Future of the "Newly Reclaimed" Douglas Creek Development ~  Turtle Island News

"The Haudensaunee Development Institute (HDI) the planning department of the Confederacy Council, is holding meetings, beginning Thursday (August 30) at 5 p.m and inviting Six Nations people to attend to discuss how the newly reclaimed Six Nations land should be cleaned up and revitalized.
Some want to see it stay the way it is, a skeletal reminder to Six Nations neighbours of what happened just six years ago.
Others are ready to move on, with or without the support of their neighbours in Caledonia."

~ Turtle Island News, North America's Native Weekly Newspaper, Wednesday, August 29, 2012

www.theturtleislandnews.com



Story of Caledonia



Available in The Neat Little Bookshop HELPLESS, Christie Blatchford, Random House of Canada, Ltd.,2010

www.caledoniawakeupcall.ca

Reta's Bear 1921

"But that bear ~ the one on the [right,] has a very special look about him:  the sort of Bear who might not necessarily have been Born Great, but who will either Achieve Greatness or have Greatness Thrust Upon Him!" ~ Brian Sibley.

"It was just such a bear, a handsome fellow in golden mohair, that, in August 1921, was purchased from the toy department of Harrods in London by Mrs Daphne Milne as a first birthday present for her son, named Christopher Robin, but known to the family as 'Billy Moon'.
"...Mr. Milne may not have immediately recognised the furry newcomer's literary potential (and it was to be some years before he became known as Winnie-the-Pooh), but one-year-old Billy loved his Bear from the very first.  'Every only-child has his favourite toy,' he was to write many years after, 'and every only-child has a special need of one.  Pooh was mine.'"

~ Three Cheers for Pooh, A Celebration of the Best Bear in All the World, by Brian Sibley, Egmont Children's Books Limited.  2001.

Photo:  My Mother, Reta Melick's beloved bear.  Reta was born on Sept., 28, 1921.  (Reta's bear ~ although mended ~ looks similar to and was purchased around the same time as Christopher Robin's.)

Original Winnie-the-Pooh Toys ~ Wikipedia

Winnie-the-Pooh and Friends ~ the original toys ~ reside at The New York Library on 42nd Street.  Every year thousands of children and their parents some to see them.

I first met Catherine Stidsen when she came into the bookshop shortly after we opened on Cayuga Street.  Catherine glanced around, expressed her apparent sincere approval and I knew instinctively that we had a supporter.  We were nowhere near meeting our own standards at that time but she seemed to share our vision.

It was not long after that that Catherine came around with giant, handsome posters and glossy programs promoting Doors Open Ontario.  Haldimand for the first time was participating in the annual Ontario Heritage Trust event.  Catherine had been instrumental in making it happen.  One of the historical sites that proudly opens its doors to the public is Cottonwood Mansion ~ another project that benefits from the efforts of this community-conscious lady.

Catherine, we look forward to learning more about your growing up in Philadelphia, your teachings, writings, studies in theology and your connection with India.  The author Catherine has posted on-line stories with wonderful themes:  "Love In a Rectory," "The Flower Garden," "The Cat Who Came for March Break,"  "The Manger Stuffed with Cotton" and my personal favourite, "It Depends."

Join us on Thursday, September 6 at 1:00 for our Afternoon With the Author, Catherine Stidsen.  Fascinating lady with a fascinating life.

www.doorsopenontario.on.ca

Catherine at Cottonwood Mansion

Fascinating Personalities ~

Catherine Stidsen is our First Personality of the Fall Season

We are pleased to host an afternoon on Thursday, September 6, 1:00 p.m. when Catherine joins us to talk about "HERSTORIES" which appear on her own website.
www.catherineberrystidsen.org

Welcome Everyone  ~ No Admittance.  Please join us.



Photo:  Compliments of C Stidsen  (thank you, Catherine) 

Tomorrow:  Learn more about C. Stidsen

One of a Pair Montgomery Dogs

Lucy Maud Montgomery refers to the heirloom dogs in several of her books including, Anne of the Island, Anne's House of Dreams  and Anne of Ingleside.  "When I was a little girl, visiting at Grandfather Montgomery's, I think the thing that most enthralled me was a pair of China dogs which always sat on the sitting room mantel piece. . .

"I have always hankered to possess a pair of similar dogs and as those had been purchased in London I hoped when I came over I would find something like them.  Accordingly, I have haunted the antique shops in every place I have been. . .there was an abundance of dogs with black spots and some few dogs with red spots, but nowhere the aristocratic dogs with green spots...The race of dogs with green spots seems to have become extinct."
Photo:  www.lucymaudmontgomerymuseum.com   The dogs with the green spots remain in Grandfather's house.

