Times Advocate, 1992-07-15, Page 39On the road with the Marshalls
oss Marshall lived
all his life in Us -
borne, in the Kinston area,
until his retirement to
Grand Bend in 1974-75.
Winnie grew up in the Rus-
seldale area in Fullerton
Township. They were the
first couple married in the
Mount Pleasant Church.
Home weddings had pre-
vailed to this point (1936).
The wedding wok place on
a weekday at the church
which was located • across
from Mount Pleasant
school. As the teacher had
asked for permission to at-
tend the ceremony, Otis
Sawyer was asked to look
after the students. This he
did by letting than all go to
the wedding.
Ross and Winnie met
whiles playing baseball for
opposing church young
people's groups. Involve-
ment in the local church
recreation league, was the
forerunner for sports enthu-
siasm throughout their
lives. As transportation im-
proved. teams branched out
from the small towns. A ten
member ladies team play-
ing out of Mitchell with
Winnic as a player and
Ross as coach went on to
win the championship in
1940.
Generally ball started
May 24 and ended July 1,a
great difference from the
extended seasons of today.
Ross also remembers play-
ing under the lights in Strat-
ford as early as 1931.
Hockey was another
sport that was more local-
ized during the -thirties. Or-
ganized hockey teams in
each town played on open
air ice surfaces.
The rink in Kirkton was
moved several times as
caretakers sought to im-
prove the ice surface with a
more generous water sup-
ply. Marshall, Ross' fa-
ther, ran a wire from their
gas operated generator at
the store to give the fust ar-
tificial light. He also was
instrumental in building the
boards for the ice surface.
At one point, she and Mr.
MacNanghton, the Kirkton
unroll owner, built a small
dart on Fish Crede to et -
sure a water supply for the
sink. When asked if every-
one took trims at mainte-
nance, the Marshalls quali-
fied "Yes. whoever came"
iatplied here were always
aa.ta who did more that
ashen.
Transportation for rural
students to and from school
each day was non-existent
until the late 1950's. Post -
elementary education re-
quired "boarding out".
Winnie's mother boarded
with an aunt in Mitchell
and took the train to Strat-
ford in order to attend
"model" school to become
a teacher.
Ross attended high
school while boarding in
St. Marys while Winnie did
likewise in Mitchell.
She then went on to ob-
tain her five year teaching
certificate at "normal
school" while boarding in
Stratford. Her daughter
Marilyn subsequently
boarded in London while
attending Teacher's Col-
lege.
Winnie remembers there
weren't any travelling high
school teams until she was
in grade 13 because the
roads weren't plowed in the
winter between Mitchell
and Seaforth until then.
Trains and horses were the
main means of transporta-
tion.
Farm work is
definitely
easier!
One might think of camp-
ing as a recent invention of
recreation. but Winnie re-
members borrowing the
Kirkton Agricultural Socie-
ty's tent for a group of
friends. It was put up on a
vacant kit behind the Ten-
der Spot in Grand Bend
Mother and aunt chape-
roned the group in their ear-
ly 20's. The beach scene
then was much different as
bathing suits could be rent-
ed at the casino and clothes
stored there for the day.
After high school Ross
farmed. For one winter.
1935-36, he drove a bread
delivery sleigh for Hum-
phries Bake Shop on a 16
mile round trip route. Pitch
holes were a problem. Once
the cab broke loose after
hitting a hole and slid for-
ward, frightening the hors-
es. Luckily the driver and
his helper jumped out and
no one was hurt
With the coming of cars,
horses gradually became
less used but the transition
wasn't necessarily smooth.
Cars did frighten horses.
Wiaaie ruasmbas baviag
soje p est 0(410 911111113
hold mad etteady *sir hone
after she, her baby and sis-
ter, had been run up a snow
bank by a car. Ross did like
horses though and main-
tained a working team until
the 1950's. c.
