FAMILY TIME: 1956 - 1964 (PART 2)

FAMILY TIME: 1956 - 1964

PART 2

354 days after Karen was born in Guelph, Jane was born on January 6, 1957! In fact, the doctor was sufficiently concerned with the young mother who had produced three babies in less than three years, he thought she should spend some extra time in the hospital after Jane's birth to rest up and "recover". Marion stayed in the hospital an extra 10 days!

Jane

As family life continued to grow in great variety, the final  prize at Leaside Crescent was the birth of the youngest child.    Shelagh was born on March 26, 1963 at the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital. In fact, Shelagh got to the hospital before the doctor did so fortunately she was brought into the world with help of the nurses. The name, "Shelagh" was held with some fascination by her parents because of an admiration for a swedish retailer in Toronto from whom they bought a lot of their swedish furniture.

Dick and Peg Booker and Shelagh

Shelagh was baptized at St. Columba's Church (where Doug was the organist/choirmaster) by the Rev. David Baldwin. Her godparents were Peggy and Dr. Dick Booker.

Here are a few special moments . . .

 

Summer camping.

Jane's 9th - Homemade cake, laughs and candles

April in Myrtle Beach

Christmas morning on Leaside

Our Own choir of "angels"

>...Remember the morning that mom got locked in the bedroom while dad was off to work? 

Dad was in the process of painting the bedroom and had removed the door hardware. While mom was tidying the bedroom, someone shut the door - mom inside and the kids outside in the hall. Shouting out the bedroom window, mom was able to get the attention of the breadman who was just passing on the street. Fortunately, Margaret Best was nearby and he helped her get through the milk box whereupon she was able to let the breadman in through the front door. Mom was rescued and lived happily ever after!

>... How about the time that Karen came back from Headlams and cheerfully cut our new living room drapes with her scissors.

>...Panic when Jane drank the floor cleaner!

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FAMILY TIME: 1956 - 1964 (PART 1)

1956 - 1964 

78 LEASIDE CRESCENT

WATERLOO, ONTARIO 

With three small children under their wing and with the premonition of more to come (!), Marion and Doug decided they needed a better home for a blossoming family. While Doug was still teaching in Guelph, the split level red brick house was purchased in Waterloo. 

These were truly developmental years. Doug busily set about as major project manager cutting, sawing, shoveling, painting, planting, etc. Art and John were essential craft mates!

 Meanwhile, Marion befriended the other mothers on the Crescent to share in imaginative play, creative relief, patient discovery and unimagined unfolding. But all would have been lost without Pat and Joyce!

The family was fortunate that other great families on the Cresent and their children had lots of fun along with exciting growing up dramas. The adults indulged in technical sharing, co-operative enterprises and lots of street partying. 

Of particular significance were John and Pat Best and Joyce and Art Headlam but others joined in as well such as the Herchanraders, Jankes, Dengis, Day, Johnson, Schaefer and our neighbour Marg and Peter Dooley.

Perhaps, it is best to reflect on a few of the more memorable events that shaped these marvellous years - not in any particular order . . .

> ...Remember the time Karen got her head caught in the posts at the front of Best's house? We had to call the Fire department to get her out! 

>...Shortly after we moved into the house in 1956, Dad set out to plant grass and garden at the front of the house. He planned to construct a small stone containing wall so he called the landscape supplier and said, "Would you please bring a truck load of "field stone".

On a bright Saturday afternoon, the truck arrives and drops a mighty load of rock on the drive way - managing to pin the kid's tricycle beneath - and then headed off. As soon as we saw it, we knew we had made a bad mistake - wrong kind of stone! We needed flat landscaping stone. Dad had the difficult task of calling the supplier to come back and pile all the stone back on his truck. We said nothing about the tricycle!

>. . . Gellatly family picnics were a highlight each summer and were lots of fun with so many children. Events were inconsequential for the most part except on one occasion when grandpa Gellatly - inexperienced as he was - decided to take Jane and Shelagh for a boat ride on the pond. 

It was all very tentative and when Doug and Marion looked out on the lake, they were aghast!

>...Who can forget the day that all the kids were in a tussle in the front bedroom. Someone slammed the door on David and he lost the end of his finger in the door jamb. The piece was recovered and a quick trip was made to the emergency room.

>...Then, there was the time we were heading for the A&P and Nancy Herchenrader fell out of the car!

>. . . One summer, Doug decided he would take a one week reading course in Philadelphia and would combine that with a camping trip for the whole family in Virginia and New Jersey. Ginnie agreed to join in to act as baby sitter. One of our exciting adventures was to visit the busy Atlantic City Boardwalk.

 All was well when we all headed into a candy store for some salt water toffee. That was until we came out and discovered that David was missing. 

