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The Brussels Post, 1974-03-20, Page 14See thenew iine of Whether it's a • MONUMENT • MARKER •• INSCRiPTION — You are remembering a laved. one — LET' T. PRYDESON LTDs _ Lint vial Hal $150. alth Sur\ ot Care aemia ine Test ood Pres aring T eer Drivc Remembering Harvesting ice (VV .G.Strong, who is a retired teacher now living in Ottawa, is a native of Tuckersmith Township, He is a brother of Mrs. Belle Moore of Seaforth.), By W. G. Strong In a recent issue of the Huron Expositor, that popular column for senior citizens, "In The Years Agone" 1899, carried an interesting item to the effect that Mr. D.D.Wilson was having river ice stored forl summer use in his egg emporium. I presume that this raw mat erial was procured from an area on the Bayfield River, upstream from the Egmondville Bridge where an early wooden dam had' been built to raise the wat er level as well as to retain the waters following the spring rains and tun-of. This annual spring event,ice- harvesting, was exciting for a young lad. When my father operated the Red Tavern , at the turn of the century, this midwinter' activity appealed to me. When I read about ' ice cutting my mind goes back to those memorable days.At the present time work crews, employed by the city fathers, are cutting channels in the Rideau River in the Nation's Capital and blasting the ice-field , to prevent spring flooding. Frequent visits , • to the scene of the operations arouses nostalgic memories. Our source of supply depended on a number of factors; the winter temperature, the head of water available, the absence of deep layerings of snow. The, most popular designated areas were above the dam at Egmondville, at McNevin's dam just south of Kippen on the London Road or at Bell's pond, a couple of miles west of Hensall. making ice On a winter's day with the temperature hovering around the zero mark, horse-drawn scraper designated the spot to be harvested. A wooden contraption like a harrow marked out the rectangular cakes and soon the farmers and their adult sons assumed the task of cutting out the oblong, grey-green blocks with large-toothed, heavy ice-saws. The day of the motor- propelled circular saw, adapted to such an operation, had not arrived. These floating cakes were pushed . along a channel of, dark-looking water to the shoreline where they were lifted manually and placed on the flat sleigh beds to be drawn over snow-covered roads by teams full of ginger. Bells on the collars or neck-yokes made music to accompany the high-pitched sound of steel runners on hard packed snow. The big blocks were pushed along a smooth plank incline to the ever-higher tiers in the old weathered ice-house. A scattering of saw-dust was dusted between each layer so that the cakes would separate more easily in summer. Saw-dust was likewise" shovelled down around the sides of the inner walls and tramped firmly. This byproduct came from the sawmill operated by Mr. John Doig about midway between the Red Tavern and Kippen. When the last load was placed, sawdust in copious amounts was shovelled down around the tiers, tamped down and a generz1.,-1-14,y et' piled on top to ward off the summer's heat. Crank turning was a dominant chore well into the twentieth century on the farm. The young lad, often unwillingly, turned the grindstone, the corn-cutter, the turnip slicer, the fanning mill or the cedar churn. However, there was ,one crank he turned with eager ardour, the old ice cream freezer. On a hot mid-afternoon when hoeing or thinning turnips almost exhausted one's strength, it was heartening to hear a low voice say, "Son, see if mother will mix up a batch of ice cream for supper." 'A Portion of a block of ice was pulled down from the ice-house and the sawdust sloshed off near the water trough. This ice was pounded in a canvass sack with the flat side of the axe. The freezer was set in a large dishpan or, occasionally, in the wheelbarrow in some shady nook. The mixture of rich cream, sugar and flavouring extract was poured into the metal unit. Ice and salt were packed around the wooden container and the cranking vegan. At first it was an easy movement. You could hear the loose cream slurp among the wooden ' paddles as trickles of water oozed from the little hole near the bottom of the wooden tub. From time to time more salt and crushed ice were added and gradually you could feel the mixture thicken until it' became quite difficult to turn the crank. The reward was worth the effort. An understanding parent always left plenty on the p'addle'arid it was always a distinct pleasure to lick the dasher. The freezer was covered and left undisturbed for the eVenitig-tneal. A 'soup bowl of ice cream' 'smothered under