The Citizen, 2008-08-14, Page 9On July 22, at the age of 94, Hazel
Reid slipped quietly from this world.
Her home for the past three years was
Huronview. Prior to that she had lived
in the village in the home she and
husband, Les, built in the late 1960s
at the eastern edge of the school
grounds.
Hazel was raised in the Belgrave
area and met Les while helping his
relative as a housekeeper. They were
married in 1936 and farmed on the
13th of Hullett before moving into
Londesborough.
Hazel served as caretaker for the
Londesborough Community Hall for
many years while continuing to do
housework for various families and
assisting at more than one birthing.
She was familiar with the halls of
Hullett school for she worked with
Helen Lee for a time. Her last
housekeeping was for Betty
Kissinger with whom she was fast
friends.
Friends recall that Hazel was a
strong, independent lady who stayed
in her home for many years after
Les’s passing in 1998. She was a
faithful member of the Burns UCW
and the Cheerio Club and she enjoyed
playing cards. She was a regular at
the card parties held by the Happy
Gang Seniors.
Her grandchildren were told that
card playing was good for keeping
the mind sharp. Granddaughter
Cheryl remarked that Hazel’s door
was always open to her
grandchildren. Cheryl claims Hazel
had a fun side that found her dressing
up for Halloween almost as long as
she lived in Londesborough. What a
neat thing to remember about your
grandmother!
The village offers condolences to
Bob and Edna and family as they
come to terms with Hazel’s passing.
Due to the changing dynamics of
our village, and of society as a whole,
it has been decided to discontinue theMemorial Fund Collection. Thecommittee who has most recentlybeen handling this collection regretthe ending of this tradition as it hasbeen part of our village life since atleast 1962.Of course each household still hasthe option of making a personaldonation as these occasions arise.
On Sept. 20, Gordon and Darlene
Shobbrook will celebrate 50 years of
marriage. Choosing to mark this
golden occasion in their own way,
they have recently returned from a
two-week vacation to the west coast.
They spent a week of their time
with Charlie and Wendy (Caldwell)
Crawford in Kelowna, BC. From
there they took several side trips.
Gordon and Darlene were thrilled by
the Rocky Mountains, and enjoyed
the Okanagan Valley and points of
interest around beautiful Kelowna.
One morning Gordon and Charlie did
a little fishing as well.
The foursome toured spots in B.C.,
Banff and Lake Louise. They had a
swim in the hot springs and took a
cable car ride. They report that the
ride itself was somewhat intimidating
but the view spectacular.
Charlie drove them to Vancouver to
catch the cruise ship to Alaska.
Cruising along our nation’s west
coast, the ship made stops at
Ketchican, Juneau and Skagway.
Gordon and Darlene disembarked
each time for a tour of the area. From
the ship they marveled at the glaciers
of Glacier Bay.
They caught the plane home from
Anchorage. They report it was a most
enjoyable and interesting way to
celebrate their anniversary.
Do you know who currently resides
in a former church manse?
A Presbyterian Church was erected
in the village of Londesborough in
1876 and continued until 1932 when
union with the Methodist Church also
of Londesborough created the
Londesborough United Church. A
Rev. J. C. Forster was the minister at
the time and living in the manse.
The Presbyterian Church was built
on the lot where the home of Mary
Lou Crosby now sits. The
congregation built their manse on the
lot next to the east. Murray and
Cheryl (Reid) Wheeler and family are
the current owners of the formermanse. After 1932 the manse becamehome to George and Gertie McVittiewho bequeathed it to Gertie’snephew, Harry Oakes.Bob and Edna Reid purchased thehouse from Harry in the fall of 1967.During their ownership the houseunderwent major renovations.Murray and Cheryl purchased the
house from Cheryl’s parents in 1989.
Edna recalls hearing stories of the
Presbyterian congregation enjoying
gatherings and picnics on the front
lawn under a row of pine trees. Those
pines were later replaced with maple
trees.
Now I’m confused about the manse
that belongs to the United Church in
the village. The History of Hullett
Township 1848 - 1977 states that the
manse or parsonage for the Methodist
Church was built in 1878. A
celebration of the 100th year of that
manse was held on the lawn in 1978when Rev. Stan MacDonald wasminister of Londesborough United.However, when I began these triviaitems, Murray Lyon kindly lent me analbum of early pictures ofLondesborough. Two postcards inthat album clearly marked as theMethodist Parsonage show a houseon the corner of the block farther to
the west. The house in the picture was
torn down in recent years and the
property is a parking lot for the
employees of Hensall Co-operative.