~ Lucy Maud Montgomery,The Selected Journals, Vol. II:  1910 - 1921. University of Guelph, 1987.  Canadian author (1874 - 1942)

Cottonwood Mansion  ~ 

Curator Jill Walters-Klamer ~

Announcing Up-coming Events

Peach Social Concert ~ The Cottonwood Brass

For Virtual Tour & Fall Program Please Visit www.cottonwoodmansion.ca

The Cottonwood Brass ~

Peach Social Concert

"Brass Old and New"

A Beautiful Sunday Afternoon on the Lawn at Cottonwood Mansion, Selkirk, Ontario

Ryan Baker, Cornet and Trumpet; Graham Young, Cornet, Cornopean and Trumpet;  Johnny Bissell, Horn, Tenor Cor and Alto Saxhorn;  Mary Ann Pearson, Euphonium, Tenor Saxhorn and Trombone and Dave Pearson, Tuba and Helicon.

Music of the 19th and 20th centuries performed on antique and modern instruments.  Everything from  the March and Two Step,  Broadway, Jazz and Medleys kept the audience tapping their toes.

Thank you to the volunteers and to Cottonwood Brass.

 

Dave and Mary Ann Take a Break to Change From "Old" to "New." 

Dave & Mary Ann Pearson live in Cayuga.  They play with the Brock University Winds, the Tubarifics quartet , the Cambridge Symphony and the Hamilton and Burlington Concert Bands.


Please click on photos for larger image.

From a Railway Carriage ~

by Robert Louis Stevenson 

Faster than fairies, faster than witches,

Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;

And charging along like troops in a battle,

All through the meadows the horses and cattle:

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain;

And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,

All by himself and gathering brambles;

Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;

And there is the green for stringing the daisies!

Here is a cart run away in the road

Lumping along with man and load;

And here is a mill and there is a river:

Each a glimpse and gone for ever!

~ Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894) Scottish novelist, poet.

Photo: Canadian National Exibition, Toronto, ON, 2012.

FOR SALE

Robert Montgomery Wants to Retire

Lucy Maud Montgomery's Dreams ~ FOR SALE

The 134 year old house that inspired the Anne of Green Gables books is on the market for $345,000. Lucy Maud Montgomery's grandfather's house is no longer making money, according to the current owner, a descendant of the author.

Little has changed in the house since the author spent summers in Cavendish, P.E.I. and wrote about it in her stories.  Electricity and running water have been added.  Open to the public as the Lucy Maud Montgomery Heritage Museum, personal artifacts and private papers furnish the house.  It is the owner's hope that the province will change its mind and purchase the historic home.

www.lucymaudmontgomerymuseum.com

Reprinted, August, 1963.  Ryerson Press

www.nationalpost.com  House Photos:  Clair Perry for The National Post, August 23, 2012.  Article Armina Ligaya. 

Anne of The Island, L. M. Montgomery, 1915.  First Canadian Edition, April, 1942.  Collection: lbwalker.

DIRTY BUSINESS edited by Jane Wilson with Contributing editor Parker Gallant. A collection of essays, articles, letters and presentations that offer an alternative view of wind-power generation to that being presented by the Ontario government and the huge, multi-billion-dollar corporate wind-power generation industry ~ even the so-called "environmental" groups.

"When you look at how our legislators created an act that removed the democratic process from Ontario's rural municipalities and at the same time, used taxpayer and electricity ratepayer dollars to open the door to huge, largely foreign corporations to exploit Ontario, it is simply astonishing.
"The government actually took a calculated risk that the rural communities of Ontario (the base for the opposition party) were too small to launch any opposition to its initiatives in the renewable energy business, and proceeded to treat rural Ontario as a 'resource plantation', as War in the Country author Thomas Pawlick tells it."

The Reality of Ontario's Rush to Wind Power

"Add to that the aggressive business practices of the corporate wind developers, the misuse of statistics on health effects from coal-fired power generation, the casual dismissal of people losing their health due to the noise produced by industrial wind turbines and the lost value of citizens' single largest investment, their homes, you can come to only one conclusion:  this is a very dirty business."

~ Introduction to DIRTY BUSINESS, published by Wind Concerns Ontario Inc., edited by Jane Wilson, contributing editor, Parker Gallant.  Available,The Neat Little Bookshop. $12.99 tax incl.www.windconcernsontario.org

Lake Erie Coast ~ Stewardship of Our Natural Heritage

Today, by chance, we met the most wonderful group of naturalists.  Albert Garafalo, Lake Erie Coast Project Coordinator, and a handful of resourceful individuals showed up without fanfare on a shoreline near us ~ dressed as one would expect, in gear that would allow exploration of the roughest terrain.  In the few minutes spent with this knowledgeable, dedicated group, we learned more than we have in formal meetings over the years with Toronto consultants contracted to come up with great beautification schemes on how to improve the lake shore.

