#52ancestors challenge: SNOWFALL, 1950s

This week's topic was "Invite to Dinner" and it didn't lead to a good photo in my albums, so I decided to remind us all that Vancouver DOES occasionally have a big SNOWFALL! Many winters we have virtually no snow, others we have a week or three of snow, not deep, not lasting. And then, since the temperature runs +2/-2 from freezing, there are the rare icy wet snows which leave every intersection and alley crossing a skating rink...

Here is the west-facing view from the porch of our home on Matapan Crescent in Vancouver, probably in early-mid January. There's a roughly shovelled pathway, and we've shovelled the sidewalk out front of the house as well.

Of course as kids, we made snowmen, flung ourselves down to make snow angels, threw snowballs, and also tunnelled through the big mounds of snow! And I bet we pulled anything we could slide on [cardboard boxes, e.g.) to the hill on the other side of those two houses - they backed onto the hill and park.

The little label on this photo shows it was from my personal Photo Album. One year my Mom made 3 different photo albums, a unique one for each of us. There were some family photos which were copied and put in each album, but most photographs were unique about us. A very wonderful Christmas gift.

There's no date on this photo, nor identifying info on the people standing on the sidewalk. Probably Dad, and I'm not sure who the woman would be. Mom would have been the one taking the photo, I think. Probably someone in the family will know.


I appreciate you taking time to read my blog, and you make my day if you leave a comment! You can also contact me on the address at the bottom of the column page. 

52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No. 28, Road Trip: Expo '67 - Canada's Centennial

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog based on Themes. Last week's theme was Halfway, and I wrote about how I was half-way through my research plan for my son-in-law's 3rd great-grandparents. This week's theme is ROAD TRIP. 

In July of 1967, my then-boyfriend drove across from Vancouver BC to Brantford Ontario.  I had completed one year of work, doing home nursing for the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), which was a requirement of having received a large bursary for my final year at University of BC, where I received my BScN.   For the first 9 months of my VON job, I worked in and around Leamington Ontario, the southernmost point in Canada,a very tiny town. Leamington was known for its Heinz factory, and for many greenhouses and farms growing produce for the factory.  For my first nursing experience after graduation - it was wonderful!  In this farming community, I had very mixed nursing problems and situations to handle, which made going to work both exciting and satisfying, every day.

Once my boyfriend picked me up in Brantford in early July, we headed immediately to Montréal to Expo '67.  Earlier that year, we bought a 7-day pass for the Expo, and were very excited to be attending this special Exposition.  Unfortunately, we were late getting to our booked camping spot, got thoroughly lost late at night, and ended up in Joliette, a small town 50 miles [70 km] north of Montréal.  With my little bit of French and much non-verbal communication, and good will on all sides, we managed to park our Volvo and home-made trailer by a friendly Québécois family.  Then each day, we would drive down to a subway station, and head to Expo, getting there very early.  As the doors would open, we would race to the particular popular exhibition building we'd decided on. That very early lineup guaranteed we would see all the major exhibitors in 7 days.  After managing to spend several hours at the day's major exhibit, we would wander to see the others, or stand in a much smaller lineup for other exhibits - lunch time was always a shorter lineup.  Canada's amazing pavilion, Russia with Sputnik,  USA with their space program, Britain, Czechoslovakia - wonderful multi-slide show, Iceland - "Land of Fire & Ice", and so much more.  It was all wonderful, exciting, entertaining, and awe-inspiring!

After we'd spent our 7 days there, we started off to go through to the Maritimes. Out of Montréal to Québec City, then further east, over and down to New Brunswick, stopping to see museums, stores, towns, to Nova Scotia.  We absolutely had to drive not just to Halifax (where that awful ammunition ship exploded in 1917), but further west around to Peggy's Cove - the most beautiful little harbour in Canada.  Eventually we wandered back up through the Maritimes, realizing we wouldn't have time to go over to PEI, and definitely not enough time to take the ferry to/from Newfoundland.

Over the next few weeks, we made it across Canada, taking a few side-trips. Whoops - In Bruce Mines Ontario, going over Lake Huron towards Sault St Marie, we needed to get an axle re-welded. Since that took an extra day, I headed over to their little museum, and enjoyed it very much.  I still have the Bruce Mines Cookbook which I bought.  As a mining community, Bruce Mines had a very varied group of families: from Germany, Ukraine, Italy, Poland, England, and more.  Great recipes!

