Clippings thanks to Janet I. Ritchie Scott
Thanks to the scrapbook of Lucy Connelly Poaps ADHS cheerleaders 1960-1961
Kathleen Downey — Miss Almonte High School 1958
Here She Comes —Miss Almonte High School January 1958
A Tale From Almonte High School –Dugald Campbell
Meet Janet I. Ritchie Scott — Keeping History Alive –Janet I. Ritchie Scott series
The Girl Guides Talking Stick Returns to Lanark County –Janet I. Ritchie Scott series
Last night I posted this old 50s ad from The Carleton Place Canadian I found in the files of the museum on The Tales of Carleton Place as I thought “50 cents to being an extra lady” was amusing.
Who was the Rencraft Fire Dept?
The Brigade was made up of Renfrew Woolen Mill workers. The Bates and Innes Mill had their own fire brigade as well. Most people refer to this mill as the Hawthorne Mill, but it operated as the Renfrew Woolen Mill (Hawthorn Mill) beginning in 1933– Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum
Badge from Pete Harris
This photo appears to have been taken in the CP Council Chamber- Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum.
As I looked at the list of names on the bottom of the picture I noticed a familiar name. Fourth from the left on the back row is Lionel Bigras
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During the last week of May in 1980 a crowd of 350 people jammed into the Carleton Place town hall auditorium one evening. They listened and left angry after their mission was to find out why the directors decided to close the four-bed obstetrics unit at the end of June that year. They never really got a straight answer.
All the facts brought out at that meeting supported the decision to refer maternity cases to the Ottawa Civic Hospital. Meanwhile “back at the legislative ranch” Ontario Health Minister Dennis Timbrell said he too supported the closure of the Carleton Place obstetrical unit.
Timbrell insisted that an obstetrical unit was not handling enough births, and the current obstetrical unit might actually jeopardize the health of newly born Carleton Place area babies. Births had dropped in 1980 from the last 20 year period of 165 per year to 113. A quarter of…
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Church Choir Picnic – 1885 just in front of the Hawthorne Mill Emily Street-Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum
I realized I had the early history of the Hawthorne Mill all over the place in my files– so decided to document it here for once and for all. Please note that Hawthorne should be spelled without an e as Mr Code who built it spelled it that way
The larger industrial plants opened in Carleton Place in the 1870s were the McArthur and Hawthorne Woollen Mills and the Gillies Machine Works.
Ottawa Daily Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
13 May 1871, Sat • Page 2
1874--In the first stages of a five year business depression two new industries were started here. They came with the building of the three storey stone structure of the Gillies Machine Works on the north side of the river…
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January10at12:57PM·“Skyler Seccaspina · New colleague. First day on the job.”
As I see my granddaughter Tenley sit at her Dad’s desk I remember my days of sitting at the desk at the F. J.Knight Company on South Street in Cowansville. My grandfather and dad had a business of being electrical contractors for over 60 years. They also had a retail store where they sold fixtures and whatever you needed for electrical work in the front of the house. I sat at the front desk in that store every Friday night for 14 years selling lightbulbs and whatever while my Dad Arthur, chewed the fat as they say, with his customers.When I was 12— I was promoted to working summers typing out invoices with carbon paper (three layers). There were so many pieces sold per invoices it drove me nuts. I…
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Mill Street as it appeared in 1889. This land was first purchased by a Mr. Coleman from the Morphy family in 1820. In 1822, Hugh Boulton purchased it and finished construction. The mill was later owned by Horace Brown as a flour mill. On the left-hand side are buildings used for the Boulton-Brown Grist Mill, and on the right-hand side is the residence of Horace Brown, grandfather of A. Roy Brown.–Photo–Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum
Read more atDown by the Old Mill Stream — CarletonPlace
Darla Fisher Giles—D.C. Coleman lived in this house on William St. He is pictured here in front of his parents former house in 1924 during Home Week.
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You Talk Too Much? Linda Knight Seccaspina
I have been told I talk a lot, or, I believe the word is–‘chatty’. I don’t mind being labelled that as my Grandmother always told me if you didn’t ask questions, you’d never know anything. By the looks of my baby book, my family began their entries in “Babies First Words” after I was born in 1951. I know they wanted me to say “Mama” first but I dropped my old Dad’s name instead at 8 months.
I’m honest, I failed math three times in Grade 8 and got a final mark of 29 out of 200, so I am not a brainiac. I remember my poor Father’s face when he saw that report card and asked if I couldn’t have convinced them to have given me more marks for neatness. I should have asked him if saying “Bye Bye Daddy” at 17 months made up for anything.
My family was not going to accept the sound of crickets between us so allegedly the vocabulary was flying until I was 18 months. They stopped documenting after that, so obviously we all were having many fireside chats at the age of 2. Apparently word at the A & P was that there was a child in town that didn’t talk until he was 4. That was about the time Diefenbaker was running for Prime Minister. Somehow this child’s first word was “Diefenbaker’ and it was gossip fodder for months on Albert Street in Cowansville.
