HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1989-11-08, Page 3THE HURON EXPOSITOR, NOVEMBER 8, 1989 - 3A
THE WATCHER AT THE GATE to the Martin family yard, this gruesome witch
welcomed visitors to the Hallowe'en display with a bone -chilling cackle and a' flash
of red eyes. Elliott .photo.
MORBID FASCINATION - A crowd of spook -seekers, including
(second from left) Ginette Nash, Tammy Nash, Audrey Schenk,
Gary Schenk and Joel Schenk, along with others, admire the
Hallowe'en handiwork of Gerry Martin (far left), at his home on
Tuesday night. Elliott photo.
Local man scares up halloween
The brave and the crazy who ventured
out to Gerry Martin's house on Conces-
sion 20 last Tuesday night were treated
to a Halloween extravanganza that would
make your hair stand on end. •
Garishly illuminated, the Martin yard
was filled with such eerie spectres as a
seven foot tall witch with glowing eyes
toiling over a cauldron, a graveyard com-
plete with moving heads protruding from
the earth and a coffin whose restless in-
habitant occasionally opened the lid and
stuck out a gnarled, gfoping hand.
This is the fourth year that Mr. Mar-
tin has put on his Halloween show for the
locals, and he adds a little something to
it every season. The coffin was a new
touch this year. no ' inal spook, a
ghost that runs ho* t ee kb tree
• powered 'by -an eleetrie•m tor, -fell -victim
to Tuesday night's high winds and blew
down after two hours.
Mr. Martin admits that his creations
are getting more and more out of hand
as time goes on. He points out that he
was wiser this year and put the creaking
coffin door on an automatic power
system. The rest of the menagerie,
THE LATEST ADDITION to Gerry Martin's macabre display this Hallowe'en was
this coffin, whose inhabitant occasionally creaked open the lid and groped out with
a skeletal hand. He was feeling restful at the moment. 'Elliott photo.
Legion archive continues to vrow
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generat R;
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: abilia and memories is
:., end of Main St.
For ti. Nast 25 years Mr. Philips, along
with Legion members and families, has
been piecing toether one of th Inst ar-
chives of Firs' ' Second World and
Korean War nr+' •tu in Southwestern
Ontar,,,
It has been a labour of love. Admitted-
ly a bit of a packrat himself - "I save
anything and everything" = starting up a
museum at the Legion was a natural ex-
tension of his efforts. The collection has
multiplied so much in the past two decades
that it now occupies the walls of two
rooms and the foyer. Unfortunately, a fair
amount of it still occupies boxes in
storage. Such a large amount has been col-
lected that lack of space prohibits it from
being on exhibit, even in the spacious
Legion hall.
'RELIVING THE MEMORIES - Seaforth Legion President Mel Melanson and Frank
Philips take a trip down memory lane in the Legion's archives of wartime
memorabilia. The collection, gO years worth of work, is open for public viewing at
any time. Elliott photo.
Still, Mr. Philips concedes that he would
rather see the memorabilia, uniforms and
photographs in storage, with the possibili-
ty of it being displayed in the future, than
see it lost forever.
One such priceless item is a C.W.A.C.
uniform from 1940, complete with shoes
and leather purse, which belongs to Elma
Keats of Stratford: After keeping it in a
box for all of these years, she donated it
to Frank Philips and the Legion, saying, "I
know you'll look after it."
Visitors to the display have included
members of other Legion branches, school
classes and Scout and Guide organizations.
Of particular interest to local visitors • is
the fact that all of the items in the
museum belonged to Legion members or
their relatives from the immediate area.
One priceless addition to the collection
was a uniform belonging to Paul Doig, who
served in the Army in World War I and
the Air Force in World War II. Mr. Philips
notes that it took a certain amount of
friendly persuasion for the Legion to get a
hold of it. But once the uniform, which had
been .found stuffed in a tool box in the
barn, was restored and displayed, Mr.
Doig couldn't have been prouder or more
pleased.
Following the Legion's fiftieth anniver-
sary celebration in 1979, items for the ex-
hibit "started coming in out of the wood-
work," Mr. Philips. reports. Some of the
more fascinating artifacts on display in-
clude a complete set of rations from a
World War II three-day survival kit, a
bayonet, cooking utensils fashioned from
bobmbshells, a books of poems written by
a Canadian serviceman in the trenches,
and a silk flyer's scarf with an escape
map printed directly into the pattern. Oc-
cupying a place of honour is the bugle
played every Armistice Day by Henry
Swan and retired to the Legion upon his
death in 1971.
Mr. Philips has also managed to collect
and alphabetically arrange old photographs
of almost every Legion member in
uniform. He points out that there are still
a few World War II photos missing from
the roster, but he hopes to eventually
make the collection complete.
The Legion archives are open for any
member of the pyblic to come down and
enjoy, and this is one of the more ap-
propriate times of year to do so.
"I've had a lot of fun doing it," Mr.
Philips says of the collection. So much so,
in fact, that he spent three days at the
Elmira Legion a couple of years ago, help-
ing them set up a display of their own.
But the effort, he stresses, is manifold.
"Without the Legion members, this never
could have come about.
