A Day to Remember – September 19, 1958 –Don White

On September 19, 1958 my family and I were invited to a wedding reception in the Perth Town Hall for Dick Warr and Shirley Code. My parents were unable to attend so it looked like another quiet Friday night unless I hopped on shank’s mare and walked the 5 kilometres to Innisville, the nearest village.*Enter fate, stage left*. Our landlord and his wife, Art and Lena McCall, were also invited to the reception and asked if I’d like to go with them. So at 9 PM that evening I was on the loose in Perth at the dance.The first person I ran into that I knew was Ivan Malloch, an acquaintance from Drummond Centre.

He was a couple years older than I and had a car. We stood around an listened to the music for a while and then the band announced that they were going to play a square dance.Now being a Lanark County boy, fiddle tunes and square dancing were second nature to me so I started looking around for someone to dance with. That’s when Ivan pointed out a lovely young lady, Helen Ireton, sitting along the wall. He said she was a neighbour of his and she liked to dance. She was wearing a red sweate, plaid pleated skirt and slingback shoes and from where I was standing she looked fantastic. So, young buck that I was, I sauntered over and asked this vision of loveliness to dance. And she accepted! We ended up dancing together for most of the night.

Helen says the thing she remembers most about the way I was dressed was: how shiny my shoes were. That was the beginning of a friendship that has lasted 60 years. That 60 years has included being married 6 years later, moving to Ottawa, raising a son, and for the most part just enjoying life together. We’ve had many interesting experiences and I imagine we likely wouldn’t change any of it. And through it all I can safely say, we’ve stayed friends.

So I’d like to raise a glass of wine to Helen, my friend and lover for 60 years. ***News Flash***: I had to make a slight adjustment to the remembrance. After reading the posting, Helen pointed out to me that she wasn’t wearing a red sweater that night because she didn’t have one. She wore a brown plaid A-line skirt with a matching fitted vest and a white blouse. So I guess it just goes to show, I’m not infallible. But then, what husband is? Hmmmm… I wonder who it was I knew that wore a red sweater?

Don White

Grateful We’re Not Dead performing, “Over Sixty Blues” at Orchard View Living Centre on February 24, 2015. From left to right: Bruce Penniston, Don White, Gord Breedyk, and hidden in and angelic glow, Al Owler.

Lorraine Reynolds Patoine
March 24, 2020  · 
White brothers. Grampa Walter White far left no date

Here is the info I have on all the children of Robert White (1835 – 1904) and Ann Jane Dafoe (1849 – 1924)White, Cinderella ElizabethBorn: 1867-07-16 – South Fredericksburgh Twp., L&A County, Ontario, Canada,Died: 1899-07-23 – Bathurst Twp., Lanark County, Ontario, CanadaWhite, Frederick DanielBorn: 1868-09-09 – South Fredericksburgh Twp., L&A County, Ontario, Canada,Died: 1957-11-10 – Plevna, Clarendon Twp., Frontenac County, Ontario, CanadaWhite, Charles AllenBorn: 1870-05-27 – South Fredericksburgh Twp., L&A County, Ontario, Canada,Died: 1926-11-17 – Lanark County, Ontario, CanadaWhite, Robert BenjaminBorn: 1872-01-06 – South Fredericksburgh Twp., L&A County, Ontario, Canada,Died: 1941-07-21 – Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaWhite, John Nelson Born: 1874-02-19White, James IraBorn: 1876-03-26 – Venacher, Denbigh Twp., L&A County, Ontario, Canada,Died: 1935-04-24 – Brantford, Ontario, CanadaWhite, Isaac Hedley Born: 1878-09-08White, Walter AnsonBorn: 1881-02-10 – Miller Twp., Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada,Died: 1960-06-13 – Carleton Place, Lanark County, Ontario, CanadaWhite, Mary HesterBorn: 1883-04-02 – Miller Twp., Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada,Died: 1971-11-02 – Newmarket, York County, Ontario, CanadaWhite, George BruceBorn: 1885-08-08 – Wensley Settlement, Miller Twp., Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada,Died: 1963-08-20 – Perth, Lanark, County, Ontario, CanadaWhite, Lydia Emily JaneBorn: 1887-11-11,Died: before 1901White, Dorothy JaneBorn: 1890-05-27 – Miller Twp., Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada,Died: 1965-12-15White, Lillie AnnBorn: 1892-11-18 – Sudbury, Ontario, Canada,Died: 1953-11-15 – Watsontown, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Don White is on the far ride with the cap on…Eleanor White Jackson playing the piano.Maryellen Marino

With my maternal grandfather, Tom Jackson, and my cousin, Marjorie Craig

Don White
January 27, 2011  · 




The Dons were runners-up in the 1959 Eastern Ontario Talent Contest with their rendition of Ferlin Husky’s “On The Wings Of A Snow White Dove”.

