Tag Archives: poetry

THE POEM THAT ONCE WAS US….

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THE POEM THAT ONCE WAS US….

A person named Howard Urtick wrote this poem and it brought back so many feelings and memories from the world I grew up in. If you’re of a certain age, it might resonate with you as well. ❤

THE POEM THAT ONCE WAS US

A little house with three bedrooms,

One bathroom and one car on the street;

A mower that you had to push

To make the grass look neat.

In the kitchen on the wall

We only had one phone,

And no need for recording things,

Someone was always home.

We only had a living room

Where we would congregate;

Unless it was at mealtime

In the kitchen where we ate.

We had no need for family rooms

Or extra rooms to dine.

When meeting as a family

Those two rooms worked out just fine.

We only had one TV set

And channels, maybe two,

But always there was one of them

With something worth the view

For snacks we had potato chips

That tasted like a chip.

And if you wanted flavor

There was Lipton’s onion dip.

Store-bought snacks were rare because

My mother liked to cook,

And nothing can compare to snacks

In Betty Crocker’s book

Weekends were for family trips

Or staying home to play.

We all did things together,

Even go to church to pray.

When we did our weekend trips

Depending on the weather,

No one stayed at home because

We liked to be together.

Sometimes we would separate

To do things on our own,

But we knew where the others were

Without our own cell phone.

Then there were the movies

With your favorite movie star,

And nothing can compare

To watching movies in your car

Then there were the picnics

At the peak of summer season,

Pack a lunch and find some trees

And never need a reason.

Get a baseball game together

With all the friends you know,

Have real action playing ball

And no game video.

Remember when the doctor

Used to be the family friend,

And didn’t need insurance

Or a lawyer to defend?

The way that he took care of you

Or what he had to do,

Because he took an oath and strived

To do the best for you.

Remember going to the store

And shopping casually,

And when you went to pay for it

You used your own money?

Nothing that you had to swipe

Or punch in some amount,

And remember when the cashier person

Had to really count?

The milkman used to drive a truck

And go from door to door,

And it was just a few cents more

Than going to the store.

There was a time when mailed letters

Came right to your door,

Without a lot of junk mail ads

Sent out by every store.

The mailman knew each house by name

And knew where it was sent;

There were not loads of mail addressed

To “present occupant”

There was a time when just one glance

Was all that it would take,

And you would know the kind of car,

The model and the make

They didn’t look like turtles

Trying to squeeze out every mile;

They were streamlined, white walls, fins and “skirts”,

And really had some style

One time the music that you played

Whenever you would jive,

Was from a vinyl, big-holed record

Called a forty-five

The record player had a post

To keep them all in line,

And then the records would drop down

And play one at a time.

Oh sure, we had our problems then,

Just like we do today

And always we were striving,

To find a better way.

Oh, the simple life we lived,

Still seems like so much fun.

How can you explain the game,

“Just kick the can and run?”

And all us boys put baseball cards

Between our bicycle spokes;

And for a nickel, red machines

Had little bottled Cokes?

This life seemed so much easier;

Slower in some ways.

I love the new technology,

But I sure do miss those days.

So time moves on and so do we,

And nothing stays the same;

But I sure love to reminisce

And walk down memory lane.

With all today’s technology

We grant that it’s a plus!

But it’s fun to look way back and say,

Hey look, guys, THAT WAS US!

Childhood Memories of Roy Brook –The Buchanan Scrapbook Clippings

Childhood Movie Nights at Reliance Motor Court in Eastview — Noreen Tyers

Cora Yuill’s Last Poem –The House That Had its Day

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Cora Yuill’s Last Poem –The House That Had its Day
Laurie Yuill has found the last poem that Gramma Cora had published in the paper. Thought u might like to read it. We r thrilled that he found it. Glenda Mahoney

Cora Yuill looks back on life as she turns· 90

I was born on August 17, 1905 at Halls Mills, the third daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Munro. My sisters were older, and my brother was younger. Wilbert, who lives on the old farm at Halls Mills and my brother Earl, who used to deliver mail from the post office, drove for Eddie Munro for quite awhile.