"The Great Lakes coast supports some of the rarest and most threatened ecosystems in Canada.  Lake Erie, the Southern most Great Lake, is a hot spot for species diversity and supports a number of species at risk including:  Hoptree, Red-headed Woodpecker, and Fowler's Toad." * Just to mention a few.

We came away with a list of preferable "native wild plants" and the names of undesirable non-native plants.   We have a better understanding of the importance of encouraging native trees and plants rather than expropriating lake-shore owners in order to build terraces and pavilions with boulevard trees and planters.  (All recommendations that have been presented to Haldimand County Council and local residents.)

*Contacts: Albert Garofal 905.732.5084  or albert.garofalo@gmail.com

We ask our municipality to consult with naturalists like the Bert Miller Nature Club, P.O. Box 1088, Ridgeway, ON.  L0S 1N0.  Meanwhile, encouraging information can be found at www.bertmillernatureclub.org  *

/Lake Erie Coast Project/Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

The Human Seasons ~

"...when fancy clear takes in all beauty with an easy span"

\
by John Keats

Four seasons fill the measure of the year;

There are four seasons in the mind of man:

He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear

Takes in all beauty with an easy span:

He has his Summer, when luxuriously

Spring's honey'd cud of youthful thought he loves

To ruminate, and by such dreaming nigh

His nearest unto heaven:  quiet coves

His soul has in its Autumn, when his wings

He furleth close; contented so to look
On mists in idleness ~ to let fair things

Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook:

He has his Winter too of pale misfeature,

Or else he would forgo his mortal nature.

~ John Keats (1795 - 1821)  English poet.

Keats lived to be only 25 years old. 
 www.poetryfoundation.org



Laura Secord's House Queenston, ON (Click on photo for larger image.)

"The evidence is clear that Laura Secord was the first to bring warning to FitzGibbon of the impending attack, and that he did take the necessary precautions.  The victory at Beaver Dams was the result." ~ Ruth McKenzie, Laura Secord, the legend and the lady, McClelland and Steward Limited, 1971.

Photos:  lbwalker

Monument to Alfred, General Brock's "magnificent gray horse."

Wm. Lyon Mackenzie Printery

"The thirteenth of October, 1812, was a day the people of Queenston would never forget.  On that day the war came to their village.  Long before dawn on that chill, dull morning, hundreds of American soldiers slipped quietly into boats at Lewiston across the Niagara River and headed for Queenston.  About 200 landed at the Queenston wharf and sought shelter under the steep cliffs lining the shore.  The waterfront became a nightmare of booming guns, flashing gunfire, wounded men tumbling into the river...Before daybreak, over 300 Americans had joined their leader under the cliffs.

The village seemed to nestle under the protection of the "mountain" which rises to the south and extends inland some distance towards the west.  This high ridge is actually part of the Niagara escarpment."

~ Laura Secord the legend and the lady, Ruth McKenzie,  McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1971.

Stone Marker Where Brock Fell



"When the warning of the invasion came to Major-General Isaac Brock at Fort George, six miles north of Queenston, he hastily mounted his magnificent gray horse, Alfred, and set off at a gallop along the river road.  The stalwart, forty-three-year-old British officer was in charge of the defence of Upper Canada (Ontario). "

~ Laura Secord the Legend And the Lady,  Ruth McKenzie, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1971

Photos:  lbwalker







Commemorating the Bicentennial of the War of 1812.

The Niagara Parks Commission designed the floral clock at Queenston this year to represent those that fought in the war.  Green santolina is used to represents the muskets used by the British and Americans.  Gray santolina is used to depict feathers honouring the First Nations. 

Battles raged for over two years after president James Madison and the United States Congress declared war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812.  Two hundred years of peace has followed.

Photo:  lbwalker  

"I don't like books that open with the weather; with the wind blowing and the leaves falling, mood stuff like that."

~ Elmore Leonard (b. 1925 - ) American novelist.

"I think you open with the action, introduce the two main characters."

~ Maeve Binchy (1940 - 2012) Irish novelist.

"A genuine writer forgets a work as soon as he has completed it and starts to think of the next one;  if he thinks about his past work at all, he is more likely to remember its faults rather than its virtues. . . He needs approval of his work by others in order to be reassured that the vision of life he believes he has had is a true vision and not a self-delusion, but he can only be reassured by those whose judgment he respects."