The Boardwalk was jammed with people and we immediately sought the help of a policeman. Eventually, we found David walking along the Boardwalk in front of the candy store. He seemed unfazed. Needless to say, it was a quick trip back to our campground that evening!

- See Part 2 for more -

GUELPH - THE ROYAL CITY

1956 to 1958: GUELPH - THE ROYAL CITY

The move to Guelph – to bring us a little closer to “home” and family, led to many new and exciting adventures for the new couple, not least of which was that Marion discovered that she pregnant once again. It must have been the result of joy upon the arrival of the first one!

Without too much difficulty, they found pleasant accommodation on the lower floor of a house on Paisley Street, one block from Guelph Collegiate where Doug was to teach English, history and Geography for the next three years. For several years, Doug earned extra money by marking Department of Education correspondence papers. It was not a large house and they enjoyed the company of their neighbours above, Marilyn and Doug Robinson and their young daughter, Marnie. The house had two bedrooms and the wall paper was distinctive covered with flowing peonies. As well, a 10-minute walk took them downtown.

However, the Gellatly family was restless and so they bought their first car – a well used Austin Hillman. They can’t recall the year that the car was manufactured but it provided transportation to and from Kitchener and Toronto. The Hillman was distinctive. The colour was "worn" blue The turn signals consisted of lighted flaps with an orange light inside that popped out of the side panels. The drive to the Toronto Symphony in winter was a terrifying experience as the heater seldom worked and the windshield wipers didn’t work at all! You can picture Doug driving from Toronto with his side window lowered, his hand out of the window with a scraper and holding a piercing view of the roadway through frost covered windshield. One wonders if this had to do with the new babe’s disposition in Guelph.

In fact, there is some consideration to the fact that Karen didn’t like Guelph at all!

First of all, she was born on a cold night at Guelph General Hospital on the other side of town on Thursday, January 12, 1956. Had she been born five minutes later, she would have been born on Friday January 13^th! Marion reports that as the nurse carried Karen to the nursery, she was heard to comment, “Ah, this is a feisty one!” Meanwhile, David slept soundly at home.

It turned out Karen was not excited by Paisley Street  judging by the frequency with which  she awoke in the night with fitful crying. In fact, even her father and David discovered that she could be comforted eventually huddled in warm embraces but the moment she was placed in the cradle, the fun started all over again. Fortunately, eventually she turned into the charming woman  she is today.

The calendar is a little confusing here as to when Marion and Doug made their first house purchase in Waterloo in 1956 while Doug commuted back and forth to Guelph with Ross  Harding. At one point, the principal offered Doug a minor headship in the new high school being built but on one condition - they must live in Guelph. Alas, that didn't figure in their plans.

Assisted with the help of Marion’s parents, Marion and Doug purchased a red brick split level house on Leaside Crescent for $13,500. It was here that they first met Pat and John Best among others. Doug played the organ at Christ Anglican Church in Kitchener and later at St. Columba’s Church in Waterloo.

However, the surest sign that they were a “growing” family was the news that Marion was pregnant again. Jane was born at the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital on January 6, 1957. The young mother could now exclaim that she had three children under the age of three.

GUELPH, THE ROYAL CITY!

WHY NOT ADD YOUR OWN COMMENT IN THE WINDOW BELOW?

NEW ADVENTURES - PART 2

1953-55 were significant years in Almonte for Marion and Doug.

They were fortunate to find a pleasant house to rent on Elgin Street. It had been owned by an older gentleman who died suddenly. Rent was modest and a one year lease was quickly arranged. The house, however, was old and in need of repair. They tired of putting mice poisoning in the attic. As well, the house was heated by furnace air which rose through the house through one central grid in the centre of the two floors. The winter cold immediately changed their habits so they closed off the upper floor and converted the living room to a bedroom and the bedroom to a living room. They survived but moved the next year.

In his first year of teaching, Doug received a salary of $2800 from the Lanark Board of Education. This was obviously going to be a challenge when Marion reported she was pregnant. Complicating matters further was the practice of paying teachers in ten months rather than twelve - $280 each month! They paid their first visit to the Bank of Montreal to borrow $100 to get through the first summer.

School life at the Almonte District High School under the principal ship of “Croochy” (Caruthers) was interesting. As the music teacher, Doug was expected to enter the school choir in a music festival in Ottawa. He decided to use the 16^th century madrigal, “Sing We and Chaunt It” by Thomas Morley, a lilting piece of music  but one that had a lot of repeats in it some of which were missed by Doug. The choir sang very well but at the end of the performance the judge said that as much as he enjoyed the choir, he had never heard the song sung like that before!
"Sing We and Chaunt It" (video)
 

 

The highlight of the year was the birth of David at the Rosamund Memorial Hospital on February 17, 1954. The doctor was Dr. Schulte, a German doctor who eventually returned to Germany. (His associate was Dr. Rolf Bach who remained a friend for many years until he died in 2010) Doug was busily teaching a class at school the afternoon that David was born. He was a wee one but the delight of family and new-found friends in Almonte.