a generous amount of crushed, juicy raspberries always made an acceptable nourishing dessert. Few hanker to return to the hand-cranking of yesteryear but, for old time's sake, it provides pleasant reveries. Fertilizer late? Wheat growers who deliveries of nitrogen fertilizer not arrive in time for seeding m delay its application for up to h weeks after the crop is in ground. Yield of wheat crops determined during,the first th to four weeks of growth, au fertilizer applied anytime dart this period will be benefic' Once the crop has passed t stage, applying fertilizer will h increase protein content, but yield. As seen on channel washers&dryers at OLDFIELD'S PRO HARDWARE 287-6851 — BRUSSELS cream in 1900's News of Ethel W.I. decorates Easter eggs 357-2711 ••• ron ••••11,1(pm11,00.• 1•1111 .1•MILMIL IIIMIZI11141141114. UNIT-alp C0-QPERT. IVES OF ONTARIO BELGRAVE BRANCH • 88'7.6453 inghan ]ding a 30, 197 paper Fox 5. ill be a e Chu 26 at 8 K Lion Frida3 M. in Hall. games ealth; of $95 solation iron Co you to Guidan fflce, s, on DAY, pm 1:30 This year grass seed is expen- sive. So before you place your order, give us a chance.- We, custom formulate any mix- ture and guarantee the seed. Correspondent Mrs. Chester Earl The Ethel Cemetery Board held their annual meeting on Tuesday night at the Clerk's office. A Law Changed The Ethel Women's Institute held their March meeting in' the Community Centre on Wednesday, March 13th. Before the meeting the ladies set tables for a Father and Son Banquet for the Optimist Club of Brussels on March 14th then Mrs. L. Weber conducted the meeting. Roll call Students should eat balanced meal Parents concerned about their teenagers' food choices will be interested to know that later this month twenty-one Toronto school cafeterias will provide students with nutrition information along with the food they serve. The new program, focusing on the balanced lunch habit, was developed by Beaver Foods Unit Manager Joe Koddermann and food specialists at the Ontario Food Council, Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Signs and posters in each cafeteria will encourage students to eat the "balanced lunch way" by including at least one food from each of the basic four food groups in every lunch. It is hoped that this interest in better nutrition will, carry over to other areas in each school and eventually be picked up by other droolcafeteria.s. was answered by "A Law I would Like Changed". The ladies also demonstrated Easter eggs they had decorated. The ladies voted to canvass for the Cancer Society. . A Nominating Committee was named to bring a new slate of officers. Other business was left until next meeting. Personals Mrs. Robt. Goldner and Mrs. Wm. Morse of Listowel visited Mr. and Mrs. Carl McDonald and Mr. and Mrs. A. Bremner on Thursday. Miss Betty Lynn, Mr. and Mrs. Foster of Toronto visited Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Lynn. Mr. and Mrs. Stan Alexander have returned home after a trip to California for three weeks. The euchre was convened by Mrs. Ed. Gill on Monday, March 11th. Prizes were given. Proceeds are for the Hall Board. Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Dunne and family of Dundas visited Mr. and Mrs. Percy Stephenson• over the weekend. Miss Penny Godden and friend of Shelbourne visited Mrs. May Godden and Bonnie over the weekend. Miss Terry -Lynn and Joan Pearson are spending this week in Spain with the group from Listowel High School. Mr. William Little of Monkton visited Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. Percy Stephenson. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Bremner and Doris visited Sunday with Mrs. Morley McMichael, R.R.#2, Wroxeter. Mr. and Mrs. Doug Pearson of Exeter visited Mrs. A. Pearson on Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. W. Krauter accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Russ Krauter of Atwood on Sunday visited at Wingham with Mrs.Olive Phillips who was 93 years old on Sunday and Mrs. M. McEwan who was 91 on Friday. Mr. and Mrs. Doug. Evans and family with Mr. and Mrs. Herb Brenneman at Petersburg. Visitors with Mr. and Mrs. D. Wardlaw were Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Henry and Keith of Wingham, Mr, Adrian McTaggart, Mr. Jack McTaggart of Palmerston. LOVE'S LAST GIFT REMEMBRANCE. 'fell) You Decide on Vain' Memorial RequirenientS PHONE.t. EXETER: 2:354620. • rges ar erals ne num ROWERS WANTED SEED OATS and MALTING BARLEY We will pay high Firemiums right off the combine for ST INSI SEQUE nimum NUME THS RRIAGE MEMOF ING additior D OF rds join STINSI SEQUE er wor CONTACT r I Lfri 0 MP SCY-Ni E.', N r nI ( DISC( EFORE thing fc No ative Mitchell 348-8433 Hensall 2622 EIRUttELS. kitt MARCH 10"