The Brussels Post, 1976-08-11, Page 15Remembering
The garden aart y
CLA SSIFIED
22 Leg al Notices
24 Ca rds of Thanks
ly of the late Wanda
uld like to express their
tanks and appreciation
many relatives, friends
bors for their kindness,
butes and donations
ur recent bereavement.
hanks to the staff and
of' Seaforth Community
Watts Funeral Home,
the Lutheran Church
and Rev. A. Horst.
24-41-1
3
The fami
Smith wo
sincere t
to their
and neigh
floral tr
during o
Special t
doctors
Hospital,
ladies o
Women,
ess.
100,
NOTIC i In the es
PEARSON ,
Ontario, sp
All per
against th
; required to
:, same to th
before Au
which date
be distrib
' only to clot
received.
CRAWFO
Br
SOLIC
E
TO CREDITORS
ate of MARY ELLEN
l ate of Brussels,
luster, deceased.
sons having claims
e above estate are
send full particulars of
e undersigned on or
gust 26, 197(1, after
the estate's assets will
uted, having regard
ms that have then been
RD, MILL & DAVIES
ssels, Ontario
ITORS FOR THE
XECUTORS
22-40-3
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Mr. and Mrs. Doug 'Fraser, are
happy to announce the forthcom:
ing marriage of their daughter
Dianne Elizabeth to Donald Philip
Blake, son of Mr. and Mrs.
George Blake, R.R. 2, Brussels.
The wedding will take place on
qriday, Sept. 3, 1976 at 7 p:m. in
St. Ambrose Church, Brussels.
26-41 xl
Mr. and Mrs. Alvin McDonald of
R.R. 2, Brussels wish to announce
ithe forthcoming marriage of their
fi'.
daughter Carol Uynne to John
Andrew, son of Mr. and Mrs.
,Cecil Davies of Weymouth, Eng-
land. The wedding will take place
'.August 27 at 6 p.m. in Duff's
'United Church, Walton. 26-41x1
erson al
uld like to thank the
nd neighbours for cards
we got and 'when you get
of married life, it is time
ate with sister here from
a, Mr. and Mrs. John
We had good lunch by
omen and good music by
Smith, Lenard Jacklin
from Regina. Thanks to
Mrs. Mary and John
arriston, Eric O'Connell,
er, Ken and Betty of St.
Don and Lynn, Bloom-
Leslie and Mable, Wing-
len, Listowel. We thank
dy. — Mary and Richard
24-41-1
IS
1.l
(by W. H. Strong )
Social? This was the big, annual summer event of the
What has happened to the Garden Party or Lawn
country or village church which drew people from miles
around to a good, old-fashioned home-baked supper to
be followed by a concert including much local talent.
The drive-in theatre provides accessible outdoor
entertainment so that few want a garden party any
more. People sit in their cars as isolated as if they were
islands and eat whatever is available. The hotdog stand
is no more like the old garden party than a frozen TV
dinner is like a wedding feast.
Garden parties were held at some farm or village
home with beautiful grounds and ample space for
tables set up on the lawn. The home in the midst gave it
an air of hospitality. Sometimes a special concert
platform had.,to be set up using lumber borrowed from
the near-by mill but, more often, the house veranda
well-lighted with Japanese lanterns served as a stage.
The piano had only to be brought out the front. door
from the parlour and, with a few easy chairs, gave the
area that certain stage setting.
The committee members made their plans early in
the year so that they could recruit the local talent which
they wanted for'the occasion. A garden party was not
quite as dignified as the more sophisticated' midwinter
concert held in the church basement. A barbershop
quartette was always popular and occasionally a family
group participated but to have the brass band from
town playing throughout the supper hour was
something to bring patrons from as far as a good horse
and rig could travel after an early milking time.
Everyone Came
How" the women fed those hordes who came was a
mystery and such variety as well as quantity! Relating
the event, to a neighbour who could not attend a
common comment was, 'I wish you could have seen the
pies. The cakes were absolutely out of this 'world for
deliciousness: Everyone seemed to enjoy the second
serving as much as the first.' Whole families came to
the party, even babes in arms for sitters were unheard
of at that time.
Children running about never seemed to make any
trouble but the waitreses had to exercise agility. Of
course many of these urchins should have been home in
bed but the occasional night out was a welcome break in
the routine of country living.
One could always be sure of meeting all the church
members socially as well as strangers from neighbour-
ing churches. But they were not strangers for very long
as usually someone took them in charge and introduced
them. This was one way of meeting new friends before
the advent of the automobile to wipe out many of these
community boundaries.
- 'Always you'll find them at church affairs
Bringing in water and extra chairs,
Giving a hand at the carving too,
Just anything...they are glad to do,
Washing the dishes with tucked up sleeve,
The first to come...the last to leave."
(Jaques)
No. The drive-in theatre does not take the place of
the old church garden party. Church suppers, ham and
strawberry socials and out-door barbecues have
displaced the lawn social but, somewhere, progressive
community units still feel that there are old ways in
country living worth saving.
Recitations At times an elocutionist from outside the
area was engaged to supplement the musical portion of
the programme. Of course there were some local
amateurs who took lessons and were in great demand
but, too often, they sounded rather artificial as if they
were doing just as the teacher told them to do. Rank
amateurs lacking personality concentrated on comic
recitations or those with an 'emotional appeal like
"Curfew shall not ring tonight." Few recitation books
were available and new numbers were hard to come by
with the result that the old favourites like the
"Highway Man" were repeated over and over.
_Scottish Dance
Who can recall the Scottish dances executed by Cora
Dodds to the accompaniment of the bag-pipes wielded
by Jock MacDonald, the genial hostler at the
Commercial Hotel who maintained he had to wet his
whistle prior to such an undertaking?
Old time fiddlers always drew crowds from miles
around. When the fiddlers really got warmed up they
could make that little, old fragile box move the
audience and men and women with years of living
behind them responded to the rhythm by tapping with
their feet. Fiddle playingbseemed to have a knack to it
whether they played by note or by ear.
Here and there a genius among them hod his own
way of putting harmony into such old tunes as "The
Girl I Left Behind Me", "Money Musk", "The
Soldier's Joy" and what a creative fiddler could do with
"Pop Goes the Weasel." Some could play such tricks
with "Listen to the Mocking Bird" that you imagine
there was a whole meadowful of twittering birds at
even-tide. Such names as Chesney, Collins, Forsyth,
Norris, Spiers and others conjure up memories.
The old time fiddlers had a place in our Canadian way
of life. Often they offered the only social outlet for
scattered settlers gathered for dances, a sort of
dissipation. It was not unusual for young people to
dance until well past midnight, sometimes until the
early hours of the morning. Some delighted to relate
with pride that they got"gome just in time to change
their clothes and start the morning chores.
Dances provided courting ground and were about the
only social diversions in winter. Many will recall the
dance halls; Cardno's Hall, Case' s Hall, The G.W.V.A.
Hall in Seaforth, Watson's Hall in Kippen, the. Town
Halls in Brucefield, Hensall and Staffa. And what was a
dance without such callers-off as Will McDonald and
Billie Workman?
"Swing your partners-up and down the middle!
Sashay now-oh listen to that fiddle.
Go down Moses, set my people free;
Pop goes the weasel thru' the old Red Sea."
(Benet)
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We can't afford to be careless THE BRUSSELS POSt f AUGUSI 1i, 1976 -15