My two sisters were both gone some years ago. Eva Fulton lived above Renfrew and Florence Watt at Galbraith. I started school at Halls Mills when I was six years old and had four teachers. There was Mary Gleeson, Aggie Lett, Luella Thompson and Mildred Royce. I tried my entrance exams in Lanark but failed, so I stayed at home and helped on the farm. Read-The Life and Times of Cora Yuill

lLaurieYuill originally shared this on 07 Sep 2017–Cora Yuill & Blake Mahoney at his Christening, 1983 Read- Cora Munro Yuill — Arthur Yuill — For Glenda Mahoney with Love

Related readings

Conversations with Agatha Yuill –The Buchanan Scrapbook

Walter Mather Yuill — Died at age 28
The Robbing of the Honey Pot- Andrew Cochrane Ramsay Yuill
Clippings of Mrs. Joseph Yuill – Margaret Yuill
Ralph and Iris Yuill
The Hart Children of Lanark — Laurie Yuill

Notes on Alexander and Joseph Yuill
Mrs. Joseph Yuill of Ramsay Makes Butter
Middleville Photos — Laurie Yuill

Turning Back to the Clock Agnes “Aggie” Yuill– The Buchanan Scrapbook

Archie Yuill –The Buchanan Scrapbook Clippings

Photo Glenda Mahoney-I have just found a picture of G Cora stitting at the table with My Mom in the farm kitchen I think today was Grandma Cora birthday

The Sugar Bush Fairy Poem

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The Sugar Bush Fairy Poem

I am so proud to live in Lanark County.. We stand together, we support our farmers and our townfolk..

My heart beats proudly today for the history and love in our county.. Remember we are all in this together..

Outside the air is crispy, like the bacon, and now my journey on the road ahead brings rain,

Out of the corner of my eye I spot her.

She seemed to smell like waffles and maple syrup,

And looked like a maple leaf, red, rusty, spinning, floating through the now damp air.

Under her feather umbrella the sugar bush fairy was slowly licking the red top off the maple syrup bottle with maple syrup kisses.

No one tried to catch her, as one might only seize her with smoke magic in moonlit parks while shimmering indigo stars dance around her.

As if my life is captured in a raindrop caught with the wind I too drift away like the sugar bush fairy.

My tired eyes are now focused on the road. Inside we drank coffee and ate steaming waffles in front of me.

While outside the gray fog draped itself–even over our minds,

Painting things in a sweeping grey that glistens in the sunlight.

A lesson lived,

A lesson learned,

We can’t live on love alone– but maybe, just maybe, life can be lived on maple syrup and dreams of sugar bush fairies.

Linda Seccaspina

Memories of Scotch Corners — Mrs. E. Bolton

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Memories of Scotch Corners — Mrs. E. Bolton

From Larry Clark

Did you know that one of the landmarks for Scotch Corners used to be “to turn off Highway 7 at the lXL Cheese Factory”? It was a hopping corner with traffic jams consisting of farmers waiting to get their milk weighed in and upon leaving, a quick trip to the back to the whey vat pick up some whey to feed their pigs.

Local lad Alfie Poole had the answers to the local stories in those days and there was a reason as to why this particular cheese factory was called ‘the IXL’. Seems there was a couple of cheese factories down the road and no one wanted to mix them up. There was one past the St John’s Anglican Church on the Ferguson Falls Road called the “Fair Play” and another opposite the church called the “Grab All”. These were the actual names I kid you not.

Well the farmer’s around the McCreary settlement were having none of that, and wanted to have the best cheese factory in the area. So up the factory went and it became known as the IXL but was sadly destroyed by fire in 1969.