A GRAVE SITUATION - Gerry Martin poses with two of his Hallowe'en creations,
who look like they've seen better days, and a snake in his backyard, Elliott photo.
however, is run by himself and a friend
through a complicated combination of
batteries and house current.
"It gets to be a bit of a migraine," he
confesses, describing some of the dif-
ficulties that he experienced in setting up
the display what with the high winds and
wet equipment. Moans, groans and the
witch's grating cackle that are projected
over the yard, for instance, emanate
from three separate tape decks that run
on both a battery and AC current.
"If you think that cackle sounds great,
wait until you've listened to it for about
five or six hours", Mr. Martin grimaces.
In spite of the bitterly cold weather on
Ha..ioween, Mr. Martin estimates that he
had about 300 visitors to his home over
the Monday and Tuesday night. A couple
of carloads of visitors even drove in after
he had packed everything up and retired
for the night.
A self described "jack of all trades and
master of none", Mr. Martin says that he
likes to potter around with such projects
and has a lot of fun setting up his Hallo-
ween display. The popularity of it,
though, has taken him somewhat by
surprise.
Somehow, Halloween has gotten to be
a big event here, he notes. "I don't real-
ly know how it happened."
Wed., Nov. 8 Sun, Nov. 12
1:00 - 3:00 p.m. — Parents and Tots Skating
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. — Novice practice
6:15 p.m. — Seaforth Horticultural Society
potluck supper and annual meeting, Seaforth
Public School
-6:30 - 8:00 p.m. — Minor Broomball'
8:00 - 10:30 p.m. — Ladies Broomball
8:00 - 10:00 p.m. — Recreation Volleyball at
SDHS
8:00 - 9:00 p.m. — Fitness Is Fun at Arena
9:00
4:30
5:30
6:30
8:00
7:30
12- 1:00 p.m.
Ringette
1:00 - 4:00 p.m. —
1:30 - 8:00 p.m
S.D.C.C.
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
5:00 - 6:00 p.m
Ringette
6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Ringette
7:00 - 8:00 p.m
— St. Marys vs Novice I
Wellesley vs. Centeneires
. — Fiddler Jamboree at
— Pee Wee "CC" practice
— St. Marys vs Petite
— St. Mary's vs Tween
— St. Marys vs Belles
Thurs., Nov. 9 Ringette
- 10:00 a.m. — Fitness Is Fun et Arena
- 5:30 p.m. — Figure Skating
- 6:30 p.m. — Atom Hockey practice
- 8:00 p.m. — Minor Broomball
- 11:30 p.m. — Men's Broomball
- 9:30 p.m. — Men's Basketball at SDHS
Fri., Nov. 10
4:15 - 5:15 p.m. — Petite & Tween Ringette
practice
5:15 - 6:15 p.m. — Junior Houseleague
practice
6:15 - 7:15 p.m. — Senior Houseleague
practice
7:16 - 8:15 p.m. — Junior Ringette vs.
Goderlch
8:30 p.m. — Mitchell vs. Centenaires
Sat., Nov. 11
8:30 - 9:30 a.m. — North Stars vs. Canadians
9:30 - 10:30 a.m. — Oilers vs. Kings
10;30 - 11:30 a.m. — Penguins vs. Leafs
11:30 - 12:30 p.m. — Whalers vs. Flames
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. — Mites
1:30 - 2:30 p.m. — Novice Ringette
1:30 - 2:30 — Seatorth Library Closed
2:30 - 4;00 p.m. — Public Skating
4:00 - 6:00 p.m. — Brussels vs. Novice
Hockey
6:00 - 6:15 p.m. — Blyth vs. Pee Wee "DD"
6:15 - 8:00 p.m. — Listowel vs. Pee Wee "CC"
8:00 - 11:00 p.m.
Mon.,
4:30 - 8:30 p.m.
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. —
8:00- 10:00 p.m.
SONS
10:00-11:00—
— I.H.L.
Nov. 13
— Figure Skating
Wood Refinishing at SDHS
— Competitive Volleyball at
Midget Hockey practice
, Nov. 14
— Fitness Is Fun at Arena
Tues.
9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
10:00 - 12:00 p.m. — Moms & Tots Skating
at Arena
2:00 p.m. — Seatorth Woman's Institute will
meet at the home of Thelma Dale.
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. — Pee Wee "DD" practice
6:30 - 8:00 p.m. — Milverton vs Bantams
8:00 - 10:00 p.m. — Milverton vs Midgets
8:00 p.m. — Seatorth Hospital Auxiliary
Meeting In Hospital Board Room. Bring Item
for grocery basket.
Wed., Nov. 15
1:00 - 3:00 p.m. — Parents & Tots Skating
1:30 - 4:00 p.m. — Senior Shuffleboard
4:30 - 5:30 p.m. — Junior and Belle Ringette
5:30 - 8:30 p.m. — Pee Wee "CC" practice
6:30 - 0:00 p.m. — Minor Broomball
8:00 - 10:30 p.m. — Ladies Broomball
8:00 - 10:90 p.m. — Rec. Volleyball at SONS
8:00 - 9:00 p.m. — Fitness Is Fun
i