We had wonderful weather as we drove west, although the rainstorm in Saskatchewan was so awful we had to pull over and wait it out.  The rain was so heavy no one could see the road, let alone the car/truck in front!!  Didn't last long, however. Finally, we could see the foothills of the Rockies after passing through Calgary Alberta.  Mountains.  After a year in southern Ontario, I was so starved for mountains!   Driving west through the Rockies was gorgeous, so beautiful and awe-inspiring. I'd taken the train going eastward to Ontario, and had missed seeing most of the trip through the Rockies.

And when we finally got a few miles past Hope, suddenly my whole body relaxed. Ahhhh. Getting down to sea level, mountains to one side, the open Fraser Valley and the mightly Fraser River heading to the sea, and back to Vancouver... Home. Have you had that experience? Feeling your lungs and your skin relieved at finally experiencing that special moment when you are home? Amazing.

We did other road trips in later years with the kids - various 'circle' camping trips around B.C., and one very memorable trip up to Yellowknife... but that's another story.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day.

52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES; No. 14, Favourite Photo

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog, but based on Themes. Last week, it was Different. 

This week's theme, FAVOURITE PHOTO, was a bit of a challenge - I love so many photos - but here it is.

Five day old Pia, my first child, summer 1968. I'm sitting on the front steps of my parents' home, having come directly from the hospital only 5 minutes away. 

New baby with her parents - visiting my parents and my mother's mother who were living here at 3250 Matapan Crescent, in the eastern side of Vancouver BC. I'm not sure whether Mom took the photo or Jack, Pia's father, took it.

She was a lovely baby, easy to feed and care for, as many babies are. And I wasn't particularly nervous since I'd been babysitting babies in our neighbourhood since I was almost 12 years old, I also had a BSc in Nursing, and completed a full year with the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) in Ontario, where I'd taught prenatal classes with follow up in a very small town.  

I notice a great deal here... Clearly I'm in love with her, and I'm enjoying her holding on to my finger, so sweet. I notice the camel-bone carved earrings I'd bought at Persian Arts jewellery store downtown about 3 years previously. I notice the top which I'd sewn myself for a pretty maternity top. I notice that Gillespie nose of mine. And the yellow rose bush on the right by the front steps - Dad and I had bought and put into the garden space about 10 years previously.  

My very first baby. We're on an adventure together.  Definitely my favourite photo. And there are so many other "favourite photos". Genealogy is all about family history, and every photo is another treasure.

If you have any comments, feel free to add them below - I think Blogger is working again, so I'll reply - that is, if it is working.   

UPDATE:  NO, it's not allowing me to "reply" to your comments.  Please know that I am thrilled that you read my post and posted a comment.  You make my day!

Not so WORDLESS WEDNESDAY -Grade 1 Class Photo - 1949

Me - Grade 1 at Laura Secord Elementary School, in Vancouver BC.

My wonderful Grade 1 teacher was Miss Hudson, whom I ran into again when I was a public health nursing student. What a treat to see her so many years later and see what an inspirational teacher she continued to be with her students.

Curly-top hair, missing a front tooth, and wearing saddle shoes... And I am pretty sure Mom sewed the skirt/suspenders I'm wearing, as she made us new clothes for school each year.

In September, I walked into Grade 1 already knowing how to read, and having done some math at home as well.  The family story is that I browbeat my 15-months' older sister into teaching me what she'd learned at school, when she came home each day.  I don't remember that, (she does!) but I do know I've always loved to learn, always wanted to read. Certainly that beginning made my first few years of school very easy.

Happy First Day of School to everyone... unless your kids went to school at the end of August.

Here in Vancouver BC, we always went back to school the day after Labour Day, a stat holiday.  It made me think that "New Year's Day" should be September 1st, rather than January 1st.  New beginnings, new possibilities...

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - 1945, me with my bunny

On the front steps of our rented duplex at 2033 Victoria Street, at McSpadden Avenue. Clearly I'm on my way to bed with my bunny.  And also clearly, I'm busy watching something happening over to the side, rather than watching the camera.  Probably Mom is taking this photo, since Dad would be back in Halifax in 1945. 

The typewritten tags on the photos from my own Photo Album were all done by Mom, for all 3 of us kids, with our different Photo Albums.  A definite labour of love.  

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - First Cousins 1946

First Cousins - children of the Kuhn sisters, Barbara (eldest) and Mary (mom - youngest).  1946, after the war.  2033 Victoria Drive, Vancouver BC (not there any longer).