Related reading

The Scotch Corners Fire 1981

Scotch Corners Union S.S. #10 School Fire

Questions on the McCreary Settlement and the IXL Cheese Factory

The Sinclair Family Cemetery–Photos by Lawrie Sweet with Sinclair Genealogy Notes

POETRY

Ivan and Elizabeth Pretty Anniversary and Poem — Audrey Armstrong 1966

The Almonte Wreck Poem George Millar Dec 29 1942

Almonte — The Birth of a Friendly Town — A Poem

Ole King Cole of Almonte — Fran Cooper

Almonte Poetry —- Agnes Whitelaw Boyce Almonte

Memories of Dr. A. A. Metcalfe of Almonte– Florence Watt

The Life and Times of Cora Yuill

The Thomas Alfred Code Journal – Letters-Part 21- Code Family–Franktown Past and Present Reverend John May

A Poem about Innisville–By Mrs. Edith Bolton

Alice Katherine Gould– Smiths Falls — Gould Family

A Beckwith Poem — Beckwith in the Bushes — J.W.S. Lowry 1918

Annie Patterson — Descendant of John Gemmill

Genealogist Christmas Poem

The Old Saw Mill Poem – Lanark County

Was the Rhyme Ring Around the Rosie Connected to the Plague?

Postage Stamp Flirtation 1903

Ivan and Elizabeth Pretty Anniversary and Poem — Audrey Armstrong 1966

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Ivan and Elizabeth Pretty Anniversary and Poem — Audrey Armstrong 1966
March 31 1966
Obituary for Ivan William PRETTY (Aged 75) -
The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
21 Jul 1966, Thu  •  Page 34

Very sadly Ivan died soon after in July. How sad I was to find this.:(

George Goodson Pretty Genealogy Part 2

Clippings of George Goodson Pretty

Annie and Ethel Pretty Bridge Accident 1927

Ken Manson– Interview with Helen & Jimmie Dodds, Side 1 -“Did you ever hear the story about the fellow who was shot up Bob Pretty’s there”?

Almonte — The Birth of a Friendly Town — A Poem

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Almonte — The Birth of a Friendly Town — A Poem
Birth of a Friendly Town-- Almonte Gazette July 30 , 1970 ( no author mentioned)


T ’was back in 1820 when the air was clear and bright,
A brawny pioneer farmer stopped his wagon for the night.
He kindled his cheery campfire to feed his hungry brood,
And vowed he’d build a cabin on the very spot he stood.
On the banks of the Mississippi, on a tract of government land,
He built his homely hovel, with axe and sweat, so grand.
He cleared his land for planting with mule and old grey mare,
He plowed and tilled and worked it with tender loving care.
His meagre supply of seedlings he spread upon the ground,
He fished the brooks and rivers and hunted the woods around.


He sent word to friends and relations of the wonderful place he had,
But with the lack of a woman’s company, his wife was very sad.
As the years went by, his family grew, with neighbours all around,
Where once there stood a lonely farm , had turned into a town.
With neighbour lads they took the fish, both with line and spear,
And all around this lonely place -was a friendly atmosphere.


The town it grew and friendliness was never left behind,
The people in this little town, always seemed so kind.
As homes sprang up with shops and stores, everything so grand,
And all the people in the town to lend a helping hand. ….
So from this campfire in the night, arose THE FRIENDLY TOWN,
Our friendliness, it’s said, has spread for miles around.
So why not come to ALMONTE and join in all the cheer.
To have some fun and celebrate our 130th year.


We promise you our friendliness, has grown from year to year,
The only thing we’re lacking is having you came here.
So plan to come and visit us when summer rolls along.
When we celebrate in ALMONTE, our friends can do no wrong

Almonte General Hospital Fairview Manor Foundation

· September 20, 2018 ·  

Sharing Smiles with the kind folks at the Mississippi Mills Animal Hospital. Who have you shared a smile with today?

Mary Sterling Jarick The first thing I saw when we came from Ireland and landed in Almonte. My father told me he had it done especially for me. lol

Clipped from The Ottawa Citizen, 13 May 1952, Tue, Page 13 

Shirley Flaxman It truly was a friendly town!!! I loved growing up there


Bob Camelon
 Born and Raised

Darlene Monette Me too – in fact still in same house! 🙂 That water tower was our view from the front door!

Ron Finner I climbed to the top of that tower and sat on the ball many times !! 😎🤠

Shirley Flaxman Home is where the heart is💖.

Mary Anne Harrison My grandparents, Jim and Cecelia Carroll lived just in front of the tower on Ottawa street. My uncle Emmett too. I have no doubt 1 or all 5 of my brothers climbed that tower at one time or another.

