SATURDAY NIGHT IS THE THIRD GREAT SUGAR DRAW

In 1990, FRONT PAGE REFLECTIONS was published by The Dunnville Chronicle ~ Compiled by Lorne E. Sorge

Front Page July 15, 1938 ~

A Bigger Attendance Than Ever Last Saturday.  People were present from outlying villages as far as eighteen miles away at last Saturday's Sugar Draw -- proving beyond all doubt its growing popularity.
Will you be there this Saturday night?  Just a few minutes of your time at 11 p.m. daylight saving time may mean a bag of sugar for you - surely it's worth it.  You get your coupon with every 25 cent purchase.  Sign your name to these, deposit them in a convenient box, and then come to the sugar draw and see how lucky you are.  Shop early and don't wait a week to know how lucky you are.
THIRTY-TWO PEOPLE GET SUGAR EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT -- Yes, sir!  32 lucky people carry home sugar, which is drawn for as follows:  10 bags of 10 lbs. each; two bags of 20 lbs.; 10 bags of 10 lbs.,three bags of 20 lbs., five bags of 20 lbs., one bag of 50 lbs. and for the 32nd draw, the big prize of 100 lbs. of granulated sugar.

REMEMBER the stores listed here are sugar stores -- Ask for your coupon with every 25 cent purchase and bear in mind always, the more coupons you have in the draw the better your chance of winning.

[Some 35 retail stores participated in the Great Sugar Draw.]



Heritage Grand River ~ Seneca Park

 Please Join us on Thursday, April 5, over the lunch hour, for a Community Information Meeting.  Organizers of "Day of 1000 Canoes" will be on hand to talk about the up-coming event on Saturday, June 23, 2012.

Location:  The Neat Little Bookshop, corner of Hwy #3 and Cayuga Street.  Soup, sandwiches, tea and coffee. 

Photo:  lbwalker, March 28, 2012.

Melissa's Diary is a blog that I follow.  When I access The Neat Little Bookshop blog, up pops a cute kitten-photo introducing Melissa's daily diary.  Yesterday a huge bowl of cat food prompted a stunned kitten to say, "This is supposed to do me 'til noon?"

I have never communicated with the author but when I do, I'll tell her how much her funny comments lighten my mood.  Melissa is an author for Harlequin Romance and as such she provides an insight into the world of meeting deadlines and the on-going dialogue between publisher, editor and writer.  She has more than one blog so click on several tabs!
http://www.melissamcclone.blogspot.com/

Cock-and-Bull Story.  Where did a fanciful tale get the name "cock-and-bull story"?  The expression is a derisive allusion to the fables of Aesop and others in which cocks moralize and bulls debate.

(Learn something everyday in the bookshop!)

Our Trail in Need of Clean-up

This time of year it is difficult to get a picture without garbage.  (Missed the plastic in this one.)

~ Why Do We Say It?  The Stories Behind the Words, Expressions and Cliches We Use, Castle Books, 1985.

Towpath Trail River Walk ~

According to Barbara Martindale there are two reasons why "Towpath Trail River Walk" should be the name of the Grand Valley Trail East and West of Caledonia.  First, in the days of The Grand River Navigation Company (1830s to 1860s), mules and horses towed the scows and river boats carrying important products including lumber.  Secondly, a committee set up in the seventies calling themselves The Towpath Trail Committee was successful in laying the ground work for what was eventually to become the Caledonia dam with extensive shoreline work including a dyke.

For a listing of upcoming Information Sessions on a Haldimand County Trails Implementation Plan, visit http://www.haldimandcounty.on.ca/ (Easier to Google Trails & Pathways - Haldimand County)

Cayuga sessions:
Haldimand County Museum & Archives, Tuesday, April 17, 2:00 p.m.
Cayuga Administrative Building, Council Chambers, Wednesday, April 18 - 7:00 p.m.