~ W. H. Auden (1907 - 1972) Anglo-American poet.  The Dyer's Hand, 1963.




June Bell with Author Brad Smith

  Today at the Bookshop  ~
Delighted with her new book.  Thank you June for all the refreshments!  It was a great day; thanks Brad.

Brad Smith's latest book is available at The Neat Little Bookshop.  Trade Paperback $18.

BRAD SMITH will be in The Neat Little Bookshop Today 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Brad Smith at Flyers Bakery & Cafe, Dunnville, ON

 Everyone Welcome ~ This is the Second book in Brad's new series.  The first -- RED MEANS RUN.  The books sell for $18 Trade Paperback. Incl. tax.  (  Please note:  The Neat L'l Bookshop takes cash only.)

Smile for Today ~



Banks of The Grand ~ Cayuga





Cayuga Bridge

 Construction is to begin in September, 2012, on a new bridge.  This according to an update on the Haldimand County website ~ Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.

 

The Neat Little Bookshop has Story Hour, as many of you know, on Wednesdays after school.  This week our friend and Story-Hour teacher, Yvonne, had her purse stolen from her van that was parked at the Anglican church in Cayuga.
The heart-breaking part is that Yvonne spent many summer days at her home on the east coast collecting ancestral photographs and genealogy.  These irreplaceable items were in the stolen purse.
We are appealing to our friends and neighbours to please report anything suspicious to the O.P.P. and to be on the lookout for a black leather handbag and discarded items.

~ The Neat Little Bookshop 905-577-5635



Elvis Festival 2012, Collingwood, ON



"When Elvis danced in the studio it created a problem. In the session I'd say, 'Elvis, can't you stand still?' And he'd say, 'No, I can't.  I'm sorry.  I start playing and the movements are involuntary.'  The reason I wanted him to stand still was because he kept getting off-mike." ~ Steve Sholes.

"In time Elvis stopped playing the guitar and merely thumped it on the side or back on the after-beat.  This often was added as an "overdub," in another session, which made it easier for Sholes and the others to record his voice."

~ ELVIS by Jerry Hopkins, Simon & Shuster, 1971.

Commemorating the 35th Anniversary of Elvis' Death ~

". . . pull on some Elvis Presley bobbysocks, Elvis Presley shoes, an Elvis Presley skirt and Elvis Presley blouse, an Elvis Presley sweater, hang an Elvis Presley charm bracelet from one wrist, put an Elvis Presley handkerchief in her Elvis Presley purse and head for school."
To handle the merchandising in the 1950s, Colonel Parker engaged the same marketing company that had promoted Peter Pan, Mickey Mouse and Davy Crockett for Walt Disney.


Elvis Festival, 2012, Collingwood



"For every item in the Presley line, Elvis and the Colonel collected a royalty of 4 to 11 per cent of the manufacturer's wholesale price.  This probably didn't come to more than two to five cents for each dollar item, but when that was multiplied by several million, it was like having another number one record."

~ Elvis By Jerry Hopkins,  Simon & Schuster, 1971.

Photos:  lbwalker

Gone ~

Canborough Road ~ East of Attercliffe, Haldimand County

"Nice working with wood again."
Murphy nodded.  Dusty unplugged her nail gun and took her apron off.  It was five past five, she knew--she had just checked her cell phone for the time--and she needed to pick Travis up.
"You still looking for extra work?"  he asked.
"Yeah."
"I bought an old three-story brownstone, the corner of Madison and Canfield.  Needs to be gutted."

The above, a few lines from Brad Smith's new book, Crow's Landing.  Brad's dialogue is authentic and entertaining.  These are real people.  The author's background knowledge and experience ~ not to mention his humor ~ makes for good reading.  Brad has worked as a "farmer, signalman, insulator, truck driver, bartender, schoolteacher, maintenance mechanic, and carpenter."  We suspect he has run into a few characters along the way.

The author's other books:   Red Means Run, All Hat, Big Man Coming Down the Road, Busted Flush, One-Eyed Jacks, Rises a Moral Man.

Meet and chat with Brad in The Neat Little Bookshop on Saturday, August 18, 1- 3 p.m.

Local author, Brad Smith, was reviewed by Publishers Weekly: "RIVALS ELMORE LEONARD AT HIS BEST."  Simon & Shuster, publisher of Smith's most recent series has labelled his writing as, ". . .fast, funny country-noir action at its best."

Elmore Leonard in an interview with Lawrence Grobel:  "My ideas come from out of my head, from real life, from the way I see what's going on with people who are walking the line, who want to get away with something, who get into a hustle.  These are the people who intrigue me ~ some guy who has been in prison and has come out, what is he going to do now when he looks around?