At the end of the school year, the family moved around the corner to Church Street (two churches) where they occupied the bottom floor.

Life was good enhanced by the regular invitations from the family above them to join them on Sunday evenings to watch The Ed Sullivan Show at eight o’clock. Reception was not great but they enjoyed their first experience with TV.

During the autumn months and with the help of other teachers, Doug constructed a homemade Hi Fi system from a Heathkit which was popular at the time. It was a little like painting by numbers. For a modest amount of money, one could purchase all the necessary components for the electrical system. The task was to assemble the ingredients "by numbers". The most interesting instruction came at the end when you were asked to plug the machine into the wall. If it sounded as though something was “frying”, pull the plug out immediately. Fortunately, the assembly was a success. Once a month, they held a musical soiree in their homes to “appreciate” fine music. The group included a doctor and his wife, a pharmacist and his wife (he only came for the treats at 10 pm), an English teacher and the Rev. Llewellyn Graham and his wife (Head of English).
"Those Long-lost Hi-Fi Kits"

Throughout their stay in Almonte, Doug sang in the choir of St. Paul's Church and served frequently as the cantor (chanter) for sung services. All was well until the choirmaster suddenly disappeared when he ran away with one of the singers! (What is it with these musicians?)

On February 16, 1955, while he was teaching, Doug received the tragic news from Marion that his mother had died suddenly and unexpectedly in Kitchener. This was sad news for Doug and Marion and for the whole Gellatly family. Doug and Marion caught the next train to Kitchener and shared their sadness with his father, Harold and with his four sisters and three brothers.

At the end of the year, Marion and Doug decided to head further west to get closer to “home”. Doug accepted a position at the Guelph Collegiate for September 1955.

NEW ADVENTURES - PART 1

Marion returned to Waterloo Lutheran College in 1950 graduating with her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951 whereupon she entered the Ontario College of Education in Toronto. In 1952, she accepted a teaching position at Oak Park Junior High School in East York. (now absorbed by the High School)

Meanwhile, Doug worked dutifully at Huron College assisting at the chapel organ and helping out at St. John’s Anglican Church in Kitchener, especially in the summer months. The summer association was rather interesting. Thanks to brother Jim, Doug worked as a “brewery inspector” in the summer months at Carling’s Brewery. It was a night job requiring a careful examination of the brewery trucks before they set out on their destination. The job required that the inspector verify that the number of cases on the trucks matched the paper order! This left Doug with a fair amount of free time in his office which he used usually to prepare sermons for Sunday morning.

Doug finally finished his degree requirements at Huron College, changed his vocational direction, and headed for OCE in Toronto to follow in Marion’s footsteps.

After a 6 -7 year “pursuit”, Marion finally said, “yes” during the year and on Easter Monday on April 6, 1953, Doug and Marion Eckel were married at Zion Evangelical Church on Weber Street in Kitchener by the Rev. Emerson Hallman. Dr. Glen Kruspe provided suitable music. Afterward, a lovely reception was hosted by Eileen and Stan Eckel (Marion’s parents) at the Preston Hotel. The bride and groom did not stay for the evening party but from all reports it was a “zinger”. One guest was reported to have outdone herself as she danced on the kitchen table!

School was still in session and Marion was still working but the couple settled comfortably in their basement apartment on Pleasant Boulevard in Toronto. For the summer, Doug was hired by the C.N.R. to be a waiter between Toronto and Winnipeg. He learned a lot about the practical concerns of train restaurant service including the fact that the regular pros always stood at the First Class end while the lowly students were assigned the economy end. The tips matched!

In March of 1953, Doug was interviewed for a teaching position. The interview with Board members took place at the Park Plaza Hotel. Those were days when the supply of teachers was in short supply and 3 -4 pages of the Globe and Mail were filled with advertisements each day. Toronto was a prime destination. However, Doug was offered and accepted a position in Almonte teaching English and Music. When he got home, Marion promptly asked, “Where is Almonte”. He replied, “I don’t know. Let’s find the Atlas”!

For their honeymoon, the newly married couple headed for the Ottawa Valley region on April 8 and had their first look at their new home in Almonte

INDIANS - PART 2

OSNABURGH HOUSE

 



In My Prime!

