Sunshine Dairy 1946

Guys in Photo
Albert ?
Vince?
Jack ?
Harry ?

2014 Heritage Preservation Award

Charlottetown 1950

Two 38's at 2 St. Peters Road

John Paul just dropped off this picture of his 38 and The Hearse at my home. 
WOW what a great picture..   Probably 1965.
If you zoom the picture, I'm sitting behind the wheel and John Paul is leaning in the window talking to me.

Kallie Come Here

CFCY Broadcasting Ellis Brothers Opening

Loman and Betty from CFCY doing a live broadcast from Ellis Brothers Shopping Centre Grand Opening, Does anyone know the year?

CFCY Live from Ellis Brothers Shopping Ctr. from pex on Vimeo.

Ellis Brothers Shopping Ctr. Opening

This is from a 8mm film, I slowed it down to 30% speed .

Ellis Brothers Shopping Ctr. from pex on Vimeo.

C.D.P. 1987

CDP area 1987 from pex on Vimeo.

Charlottetown 1987

Charlottetown 1987-88 from pex on Vimeo.

Is It The Metric System?

In the 50's this was such a small car.
They had a little arm between the front and back door that would stick out and light up to let the driver behind know the car was making a turn.
As kids we thought this was so cool we would be on the look out to actually see it.
The only one we knew of was owned by the Puncher's on Hawthorne Ave. When we would see Mr & Mrs Puncher leave the house and go to the barn and get the Morris out we would get set to see this little arm appear. We tried to pull it out with our fingers when they left the car in the drive way but no luck.
So The Puncher's would come out and get in the car, Mrs Puncher always drove, and back out onto First Street.
The first turn was about 10ft from their driveway, no signal. So we would run behind her car waiting for the next turn. Mrs Puncher did not drive fast so we could easily keep up if we ran fast or had our bikes.
The next turn was at St Peter's Road, surely this was big enough to warrnat a signal, but no!
She would go a little faster down St Peter's Road and we would start to fall behind and then loose interest by the time she was by Chester MacClure's.
She probaly didn't make another turn untill Queen Street, I wonder if she ever used that turn signal, or knew it was there?





These photos are 1959 taken at The Bill Lynch Midway.

This couple were in a side show billed as The Fat Man and Woman, I went in to see them it cost a dime.
They sat on two chairs and drank large bottles of 7up and ate chips.
They had a big ol Lincoln parked behind the tent that they travelled in.
When the Morris car came around people were amazed at how small it was, and at how big these people were.
From todays view the car is very big and these people would not get a second look if they were shopping at a mall.




Photos from Kevin Mackay

Newt in his Buick.

YMCA

I don't know anyone in this photo, taken at the YMCA

Parkdale Homecoming

Visit Parkdalehomecoming and look at the photos from our celebration.

Prince Edward Island 1952

This is one of a series of films that Carl Dudley did of places around the world in the 40's and 50's
I could use help in identifying locales.
Enjoy.

Bad News On The Door Step.

This Feb 3 marks the 50th year of Buddy Holly's death.
Above is the Guardian from Feb 4th 1959. I was a paper boy in St Avards and clearly remember delivering the paper that morning. It was very icy and few people were up when I left the paper.
As I was leaving the paper at George Gregory's , his son Allan came to the door and I told him about the plane crash.
My boyhood friends and I were all Holly fans and to us this was so tragic.
I'm still a Holly fan and listen to him often.
Ged Burke wrote to Buddy's widow to tell her how sorry he felt for her at her loss, and she sent him a Christmas card.
We take for granted today our ease of listening to music on the go, but for us Teenage Bucks is was a challenge to get good music, and then a miracle. John Paul Kenny came up with a converter that changed 6volt DC to 120 AC and we were in business. We hooked up the converter to the car battery and took our household record player with us to listen to our music.
Many night a bunch of us would sit in the Hearse and listen to Buddy Holly on our record player and wonder what music would have been like if Buddy had lived.
Driving presented a problem and the guy in the back had to hold the record player on his knees as we tore around town blaring our music out the windows. He had to be able to be steady and not let the kneedle skip.
In 1979 I purcased a 6 album set of Buddy's work.
It was compiled by a couple of his English fans.
It includes his early stuff with Bob Montgomery " Buddy & Bob western and Bop".