LG:  You're not considered a mainstream writer, but rather a genre writer. . .
"I'm not going to presume to label myself.  I write what I want to write.  I don't really worry about the reader.  I'm the one I have to please, that's the beauty of this.  But I don't want to be called a mystery writer.  I'm in that section of the bookstore, but I certainly don't write mysteries.  I don't read mysteries."  I don't even read that much crime.  I seem to be a little bit different. . ."

Eager Fans Line-up For Smith's Latest Release

Fans lined up at Flyers Bakery and Cafe for Smith's Crow's Landing, the second book in the Virgil Cain series.  Dunnville, Ontario.

~Endangered Species, Writers Talk About Their Craft, Their Visions, Their Lives, Lawrence Grobel, Da Capo Press, 2001.

Brad Smith is compared with Elmore Leonard on the cover of his latest release, Crow's Landing.  Here's what Elmore Leonard said about his own popularity.*

"I think it's based on the fact that my books are entertaining.  It must be that simple.  My readers like the references to what's going on in the world, to television and movies, they feel a rapport with these people.  It might be just the dialogue, that the story moves very, very quickly.  They like it that you can get on an airplane in the east and finish the book before you're in L.A.  Maybe that's it."

~ *Interview with Lawrence Grobel for Playboy magazine.  Published in Endangered Species, Writers Talk About Their Craft, Their Visions, Their Lives, Lawrence Grobel, Da Capo Press, 2001.

Brad Smith's Latest Novel, Crow's Landing, published by Simon & Schuster, attracted attention today at Flyer's Bakery and Cafe in Dunnville, Ontario.



August, 2012, Scribner, A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

 

Smith's second novel in a new series, is getting good reviews:  "[SMITH'S] BEST CREATION IS CAIN, A RUGGED CHARMER," ~ National Post

Smith's overwhelmingly successful first book in the series, Red Means Run, introduced the main character, Virgil Cane, and was named among the Year's Best Crime Novels by Booklist.

Crow's Landing is Brad Smith's seventh book.

(Author COMING SOON to The Neat Little Bookshop.  Watch for details.)

www.bradsmithbooks.com

 



This Beautiful Meadow ~ Sharon Jackson's

T's all I have to bring to-day,

This, and my heart beside,

This, and my heart, and all the fields,

And all the meadows wide.

Be sure you count, should I forget, ~

Some one the sum could tell, ~

This, and my heart, and all the bees

Which in the clover dwell.

Emily Dickenson, Poems, 1896, Third Series.

Photo: lbwalker w/favourite Emily Dickenson poem.

Late Bulletin !  Appearing tonight, Friday, Aug. 10:

David Wice, singer, guitarist, entertainer at the Cayuga Hotel,* 9:00 p.m.  David ensures that everyone has "a great time."

*Hwy. #3 at Cayuga st. (same intersection as the bookshop.)

 www.davidwice.ca

Update on Bridge-Replacement Project!

Cayuga Bridge Over The Grand

August 14 - 30 Complete freshwater mussel survey/relocation work.

September 2012 START CONSTRUCTION

Ministry of Transportation, Ontario, MTO STATUS UPDATE as posted on the Haldimand County Website, July 16, 2012.


www.haldimandcounty.ca
Search: "Our County/Public Notices/Cayuga Bridge Replacement Project."



Smile for Today ~

"The daily consumption of 40 grams of dark chocolate (chocolate containing 70% cocoa mass) may supply the body with a significant dose of polyphenols, and thus obtain benefits with respect to the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer.  The preventive effect will be enhanced if dark chocolate consumption replaces or reduces the amount of the sugary and fat-filled foods consumed."

RICH IN POLYPHENOLS!
Dark chocolate (50 g) 300 mg.
Green tea (125 ml)     250 mg.
Cocoa (2 tsp.)            200 mg.
Red wine (125 ml)      150 mg.
Milk chocolate (50 g)   100 mg.


~ Foods That Fight Cancer ~ Preventing Cancer Through Diet, R. Beliveau, Ph.D., and D. Gingras, Ph.D., McClelland & Stewart, 2006.



Rain in Summer ~

How Beautiful is the rain!

After the dust and heat,

In the broad and fiery street,

In the narrow lane,

How beautiful is the rain!

How it clatters along the roofs,

Like the tramp of hoofs!

How it gushes and struggles out

From the throat of the overflowing spout!

Across the window-pane

It pours and pours;

And swift and wide,

With a muddy tide,

Like a river down the gutter roars

The rain, the welcome rain!

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882) American Poet

(Photo:  files 2011 ~ lbw)