My Grandfather Crittenden used to visit on weekends and would always rub his hands before he ate and say “lordy, lordy, lordy”. When I was a wee gal I would sit next to him and mimic everything he did. One fine morning at breakfast, I broke the seal on my voicebox once again with new words and said “lordy, lordy, lordy” in sync with him. Funny I never saw that documented in my baby book.
Another family story was that my Father was chopping wood for my Grandmother Knight when the axe head came off the handle, and the blunt end struck him on the foot. This caused him to yell “sh*t,” which caused me to repeat it for the rest of the day. Sixty years later and that word is still my instinctive response to being startled.
When I was a child my father would bring me to many Eastern Townships rural auctions. We would sit for hours on hard wooden benches in some old barn while he bought a lot of old furniture he didn’t need. During that period of time I learned a lot of different vocabulary. My Dad met a pair of elderly twins at those auctions that had lived in the hills of the Eastern Townships for most of their lives. One of them had been nicknamed Hillside Johnny. Johnny was a recluse and seemed to talk to just a chosen few, and very few seemed to be on that list. When the folks at the auctions spoke about him and his home, it was said that his was not “a home of culture”. The more they talked about him, the more curious I became.
Johnny used to walk up and down the length of the auction barn sporting a strange shirt, soiled pants, well worn work gloves and “highwater” pinkish underwear that seemed to explode above his pants. Every 15 minutes his hat seemed to change like magic and the holes in his socks appeared larger.
As the long-haired man spoke here and there to some I overheard that his brother lived with him, but they had not spoken in 5 years. He no longer used his kitchen after they converted it into an extra bedroom and cooked on a hot plate in a disgusting over-crowded garage. There was little conversation in a home in a highly sought neighbourhood in Bromont with a view that would soon cost mega dollars in years to come.
I listened carefully as Johnny told my Dad things in so many words. He was comfortable that he had not driven a car in years, but instead rode his bike the 3.5 to 5.5 miles up and down the hills that would give a younger man a heck of a workout.
Each time my Dad saw him he handed Johnny something in a coloured shopping bag that seemed to match his underwear. What was in that bag? I never found out, and after the auction Johnny used to slowly wander silently down the road speaking to no one.
I was never neurotic about speech with my own children like my family was. I believe my oldest son’s first word was “Holstein” at 10 months, and he hasn’t stopped talking since. Skyler was a collicky baby so rides in the country were a daily event to calm him. I was always pointing out the different cows in the fields for his vocabulary benefit. As long as you talk to your children and keep them interested you can’t go wrong making animal sounds in the car which was interesting to him and the folks passing by in their cars.
Today’s baby’s first words have been said to be “tablet” or Amazon’s “Alexa” which shows how many children have switched to tech modes of entertainment similar to Ipads and the like. It just amazes me how my young Granddaughters can manoeuvre these things while I can just play slots on my iPad.
I have come to the conclusion that at 71 my conversational skills encouraged by my family will never stop. They say the less you talk the more people listen–maybe that’s why no one ever listens to me these days. I just consider myself lucky that I can walk and talk at the same time now. People who don’t know me think I am basically a quiet person. People that do know me wish I was. Or so they say!
Sending big hugs- see you next week!
Conversations with Agatha Yuill –The Buchanan Scrapbook
Conversations with Brian McArton– Henry Wilson of Carleton Place and the McArtons of Ramsay
A Conversation With Ivan Duncan — Barber — John Dunn
I graduated from Almonte High School in 1961. I am downsizing and while sorting and packing, I found a 1957 and a 1958-1959 yearbooks from Almonte High School. I was Janet Ritchie then. Happy to find them a home. Found some later ones too. I was on the yearbook committee when we called the yearbook “et Nomla Libris” because some of us were in the Latin class and spelling Almonte backwards made it look classy. ( our joke). I taught later at Church Street School and met a younger AHS student who said they changed the name of the yearbook. It wasn’t even a real word! We thought it was funny at 16.
I lived in Almonte from 1953 (Grade 5) to (Grade 13) 1961 and then went to Teacher’s College. From 1963 to 1965 I taught in Church Street Public School. I directed Waupoos Girl Guide Camp for three summers 2005 and the Almonte Leaders volunteered to staff the Nature Camp. They left with me a Talking Stick in my care as they intended to come back the following year. This Talking Stick, belonging to the Girl Guides has been in my care for almost twenty years I still have it but wondered if they would like it back in their unit. Thank you for getting in touch with Heather Legge and I am dropping her off a Talking Stick, belonging to the Girl Guides that has been in my care for almost twenty years.
My maternal grandfather was Arthur Forsythe who was born in Rosebank I think. His father drove coach between Almonte and Blakeney but died suddenly when Grandpa was only 12. Forsythes lived at Cedar Hill. Kate Cochrane was my Great Aunt.