For Related information visit http://www.gvta.on.ca/



Along The Grand ~ Larger Image Please Click On Photo



Along The Grand Valley Trail ~



The Old & The New 






Note Trail Blaze on Tree - lbwalker

The Grand Valley Trails Association Guidebook available at The Neat Little Bookshop
http://www.gvta.on.ca/

Cayuga-on-the Grand ~ Photos:  March 26, 2012

"...it changed and I changed.  By the time I sat down at the typewriter, I was writing a book quite unlike the one I had at first planned to write, because I was quite unlike the person who had first considered writing it. I had an altered vision of life, not to mention an altered life.  My experiences had compelled me to start thinking about the ways in which life changes character and capacity, the ways in which the accidents of success or failure influence one's sense of oneself, the ways in which society both creates and destroys the human capacity for survival."

"Words are a form of action, capable of influencing change."  ~ Ingrid Bengis.*

Ingrid at The Strand Book Store, Manhattan, NY.

~ Ingrid Bengis, American writer b. 1945  Source:  The Writer on Her Work, Seventeen Essays, W.W. Norton & Co., 2000  Edited by Janet Sternburg.

* author of Combat in the Erogenous Zone.
Photos:  Wikipedia

Artist, Emily Carr, was already nervous speaking to 500 people at the prestigious Women's Canadian Club in Victoria.  Her works were on display and her lecture was an important part of the promotion.  When her voice could hardly be heard, the audience called for her to speak louder.  At that critical moment, Carr's pet dog, Ginger Pop, whom she had brought along, leaped to her defense.  He ran over to Emily and for the duration of the speech sat in front of her, staring "raptly into her face until she successfully finished her speech."
In CELEBRATED PETS, Endearing Tales of Companionship and Loyalty, author Cheryl MacDonald,  relates little-known stories by the likes of Grey Owl, Prime Minister MacKenzie King.  A story about the real Winnie-the-Pooh and Jumbo the elephant. 

Available at The Neat Little Bookshop $9.95.  A great gift for the animal lover.

"Endearing Tales of Companionship and Loyalty"

Cayuga-on-the-Grand

Photos:  March 25, 2012




William Wordsworth, English poet, founder of the Romantic movement, may be best known for his poem, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.

His work often reflected his love of nature.  The following ~ one of my favourites.

 Lines Written In Early Spring.

I heard a thousand blended notes,

While in a grove I sate reclined,

In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts

Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link

The human soul that through me ran;

And much it grieved my heart to think

What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,

The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;

and 'tis my faith that every flower

Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and prayed,

Their thoughts I cannot measure ~

But the least motion which they made,

It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,

To catch the breezy air;

And I must think, do all I can,

That there was pleasure there.



If this belief from heaven be sent,

If such be Nature's holy plan,

Have I not reason to lament

What man has made of man?

~ Wm. Wordsworth, British poet (b. April 7, 1770 - d. April 23, 1850)





Community Information Meeting  Thursday, April 5, 12:00 p.m.* over the lunch hour.

The 2nd Annual Day of 1000 Canoes coming up on Saturday, June 23.

Please join us for the Open-House Information Meeting at The Neat Little Bookshop, Cayuga. 

* Note the change in time from earlier posting.  Organizers have scheduled this over the lunch hour rather than evening.
Photo:  Pirates on The Grand. Credit http://www.1000canoes.com/

~

Author Cheryl MacDonald  ~ A Lady who is the Pride of Our Local Historical Circles.

Cheryl has been writing historical non-fiction for ~ I am guessing ~ forty years.  I leave it up to the reader to decide whether the general population of Canadian women, specifically women in Haldimand, Ontario, are any different than women in highly publicized, high-profile cities of the world.

http://www.heronwoodent.ca/

Cheryl's books are available at The Neat Little Bookshop.  They are not all about murder. For more fascinating topics please visit her website.

A great story about Samuel Clemens ~ 

In order to apply for the post of reporter-at-large on the Territorial Enterprise, Samuel Clemens walked 130 miles to Virginia City in Nevada Territory.  He arrived at the newspaper's offices one hot afternoon in August, a dust-covered, weary stranger in a slouch hat, with a revolver slung on his belt, and a roll of blankets on his back.  He wore a blue woolen shirt and dusty trousers tucked into his boots.  Dropping into a chair, he announced, "My starboard leg seems to be unshipped.  I'd like about one hundred yards of line; I think I am falling to pieces."  He added, "My name is Clemens, and I've come to write for the paper."