We're 2, 3 and 4 years old.  My older sister (top left) and I (bottom right) are holding our dolls, possibly made by Mom.  I have an apple I'm trying to share, I see, and Wendy seems to have one as well. Hmmm, I think Derek has one in his hand, while he looks at something to the side - maybe our dog Buddy.

Leita, Derek (top), Wendy and Celia (bottom).  Aren't we adorable-?

WW2 - Canada, Dad on leave at home

It's not Memorial Day in Canada - we honour our veterans on November 11th each year.  But this photo of my Dad from WW2 is a lovely one.

He's home on leave January 1943 with one-year old first child, my big sister, and he's in uniform. I wonder if he's arrived home recently or is on his way back soon? Luckily Mom dated the photo on the back.

Dad never went overseas, and by the end of the war, he ended up trained to work on the new RADAR back East in Nova Scotia.  RADAR stands for "RAdio Detection And Ranging", and is now used as a noun: radar.

Their dog, Buddy, is partly behind him, as both Dad and Leita face the camera - I'm sure Mom is taking the photo.

And do you see behind them? That horse-drawn wagon?  Yes, that's how milk as well as ice was delivered to homes.  I think horse-drawn delivery stopped around 1948, in Vancouver BC.

Honour to all the veterans, from all countries, whatever their work, wherever they served.

"National Siblings Day" -? Okay - here's mine!

1947:
I'm on the left, big sister on the right, well-loved baby brother in the middle, raring to get down those steps and go-go-go!!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - 3 KUHN cousins - August 1961

English Bay near the Sylvia Hotel in Vancouver BC Canada.
I'm in the middle here, aged 18 yrs, just finished high school.
On the left is Marie, one of my Kalifornia Kuhn cousins, about 15 yrs.
And on the right is Wendy, about 16 yrs.

Both these two cousins died of cancer.
As did Marie's father (the elder of my mother's 2 older brothers).
And my mother.
And cancer affected Wendy's mother as well (the eldest of my mother's 2 older sisters).

But in this slightly fuzzy photo, we're 3 teenagers having fun in the sun, August 1961, enjoying the day at the beach.

1921 CANADA CENSUS - Grandparents GILLESPIE House!

The 1921 Census for Canada was recently published online with a searchable index, on Ancestry.

When it first was released a few months ago as browsable images, unindexed, I searched diligently page by page, section by section, ward by ward.  I knew both sets of grandparents were living in Vancouver in 1921, but search as I did, I found nothing.  It was terribly frustrating, but I knew the searchable index would be done "soon", likely in a few months.

My Grandparents GILLESPIE had arrived in Canada in the previous decade: Grandpa in 1911, then he'd borrowed money from the Salvation Army and paid for Grandma and all 5 children (4-15 yrs) to come to Canada in November 1914.  That's right, just after the first World War started.  What a time that must have been, leaving Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England, to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 3rd class, my grandmother with 5 children, and whatever they had shipped with them. Arriving in Canada, getting on the Canadian Pacific railway and travelling across Canada to the West Coast, to Vancouver BC.  Finally meeting up with Grandpa after 3 long years apart. Courage, eh? Determination, and much more, I'm sure.

If you click on the Census image of Vancouver below, you can read details of  Wm John GILLESPIE (always known as Jack), and Harriet GILLESPIE, plus the children: George, Winifred, John [Dad], and Elizabeth (known as Lil).

In 1921 the family shows up on the Census as living on the east side of Vancouver, at 1512  2nd Avenue East, with 4 of their 5 children. The eldest child, Elsie, had married only the year previous. Reminder, must find Aunt Elsie & Uncle John on the Census as well, see where she and her husband were living!  

My brother is a realtor, so he immediately went looking for the house. We didn't have much hope of finding an old house in that area, but my goodness, we hit pay dirt.

The house, built in 1910, is still standing, looking rather pretty in a simple way, in a narrow long lot.

It is two stories tall with a basement partially underground, a tall box-shape with a front porch, painted happy yellow with white trim, a white lilac bush on the right side by the house, a little white picket fence around the house. It's still there. What a charming find!  You can see the little bit of cake decoration around the tops of the posts of the porch.

Here's another view:

In Vancouver many of these old 1900s clapboard houses have been torn down as waves of redevelopment washed over the city along with waves of new residents and immigrants. Somehow this house is still here, still looking like a home to a family. I'm thrilled, simply thrilled to see this.

Next, I'll be looking for my other Grandparents' home. They arrived in Vancouver around 1913, and lived on the west side of Vancouver.

