HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1983-09-28, Page 36PAGE 18 --
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When an Ontario Heritage Foundation plaque was unveiled
outside the Van Egmond House in 1973, those present
included, from left, R• Alan Douglas (rep. of Historic Sites
Board of Ontario), John Flannery (Seaforth reeve), James
Doig (Master of Ceremonies), Susan Van Egmond (age 5,
descendant of the Colonel), Dr. Rodger Whitman
Story teller
Continued from page 15
personality and prosperity of the area".
Col. Van Egmond's stand for justice during the Rebellion
of 1837 has made him a personal hero of Mr. Doig.
"It's always been a bitter pill for me to swallow that the
leader of the rebellion, Mackenzie escaped to the United
States, got his printing press thrown in the lake, got his land
back when he returned and was elected to parliament. Van
Egmond was arrested, died of pneumonia he caught in jail
and his family had the major part of his land taken away
from them," he says.
As a child, Mr. Doig remembers running through the
house as his grandmother visited with the bedridden Mrs.
Constant Van Egmond. And he remembers playing his
W
(vice-chairman, Van Egmond Foundation), Elgin Thomp-
sci►, (reeve of Tuckersmith Township), Jack Riddell
(M. P. P. Huron -Middlesex), Harold Turner, (Goderich,
President of Huron County Historical Society), Frank Sills,
(Seaforth Mayor), Reverend Clifford Britton (a descendant
of Col. Van Egmond).
violin next to Earl Van Egmond's piano while Earl played.
OAK WINDOW SILLS
And, as he worked towards preserving the house, Mr.
Doig continued to hear good things about the Van
Egmonds. When refurbishing the house, he hunted all over
south-western Ontario for oak window sills and finally
discovered a man from Hensall who had what he was
looking for.
When he wanted to pay for the window sills, the man told
him his ancestors had come to the area in 1832 and were
poor. That first winter, Col. Van Egmond gave them enough
food to get through the winter and seed grain for their first
crop.
Mr. Doig got the wood at cost.
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Rug braider
Continued from page 12
work with heavy tools. His doctor said it was important to
keep his hands nimble, so "I'd cut and he'd braid".
Braided rugs are made from knitted or wool fabric; cotton
is too hard. Old clothes or scraps are cut in the round, pant
legs or nylon stockings are great, two or three inches wide.
"1 never measure, just go by my eye," depending on the
thickness of the material. Three strands of these fabric
strips are braided.
Mrs. Taylor pays attention to color, but some rug
bra►de•s are more random. She uses her fingers to turn the
raw edges und& as she braids; some people use a metal tool
for that. A brake. 45 or 50 feet long, one paper grocery bag
packed right full", isneeAdedtto make
a oval 26' x 45" mat.
T
D
Starting with a centre piece about 13" long, Mrs. Taylor
sews the braid together with special heavy thread she buys
from the shoe factory.
She's had all kinds of requests but very big rugs are
difficult to keep from buckling when you sew the braid
together. One special order for a Bayfield couple was for an
85 x 50 rug in beige and turquoise to put in front of a
fireplace. "I said never again, Mrs. Taylor says.
Her raw materials come from bargain tables at rummage
sales, and from family discards. The Taylors sold antiques
and odds and ends along with their rugs, doilies, etc. at
craft shows and special events here and and knittingrneedles
e she's
picked up crochet cotton, yarn,
at bargain prices. If the skill hasn't been passed on, family
members don't know what to do with those items after
someone dies.
ANTIQUES TOO
The antiques were all sold at an auction a couple of years
ago, and for the first time in years, Mrs. Taylor missed
setting up a booth at the huge Southampton Craft Fair.
Although its 150 exhibitors get 6,000 to 7,000 visitors in one
day, she concluded "it's just too much for one person." She
had to run a booth alone and was away from early morning
til "12 or one at night." She did however attend the show as
a visitor with a couple of friends.
Pressing apples at Clderfeat past.
PAGE 19
Mrs. Taylor is not one to wait for things to happen to her.
She completes two or three quilts every winter "for the
grandchildren 1 guess. I make them and store them away
and then 1 get thinking 1 have too many" and she'll sell
them.
Partly because members are a variety of ages. she really
enjoys Seaforth's Lioness club. "It gets you out and you
meet different people."
She doesn't get time to go to auctions any more "and 1
miss them." An old friend jokes that she phones involved
t evei
Tong and can rarely find her at home. Get out, get
and make your own life, is her philosophy. While she sees
her daughters and their families often, I'm not sitting here
waiting for them." EXERCISE
Sometimes people tell her to give up her garden, since
she's got plenty to do without it. But that's my
she says' 1 need that garden, mowing the lawn and working
in the
ur own
vegetablles to do preserves to
and relish like she made last
week. g
Well, although she
Does Mrs. Taylor ever take it easy?
disagree. wtth a recent story in the Expositor that called rug
braiding restful, she says "it's great on a stormy day.
n
you can t see across the street, some people pace the floor. I
get right into something like a rug. Or a quilt.
The knitting and crocheting she saves for evenings in
front of the T.V.
As well as her crafts her collections (over 50 thimbles;
china shoes; figurines and collector plates) are displayed
around the house. Although she may have given up the craft
show circuit, Mrs. Taylor isn't completely ready to be just a
spectator.
I'm sort of toying with the idea of a booth at Ciderfest,
she says musingly. "Do you know who to call?"
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2 59