(Albert Bigelow Paine commented, "It was the master of the world's widest estate come to claim his kingdom.")

Authors, take heart ~

When Mark Twain was an impoverished young reporter in Virginia City, he was walking along the street one day with a cigar box under his arm.  He encountered a wealthy lady he knew who said to him reproachfully, "You promised me that you would give up smoking."
"Madam," replied Twain, "this box does not contain cigars.  I'm just moving."

Excerpts from THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF Anecdotes, Clifton Fadiman, 1985.

Too Cute Not to Post ~  This is Benjamin in the big truck.

Cayuga-on-the-Grand

Photos:  Summer 2011 lbwalker

Cheryl MacDonald

"Authors Sell Books"

Kirk Du Guid & Cheryl MacDonald

Bob Blakeley & Cheryl MacDonald

Day of a Thousand Canoes ~
(Please note time change.)

A Community Information Meeting will be held on Thursday, 5 April, 12:00 p.m. * ~ over the lunch hour ~ at The Neat Little Bookshop.  Mark it on your calendars.  Organizers of Day of a Thousand Canoes welcome you to participate.

http://www.1000canoes.com/

*Considering that the next day is Good Friday, organizers have sheduled the Open House for the lunch hour rather than evening.

Word Watching ~

Mojo ~ something that one has a lot of ~ sometimes.   Other days, not so much.

Every day a word is delivered to my e-mail via a website "Sesquiotica."  Today's word is "mojo."

Canadian author, James Harbeck, describes his fun effort as "word tasting notes and other lively things on language."


http://www.sesquiotic.wordpress.com/

As Queen Victoria lay dying, a member of the royal household discussed the imminent event with Edward, the Prince of Wales. "I wonder if she will be happy in heaven?" he mused.
"I don't know, " said the prince.  "She will have to walk behind the angels ~ and she won't like that!"

~ Edward VII, son of Victoria, King of the United Kingdom 1910 - 10.

Source:THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK of Anecdotes

[Being a royal-watcher, I marvel at the way things have changed.  Kate Middleton*, future Queen of England, delivered her first public speech yesterday reportedly wearing a dress that she borrowed from her Mother.  Good for her when budgets are tight.] lbwalker

* Duchess of Cambridge

"To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds, and watch the renewal of life ~ this is the commonest delight of the race, the most satisfactory thing a man can do."

~ Charles Dudley Warner, American novelist (1829 - 1900) My Summer in a Garden [1870]

For Book Lovers ~

Interviews with world-renowned authors are available on the BBC's World Book Club.  Indexed alphabetically, the authors names are easily accessed.  The programme is presented by Harriet Gilbert.  Authors answer questions submitted by fans.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Thoughts for Today ~

"As for Doing-good, that is one of the professions which are full.  Moreover, I have tried it fairly, and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution."

~ Thoreau, Walden, Economy.

~ Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862) American author, philosopher.

To The Raking of the Fire
And the New Flame in the Morning ~

So goes the dedication in H. V. Morton's In Search of Ireland.

"There is a verse spoken by peasants in the west as they rake the embers of their turf fires before going to bed.  It has been Englished as follows:
I save the seed of the fire to-night,
And so may Christ save me . . ."
The farmer rakes his fire after a long evening in a Connemara cabin.  He tidies the little pile of glowing turf, and then he damps it down with ashes in order that the fire might live until the morning.
"This act, which is performed in thousands of white cabins when night comes over the hills is symbolic of Ireland.  The burning peat, one may fancy, is the Gael; the ashes are the centuries of suppression under a foreign power; the darkness needs no comment, and the morning is the Ireland of the future..  When these ashes are raked off in the morning there is a faint pinkish heart of fire in the turf, and the peasants blow upon it until a flame bursts out and new fuel is added on the hearth."

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

The York Grand River Historical Society ~

Tuesday, March 21, 2:00 p.m.  The guest speaker is Gill Biddy.  Subject:  The War of 1812 on the Great Lakes.