Any questions or comments are always welcome. You can also email me at calewis at telus dot net

PROMPT QUESTION No 4: FAVOURITE SEASON(S)... Fall

For the past few weeks, I've been writing (privately) on Prompt Questions for "The Book of Me".  Click on the link for more information; perhaps you might want to follow along.
  - Prompt Question No 1:  Who Am I?  (20 answers)
  - Prompt Question No 2:  My Birth  (8 answers, details)
  - Prompt Question No 3:  My Physical Self (i.e., as of now; many details)
And here is No 4, Favourite Season(s), and I decided to share this particular one: Fall or Autumn, if you prefer... [check link for Canadian preference(s)]

Sweater-weather!  Yeah!!

There’s something refreshing and inspirational about Fall in Vancouver, BC, with fresh air, cool nights, warm days in the sunshine, deciduous trees turning colours and dropping their leaves: Autumn - or Fall - as I always knew it.

The time to put away my freshly cleaned and folded summer clothes with a smile, and pull out the sweaters, long-sleeved t-shirts, some with turtlenecks, plus the sweatshirts and warmer pants.  Turquoise, purple, black, red – strong colours are for Fall, somehow.  My whole body is covered with warm soft toasty clothing.  Oh, and I’d better put that blanket back on my bed, between the duvet and top sheet.  Warm.  Ummmm.

The perfect weather to sit in my big chair with an afghan or stole I crocheted tossed over my legs as I read another book, drinking hot tea, or occasionally, hot chocolate, while the furnace hums quietly in the background. 

No more hearing the loud whines of lawnmowers and leaf-blowers working up and down the block every single weekend.  Ah, quiet.  Well, except for those new-home builders down the block, racing to finish the outside and roof before the truly heavy rains come in a few weeks.  

I sit at my desk by the south and west-facing windows and watch the huge weeping willow just down the block, as it now turns from beautiful green to yellow and brown, dropping leaves off its long drooping branches.  A gorgeous tree to watch at any time of the year.  A few maple and birch trees along the streets are dropping dry leaves to crunch underfoot – a lovely sound.  The dry crunch doesn’t last long – soon it will be the swish of wet leaves underfoot, or perhaps splashing through puddles – my all-time favourite activity with any young children/grandchildren.  Splish-Splash!! Yeah!!  Let’s do it again!!

This fall photo (copyrighted) was taken in Falaise Park in the far eastern side of Vancouver, by my brother, Jake Gillespie, a realtor with a passion for photography.  We lived over to the right of the photo.

Fresh BC-grown apples and other fruits are on show at all the produce stores, spilling over their displays.  Nothing is like the bite into a fresh apple.  A family one block over has a lovely apple tree in their front yard, and after I’d been chatting to them for a moment on my way home from the library, they handed me a big bag of apples!  Ambrosia – no, that wasn’t the apple type, it was a type of Delicious, and it tasted like both!

I’m watching my carrots and parsnips slowly growing thicker in the garden, and happily snipping more parsley and chives, putting the last tomatoes on the window sill to finish ripening.  Our winters are usually so mild that many herbs keep growing through the winter.

Fall.  The start of a serious season, somehow.  Time to hunker down, pull up my boots, and get to work – whatever that work is that I’m making to-do lists for.  Serious goals, serious thoughts, enough play time.  Oh, the Ant and the Grasshopper syndrome – I read Aesop’s tale too often perhaps.

This morning, it's raining, and the wind is tearing any loose dead leaves, sending them flying down the street. It will be raining even more very soon.  Pacific storms come regularly: the “Pineapple Express” from the Pacific Ocean, dumping rain on each mountain range it meets.  But even when it rains heavily, there’s often an hour or so of lighter rain or no rain.  And, really, it’s only water.  Good boots, warm socks, a sweater, and a Gore-Tex type waterproof jacket with a hood, and I can go anywhere, anytime.  I usually don’t bother with an umbrella.  I know I have one somewhere in that closet, but don’t need it. 

Fall!  My favourite season indeed.  Comfort - in so many ways - comes with Fall. 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - My Graduation Days...

Photographs taken on my various Graduation Days in Vancouver BC:  from a simple Grade 6 ceremony and banquet at Renfrew Elementary School, more formal Grade 12 from Vancouver Technical Secondary School (Academic) where I was the Valedictorian;  then to University of BC at Vancouver BC where I first received a BScN in 1966, then a MA (CnslgPsy) in 1987 after separation/divorce.

1955  Grade 6  Graduation Day - taken at north side of our home






1961  Grade 12 Graduation Day - cap and all

1966  Bachelor of Science in Nursing

1987  Masters of Arts (Counselling Psychology)