It took about an hour to drive south from Central Patricia to the Hydro Depot at"Rats Rapids" and then a 30 minute canoe ride across the lake, there to land on the dock of Osnaburgh House and the lone standing Hudson Bay Post. There were only three of us at the Post: the manager and his wife who lived at the post and myself. They generously constructed a tent for me on the slope of property which fell from the chapel to the Lake. It came complete with a single iron bed, a small table and chair and a coleman stove. Water was carried from the lake. Limited food supplies could be purchased from the Post although Kraft Dinner was in great supply. I had access for fish from the many catches in the Lake but no TV of course. (lots of candles)
 My school was to be the chapel although I was not supplied with any curriculum material i.e. no pencils, paper, books, etc. The Cree Indians came from the reserve across the lake.

My job was to pick the pupils up each morning around the lake reserve and return them at 4:00 pm using a motorized canoe which I got from the Post (no life preservers). The age of the pupils was far-raging from age 7 to age 21 and  I had about 15. My task was to teach reading and writing and mathematics and, of course to show good moral leadership through our association with the church.

On Sundays, families of Crees arrived for morning service (Anglican). The service was carried out in Cree (by a native) and I played the organ for the hymns. We gathered on the lawn after service, and  I saw them then to the Lake where they headed for home.

I can report that I read a lot of books that summer and corresponded with my fair one as often as I could. The natives were busy shipping fish out of the area by plane. The planes also served as emergency vehicles for the sickly Indians and their children.

I was not unhappy when my unique northern experience ended. I proudly secreted the many passionate letters that I received from Marion as a worthwhile reminder.

 

Postscript - Osnaburgh House of this tale does not exist any longer. The chapel is in ruins and the Hudson Bay Post has been abandoned. I assume the Cree Indians still live on the reserves although many of my pupils went on to residentials schools. A secondary highway has now been constructed from Hornpayne north and past Pickle Lake but it eventually dead ends in the wilderness A "new" Osnaburgh House has been constructed about 5 miles from the old one.

1950 - SUMMER WITH THE CREE INDIANS - PART 1

The summer of 1950 turned out to be an unusual two months.

Marion’s good friend from Kitchener, Mary Augustine (Eventually she married Jim Ham, President of the University of Toronto), announced that she was heading for Germany to attend a week-long conference in Germany for young people and hoped that Marion would join her for a 5 -6 week trip.

The girls flew out of the old Malton Airport via TransCanada Air on their way to New York. There, they stayed with friends. They were scheduled to travel to Europe by ship but the boat was condemned by the New York Harbour Authority! The U.S. Navy rescued them by providing an old rusty ship called the, "Marine Tiger".

Immediately upon their arrival in Rotterdam, they flew to London where they stayed in the YWCA residence.  There they "did" the city, the London School of Economics and then the city of Oxford. Then, it was on to Germany - Gottingen and Munich. There they visited Dachau and actually stoody in the gas chambers - an unforgettable experience!

Their stay in France where they stayed in a work camp was marred by a serious illness, probably due to the lack of cleanliness. Hot water was available for only 2 hours each week on Thursday afternoons.

 

The "tour" was over and the two girls moved on to several other cities including Amsterdam where they accidentally met Mary’s uncle, A.R. Kaufman from Kitchener* who said they really had to go to Stockholm and Copenhagen which they did - thanks to financial aid supplied by Mr. Kaufman!. They flew home stopping in Iceland for refuelling.*
A. R. Kaufman

Meanwhile, Doug made a major decision. Following an impassioned talk regarding the impoverished condition of Cree Indians in the north by Bishop Robert Renison* at Huron College, he resigned from the C.O.T.C. and volunteered to teach school and provide church services at a small Indian village in the far north. One could barely find Osnaburgh House on a map of northern Ontario as it was only accessible by pontoon aircraft but the cause was noble.

Bishop Renison

Doug set off by train from Toronto stopping eventually in Hornpayne where he stayed overnight in a hotel.

The flight next day took him to Central Patricia on Pickle Lake. Central Patricia was a popular gold mining centre and was one of several mining companies in the village. There were very few permanent residents as most people flew in or out to attend to mining business.

At any rate, Doug wasn’t going to leave Central Patricia for three weeks as there was no way to get to Osnaburgh House on the back woods road. Doug spent his time enjoying the primitive neighbourhood and playing  piano for a small band in the rec hall each evening. One evening, he tried to break up a fight between a husband and wife only to discover nasty situations like that should be avoided at all costs!

However, it turned out that several employees of a hydro company were about to head south and would take Doug with them to their destination of, “Rat Rapids” which was across the lake from Osnaburgh House.  A motorized canoe ride across the lake took him to the land of the Crees and his home for the  summer.

Hudson Bay Post
Osnaburgh House