Peggy Byrne Yes it was a sad day. Lived for many years beside that tower and saw a few people climb to the top whenever the opportunity arose. Ronald Ford, you will remember the water house at the base of the tank where many residents that didn’t yet have running water in their homes went to fill up their containers – oh wait, maybe you’re too young for that….🤭

Ronald Ford I remember Dad would point it out at the Corkery hill. It was all long time ago. Tree grow a lot 66 yrs

We posted the photo of the 1993 water tower today– Dawn Jones fund This from the Millstone article in 2013.

Water tower slogan: still friendly, but not a town?

September 5, 2013 – 2:21 pm

Tower
Rendering of planned ‘rebranding’

by Brent Eades

The Town recently announced that as part of the current cleaning and restoration of the water tower on Paterson Street, “the tower will also be refinished with a new white and blue colour scheme along with a rebranded logo,” approved by Town Council at a meeting on April 16 2013.

A rendering of this logo is available on the Mississippi Mills website. It shows that the decades-old slogan “Almonte The Friendly Town” will be replaced with simply “Friendly Almonte.”

I can see this, I suppose. Strictly speaking we are no longer a “town” — in the purely legalistic sense of the word — but rather a ward of the amalgamated municipality of Mississippi Mills.

But it does seem a pity to lose the slogan that has been welcoming people to our community for generations. We may not be a town as far as the provincial government is concerned, but we surely are in every other sense.

Out of interest I decided to search the online Almonte Gazette archive to find out how long we’ve been “The Friendly Town.” It appears the slogan was chosen sometime prior to March 1953 by the Chamber of Commerce for use in a promotional booklet. Link (story at top-left)

I also found a reference on Google Books, from a 1952 issue of Civic Administration magazine: “As you near the town, the first thing you see is a big steel standpipe jutting skyward above the leafy trees. On it in six-foot letters are the words, WELCOME TO ALMONTE The Friendly Town.”

Marty Taylor

July 17, 2018

Just off the highway. Passed by it coming from or going to Ottawa. Was always a wonderful way to say “hello” when arriving in Almonte.

Ole King Cole of Almonte — Fran Cooper

Almonte Poetry —- Agnes Whitelaw Boyce Almonte

Memories of Dr. A. A. Metcalfe of Almonte– Florence Watt

The Life and Times of Cora Yuill

A Poem about Innisville–By Mrs. Edith Bolton

Alice Katherine Gould– Smiths Falls — Gould Family

A Beckwith Poem — Beckwith in the Bushes — J.W.S. Lowry 1918

Annie Patterson — Descendant of John Gemmill

Genealogist Christmas Poem

The Old Saw Mill Poem – Lanark County

Was the Rhyme Ring Around the Rosie Connected to the Plague?

Postage Stamp Flirtation 1903

Kim Davis
· 


I’m thinking it was my dad…maybe edited it for the 150th

Thanks to Lizzie Brunton…

Commercial Students CPHS 1937 –Kerri Ann Doe O’Rourke

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Commercial Students CPHS 1937 –Kerri Ann Doe O’Rourke

1937-CPHS-The-Commercial-Poem

 

Linda…I hope this message finds you well! When we were sorting through my mom’s things we came across a few boxes of my grandmother’s (Gladie Dowdall) that my mom hadn’t touched. In there was the CPHS graduation program from 1936 & 1937!! I emailed them to the museum earlier today. But THE absolute best find is the attached Poem written about “The Commercial” students for their 1937 graduation. Enjoy 🙂

Kerri Ann Doe O’Rourke

 

Clippings of Leita Anderson

Almonte Poetry —- Agnes Whitelaw Boyce Almonte

A Poem about Innisville–By Mrs. Edith Bolton

Alice Katherine Gould– Smiths Falls — Gould Family

A Beckwith Poem — Beckwith in the Bushes — J.W.S. Lowry 1918

Annie Patterson — Descendant of John Gemmill

Genealogist Christmas Poem

The Old Saw Mill Poem – Lanark County

Was the Rhyme Ring Around the Rosie Connected to the Plague?

