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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1971-10-07, Page 19THE FRIENDLY GIANT Come and share fifteen minutes of enjoyment each weekday morning at 10:30 with The Friendly Giant (Robert tiomme) on the CBC-TV network. As usual Friendly will be joined by his old friends Rusty the Rooster and Jerome the Giraffe. A large attendance gathered in the Ontario Street Church ladies' parlor for the September meeting of the evening unit. Edith Wright, leader, read a poem , " Friends". Roberta Plumsteel, assisted by Doris Magee, led the devotional period. The roll call was answered by 43 hospital calls and 13 home calls. There will be a bale packed in late October, so anyone with good used clothing was asked to have it left at the church before that time, The ladies were reminded of the December 4 bazaar, It is hoped that anyone with some new ideas in the handicraft line would be at the next meeting and some work groups could be organized in preparation for the bazaar., Important dates to remember are October 13, U.C,W. executive meeting and October 15, the U.C.W. regional meeting, to be held at Bayfield United Church, starting at 9:30 a.m, Ladies wishing to go are asked to be at the church before 9 a,rn. on October 15, Mrs, F. Fingland and Rev. Stanley MacDonald are the guest speakers. October 24 is the joint Thankoffering with Wesley-Willis U,C.W. Lucille Bond will be the guest speaker. October 25 is the regular Meeting, to, take the form of a Tupperware Party. Everyone was urged to bring a friend and make this a good success as a unit project, A motion was carried that the study packet on Africa be purchased. Edna Wheeler reported on work being done to redecorate the parsonage, Mrs. Jean Barnett of Goderich entertained the ladies with an interesting commentary on her slides of Mexico. She talked of the many winters she and her husband have spent there and showed some of her handcrafted souvenirs from Mexico. Betty Stanley moved a vote of thanks to Mrs. Barnett. Lunch was served by Helen Trewartha and her group. The Clinton chapter of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority met on September 28 at the home of Sharon Carter. Following the opening ritual, roll, minutes, communications, and treasurer's report, the vice-president, Jill Roulston, discussed the plans for the rush-party to be held at her home on October 5, A "hard-tirnes" theme was chosen for the occasion. The' Ways and Means chairman, Linda Meade, distributed the cook books, to be sold in the community. There are five different books available, titled "Meat", "Salads", "Casseroles", "Desserts", and "Holidays", Anyone interested in seeing these books, is invited to contact any member of the sorority. The girls will be happy to show them. Service chairman, Sharon Carter, reported the final details are complete and good support is being shown for the C.A.R.S. canvass on. October 4. Plans were also started for a "ear wash" on October 16, Social Committee reported briefly on the spring dance and the Publicity Committee announced that the scrapbook had 'arrived and the camera had been returned for repairs. Several new motions were passed and entered into the by -laws concerning chapter traditions, The president handed out the official notebooks to the executive, Sharon Carter led an interesting cultural programme, titled "Your Day Socially". She used short contests about menus and table settings, emphasized with displays and followed by an interesting talk. The closing ritual was repeated and the girls made invitations for the rush-party over coffee. UC Heels Clinton .Nows,RicorO, Thursday, Octnbor 7, 1971 7A Beta Sigma Phi will sell cookbook 9 \, 0 000 IIIVE Ak TERS REGULAR PRICE 12.00 to 23.00 TO SI 6 Air • Remember the sweater sale we used to have? Well here is one equally as good. This is a very large group and all of them are in this season's most popular color and styles, Choose early from skinny ribs to sweater dresses. Get here early for the best selection. PORT COATS A GROUP AT 1/2 PRICE DRESSES Large Group From Our Current Stock Sizes 10 to 20112 $14 TO $60 \\\ MOSTLY SMALLER SIZES REGULAR PRICE $18 to $80 \\\\\\\\\ SHOPPE GODERICH OPEN FRIDAY NITS TILL 9 N A ti • s • R. . ambling witit Lucy I . aliiiiiiiilillalli. . WOODS By ;Nor B, oo Albert A. Livermore will never be a lonely person no matter to what age he lives! Since retirement he has his hobbies, and he poasesses a photographic memory upon which he will always be able to draw. For posterity Mr, Livermore has recorded many of these recollections of an era long gone by in his story entitled "Hogsback". In its simplicity the story pictures vividly scenes at the village of Bandon in Hullett which has long since disappeared, He was born in 1887 in a log house located near the Huron and Bruce Railway crossing—five miles north of Clinton on No. 4 Highway and east for one-and-three-quarter miles. A clump of lilacs 40 rods from the road marks the spot. (A walnut tree still grows close by the setting of their second home.) Due to some irregularity his father lost the farm which he had taken up from the Canada Company and was clearing to Wm. Stevens. So when less than a year old. Albert went with his parents to live on Lot 18, Concession 8 and 9 Hullett call Hogsback (a ridge of land running through that area) where his childhood days, memories of which are so dear, were spent. The house was