It includes a country version of "That'll Be The Day"
The set includes his home recordings, that, after his death backup music by "The FireBalls " was added and released.
I've only plyaed the records twice.
In 1979 on the 20th anniversary I sat down one saturday and listened to all 6 LP's both sides, all alone.
When I finished listening to them, I got on the phone with the Lubbock operator and tried to get through to his parents but they had an unlisted number. But i did get his brother Larry and talked to him for about an hour.
And yes I did get to his grave in Lubbock.

I do remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride.
This past saturday night "Cousin Brucey" hosted a reunion of the surviours of that Winter Tour at The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake , Iowa.

The 1959 calendar is indentical to 2009.

50 years, Willie Nelson was right,
"Ain't it funny how time slips away"


Here is an article from A British Paper

Buddy Holly's wife tells how she'll pay tribute with fans 50 years after tragedy

FEBRUARY 3, 1959 was the day the music died...when a plane crash claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper.

The tiny aircraft Holly hired to fly them to a gig plummeted to earth at 170mph in an Iowa snowstorm. Buddy was 22, The Big Bopper 27 and Ritchie just 17.

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of their deaths, Holly's widow told the Sunday Mail he only signed up for the fateful tour to earn money to prepare for the birth of their first child.

On Tuesday, Maria Elena Holly, 73, will gather with fans at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa - the venue for his last ever performance - to celebrate his life.

She was ill in bed with morning sickness when she heard the awful news.

Maria said: "I got a telephone call from a friend saying, 'Maria Elena, stay in bed and don't put the TV on'.

"Of course, I got up, turned it on and saw a news report saying Buddy, The Big Bopper and Ritchie had been killed.

"I collapsed crying my heart out and within minutes the house was besieged by newspaper men. I was devastated and the shock was so traumatic I later miscarried and lost our child."

One of the first telephone calls of condolence Maria Elena received was from a young American serviceman posted in Germany.

She said: "Elvis Presley called to say how sorry he was. Buddy had opened for Elvis in his home town of Lubbock, Texas, and they became good friends. They used to hang out." Maria Elena - from San Juan, Puerto Rico,

And it was love at first sight at least for the singer who had classic hits with songs such as That'll Be The Day, Not Fade Away and Peggy Sue. Maria Elena said: "I had never been out on a date with a guy in my life.

"I lived with my aunt who was very strict and didn't want me to hang around with musicians.

It wasn't that she didn't trust me - she just didn't want me to go out with every Tom, Dick and Harry and at that time rock'n'rollers had a very bad reputation.

"I used to mail Buddy's records out to radio disc jockeys but when he walked through the door I had no idea who he was.

"He asked me out on the spot and we went out for dinner that night."

Maria Elena and Buddy went on a date to PJB Arthur's Restaurant and she almost fell off her chair when he proposed, just five hours after first setting eyes on her.

She said: "He excused himself and left the table.

When he came back he had one arm behind his back.

Buddy pulled out a red rose and said, 'Will you marry me?' "I thought he was kidding.

But I think I'd fallen in love with him the minute he walked through the door."

The couple married two months later on August 15, 1958 in Lubbock.

Maria became pregnant and they moved into their own appartment.

But Holly was going through a bitter and costly legal dispute with record producer Norman Petty and the newlyweds struggled to pay bills.

Maria Elena said: "My aunt got us an apartment on 11th Street and she paid the bills because we had no money.

"Buddy wasn't very comfortable with that. His money was tied up in the difficult break up with Norman and he said, 'I need to do something.

I can't have your aunt pay for everything.

I'm supposed to take care of you.' "He decided to try to get a gig to earn some money."

Buddy agreed to top the bill of a two-week tour with The Big Bopper - DJ turned singer JP Richardson - who was promoting his now classic song Chantilly Lace - and heart-throb singer Ritchie Valens, who was launching his single Donna.

As they hit the road on the badly organised tour - in the grip of a sub-zero winter - conditions were spartan.

When the heating on the bus broke down Ritchie's drummer was taken to hospital suffering from frostbite After playing the Surf Ballroom, Buddy paid 108 to hire a Beechcraft Bonanza plane to transport him to the next show in Minnesota.

But he didn't tell Maria Elena he would be travelling by air instead of road.

She said: "Buddy called me every night from each gig but in Iowa he never mentioned a plane to me. He knew I didn't like those small aircraft.

"He'd get one of the guys to hold the telephone up while he was on stage singing his closing number True Love Ways - the song he wrote for me.

"He told me everybody had flu and as there was no road manager he took it upon himself to organise alternative transport.

"There were only three seats on the plane, one for Buddy and his guitarists Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup."

Then fate defined one of the most iconic moments in pop history.

The Big Bopper had flu and asked Buddy if he could take Waylon's seat. Ritchie pleaded with Tommy to swap places with him. The friends tossed a coin and when Valens called correctly he boarded the doomed flight.

"I hope your ol' bus freezes up again," joked Holly as they set off.

Waylon replied: "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes." As news of the crash spread around the world fans mourned the death of the iconic Holly.

One teenage admirer was so moved he wrote a song about the incident years later when he became a musician himself.

His name was Don McLean and the song he wrote was the classic American Pie which includes the famous lyric, I can't remember if I cried/When I read about his widowed bride/But something touched me deep inside/The day the music died.

Holly's body lies in the City of Lubbock Cemetery beneath a headstone which carries the correct spelling of his surname - Holley - carved in the shape of his beloved Fender Stratocaster guitar.

Maria Elena, who eventually remarried and had three children, has never visited his graveside.

She divorced and is now a grandmother living in Dallas.

She admits Tuesday's commemorative celebrations will be very emotional.

But the devotion of fans has helped her over the years.

She said: "Fifty years after Buddy passed on his music is still alive.

His fans have stayed loyal and he'll always be remembered.

"That's something I take great comfort from.

Losing him was heartbreaking.

I'm thrilled his music is still played and enjoyed all over the world.

It means Buddy didn't die in vain."

Holly inspired a host of superstars including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. John, Paul, George and Ringo named their group as a homage to his backing band The Crickets while Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts chalked up their first Top 10 hit with a cover of his song Not Fade Away in 1964.

Maria Elena says her husband would be amazed at his current status as a pop icon.

She said: "Buddy was not the kind of person to boast about his success.

"He never saw himself as a superstar.

He was just happy he was so prolific with his songwriting and that he was being accepted.

"He knew exactly what he wanted to do and in which direction he wanted his career to go.

He was a very modest man, it was never a case of look who I am.

"If he were alive today I think he would still have been writing songs and making music.

He wanted to get involved in all facets of the industry."

And what is Maria Elena's favourite Holly classic?

She said: "I love all of his songs because no two are like.

But I'd have to choose True Love Ways because it was our song.

"When he wrote it he said, 'This is for you'.

In every tour he did he played it last in the set.

"It's difficult for me to listen to True Love Ways if it comes on the radio.

I still get tears in my eyes and I have to stop and compose myself."

THE Very Best of Buddy Holly and The Crickets double CD and The Music of Buddy Holly: The Definitive Story DVD are released through Universal Records tomorrow.

Stage musical The Buddy Holly Story is at the King's Theatre, Glasgow from February 2-7 and Inverness Eden Court Theatre from April 13-18.

MAILFILE

HE was born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas, on September 7, 1936. His career lasted just 18 months yet he was hailed the most creative force in rock 'n' roll.

BUDDY'S first recording was a cover of Hank Snow's country song My Two Timin' Woman done on a borrowed tape machine. He turned to rock 'n' roll after Elvis Presley played in Lubbock.

HE signed a record deal with Decca in 1956 and recorded That'll Be The Day...his classic song inspired by a line spoken by John Wayne in the Western epic The Searchers.

WHEN Buddy first toured the UK in 1957 he appeared on top TV variety show Sunday Night At The London Palladium. Teenage viewers John Lennon and Paul McCartney became instant fans.

ROLLING Stone Keith Richards saw Holly play Not Fade Away and suggested his own group cover it. The Hollies were named to honour Buddy.

ANOTHER famous Holly fan was Bob Dylan. He saw him play just three nights before the plane crash.

HOLLY made it cool for pop singers to wear glasses. Look at Hank Marvin, Elvis Costello, Kurt Cobain, Jarvis Cocker and The Proclaimers.

PAUL McCARTNEY bought publishing rights to Holly's back catalogue and dressed as him in his 1980 Coming Up video.

IN 1987, Gary Busey was nominated for an Oscar for best actor when he starred in the The Buddy Holly Story.

HOLLY has influenced The Ramones, Run DMC and The Strokes. Blink 182 wrote Peggy Sue in his honour and Weezer have a song called Buddy Holly.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN plays Holly hits before every gig to help vibe him up. The Boss said: "That keeps me honest." - was a receptionist for Peer-Southern Music Publishing in New York when she first met Buddy in 1958.

COOL WEATHER AND COOLER GUYS

Cool weather and Cooler guys.
Looking back at some of the people who grew up in Parkdale, we sure had some cool characters. One who sticks out in my mind is Robin Clay.
I delivered the paper to Clay’s and I recall going to the back door and Robin would be sleeping on a bunk in the back porch.
He was the type of guy who spent a lot of time combing his hair & was a cross between Fabian and James Dean.
In April of each year we all wanted Summer to arrive and fore-go Spring. Robin did something about it. One sunny day in April we watched him shovel the snow on his front lawn to make a bare spot to lay a blanket down to work on his tan.
He drove a Volkswagen and I can see him now tearing down St Peters Road, turning into Barry’s, slamming on the brakes and jumping out of the car and going up to the counter.
Cool guys never called Barry by his name they called him B
“Hey B”
“Hey Robin, what can I get you”?
“Ice Cream B”
And Barry would proceed to get him some, not in a cone, not in a cup, no way! not for Robin.
He had his ice cream in a paper bag. He would roll down the paper bag just like we did our rubber boots. How cool is that???
We were always a little scared of him as he answered to no one and was always on the go.
One April my friends and I wanted summer to arrive but weren’t ready to give up all of our winter fun.
It was early evening and Roger, Knees and I had our bicycles out, even though there was still lots of snow. We were up by Cuddy ‘s Restaurant, The Tea Cup, which eventually was home to the first Parkdale Pharmacy.
The three of us had our bikes and were making snowballs to throw at cars.
To our delight we spotted a small car tearing down the road...our prey.
One problem though it was Robin in his Volks.
Jim Croche in his song speeled the rules out,
"You don't pull on Superman's cape, You don't spit into the wind, You don't pull the mask off The old Lone Ranger and You don't mess around with,(in this case Robin).
Now I can see why dogs chase cars and cats tease dogs but I can’t comprehend why anyone would draw Robin’s attention to them.
But there was the Perfect Storm, A kid with a snowball ready and a speeding car; impossible to resist.
The next few minutes went by in slow motion. Roger wound up his arm and let go with all his might at the speeding Volkswagen. We watched that snowball arc to the sky and with the accuracy of a Cruise Missle it found it’s target.
The world was silent as that ice missle flew but I don’t think I have ever heard a louder sound when it hit Robin’s car.
He slammed on the brakes and spun around on the road and in an instant he was in front of us.
There was no escape, no time to mount our bikes and scatter.

"Who threw that Snowball?"

Roger, to his credit, confessed immediately.
Robin whipped back his coat reached into his waist band and pulled out a hand gun, pointed at Roger and fired.
Roger fell backwards off his bike, Robin put the barrel of the gun to his lips blew on it, put the gun back in his waist band, jumped in his car and sped away.
Knees and I stood there in shock holding on to the handlebars looking down at Roger laying in the snow.
We noticed the front of his pants was getting damp, oh no he is bleeding , no that’s not blood!!
Parkdale, at this time, barely had TV, let alone hi tech sporting equipment. When we wanted to start a race we used the traditional method of
“ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, GO!!!
Just to clear things up Robin had a Starters Pistol and Roger peed his pants.

Driving Through Charlottetown 1966

Here is the rest of the video that I posted on my other Blog.
It begins in Wood Island's and picks up entering Charlottetown. There is alot to see heading up Queen Street, Canadian Tire, The Met , Roger's Hardware and Dominion Stores.
then out to Brackley where the Covehead Bridge is down

Boarders

Here is an Email from our Cousin Basil.


Hi Carl
This happens to be one of the 'boarders' that you mentioned in your blog. I know that they were many but perhaps not many stayed as long as I did. April 1949 to Nov. 1951. In fact I was either there or heard about it shortly after it happened, that is the biting incident that you wrote about. You were without a doubt a little 'geezer'.
Thought the photo might interest your for two reasons. Firstly this is the working dress of the Mounties in the 50's. Quite different then the way they dress now. Secondly this is the Highway Patrol Car used at the Bridgewater Detachment. It was a 1953 Meteor 2 door, flathead V8 with standard transmission. I do not recall, in my time there, of anyone out running this vehicle. Lastly the photo was taken in Lunenburg County in either the fall of 53 or spring of 54.





I remember Basil coming to live with us, I was only 2 at the time, but boy was he fun to have around.
When Basil applied for the RCMP he had to write an exam and to prepare for it ,
he and Mother would sit at the kitchen table going over and over the work, as a kid I din't think he would ever finish and play with me.
The day Basil left for the RCMP Mother and I walked down to the train crossing to wave good bye.
Below is a video clip from Mom and Dad's 60th wedding anniversary, Basil is paying tribute to Mother "for being the first woman to pass the RCMP exam".
Every time Basil came back to visit and later with Nancy and their 9 children Mother and Dad would be so excited and proud of him.
One rainy day Basil showed up at our school to drive me home in a car he had just bought, I recall it being a coupe probably mid 30's.
Basil you never showed me which house Mr. Mount Stewart lived in, I don't think it was the one with the old man sitting on the front step that you yelled
"Hello Mr. Stewart".

Pex On CBC with Karen Mair "LIVE FROM THE 36"

That Was No Picnic For This Teddy Bear

Last night we went to the Confederation Centre to see a Charlottetown Rural High School play. It was very good with great acting, singing, music and of course costumes.
With a lot of things it triggered a memory of mine and a play we did at the WI Hall many years ago.
Our old school on Linden Avenue has been torn down, Bull Dog Demolition completed the job. Dick McGuigan’s company. A good Parkdale boy too!! Lucky for him "Chief" wasn't around.



In back of the school was the WI Hall which is long gone after catching fire some years ago.
As I related in previous stories, this old hall was the scene of many concerts and events for many years and was the centre of entertainment for Parkdale.
I’m thinking back now to a particular school concert we held there probably in late spring,
I recall it was quite warm in the hall.



Our class was putting on a play and I was to dress up as a Bear.
There was no Value Village or Froggies in this era, in fact there was no such thing as giving away old clothing. Even our underwear was handed down from oldest to youngest, thank goodness I had older brothers as well as sisters.
I remember telling Mother I needed a costume for the play and I was to be a Bear.
Mother had many things to get accomplished before worrying about a costume. We practised the play and my Teacher would enquire how my costume was coming along and I’d Say
“OK, I guess”
The day arrived and I still didn’t have a costume and I continued to ask Mom to make me one. Finally she sent me down to the store to but a 10cent package of RITT DYE, dark brown. At last I would get my costume.
Remember we were a family of 8 kids , me being the last, so their was neither extra time nor money for wasteful things like costumes.
Much to my horror Mother came down stairs with an old pair of Long Johns, you know the kind, the ones with the trap door on the rear end. She dyed the underwear brown and hung them on the clothes line to dry.


Next she sent me upstairs to fetch my old Teddy Bear, the one I was supposed to have grown too old to play with, does anyone ever get too old to love their Teddy Bear?
She took the Teddy and cut his head off and pulled out the stuffing.
I ‘m still shaking at the sight of my Teddy being killed in front of my eyes. Off we walked to the Hall and mom and I went in the kitchen to get me dressed.
It was full of other kids putting on their costumes over their clothes, boys and girls. Mom told me to strip down to my shorts!
I recall Brenda Mutlow and her Mother were there.
“No way not in front of these girls”!
“Don’t be so foolish, they can’t see you”!
Yea right.
I obeyed Mother and stripped down to my underwear, actually they were probably Niall’s or Gord’s old pair.
I pulled on my “costume” knowing full well it was really an old pair of Long John’s dyed brown with a faulty trap door just waiting to open and expose me to the world .
This was not going to fool anyone!
I then placed the eviscerated head of my recently departed Teddy over my head and stumbled on to the stage for my bit part.
All I recall is realizing there I am , standing in front of all those people in my underwear wearing my Teddy’s head over mine.



It is an eerie feeling looking out from in side the body of your recently departed best friend feeling your warm breath filling the cavity and imagining your Teddy is coming to life and has eaten me in revenge.
I didn’t think I could make it through that afternoon with out dying of humiliation , but I guess I did, with a minium of mental scars.
I must Google Freud on this one and see if it explains any part of me.

That day was no picnic for this Teddy Bear.

Boy Bites Dog

BOY BITES DOG


I’m sitting here watching Clara play with our dog Kallie and smiling as I think of my childhood and all the puppies I had .That triggers a memory of play times I had with my Father.
Dad was born and raised in Bangor PEI in a large family of little means. The first part of the story is quite close to how my Dad told me.





One day when he was just a teen he was splitting wood using the axe that had been in his family for many years. It was his grandfathers axe, the same one he used to clear the land, the original family heirloom, even though the handle had been replaced 5 times and the head twice, such are poor peoples heirlooms.



Dad was one of seven brothers and one sister on a poor potato farm with one horse.
As he was splitting the wood, the trusty old axe bounced of the wood and stuck his toes, partially severing a couple. Dad yelled and his father came over to see what happened, took a look and said,
“That’ll teach you to pay attention boy”
He walked away leaving Dad in agony. As he was walking by the barn the horse coughed.




Grandad yelled “ Quick get the vet, the horse is sick”and one of the older boys ran into Morell to fetch the vet.

When the vet had announced
“The horse is fine Colin”

Grandad said to the vet
“You might as well sew the young fellows toes back on while you are here.



The story probably contains a little hyperbole but brings home the point of how valuable to the farm was the one horse in comparison to 9 boys.
I’m the last of eight kids which indicates that my parents were not young when I arrived, Mother was 41 and Dad was 38. The fun was pretty well used up in Dad after playing with 7 other kids and working as a linesman.
Like any other kid I wanted to play with my Dad as soon as he got home and my favourite game was for the two of us to get down on our hands and knees and pretend we were dogs, ( long before Cheech & Chong) and have a dog fight. We would growl and try to put the other down crawling around the kitchen floor.
I always played as hard as I could and thought Dad did also and that it was a real fight.



Dad tired quickly and said he wanted to lay down for a bit.
Our kitchen on St Peters Road was very large, suitable for 8 kids, 2 parents 2 grandparents and always a boarder. In addition to the big table and chairs we had a day bed underneath the driveway window. On the opposite side by the sink stood a floor model Singer Sewing machine. The machine was made of cast steel and iron housed in an Ash cabinet.
The cabinet was rectangular with four sharp corners.
Dad lay on the day bed and fell asleep in minutes, his feet were bare and were resting on the metal frame pointing skyward.
I was still in my playing mood, crawling around the kitchen floor looking for another dog fight, when I spied these two bare feet belonging to my dog nemesis, just waiting to be attacked.
The old axiom “let sleeping dogs lie” at this moment was most apt, but sadly I had not head it yet.
Sneaking up to the foot of the bed , I heard the “Dog” in deep slumber and knew it was time to finally win the fight. I slowly raised myself on my haunches and examined my prey. Here is were odds come into play , was it a 50/50/ chance or 0/100 that I’d pick the wrong foot?
I opened my mouth over Dads foot(The Bad Dog I had been fighting with) and chomped down with all my 5 year old might.

Worlds Collide

My world of make believe ended when my teeth struck flesh and didn’t stop.
Now in my own defence that foot was probably easy to bite through because of the blow from the axe years ago.
The next thing I knew Dad was rising up off that bed faster than Dracula could from an open casket. I’ve never seen such a look of anguish before on any mans face.
I let go and started to run backwards wondering what in the name of Heaven had I awoken?
Dad was yelling in agony and I was crying in fear as I ran backwards, fearing for my safety.
Here is where my luck changes for the better.
I tripped , while in full steam reverse, fell backwards and struck the edge of the Singer sewing machine with the corner of my head.



My head cracked open and blood began to squirt over the floor and I began to loose consciousness saving me from the perceived wrath of my father, which by the way never existed.
Dad immediately forgot about his pain , picked me up in his arms and hugged me while stopping the flow of blood from my head.
Being in Parkdale we didn’t have a horse , only chickens, so no reason to call the vet to “sew Dads toes back on, and stitch the young fellow’s head.
A bit ironic that we both are there bleeding in front of a "Singer sewing Machine"?

Clara, who turns two tomorrow , is tugging at my arm to go and “wrestle”with her up on our bed.
Do I dare teach her how to play “Dog Fight”?

Attack on America

Here is a short video I did on my feelings after 9/11. I did this a few years ago and am finally posting it. I found it very emotional to look at then and I still do now. That day we witnessed over 3000 people murdered.
The original is in DVD format and uses 5.1 surround sound.
It is eleven minutes long and is a history lesson as well.
It covers the initial attack on The Twin Towers as well as The Pentagon and the heroes of Flight 93. It concludes with a tribute to the Rescue Dogs who worked at the disaster sites.

Pex

Great Uncle Percy

I remember this event happening, Mom took me down to the crossing to see it.
When I read this I was suprised it happened the same week Sylvia was killed, I can not imagine the pain my Mom and Dad felt.

O'Brother Where Art Thou?