This is a thriving group of historians who have produced among other things two books and a set of attractive hasty-notes depicting local historical buildings.

Location:  Andrew's Lodge Hall, Caledonia, on Hwy. 6 opposite Tim Horton's at the tracks.

(Note: The date was incorrectly reported in a local paper. Please note that the historical society always meets on the third Tuesday.)
Photo:  The Grand River at Cayuga ~ lbwalker

More wit & wisdom from the Irish ~

On Writers:

"A writer without a cat risks taking himself too seriously." 

~ Garrison (Kildare) Reed

"My dad's a writer.  His favorite expression is: 'The pen is mightier than the sword," which I believed for a long time.  Until I moved into the city.  And I got into a fight with this guy.  He cut me up real bad, and I drew a mustache on his face.  And then I wrote him a nasty letter."

~ Kevin Brennan

"There is only one trait that marks the writer.  He is always watching.  It's a kind of trick of mind, and he is born with it."

~ Morley Callaghan

"Writers aren't exactly people. . . they're a whole lot of people trying to be one person."

~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

~ Irish-American Funny Quotes by Merrit Malloy, Sterling Publishing Co., 1994

March 17 will be St. Patrick's Day ~

Folks are wearing the green this week.  An old Hallmark Canada greeting card honours the Irish with the Legend of the Shamrock.

There is an honored legend from Ireland's ancient lore

Of how St. Patrick drove the snakes from Erin's lovely shore.

The wee folk were in danger from the serpents all around

That hid beneath the rocks and always moved without a sound.

But then when good St. Patrick came to preach and labor there,
He brought the shamrock with him which he planted everywhere.
And as the shamrocks flourished, all the snakes began to flee
Until they reached the shore, where they were swallowed by the sea.

Sure an' the wee folk marveled, and they asked St. Patrick why.

"The shamrock represents The Trinity," was his reply.
"Just as three shamrock leaves are joined onto a single stem,
The Trinity is three in one, and God is all of them.
The serpents learned its sacred power in Eden long ago

And cannot bear to stay here now because they fear it so."

And ever since St. Patrick drove the serpents all away.

They've ne'er come back to Ireland's shores, not to this very day.

~ Author unknown.

Encyclopedia ~

For the first time in two hundred and forty-four years, Encyclopedia Britannica will stop printing.

(CBC News, March 14,2012)  http://www.britannica.com/

Smile For Today ~


In keeping with his ideas on the dignity of labour, John Ruskin encouraged his Oxford students to try their hand at manual work.  He hit on a scheme of building a road from the village of North Hinksey to Oxford to provide the villagers with a direct route.  Among the undergraduates he recruited was Oscar Wilde.  The charms of manual labor wore off after a while and the road was never completed.  The line of the road was still visible in the mid-1960s.  Perhaps even remnants today!


Source:  THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF Anecdotes, 1985, Clifton Fadiman,
~ J. Ruskin (1819 - 1900) British critic & social reformer.  Professor of Fine Arts at Oxford.

Talbot Road* as a Result of the War of 1812?

"Ever mindful of the sparse settlement of Ontario and the threats to British prestige in Canada during the War of 1812 and more lately in the Rebellion of 1837, the government determined on a policy of road building in order that troops might be moved more quickly from one part of Upper Canada to another.  The road from Canboro and Simcoe was graded for this purpose by negro labour.  One of the workman is said to have been bitten by a rattlesnake in Walpole and to have died from the effects.  It was the building of this road which resulted in Cayuga becoming a village rather than Indianna.
When the Hamilton and Port Dover Road was built where the two roads crossed, Jarvis sprung up."

~ The Early History of Haldimand County, John Russell Harper, Sachem Print, 1950
(1914 - 1983) b. in Oneida Twp., graduate Caledonia High School. Archaeologist, Chief Cataloguer & Registrar of ROM, Art Historian.  Bio. on Wikipedia.

By Russell Harper

* Hwy. #3

In his book A Field Guide to Irish Fairies, Bob Curran attempts to identify the fairies that one is "most likely to encounter." He cautions against examining them too closely, however, because of a warning once given Irish poet W. B. Yeats by the Queen of Fairies, through a Dublin medium.  "Be careful, and do not seek to know too much about us!"