Don White
October 4, 2010  · 




Digging through old photos and found this one of the Mississippi River Boys from about 1963 taken in the hall in Maberly. From left to right: Doug White, Ed White, Don White, Walter Cameron, Burns McDonnell, Eleanor White.
— with Douglas White.

Don White
August 23, 2009  · 




Grateful We’re Not Dead with the instruments we play the best. Bruce, Gord, Don and Al. Photo by Laurie Latham.
— with Bruce Penniston and 2 others.

The Canadian Beatles aka The Beavers- Mike Duffy was their Road Manager –Bands of the 60s

Vintage Music stories

Ian Tyson in Carleton Place 1974 — Five Bucks a Seat!

Musical Notes About the Rosetta Violin

The Heirlooms- Ferguson Violin

Dueling Shoes and Fiddles and Step Dancing Contest July 15 1974

Notes of Lanark County Dances and Fiddlers

Good Old Lanark County Music–From the 70s to now

Fiddling in Lanark County by David Ennis

Lanark County Dance Halls 1950s, 60s & 70s

Fiddler’s Hill— Where the Green Grass Doesn’t Grow in Lanark

A Musical Thief– Hector G. Dallimore and Isobel Brown

Musical Notes About the Rosetta Violin

Does Carleton Place Have the Number 1 Small Town Song?

Henry & Nettie Barrie —Sarah More — Balderson

A Love Story

In 1857, Edward Prince, watchmaker, married Elizabeth Matthews in Southampton, England. They had three sons and three daughters when Elizabeth died in 1871. Her second daughter, Gertrude, was only 4 years old. On 28 December 1881, young Gertrude, then a home child, left Liverpool, England bound for Quebec.

Sometime before 8 October 1890, James Barrie, a farmer’s son from near Balderson, Ontario, fell in love with Gertrude and her 1-year-old son, George, who later adopted the Barrie name. James & Gertrude were the happy parents of ten children including Henry. George & Henry grew up learning to care for animals and the land on the family farm.

Both volunteered to serve in World War 1. Henry was accepted and kept a highly illegal diary of his experiences, including at Vimy Ridge. Perhaps his mother had employed the same method in order to strengthen her faith when separated from her family? Henry was raised in a Christian home and took his faith seriously.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the day before The Canadians took Vimy Ridge was Easter Sunday. It is a special day for Christians. It marks the commemoration of Christ’s death on a cross for our sins, His descent into Hell, and, three days later, His resurrection. His sacrifice means we are free to glorify and enjoy God; knowing, at death, we will be welcomed into eternity with Him. As thousands of soldiers prepared to meet God face-to-face the next day, what comfort they must have found in God’s means of grace, including The Bible and The Sacraments.

The Allied Forces had made six attempts to take Vimy Ridge; learning from each attempt. The German guns had the advantage of height and deep mud. On the seventh attempt, The Canadians successfully laid a path of plywood, gaining 1/8^th of an inch of ground for every casualty.    

Henry returned home and married his beloved Nettie. He died in 1959 and his mother followed in 1962, having been a widow for 30 years. George also married and lived a long life. Henry and family were just some of the humble, hard-working people of faith who comprised the soul of Lanark County.

In 2017, Rob More published the children’s book, “Henry Barrie: Vimy Ridge Survivor” now available on Amazon. On Rob’s website http://henrybarrie.weebly.com/, you are welcome to explore more about Henry. Included are free school lesson plans which teach about the war from a uniquely, compassionate Canadian perspective.    

About the authors

Rob More is a Canadian WWI Historian. His sister, Sarah, is honoured to serve as the Historical Researcher for the Municipality of Mississippi Mills, (although not representing them in this instance.) Their father, the late Rev. Dr. Robert More, Jr. was a pastor, author, and historian. Their mother is a sixth-generation resident of Ramsay Township.  

Like their father, Rob and Sarah received their Bachelor of Arts degrees in the United States. The family later returned to their Lanark County roots where they proudly share a role in telling Canada’s story. 

Henry George Barrie
BIRTH
1896
DEATH
1959 (aged 62–63)
BURIAL
Saint Andrew’s Cemetery
Watson’s Corners, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada

Nettie Davidson Barrie
BIRTH
12 Feb 1899Ontario, Canada
DEATH
1972 (aged 72–73)
BURIAL
Saint Andrew’s Cemetery
Watson’s Corners, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada