before

childhood1 (40s)

childhood2 (50s)

after

before

childhood1 (40s)

childhood2 (50s)

after

old photographs, meaford, anderson, dickson wilcox beamer bardeau riley noble richardson

grades 6 & 8

Floridian Ann Baldwin spent

summers in Meaford beguiling local

boys with her southern charms.

(with Ginny Gibbons, behind)

The summers I turned

16 and 17, Karen’s father,

recalling his own horny

youth, arranged that I work 100s of miles from his daughter, the first summer

as a junior ranger at

Marten River, near North

Bay, the second as a

scaler’s assistant  in

a logging camp north

of The Lakehead. At

Marten River, we were a

dozen 16-year-olds living

in tents by a lake and

chopping down trees all

day long. Some of us gave

each other mohawks.

A Sunday afternoon with

Francis Richardson

and Jim Gower.

Meanwhile, Uncle

Ross had moved out west, married Irene,

and now had five children: Shirley,

Tommy, Kenny,

Marlene, and the

oldest, Gary,

and Bert & Ernice

had sired me two new uncles, Joe and Henry, and a new aunt, Jean, shown above,

and I was in my

final year of high school.  Click the smartest kid in the class for details.

Science teacher Hank Beamer with students Janet Knight, Donna Boyd, and Ross Bumstead.


Meaford &

District

High School

1955.

Sing’s Cabin

was along the way to the clay banks, another

popular hiking destination.

Mom and I

Anderson's Cabins (my bike against the tree)

Gram was an active

member of the United

Church and, among

other things, was

responsible for the

Sunday collection.

She mistakenly trusted me to count and roll the coins and not slip quarters into my shoes to squander in Peter's Restaurant later with my friends. There were a couple of Sunday afternoons I could have walked underwater across the harbour.


Painting the TOURISTS sign.

Cheerleaders Elda

Bumstead, Kathy Palmer,

 Karen Bardeau, Carole

Leblanc, and Lynne Riley.

Below, the Meaford lighthouse

as seen from the stone dock.

(mid 1950s)

The gymnasium (to the left) was a separate building you dashed to and from in gym attire, whatever the weather. The fire escapes were tubes you slid down, so for fire drills, the third-floor assembly hall was a favourite place to be.

Up the river to the old dam

was a favourite place to hike. That’s Fran in the dam's shadow.

per ardua ad astra

Jack & Amy Wilcox and

family moved in next door in 1951 from Hamilton. They erected a barn-sized building beside their house (above right), posted ‘Meaford Tank Company’ on the front, and began producing not army tanks, as I expected, but

septic and oil tanks. When TV made its debut in Meaford, the Wilcoxes got one and invited me to watch it.

I first loved Lucy there.


The Burnsides rented

our front cottage a couple

of summers in a row.

Sally, Johnny, and I are sharing the centre seat

in a rowboat. Grace

Wilcox is in the stern.

Grace, Alan & Tom Wilcox

Fran and Ron donning skates near the start of the river trail.

and Carl & Kitty had found one another,

Curly

Paul Riley

Karen was my high school sweetheart.