by Pat AslingJanuary is gone. Hopefully, more of this icy snow will also go and prepare a fresh start for February. From the weather reports, the groundhog will have a difficult time seeing his shadow. Did you see the sun today (Sunday)? It was out for maybe 10 minutes. Oh, and it is past full moon time by a few days. This one is called the Wolf Moon, as the Indigenous people would hear the wolves howling at the moon in preparation for mating season, I suspect. I saw some canine tracks in the yard this week. No dogs loose in the neighbourhood, and I doubt very much there are any wolves, so I guess there is a coyote around somewhere, although I haven't seen or heard them for ages.
Birthday greetings to Pat Snooks. Pat was born not far from here but did some travelling, which landed her out west. When she returned with Jim, she brought along a PSW to care for many in the home district. Birthday wishes also to Jennifer Simmonds Wilson. I first knew Jennifer when her family moved to the 8th of Scugog, Dave and Barbara, with quite a few little children, all of whom have succeeded very well. Jennifer is Phil Wilson's wife, born just down the road. It is always a treat to hear Jennifer sing and play her harp. They live in Sandford now. Double wishes to Chris and Craig Mustard who both, being twins, celebrated on the same day. It seems like no time has gone by since there was great excitement in the community about Grant and Rosemary becoming parents of twins. Now Chris has twins of his own, plus one. Rachel Sutherland Arnaud celebrated another birthday. Rachel now lives with her husband and son in Bowmanville but was born in Utica and spent several years at Scugog Historical and a number as Assistant Curator at our Uxbridge-Scott Museum in Quaker Hill.
On Saturday, March 2nd, Yuk Yuks will again perform at the Sandford Hall. Heather Moore assures me there are still tickets available, but they are going fast, so please contact her to order yours. They are $25 per person, cash only.
For those interested in antiques, the 26th annual Port Perry Antique and Collectible Nostalgia Show will be held at the Scugog Arena and Community Centre on February 3rd and 4th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The entry cost is $5 for the weekend. Gary Hill Auctioneer is advertising a local antique sale online of a large collection of unique and rare milk bottles, dairy advertising and collectibles.
I haven't paid much attention to local hockey, but now I have two young cousins playing for Uxbridge. Ryan Shier has now joined big brother Owen, and both are scoring. Owen also just had a birthday, age 22. How soon they grow up, and the experiences he has already had.
In the Toronto Star, two weeks ago, there was an article about a lady who, as a child, was one of the first female hockey players allowed to play on the ice with the boys. In that article was a picture of her and her coach in public school. The name of the coach and teacher was Harvey Webster, who I recognized immediately, as he was in my class at Port Perry High School and travelled on our school bus. Because of the name similarity, I always had the idea he was Henry Webster's brother, but Henry's obituary did not mention him. Harvey must have lived about the same place as he got on at the corner of Marsh Hill Road and the 10th. I talked to him on Facebook some time ago and wrote him again, but no reply. Does anyone know what might be going on with him? Please let me know if you do.
Everyone knows Gerri-Lynn O'Connor, but do you know her brother, Peter Hvisten? The Hvistens, Pers and Leila, came to Uxbridge many years ago and ran the Uxbridge Times Journal. Peter lives in Port Perry and has written several books about this area. His latest is entitled "General Stores of Reach, Cartwright and Neighbouring Townships. " I am assuming one of those would be Uxbridge.
Another trip down Memory Lane. In last week's Standard newspaper, there was an article about the inductees to the Scugog Sports Hall of Fame. One of these was a lady whom I last saw a long time ago, although I read about her periodically. That lady is Georgia Brock, and it's about time she was celebrated. When I was in high school in Port Perry, Georgia, I was the girls' Health and Physical Education teacher and coach for intramural basketball and volleyball. Georgia played an important part in my life at that time. I could have been a better athlete, as many of my classmates were, but she got me in there, and we managed to beat our rivals, Uxbridge, Sutton and Cannington, more often than not. It was during these matches I got to know many of the youth who later became friends when I came to work in Uxbridge. Strangely enough, when I worked in the Lindsay Girls School, her aunt was a nurse working with me. Congratulations, Georgia, still going strong.
I got to thinking about who would have been the girl's coach for Uxbridge, and with a lot of twisting and turning, the name Joyce Bradbury came up. Joyce was the daughter of Clara and Russell Pollock and was married to Bill Bradbury. Bill was one of the sons of the owner of Bradbury's Bakery. Russell owned one of the pharmacies, and Clara was the mover and shaker of the town. She was the president of the Red Cross for many years. Oh yes, we had our own Red Cross for a long time, swimming, blood donors, Sick Room Supply, First Aid and this was all taken away when someone decided everything should be run from Oshawa. Quite a few nights I sat in their house for Red Cross meetings. Pretty well, all of the others involved are gone now. Just a few weeks ago, Norm Goodspeed was reminiscing about what the Red Cross did for them when their apartment burned. Mike Kelland probably remembers his father Fred and how he ran the swimming courses in the days when Elgin Pond was swimmable.