My brother Ernie had these pictures of Niall, Gord and me that were taken down home.
The one of the three of us in the backyard brought back more memories to me of funny stories from my childhood.
One year Dad bought and old pickup truck from Rankin McLaine that had been leased to Maritime Electric.
His intentions were to use it for a while , fix it up and sell it to make some extra money.
I recall that Dad made $40.00 a week working at Maritime Electric and raised his family on it.



Me being the youngest brother by default made me the most gullible.
One day Soupy Campbell and I were playing around this old Fargo truck Dad had bought.
Gord came along and said that he could do magic, “no way “ we said.
“Just watch” said Gord.
“I’m going to put the keys to the truck in the ignition, wind up the windows and lock the doors, then I’ll say the magic words and presto the door will unlock”
“WOW, really, truly?” we said.
“Yes I can do magic” Said Gord.
He then put the keys in the ignition, wound up the windows, and closed the door, (This is the gullible part)
He told us the doors were locked and pretended to try and open it, and it sure looked locked to us, but he would not let us test the door to see if it was really locked. We just believed him.
Then he yelled “ABBRA CADABBRA” grabbed the handle and the door opened..
WOW, were we impressed.
“Let me try” Said gullible Pex.
I made sure the keys were in the ignition, checked the windows, locked the doors and slammed it shut.
I waited the required time , closed my eyes,
and yelled “ABBRA CADABBRA”
grabbed the handle, BUT it would not budge,
I yelled “ABBRA CADABBRA ABBRA CADABBRA ,
it still would not budge.
It then occurred and me that Gord didn’t really lock the door.
It was then noon and Dad pulled in the yard, wondering what we were doing around the truck, we told him what happened. He didn’t say much, which was very scary, and told us we had till supper time to get the keys out, then he went back to work.
Soupy and I tired everything we could to get the door open, the battery was under the floor and we could see through the floor up to the keys.
We tried to use a coat hanger but could not reach the keys.
Time passed. Dad came home.
Soupy and I hid behind the barn, Gord was long gone.
O’Brother where art thou?

Dad tried the door, looked in side saw the key in the ignition and walked to the barn.
Now to an adult getting the key out would not be too difficult, you could pry the vent window open with a screw driver or even break it, not a big deal.
But a Father who has all afternoon to stew about this, a simple solution is not enough.
Dad went into the barn , came out with a shovel, went up to the back window, drew back , and let fly.
Barry Bonds, does not swing the bat as hard as Dad swung that shovel.
Oh, well it is only one window we thought, but suddenly the shovel came out of Dad’s hands and was not content to just break the rear window, but travelled through the cab and out through the windshield.
The sound of smashing glass filled our ears and then suddenly it was quiet. Dad reached in and took the keys out.
He went down to Walter Burhoe’s and sold him the truck.
I think dad paid $40.00 for the truck and sold it for $20.00.

The story I wrote about the circus and Gord out running the Clown, he is a picture of Gord and me with Gord's ribbons he won at Track and Field.
I rember one saturday Dad, Gord and i were at Victoria park where gord was in a track meet, he won the race and broke the record that had been held by our Uncle Lorne Callbeck.


This is Niall in our living room down home, we had a TV.
A few years earlier when televison was new to PEI, very few people had one.
A company from Halifax called , Forrest Hill opened up an appliance store in Blair moore's bike shop up the street. Niall got to work there in the early evening while the owner went home for supper. It was rare for a retail store to be open nights during the weekat this time.
I recall it was winter andwe would go up to the store and wait out side , Niall would put the TV up to the window and we would sit out side on a snowbank and watch it.
Butsy Dennis worked there also as well as delivering milk, he would tell his customers about these wondefull TV'S and ask if he could bring them one to try.
Shortly after, Barry bought a TV and put it in the snackbar down at the back. there was no local station. The nearest one in Moncton and you needed an aerial on a tower in order to get the signal. I think the station began brodcasting at 5 or 6 pm daily and stayed on for a few hours.
I recall they only had one camera and rolled it up to a floor lenght mirror so the viewrs could see what the camera looked like.
The biggest suprise we got from seeing Barry's TV for the first time was that it had sound also. we never heard the sound through the window.
Is it just me or was TV more exciting then? Maybe it is how we watch it now, laying down on a sofa in a warm room.
I think I'll dig out an old pair of rubber boots, slip on some leggins and go out side and sit on a snow bank in front of the living room window.