Following are nine Irish fairies for whom one has to be on the watch:  The Grogoch, the Grey Man, the Sheerie, the Changelings, the Pooka, the Merrow, the Banshee, the Leprechaun (sometimes described as Ireland's National Fairy) and the Dullahan.

Fairies can be "wilful and capricious creatures, easily offended and quick to anger."  There was a time when they were so feared that one did not speak the name "fairy."  More flattering terms were used, such as the Gentry and the Good People.
As March 17 approaches, use caution and be aware!

* Published by Chronicle Books, 1997.

In A Field Guide to Irish Fairies*,  Bob Curran attempts to identify the fairies with whom one is most likely to run into.  But first, where did fairies come from?
My favourite explanation is that they are "fallen angels, those who sat on the fence during the great rebellion in Heaven and were thrown out for their indecisiveness. . .
"There were not, however, consigned to Hell with Lucifer and his followers, being neither good enough to be saved or bad enough to be lost.  St. Michael, the patron saint of all fairies, interceded with God on their behalf and they were given the dark and remote placesof the earth in which to dwell, well away from human habitation.  Some were granted the depths of the oceans and became merfolk; others were sent to the lands under the earth (this explains the fairies at the bottom of our garden) and became goblins and trolls.  Others were granted the air and became spirits and sheeries.  Others were given the harsh and barren areas of the countryside and became leprechauns and grogochs."

Tomorrow:  The thirteen types of fairies.

Published by Chronicle Books, 1998  http://www.chroniclebooks.com/

IRISH~ AMERICAN FUNNY QUOTES * 
by Merrit Malloy

"A cat without a dog is like a lazy Saturday morning without 'The Three Stooges."
~ Sasha Sullivan

"A farm is a hunk of land on which, if you get up early enough mornings and work late enough nights, you'll make a fortune ~ if you strike oil on it."
~ Fibber McGee

* Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1994

Treats?

M-m-m

Any more?

The Dog Gallery ~

Hector visits the bookshop.  Only four and a half months old, he is being carefully trained as a service dog.

A deal brokered between Six Nations with Samsung and the province of Ontario is getting mixed reviews.  "Closed door negotiations between Samsung, Ontario and Six Nations of the Grand have resulted in a precedent-setting deal worth as much as $55 million for Six Nations."  This announcement is made in the March 7 issue of TEKAWENNAKE.
Six Nations Economic Director Matt Jamieson has asked Six Nations for an endorsement of what he calls a "historic opportunity to capitalize on the use of our traditional territory."

The article by Stephanie Dearing of Ohsweken, refers to the turbine/solar project for Haldimand County; however, stops short of identifying the location.  Jamieson said, "If members back the deal, Six Nations could pursue similar lease arrangements for other projects in the Haldimand Tract."
"Six Nations members now have 30 days to make a decision," the author of the article asserts.  Six open houses will be held during the month to provide information.  On April 3 there will be a special community meeting to discuss the deal.  Elected Council will then make the final decision.
We welcome information from our municipality.  We believe that the "traditional territory" in question is South Cayuga.

http://www.sixnationsfuture.com/

Post script:  Two parties voted "No" yesterday at Queen's Park to health studies on effects of wind turbines.  A delegation from Haldimand in attendance.
http://www.ontario-wind-resistance.org/  

Canadian author, Nellie McClung, worked tirelessly to improve the existence not only of women and children but of men as well.

"The Church must renounce the idea that, when a man goes forth to preach the Gospel, he has to consider himself a sort of glorified immigration agent, whose message is, 'This way, ladies and gentlemen, to a better, brighter, happier world;  earth is a poor place to stick around, heaven is your home."
His mission is to teach his people to make of this world a better place !~ to live their lives here in such a way that other men and women will find life sweeter for their having lived."

Canadian author, Nellie McClung

~ Nellie McClung, best known for her book, Sowing Seeds in Danny (1908).
Source:  No Small Legacy, Carol L. Hancock, Wood Lake Books, Inc., 1986.
Image:  Wikipedia

International Women's Day

"We may yet live to see the day when women will be no longer news!  And it cannot come too soon.  I want to be a peaceful, happy, normal human being, pursuing my unimpeded way through life, never having to stop to explain, defend, or apologize for my sex. . ."

