Comments From the Valley

FARMING FRIDAY

*Vince Sheridan with his team and a load of wood at Drummond Concession 4A and 511(Lanark Road), 1930. Thanks to Tim Sheridan for sending in this great Lanark County memory.*

John Howard of Grattan Township arguing that “Farming during the Depression was the best times we ever had. I wouldn’t give up that 10 or 12 years for the rest of my life . . . The Depression days was one of the greatest things that ever happened; it was the best education that people ever got. It made them realize that living was the main thing and how they did it was secondary.“

Photo Janice Tennant Campbell– McNaughton Farm in Beckwith-
Ray Paquette ––One summer I was spending the evening at the Old Cheese Factory in Tennyson that the late Len Coleman had turned into a place for teenagers from the cottages and others to hang out and dance to a juke box. Len called me over (he knew me through my mother) and introduced me to Murray McNaughton who was looking for some help during thrashing that was about to begin. We came to an agreement and I went home with him to spend the night.
The next morning I began by stooking sheaves in the field that can be seen at the left of the house. It was a fascinating experience for me particularly when Mr. McNaughton showed me the remains of my mother’s family homestead which was cross the 7th Line road. The McNaughton farm was probably close to being the last farm that harvested their grain crops using a reaper and a thrashing machine. I have often looked back on those few days with fondness because of the traditional methods that were used which have long since been replaced by self-propelled combines..

Gordon and Anna Mary Dool of Pakenham talking about one of the forgotten joys of thrashing: “Time meant nothing.”

Read-Twitching or Grave Dowsing– Our Haunted Heritage

Alex Bowes, a water dowser from Lanark, listing the area churches he has checked and found a main stream of water running right under the doors and a cross stream under each pulpit.

Michael and Diane Whitehead of Wilno holding onto their son and telling you how, when the post office became a franchise and their income collapsed, villagers began taking their letters and handing an envelope back, always with a few dollars enclosed to help them get by.

W.D. Powell of Renfrew, the top button of his shirt tight as a uniform, talking about how he still keeps a portion of the rope that hanged the last murderer in Renfrew County

**People of Lanark County–Stan and Ellard Sonnenberg-Almonte- butchers– From “Up the Line”**
**Des H Julian-**– Remember the butcher shop.and they worked for Louis Carr on the main drag in Almonte.
**Margaret McNeely** My father dealt with Louis Carr all the time for meat for our restaurant. Our dog Chummy use to go to the back of the store that was on the Main Street and they would treat him to a bone. read-Owl Burgers? Lewis Carr Butcher

Stan Sonnenburg, a butcher in Almonte, admitting “I didn’t go to school to learn this business, I went to get into this business so I wouldn’t have to go to school.”

Chief Ray Mclsaac of the Carleton Place police force talking about going to the wake of every town drunk who died. “They were friends,” he says.

Jack W.H. Henry, revealing the secret of his long and healthy life: a half a dessert spoonful of coal oil down the side of the throat. “I found it worked good so I just kept on.”