Possibly the photographer sent to
take the picture got the wrong corner?
In one of the pictures one can see the
true manse in the background with
the large porch on the west side
which was removed quite some time
ago. This means, I suppose, that the
photo predates the building of the
first community hall in 1922 for no
hall is seen in that photo.
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2008. PAGE 9.
By Kristina Drennan
Lucknow 4-H beef club held a Fun
Day at Paul and Christine
MacIntyre’s on July 20. All
members had the chance to weigh
their heifer or steer.
Rob Thompson from Ripley Feed
spoke with each 4-H member to
make sure they were feeding the
right mix to their calf. Then the
members got a chance to play and
place a bet for Bessie’s Bingo. The
members paid $5 per square. Half
the money would go to Huron
County 4-H Association and half to
the 4-H member with the winning
square.
The next activity was a barn walk.
Each member had a chance to
inform the rest of the members some
good qualities about their calf and
anything that they would like to
change.
Farmers Olympics was next and
all the members were put into three
teams and enjoyed the fun. Some
events were throwing a bale of hay,
singing Old MacDonald with four
marshmallows in their mouth and
milking a glove full of water.
Rob Mariott introduced Go For
The Gold. Due to the lack of an
official buzzer, to buzz in, team one
had to moo, team two had to oink,
while team three had to neigh. For
lunch members and parents enjoyed
hamburgers, and dessert.
In the afternoon Sandy Reid gave
helpful tips about showmanship. The
parents started off in the showring to
prove they still had what it takes to
show a calf.
The members got a chance to
judge them and tell the parents what
they would change.
All the members got a chance to
show what they thought they were
good at when showing a calf, then
Sandy Reid gave individual advice
on how they could improve.
The fifth meeting of the Lucknow
4-H beef club was held on Thursday,
July 24 at the Lucknow Co-op at
4:30 p.m. Al Grant and Al Scott
welcomed the members to the Co-
op.
Phil Williams from the Merial
Company was the guest speaker. He
discussed the benefit of Ivomec and
spoke about parasites and other
infections. He also presented the
Lucknow Beef Club with money
according to the size of Ivomec jugs
collected by the members and
received by the Co-op.
Al Scott spoke on the history of
the Co-op. He discussed the kinds of
feeds sold and mentioned that the
cost of feed has increased this year
especially the premixes.
Phil Williams showed a video
followed by a PowerPoint
presentation. Ivomec was started in
1975.
Al Grant gave the 4-H members a
tour of the Co-op warehouse.
4-Hers have fun
The Happy Gang Seniors had 17
1/2 tables of euchre players at their
card party at the Londesborough
Community Hall on Friday, Aug. 8.
Lloyd and Lillian Appleby played
successfully the most lone hands of
seven. First place was won by
Evelyne and Betty with 83 points.
Two couples tied for the remaining
money with a score of 82 at the end
of card playing, Angela and Edythe
Beacom and Len and Betty
Archambault.
The seniors’ group will host their
next card party on Sept. 12.
Preserving memories
Local women gathered at Londesborough United Church Aug. 6 for a day of scrapbooking.
Mother and daughter Brenda and Jen Konarski were among those storing their memories.
(Vicky Bremner photo)
Give us a call 519-887-9061
Fax 519-887-8734 Cell Phone 519-357-6547
R.R. 2 Bluevale
John
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NEWS
FROM LONDESBORO
By BRENDARADFORDCall 523-4296PEOPLE AROUND LONDESBORO
17 1/2 tables at Gang’s euchre
There will be no Sunday worship
at Londesborough United Church for
the next three Sundays, Aug. 17, 24
and 31 as Rev. Cook is on vacation.
Services will resume on Sept. 7.
There will be a Sunday school
meeting in the church basement on
Wednesday, Aug. 27 at 7:30 p.m. If
you are unable to attend but are
willing to help in some way, please
contact Mike at 519-523-9280 or
Kim at 519-523-4316.
United services
resume Sept. 7