~ Nellie McClung, Canadian author and womens' rights activist (1873 - 1951)

Source:  No Small Legacy, Carol L. Hancock, Wood Lake Books, 1986.

Wise Words and Music by Valdy *~

Give me the simple life
I need the simple life
Don't want to worry
'Bout tomorrow.

Live everyday completely
Love for the joy of loving
Then I will be happy.

Pretty cars and soft guitars
Round trip ticket to the stars
I'm living like a king
Inside a cage.

I don't want a giant bank account
Or a name folks like to rap about
Think I've had my fill
Please turn the page.

Just give me the simple life
I need the simple life
Don't want to worry
'Bout tomorrow.

* Paul Valdemar Horsdal, Canadian folk singer/song-writer. (b 1945)

Our hearts are breaking for Alison, Cody, Kyle, Ashlee, Jake, Randi, Brody and Maddi.  "When thinking of me,always remember...the awesome times we shared together." ~ R.I.P. Mark Andrew Harvie

To our good friends in Marshville Heritage Village ~

To the farriers and blacksmiths, Happy, Lucky Horseshoes! 

"Let me live in a house by the side of a road
Where the race of men go by;
The men who are good and the men who are bad
As good and as bad as I.

I would not sit in the scorner's seat
Or hurl the cynic's ban;
Let me live in a house by the side of a road
And be a friend to man."

~ Unknown Author
Photos:  lbwalker

For Irish thoughts, Irish-American Funny Quotes by Merrit Malloy is a great little book.
Right away we recognize some of the quotations and names.  John F. Kennedy, Margaret Michell, Fibber McGee, John Wayne, Eugene O'Neill, Andy Rooney,Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward G. Robinson, Gene Kelly, Spencer Tracy, Johnny Carson, Jackie Gleason, Malachy McCourt. F. Scott Fitzgerald . . . on and on.

But then ~ we read in the PROLOGUE, ". . .in compiling a book of authentic Irish-Americans, I still can't be absolutely certain that every single name included in this book is Irish."  The author's point?  Everyone claims to be part Irish - especially around St. Patrick's Day!


"Everybody's Irish on St. Patty's Day."  ~ 
 Helen O'Donnell Malloy

And the Winner Is:

Andrew Westoll for The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, A Canadian Story of Resilience & Recovery, published by Harper Collins.
The winner of the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-fiction was announced on Monday, March 5, in Toronto.

Westoll, primatologist and writer, takes the reader into the day-to-day lives of rescued chimps.  "Heart-rending and heart-warming."

http://www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/

 Haldimand County Museum


Haldimand County Museum & Archives

 

Located on the banks of The Grand River, Cayuga
 Photos: lbw

Haldimand County Museum & Archives
8 Echo Street (behind Admin. building on Hwy. 54) Cayuga
 
Upcoming Events
Thursday, March 15     The History of St. Patrick's Day
Thursday, March 22     Afternoon with the Bronte Sisters
Time:  1:00 - 3:00 p.m.  Admission:  $5

http://www.haldimandcounty.on.ca/  Click on Things to Do & See

Winner of The Charles Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction will be announced on Monday, March 5.

Finalists are:

Wade Davis, Conquest of Everest
Charlotte Gill, Eating Dirt
J.J.Lee, The Measure of a Man
Madeline Sonik, Affictions and Departures
Andrew Westoll, The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary

http://www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/

Writer, poet, Theo Seuss Geisel - writing under the pen name Dr. Seuss - was born on March 2, 1904.  He died on September 24, 1991.
Excerpt from a poem that he wrote honoring The Reader's Digest Condensed Books:

It has often been said
there's so much to be read,
you never can cram
all those words in your head.

So the writer who breeds
more words than he needs
is making a chore
for the reader who reads.


~ Seuss-isms, Wise and Witty Prescriptions for Living from the Good Doctor,  Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Random House, 1997.

Photos:  l.b.walker

Faithful Friend