a little old frame one on the hill side but in 1893 his father raised the roof and built a second storey as well as an addition to the main part. After moving he had built a lime kiln and cider mill across the road which were the main sources of family income for the next few years. The Melvilles on Lot 17 had promoted the once-thriving village of Bandon. A dam had been built to operate grist and saw mills, In Albert's young days there were still three families left. By the end of the century they had all disappeared. The Livermore children were a happy family. They all had their chores to do. (One of Albert's was to fill the big wood box back of the stove each day with a 24 hour supply of wood.) The south branch of the Maitland River, flowing near, provided a great source of entertainment. It teamed with all kinds of fish. Where the river hugged the high bank, springs ran continually to feed it—a great spot for speckled trout! They knew where the first hepaticas were to be found. And in the lazy part of the river saw the first king cups, marsh marigolds and white water lilies. At the first signs of spring the frogs began their chorus—later on they could be viewed sunning themselves on lily pads. They knew all the wild flowers, watched the birds and wild animals, The flat lands below the bridge was the setting for the school picnic, the last Friday in June. Parents with children in Bandon School (S.S. No. 4 Hullett, closed in 1939) went to school to hear reports of their offspring in the morning while the young men of the section cleaned up the brush, built a platform, tables and seats for the afternoon. Adults and children set up a booth at which ice cream, popcorn, fruit, etc, could be bought with nickles won in races. C. Hoare, Clinton took out a piano for $2.00 for the day and one year he took a surprising machine which played music, talked, etc. There was the usual school concert in the afternoon. And if the weather were fit the younger folk would stay to dance in the evening while their elders went home to the farm chores. Long before the white man came, this part of the river had been a camping ground for Indians. Mr, Livermore's father picked up many artifacts here, He donated a blue flint tomahawk to the Royal Ontario museum in Toronto, He took a large basketful of perfect arrowheads, tomahawks, etc. with him to California where in later years he moved for health reasons. He donated these to a museum in California, far from their original source of use, to Albert's regret. In 1894 the Ransford swamp was drained—it took two years to finish—making 2,000 acres of rich pasture land available. But even then a boy Albert felt the environmental change. The lovely river bottom torn up leaving ugly piles of conglomerate silt, stones, etc. The wooden bridge being jacked up to all the dredge to ,pass under it, didn't sit so well when lowered. It had to be replaced by an iron bridge in 1902. (It's true 2,000 acres of valuable pasture land was assured but this was perhaps the first of those errors of man in draining swamps which by nature conserve the water.) In 1904 the Livermore family moved to a farm on the London Road, three miles south of Clinton. The same Huron and Bruce Railway now divided their farm. Born within the sound of its puffing locomotive and train whistle, Albert still heard it every day. It got into his blood. He went west on Harvest excursions in the fall 1908 and 1909. Then in the spring of 1911, he patked his bag and went to Toronto where he obtained work with the Grand Trunk Railway. After three years as fireman he passed the progressive examinations necessary and became an engineer. Except for four years overseas in World War I, he ran in both freight and passenger services for the next 40 years. He pulled some of the fastest and best trains with great pride in his work. But, it wasn't only on duty that the train whistle called to Mr. Livermore. In the past decade he has been a world traveller. Apart from trips across Canada, he and his wife have visited the British Isles and parts of Europe. They enjoyed a cruise around the North American continent, landing at California for a few days and coming back by train from Vancouver. Later they did a world cruise visiting many ports and foreign lands, including South Africa, in the various continents. Mr. and Mrs. A.A. Livermore, former residents in Clinton, reside in Etobicoke. He dedicated the Hogsback "to my family; to my wife Ruth for encouragement, my sister Margaret (Mrs. A.D. McCartney) for obtaining and confirming some of the data, my sister Maple (Mrs. O.N. Howes) for arranging and typing my manuscripts, and to my two daughters, Iris (Mrs. G. M. Hunt) and Dorothy (Mrs. T. Flanagan) and my grandchildren. When Lucy finished reading this delightful booklet, she wished that she had lived in those days In the Hogsback area, It could be under a different setting with varying details and different locale the story of many a small hamlet or rural area of those days. But how many have taken the trouble to record the sports in summer and the sleigh riding and parties in winter? The details of wild berry picking and canning, the labour of operating a lime kiln and cider Milt and the cutting of wood for such a small price are something about which the present generation knows nothing, Mr. Livermore has been invited to address the Historical Society meeting in Loridesboro arena on Wednesday evening October 13.