I tell my grandkids about swimming under the railroad bridge in Almonte but I wouldn’t recommend it now. We were crazy. We got careful instead of carefree as we grew older. I was born Dec.3,1942. We lived on the Henderson Chicken farm on Carling Ave. Then. Dad followed the snowplow into the Civic Hospital in a terrible blizzard. I’ve seen historic Ottawa photos of men digging out streetcar tracks with shovels following the storm.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Tue, 7 Feb 1961Page 16
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Fri, 9 Sept 1960Page 4
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Thu, 25 Sept 1958Page 28
Janet 1961 ADHS Annual
Janet’s father Reverend James Ritchie minister at St. JOhn’s Almonte 1953-1961
John Cochran and Margaret More wedding- Almonte
D & L Slade Co.– Way of Housekeeping Larry Clark — A Tide Mill
Coleman Family History–Just for Your Records
James Mackintosh Bell — The Buchanan Scrapbooks
McEwan Fire 1949 —Chris Muller –None of Us are Alone— We are all connected!
Heather Legge and Janet I. Ritchie Scott on Saturday May 27th 2023
I directed Waupoos Girl Guide Camp (Girl Guides ‘heartbroken’ as Ontario camps to be sold by 2020) for three summers 2005 and the Almonte Leaders volunteered to staff the Nature Camp. They left with me a Talking Stick in my care as they intended to come back the following year. This Talking Stick, belonging to the Girl Guides has been in my care for almost twenty years I still have it but wondered if they would like it back in their unit. Thank you for getting in touch with Heather Legge and I am dropping her off a Talking Stick, belonging to the Girl Guides that has been in my care for almost twenty years.
The Talking Sign
Years ago, Brownies had a special two-fingered sign when they said their
own Brownie Promise. Now, Brownies say the same Promise as all other
Girl Scouts. Now the two-fingered sign is called the Talking Sign and is
used when girls are sitting in their Daisy Circle. When a girl has something
to say, she makes the two-fingered sign and taps the floor in front of her.
Girl Scout troops often use a Talking Stick when having discussions. The
talking stick is actually a Native American tradition, and can be plain or
decorated. Only the person holding the talking stick may speak – if a girl
wishes to speak, she would use the talking sign to signal that she would
like to have the talking stick passed to her. Sometimes troops use some
other sort of object such as a stuffed animal as a “talking bear” or other
object
Kingston, Ontario, Canada • Mon, May 5, 1975Page 8
Kingston, Ontario, Canada • Tue, 14 Jul 1987Page 16
Kingston, Ontario, Canada • Wed, Jul 4, 1962Page 19
Carleton Place Brownies — -Thanks Linda Gallipeau-Johnston for this photo-
Linda, this is a picture of either Brownies or Girl Guides – 1st row myself, Isabelle Raycroft, Norma Dorman, Ruth Ann Thorpe, Alana Lever – 2nd back – Sandra Thompson ? Linda Percival, Nancy Nesbitt, Marion Gordon, Kathryn Dack, Jessica Montgomery, Peggy Mace, behind Peggy looks like Wendy Robertson – to the left Rita Porteous – don’t know the others – maybe someone else can fill in. Looks like maybe we were 11 or 12 – some of us didn’t have our uninforms so I am thinking it was a “fly-up from Brownies to Girl Guides – basement of the Zion Memorial Church 1957 – 58.
I am enclosing a photo of some of the Girl Guides and Brownies from Almonte. I cannot date this accurately it but should be around 1962. Hopefully the clarity is ok.
Mary Beth Wylie
Lucy Connelly Poaps clipping
Brownies from Sue Tweddle and Joann Voyce recognize anyone? In front of Zion Memorial in CP
Our future young ladies of Carleton Place… Thank you for inviting me and hope you learned more about being part of your community. Sparks and Brownies CP division.. I showed them my 62 year old Brownie pin tonight..One young lass said ‘ yeah you’re old like my Grandma.. she gets cramps! ” LOLOL
History of Girl Guides in Almonte
Anyone Know anything about The Whoop La Girls Camp
Our Community — The Staff of Carleton Place and the Sparks and Brownies of Carleton Place –Photos!!
Meet Janet I. Ritchie Scott — Keeping History Alive –Janet I. Ritchie Scott series
One fine fall day one of Carleton Place’s finest, Police Chief Hugh Wilson, noticed an auto coming along Bridge Street at a high rate of speed. At the time cars were not what they are today. They smelled, they leaked, and were hated by not only horses, but humans as well. The car in question went out of control in a puddle and slithered around Taylor’s corner and stopped dead on Mill Street right in front of Taylor’s Garage. Wilson questioned and admonished the driver who turned out to be one of the younger Imlach boys. He was on his way to the Madawaska country on a hunting trip.
It seemed odd to the constable, as a few days later the same lad was on an ill fated steamer called the Mayflower on Lake Kaminiskeg in December of 1912. It was a dirty black night and a heavy storm blew…
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lindaseccaspina 