Postage Stamp Flirtation 1903

Come on and Feel the Noise –Last Night’s Mini Poetry Slam

Carleton Place Memories 1930s and 1940s

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Carleton Place Memories 1930s and 1940s

17310997_1387371974653026_5719382261551101259_o.jpg17240604_1387371977986359_7480365774636335226_o.jpgCarleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum

This poem was written in 1996 by Harold R. Drummond and recalls his youth in Carleton Place in the 1930’s and ’40’s.

 

 

relatedreading

Almonte Poetry —- Agnes Whitelaw Boyce Almonte

A Poem about Innisville–By Mrs. Edith Bolton

Alice Katherine Gould– Smiths Falls — Gould Family

A Beckwith Poem — Beckwith in the Bushes — J.W.S. Lowry 1918

Annie Patterson — Descendant of John Gemmill

Did you Know Mother Goose Came from Blakeney and Union Hall ?

Genealogist Christmas Poem

The Old Saw Mill Poem – Lanark County

Was the Rhyme Ring Around the Rosie Connected to the Plague?

Postage Stamp Flirtation 1903

Come on and Feel the Noise –Last Night’s Mini Poetry Slam

Almonte Poetry —- Agnes Whitelaw Boyce Almonte

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Almonte Poetry —- Agnes Whitelaw Boyce Almonte

almonte_grist_mill.jpg

Grist Mill- almonte.com

 

Almonte


0, peaceful dreamy town
That nestles in the vale, _
With streets and homes so pleasant,
And her people fair and hale
And grand the scene about her
That lends her charm and grace
Amid the fairest beauty town
Fair Almonte takes the place.

The winding waters of her stream
Come on serene and slow
Till o’er the falls they grandly leap,
and boil in foam below.

downriver-from-stone-bridge.jpg

Photo-almonte.com

 

The silvery moon at even, ·
A street of silver lays
Across the wind toss
Across the bends and bays
From many a height in Ramsay
The town is seen afar,
And each light looks at evening,
Just like the evening star,
While in ‘the moon tide brightness
It seems to nestledown.

 

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Almonte Boat scene-almonte.com

 

In the Mississippi Valley,
Almonte, fair Almonte town.
From just outside its borders,
Is seen a distant view,
The grand chain of Laurentians,
Lie in a haze of blue,
And the bright autumn colors,
Less than fifty miles-away,
Upon the mountain side are seen
Upon a cloudless day

cannon_mill_lower_falls.jpg

cannon mill lower falls-almonte.com


Around her here and there,
In valley and on hill,
Are wondrous woods and plains
And rippling brooks and the river
About the town so dangerous fair,
Nature with lavish hand,
Has spread out beauty everywhere,

Oh Almonte fairest Almonte
What ails thee at this time
With power and beauty around thee
Thou shouldest be in thy prime
Wake from the dreamy slumber
Arouse and take thy place,
Add to your wealth and number
And strike a progress pace.
Written and composed by
Agnes Whitelaw Boyce
Almonte

Dedication-of-the-War-Memorial_.jpg

Dedication of the War Memorial–almonte.com

 

 

historicalnotes

 -

Clipped from

  1. The Ottawa Journal,
  2. 27 Aug 1940, Tue,
  3. Page 8

A Poem about Innisville–By Mrs. Edith Bolton

Alice Katherine Gould– Smiths Falls — Gould Family

A Beckwith Poem — Beckwith in the Bushes — J.W.S. Lowry 1918

Annie Patterson — Descendant of John Gemmill

Genealogist Christmas Poem

The Old Saw Mill Poem – Lanark County

Was the Rhyme Ring Around the Rosie Connected to the Plague?

Postage Stamp Flirtation 1903

Come on and Feel the Noise –Last Night’s Mini Poetry Slam

Almonte and Yesterday Lornie Byrne

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Almonte and Yesterday Lornie Byrne

 

IMG_0976.jpg1971 Almonte and yesterday PR.jpg

 

Arlene sent this in and it touched me. I hope it touches you as much. Lornie Byrne

 

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun andScreamin’ Mamas (USA)

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place.

relatedreading

Downtown Almonte 1891 — Thumb Biters Skaters and Widows

Scrapbook Memories of the Comba Family Almonte

A 1978 Walking Tour of Mill Street Almonte

What Happened to Mary Hart of Almonte?