The Citizen, 2000-05-10, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2000.
Family rejoices in 50 years of living in Canada
Celebrating the past and future
The Siertsema siblings gathered together recently to celebrate the family’s 50 years of
residency in Canada, having immigrated to this country, from Holland after World War II. In
back, from left: Tom, Siebolt, John, Hebo and Murray. In front, from left: Betty Baker, Greta
Greidanus and Teresa Roetcisoender. They are the children of Albert and Jacobmina
Siertsema.
the flight to Great Britain, Albert
met two Alberta soldiers/farmers
who said they would help him get
land in Canada when he emigrated.
It was many years later, however,
when the Siertsema family with
eight children between the ages of
five and 17 boarded the SS
Volendam to make the nine-day
crossing.
The steamship docked on
Canada’s east coast on April 13,
1950. ■
Though they had intended to head
west, Siertsema’s one year of
sponsorship came from a farmer in
Ilderton.
While the younger children
attended school, the two oldest boys,
Murray, then 16 and Hebo, 15,
worked the farm with their father.
The boys earned $40 per month and
their father, $75.
Murray remembers how pleased
his mother was with Canada when
they arrived in Ilderton. Knowing
only the tales recounted by Albert
from the 1920s, the family had
expected a sod house. However, they
were accommodated in a yellow
brick home with hydro and running
water.
this working together that helped us
succeed,” he says.
Murray says, years later he found a
small book amongst his mother’s
possessions indicating the payments
and accounts paid in full.
That 239 acres which originally
ran west of Gypsy Lane, from North
Street almost to County Rd. 25
(Blyth Rd.), has diminished in size
as sections were sold. Murray
Siertsema lives on the lot where the
bam once stood and the original
little white farmhouse sat just to the
south.
When looking back, Siertsema
says it was a “great move” for the
family to come to Canada. “It was
Dad’s way of keeping the family
together.”
In the years after the war, there
was very little land or future in
Holland, he says. Many families
were moving to South Africa,
Australia, the United States and
Canada.
“Mom and Dad’s dream was
fulfilled in some respects,” says
Siertsema. Five of his eight siblings
are dairy farmers in the area and the
rest are within driving distance.
“We have been richly blessed and
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
It is a story of struggle, hard work
and the celebration of it all after 50
years.
In April, the Siertsema family,
Eating
disorders
info night,
May 17
An Eating Disorders Information
Night will be held at the Clinton
Town Hall on Wednesday, May 17
from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. This free
community forum is organized by
the Huron County Health Unit and
the Canadian Mental Health
Association.
The three speakers are Dr.
Marilyn Marshall, a Stratford-based
psychiatrist, registered dietitian
Madeline Campbell and Christa
Clark, who struggled for 12 years
with an eating disorder. They will
address the prevention and treatment
of anorexia nervosa and bulimia.
Youth, parents, educators and
health and social service workers are
welcome. No registration required.
The National Eating Disorder
Information Centre estimates that 90
per cent of women experience body
image dissatisfaction, 80 per cent
have dieted by the age of 18 years
and up to 15 per cent have many of
the symptoms of an eating disorder.
For more information, call Kayla
Glynn at the Huron County Health
Unit at 519-482-3416 or 1-800-265-
5184.
many of whom live in the Blyth area,
celebrated 50 years of residency in
Canada.
Murray Siertsema’s father, Albert,
had lived in the Canadian west for
three years during the late 1920s, but
returned to his homeland of Holland
in 1929 to marry and raise a family.
However, he always kept the dream
alive to return across the ocean.
After dealing with many hardships
during World War II, including
watching German bombers pass over
their small dairy farm as they made
Building a wall
Mike Siertsema and Darryl Shannon, not pictured, were
hard at work Friday as they spruced up the flag pole area at
the south end of Blyth in preparation for the national
Communities in Bloom competition this summer.
A message from The War Amps
For more information about the
PLAYSAFE Program, call:
1-800-250-3030
http://www.waramps.ca
How the Siertsema family came to
settle in Blyth is one of those tales of
being in the right place at the right
time.
After their sponsored-year was
completed the family met with a man
from Chatham who advised Dutch
immigrants on the process of find
ing land and settling in.
It was their good fortune that this
man had previously spoken to
Thomas Gordon of Blyth, a flax mill
owner and landholder of substantial
property.
Gordon was looking for a Dutch
family with boys of working age, to
buy a 239-acre piece of land in
Blyth. His affinity for the Dutch
developed when his pilot son was
downed in Holland during the .war
and it was a Dutch family who got
him to safety.
The Siertsemas were put in touch
with Gordon who agreed to sell the
property for the $300 which Albert
had managed to save over the
previous year. Gordon even
purchased all the needed equipment
for the farm. His only condition was
that the family pay off the debt as
they could.
While bringing the rundown flax
farm back to life, Murray and his
brothers worked both on the farm
and held full-time jobs off the farm
with all monies going back into the
family coffers.
“We worked really hard, but
expected nothing different. It was
are grateful to have come here.
Canada is number one.”
Gift
Pamper
with
SPA SERVICES
SPA ESSENTIALS
By: Kelly Clark
and
a massage by
R.M.T., C.S.T.
Kathy
Lorentz-Hare
The House
159 Dinsley St. E., Blyth
523-9400
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Is celebrating Mother's bay
Pamper yourself or your mother to a
Shampoo and Set for only $5.00 and in addition you
will receive a FREE box of impatients
Offer expires at closing Saturday, May 13/00
Don't forget these continuing specials
All regular perms $29.99 All haircuts $6.00
Haircuts for children under 10 $4.50
________ Offer expires May 16/00 __________
New for you...at the GIFT NOOK
a selection of spring plants & hanging baskets
PLUS
B,aN’S%CK Soap
(In excdlent gift fax. po-ax. special mam!
Linda Uyi d71 Q
131 North St., Blyth
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