When asked how long it
was until they got hydro af-
ter their rural line was ser-
viced in 1938, Ross replied,
"Not long". Winnie's re-
sponse was "A long time".
It was two years, not long
to Ross who had the old,
gas generator from the
store to light the haat. A
long time to Winnie, who
had no electricity in the
house.
Those of us who farm
now measure winters by
the January storm of 1971
but the 1940's arc remem-
bered by the older genera-
tion as a time of very heavy
winters. At one point them
was no milk truck for a
week. Ross remembers tak-
ing 32 cans of milk on the
sleigh to Kirkton on the
"Burma Road" (the name
locals gave to the path at
the rear of farms to get to
Kirkton). Gangs often had
to shovel the snowplows
through on the St Marys
road.
With limited transporta-
tion, social activities cen-
tred around the churches
and special events. Well re-
membered are the fowl sup-
pers and the Christmas con-
certs. Oyster suppers,
featured public sales the
first night, with the workers
eating the leftovers the sec-
ond night. Sunday school
concerts were also popular
Church and society's norms
keep changing. Now we
have Sunday shopping on
our doorstep. However,
Ross, who grew up in a
strict Methodist family, re-
members having to stay
home on Sundays while his
friends, the Pauls, who
were Anglican, were al-
lowed to piny ball.
When armed about chang-
es in farming, the comment
was that the week is daG-
ailely easier. The milk
Opaline bodied by their
nest Dave nae aim the lift-
ing out of milking. Machin-
ery has improved a great
deal from a one furrow
plow pulled by a horse to
multi -furrow plows which
need many "horsepower" to
operate them. However,
Ross worries that today's
large. machinery is com-
pacting the land.
The Marshalls remarked
that some of the greatest
community changes today
have come about through
transportation. From a time
when distances travelled
were limited to that cov-
ered by walking or use of
horses, to airplanes and fast
cars, perhaps we arc going
full circle as people now re-
alize that walking is a great
form of exercise!
Times Advocate
Page 25
Ausable Bayfield
Continued from page 24
Farmers used to have a few cows, a couple of pigs and
few chickens but today they have large herds of cattle
on one farm. Progress doesn't come without its price and
we sec the peat impact change has had on the environ-
ment. When the landowners cleared the land for crops a
100 years ago they did a good job because one of the
things that you may notice in Usborne Township is the
lack of trees. In the last tree count the coverage was
only about 3% which is down from the recommended
10%. The Authority sells anywhere from 20,000 to
25,000 trees each year now, with about 20,000 of them
being seedlings. Where once our ancestors worked tire-
lessly to clear the land, so today the residents are work-
ing to help put the trees back. The Authority is also
working with landowners to plant trees back by the riv-
ers and drains to shade and improve the water quality.
Hopefully over the next decade there will be a visible
change in the landscaping as the young seedlings ma-
il= .
a -lure.
One of the longest running programs offered by the
Authority is to area grade 7 and 8 students. When stu-
dents go to Camp Sylvan for 3 days they learn about
conservation and get a lot of hands on experi-
ence.Usborne Central School is one of the longest run-
ning schools to attend this camp.
Today individuals are more aware of the consequenc-
es of their actions, it's no longer socially acceptable to
farm the land anyway you want to. for example, you
have to be careful in how you handle the manure, you
can't just pile it up. Landowners are more concerned
with what their neighbours do as well because they
know now that it has a direct effect on them. All it takes
is one landowner to make the first move in planting
more trees or conservation tillage and others will follow.
Like the earliest settlers of, this township we can work
together to make a difference.
Congratulations
to all the
residents of
USBORNE
TOWNSHIP
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150 successful
years
"The Township
of Hibbert'
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la16 Royce Court
London, Ontario
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HAVE A , I VE 1992
USBORNIMOWNSH IP
150 YEARS YOUNG
DASHWOOD
WINDOW & DOOR CENTRE
Sties - Service - Installation
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