Huron Expositor, 2001-12-26, Page 1010-TNE HURON EXPOSITOR, DECEMBER MI, 2001 •
SEAFORTH INSURANCE
BROKER LTD. 527-1610
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Chrisla Leonhard, Lynn Pletsch, Ken Cardno, Barb Watt
and Joanne Williamson
Holiday
Collection
Schedule
The Bluewater Recycling Association and all its
staff would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year. During the holiday season,
we postpone the regular collection of waste and
recyclables in order to allow our staff to savour this
joyous holiday season with their family and friends
As a result, there will be no collection on Tuesday,
December 25 and Tuesday, January 1. However
there will be an alternate collection on Saturday,
December 29 for communities missed on the above
dates except residents of the rural Elma Ward
which will be collected on Saturday, December 22.
There will be regular collection on Wednesday,
December 26, except for Goderich, Seaforth, and
Blyth. Their regular collection
schedule will resume on Wednesday,
January 2.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
We would also like to remind you
that wrapping paper is not recyclable.
Should you have any questions,
please feel free to contact us at
1-800-265-9799.
What Christmas Means To Me
Early Christmas memories have
a clarity that cannot be dimmed
From Page 1 .
the rounds of the stores.
Most fascinating for me
were the two big salmon
hanging in front of Nellie
Pryce's grocery store. They
were frozen stiff. One looked
as if it would come up to my
shoulder. Its head was still on
and its mouth was wide
open.
Two stores up was
Beattie's butcher shop,
crowded with town folk
buying their freshly killed
Christmas turkey or chicken.
Mr. Beattie would sometimes
give me suet to hang in our
back yard for the birds.
But the place for special
Christmas treats was Tom
Phillip's fruit store, across
from the Commercial hotel..
Oranges and bananas and
nuts and hard candy were the
eagerly -prized stocking
stuffers of the day. For many
of us, it was a once=a-year
treat.
Most crowded were the
grocery stores up and down
Main Street where farmers
and town folk were stocking
up on holiday food. In every
shop the smells of Christmas
hung sweet in the air.
Stores like Hutchisons'
and Cleary's on the east side
and on the west, Nellie
Pryce, Cardno Brothers,
Smith's, and Dick's.
About the centre, next to
Aberhart's drug store was
one of Canada's first
Dominion Stores. And a half -
mile south, in Egmondviile,
was Finnigans General Store.
My favorite place was the
Cheiros family restaurant.
Chris Cheiros was as much
an artist as he was a candy
maker. He created a feast for
the eyes and the palete at
Christmas, with his skill at
making chocolate Santas and
ornaments and candy canes.
His nativity scene made
entirely of chocolate and
brightly -colored candy drew
crowds of salivating kids -
including me. As we pressed
our faces to the cold window
the luscious aroma of
chocolate seemed to leap out
into the icy air each time the
door opened.
I remember the many
winter sounds, made sharp
and clear by the icy, bitter
cold. "Jingle Bells" is still
one of our favorite holiday
songs but the real jingle is
gone. As the horses left, so
did the bells - now hanging
somewhere with the harness,
dusty museum pieces
discarded and silent.
Somehow the sound of
church bells seemed to
bounce and echo more
through the town over
Christmas. Cardno's clock
and the Post Office clock
rang the hour dnd the half-
hour. I know, for I felt the
proud thrill of climbing to
the clock towers of both
when my Dad wound them
each week.
There were other familiar
sounds. Like big Jim Ryan
tolling the town hall bell at
noon and one o'clock to mark
the lunch hour - and again at
six to announce it was time
for supper.
And, every day but Sunday
four giant steam engines
came through town, bringing
people home for the holiday
and announcing their arrival
and departure with loud
blasts of the steam whistle.
Not to be outdone, the
shrill sound of the Robert
Bell Engine & Thresher
Company whistle blasted
four times each and every
work day. So many of those
lovely old sounds are gone.
Sounds that orchestrated a
kind of musical backdrop to
the festive warmth and spirit
of our small-town Christmas
- a distant 70 years ago.
The last big musical event
of the year was always the
public school Christmas
concert held to a packed
house in Cardno's Hall.
I would like to believe they
all turned out to hear Albert
Venus and I sing our well
rehearsed duet, "The Twelve
Days Of Christmas". I
sensed we were more loud
than sweet but the
choreography and coaching
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404
N«y
from the producer of the
show - the amazing and
wonderful Mabel Turnbull -
turned us into stars and
brought on great applause
from our proud parents.
We were so very lucky.
Too young to know we were
living in hard times. We
knew Santa would seek us
out wherever we were on
Christmas Eve and there
would be something under
the tree with our name cra it.
We just knew it.
Our tiny frame house was
on the edge of town across
from the high school. I was
five before we had electric
lights or a telephone. I was
seven before we had running
water.
We never did have a
furnace and our toilet was a
50 -foot walk from our back
door. I recall these things as
if it was yesterday but I don't
remember ever thinking of
them as hardships. My
fondest memories are there.
I have carried an
amazingly clear picture in
my mind that will be 70.
years old this coming
Christmas morning. That its
clarity has not dimmed could
suggest it is my own personal
icon. My measure of the
greatness and the innocence
of so long ago.
It is about 6 am. My four-
year-old sister and I are
quietly tip -toeing down the
stairs from our bedroom. The
narrow stairs turn at the
bottom and opens on to what
we then called "the front
room."
We sit in the .dark at the
bottom - behind the closed
door. Our parents are still
asleep.
We know we are about to
take part in something
wonderful and exciting. We
haven't the slightest idea
what adrenaline is, but it
quivers our bodies and
speeds up our pulses and
heartbeats.
I slowly lift the latch and
open the door just enough for
us both to peek through and
see the Christmas tree. The
thrill of that precious
moment will never be
replaced.
Because those few seconds .
it took to get to the bottom
step holding my sister's
hand, then slowly opening
the door and looking wide-
eyed at the colored packages
under the tree was one of the
most joyous trips I ever took.
Memories ? That's about
as good as it gets.
Pork
Congress
returns
June Zo, 21
After a one-year absence,
the 2002 Ontario Pork
Congress will mark its retum
to the Stratford Fairgrounds,
June 20 and 21.
John Bancroft, the
president for this year's
event, acknowledged the
challenges facing the pork
industry in an ever-increasing
consumer -driven market. Yet
he also praised organizers for
the continued success of the
Pork Congress, a volunteer -
run exhibition, in attracting
the trendsetters and
technological innovators each
year.
"Encouraging new and
innovative ideas has been an
industry ii itiative of the Pork
Congress," said Bancroft.
"Trying new ideas,
supporting them and
searching out new
information is a must."
It was only after
considerable debate that last
year's event was cancelled
because of the hoof -and -
mouth disease outbreaks in
Europe, a proactive step in
recognizing the risks facing
the Canadian livestock
industry.
But this year's event will
once again offer the latest
information on management
trends and technology, an
evening of culinary delights
and the opportunity to
network