
by Patricia Asling
It is the end of January already! I, for one, have little to show for the time, but I am not breaking any resolutions either! One interesting piece of news I noticed was about the forming of the town of Ajax, 70 years ago. Before becoming officially a town, it was a shell-filling plant called Defence Industries Ltd., named after one of three ships engaged with and defeating a German battleship on the river Platte in Uruguay in 1939. When I was very little and my siblings were babies, I used to spend a lot of time with my grandparents, Asling, in the big house in Epsom. Granddad used to go to work every day at a place called Pedlars in Ajax. Of course, at my age, that didn’t mean much to me, but I remember anxiously waiting for him to return at night. Now, I expect that Pedlars was part of this bomb-filling operation, and I am glad I didn’t know.
Birthday greetings to Donna Johnson Barkey who was 85 and the matriarch to 6 children and numerous grandchildren, most of whom seem to be deeply involved in the dairy industry and constantly bringing home prizes and awards!
Unfortunately these past weeks have brought more sadness than celebration. Marion Bellamy was a member of the Uxbridge Genealogy Group and president for a number of years. She was a vibrant lady, deeply into genealogy for herself and her family but always willing to help others in their searches. She also enjoyed quilting, reading and other pursuits. She leaves her husband Gary, three children, her parents, grandchildren and several other family members. At the early age of 62 she succumbed to ALS.
Floyd Evans was well know in the area. He farmed most of his life and, after retirement, took up carpentry. He was the third son of Gladys and Wilfred Evans and someone I had known my whole life. He married Grace Simpson, and they had five children, eleven grandchildren and nine great-grands! The Evans name will never die out! Floyd was involved in the formation of the Epsom Utica Canadian Food Grains Bank project, in which my father was one of the originators. It is not much more than a month since his sister Doreen passed away. Floyd was 90! Then came the news of the death of Bob Meek a couple of days ago. Bob farmed all his life, too, in Sandford and enjoyed hunting and fishing. Along with his wife Sally, they raised four children: Ruth Ann, George, Carol and David. Several years after Sally’s passing, he married Evelyn Cox, whose husband had also died a few years before, and they had a very happy number of years until Evelyn’s passing. Soon after, Bob went to live with their son David and then into a care home. Following some infection, he got pneumonia, which brought his death. He was 95 years old! Bob had siblings Norm, Ona and Helen, all deceased, and Gerald! Our deepest sympathies and condolences to all these families and others facing such losses.
This group will undoubtedly be holding another spaghetti supper in the not-too-distant future! They are now asking for donations of coats and winter clothing for children. These can be dropped off at the Zephyr hall on February 1st, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. On February 7th, at the Historic Church in Leaskdale, Tom Baker will be resuming his Jazz concerts with guest Whitney Ross Barris at 7:30 p.m. Admission is by donation. On Saturday, March 1st, the Sandford Community group will be sponsoring Yuk Yuks again. Contact Heather Moore for information regarding tickets, etc. The latest news is that tickets are 90 percent sold out, so be quick if you want some. On Tuesday, the seniors met for another delicious lunch and gathering, something even more important to seniors than food sometimes. The guest speaker was a young lady who runs a mobile dental/denture clinic and lives in town, something I had not heard about. At the end, she asked if anyone had any dental associations, and I was the only one to raise a hand. On Tuesday, January 28th, the North Durham Nature Club will hold their monthly meeting at Scugog Memorial Public Library. The program will consist of several individuals presenting stories and films about their various nature trips or experiences, always fun and interesting, at 7 p.m.! Happy birthday wishes this past week go out to Pastor/ Ward 2 councillor Gord Shreeve and Pat Snooks, a great P.S.W! The obituary for Bob Meek informed that his Celebration of Life would be held at Low and Lows in a couple of weeks.
Last week, our minister, Rev. Li Armstrong, was recuperating from shingles and unavailable for church Sunday or scheduled meetings. Adele Boy volunteered to conduct service using Li’s order, and things went very well. We were also happy to have Alayna playing her violin along with her grandmother, Ruth. A couple of her young friends also came along a nice addition for us old folk. This week, Rev. Paul Reed led the worship at 10 a.m. Adele and I played hooky as we went to a service in Toronto in regard to the Palestinian issue. The guest speaker was on Zoom from Vancouver, a Palestinian who lived in the Israeli part of the country and told of the conditions under which she and her parents lived in this apartheid country. Special music came from a large choir of Cornell University students.
Lots of info about the celestial events of the planets all in a row, but once more, clouds obscure the view. The next full moon, the Snow moon, will be on February 12th, maybe we might see that?
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