no referees, no
quarters given and no favours
asked or given. You had to be
tough to indulge in it for any
length of time.
Near Drownings
Spring saw the water cascading
over the dam in a raging torrent
of foaming, breathtaking power,
unharnessed and unmanageable.
It was a giant let loose by the
rains of early April. Mothers were
fearful lest their sons with their
daring exploits of balancing on
floating ice cakes should be
carried away to a watery grave.
Their fears were not unfounded;
many were the soakings and all
too often, near drownings. •
In summer the water going
over the slides of the dam gurgled
and murmurred into the hole
below where boys and youths
swam and cavorted. There was
fun swimming, fishing,
bullbasting frogs, teasing
snappers, chasing shitepokes
from the' reeds, throwing prickly
4
0
(By Bill Hart)
The Egmondville dam fits in
very well with Seaforth's
Centennial celebration. The dam
picnics were attractions that few
could resist. Families 'dressed in
Summer finery could be seen
sauntering down through the
village heavily laden with baskets
of goodies. Peanut scrambles,
foot races, tug-o-wars,
swimming, splashing, eating and
gossiping were the order of the
Gypsies used the dam grounds
for camping each season. They
came by night and almost without
warning. When the sun arose it
shone on a circle of rigs, wagons,
a collection of nondescript horses,
an odd assortment of men,
women, children, yapping dogs,
ratty-looking game cocks, and
without fail, a goat. The gossip of
Seaforth and Egmondville took on
• a new dimension with the coming
of the gypsies. Patriarchs and
preachers drummed
up fist-thumping sermons to
counteract their iniquity and sin.
Wickedness and unrighteousness
were said to be lurking in all the
minds and bodies of these people.
The lectures and sermons on hell
and damnation fell on deaf ears as
the youths of the surrounding
community allowed themselves to
be lured to the excitement and
stimulation of the encampment.
The men wer olive-skinned and
swarthy with flashing eyes and
furtive glances while the women,
with their willowy and sexy
bodies, enticed liberties of
`thought and action. Their
seductive and come-hither looks
swept languishing lovers off their
feet. All were attractively dressed
in colourful native costumes.
Their strange music had a
haunting melody and their
Spanish-type dancing was
appealing. Ladies went of have
their fortunes told, young men
and maidens were given love
lessons and boys became
flabbergasted with tales of far
away places. Farmers awaited
their visits with eagerness and
anticipation for it afforded them
an opportunity to buy, to trade or
to sell horses. At best these
nomads and vagabonds were
crafty hawkers and peddlers, slick
with tongues and .deft with
fingers. They stayed, invariably,
until the village and town fathers,
at the request and urging of irate
citizens, invited them to clear out
and be gone. When they vanished
they left behind empty hearts,
empty pocket books, and in some
cases empty garden patches.
A Livirag River
Whne people spoke of the
Egmondville dam they just didn't
mean the structure that held back
the water, but rather the whole
acreage from the bridge around
all the bends of the river up to,
and beyond, the Frank Nigh
place. It took in the land behind
Jim McGregor's residence that is
now part of the farm of Glen and
Jim Rose. It was a parkland of
fish, birds, frogs, -turtles, trees,
shrubs, bushes and grass. The
river was a living thing and the
dam was its partner. Together
they created a magnet that drew
visitors from the far and near.
Artists found it ideal to set up
their easels and poets sat in
solitude hopeful of gaining
inspiration from the setting.
Many spent hours merely
listening to the symphony of
music played by the master
musician, nature.
Behind the dam was a peaceful
pond of clear placid water fringed
with reeds, lily pads and
bullrushers. Here the canoe"
enthusiasts held sway. In
eventide the dip of their paddles
left swirling eddies that rippled
Egmondville dam, looking west.
btfrrs, having mudball fights,
climbing, shoving, pushing,
squabbling, talking, singing,
telling stories of war and thunder
and above all else, playing follow
the leader.
Educators stress the
importance of sex education. A
week with the 'River Rats' around
the dam fitted roosts boys to pass
a test. Running around with bare
backsides left nothing to the
imagination. Questions about sex
were asked bluntly and without
blushing. The answers were
(Continued on Page 22)
We wish everyone
the best in the future
WERE HAPPY TO
BE A PART OF
SEAFORTH'S GROWTH
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
SE FO DJ
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, JUNE 23, 1975 —3
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