Be Carefull Crossing The Road

2007 Pex Visits 1965 Pex

Breakfast At The Circus

The highlight of every summer as a kid was the arrival of Old Home week and The Bill Lynch midway. But every now and then a Circus would arrive bringing exotic animals , clowns and acrobats. Three of these stand out in my mind.
The first was held down at the exhibition grounds. We saw it arrive by rail as it passed our house, the brightly coloured wagons atop of the flatcars. The line seemed endless as it slowly made it’s way to the station. We would immediately head down to the station to watch.
The wagons would be rolled of and hooked up to horse which would then pull them up to the grounds.
The most amazing site was the elephants walking single file holding on to each others tail and walk behind the trainer. The largest elephants would help raise the Big Top, pulling on ropes and raising the canvass.
My mother took me to see the circus and bought me a bottle of coke. I so enjoyed that day as the action was non stop in the three rings.
The next one I remember took place at Victoria Park (As I Recall), Mom and Dad were away and Brenda was in charge of us. She so wanted to go and made us promise “Don’t tell mom and Dad”. If we didn’t tell she would buy us a popsicle. We walked out to the park , it was in the evening, I don’t remember getting in to see anything , just walking around.
We left there , and true to her word, Brenda bought us a popsicle at Foster’s Ice Cream on Euston Street. We were so excited to be getting a popsicle all to our selves. We slowly unwrapped them and waited for that cold sweet flavour to hit our tastes buds!!!!mmm
YUK,
These were awful, they tasted like kerosene, the oil lamp above the freezer had leaked the kerosene into the cooler and unto the popsicle. We could have lit them and smoked them they were so saturated., but we ate them anyway.
The Third circus I recall set up over where Superstore is now located, it was a vacant field with one barn housing Dunlop tires. The price of admission was one dollar which was out of our price range and we could not get any money from mom.
It was one of the few times I ever saw my mother in bed during the day , not feeling well. We jumped on our bikes and drove over anyway. We walked around the tent looking for an opening and then we spotted one.
Niall was the first to try , he got on his stomach and slid under and disappeared, Gord was next with me close behind. I poked my head under the tent just in time to see Gord take off running being chased by a Clown on stilts. The Clown didn’t stand a chance , Gord was gone in a flash. I was halfway under the tent at this point , ready to make my run.
There aren’t many exotic animals on PEI, and certainly none to be afraid of, but The Circus is another world.
As I was contemplating my run, my heart pounding in fear of being caught , I got up on my knees and was just about to go, when I felt hot smelly breath on my cheek. I turned my head slowly to the right and there looking into my eyes was a Giraffe. The were in a corral by the side of the tent and he lowered his neck down to check on the excitement.
I dropped to my stomach and slid back out under the tent, ran to my bike and peddled home, still shaking. But as I said the best time for any kid in the summer was Old Home Week and The Bill Lynch Midway.




Everybody has their favourite memories of that week each summer so I’ll be quiet about mine.
This picture is probably 1955, going by the cars. Remember The Burlesque Tent, the girls would come out and dance around while the Barker enticed the men to go in.
I hear that during the last show on Saturday Night they take it all off.
The Rollo Planes were very scary, it held a total of 8 people , two in each end, and you were held in by a metal bar that crushed down on your knees, Baldy Williams would sit close to this ride and wait for it to shake the change out of peoples pockets.
You can see the Bingo tent down by the lower gate, The Priest who travelled with The Show would hold Mass there on Sunday Morning.
Just behind the Two Ferris Wheels is a ride shaped like a water wheel, two people would sit in it and it would rotate.
After the Midway left town the Gallant boys built one in their back yard. They would charge you a nickle , and they would tie you in with rope and spin it till you threw up.
You can see from this picture the rides were few and there are lots of side shows.
The food stands were mostly locals, The Redmond’s from the east end, Joe Ghiz and his Father, Ring the bell to win a cigar, Whitey Macdonald, The Burgoynes had a couple of concessions and I recall the bought hotdogs from Canada Packers , not by the dozen but by the Ton.
Anyway there is a lot to see in this picture, take your time and enjoy.

The Race Track

This photo is difficult to date it is after 1911 as you can make out the Old Jail. Our house at 2 St. Peters road is there but not musch more.
You can see The Infirmary very clear as well as the rail tracks going up along side the cannery on esher Street. There is no Belmont Street or any others in Parkdale.
No electricity at the track either.

Sunshine Superman

Percy And Jack Gay in front of the Dairy



There are some things and places that never seem to change with time and then suddenly they disappear. When you are just a kid everything seemed so permanent, your parents, your dog and your neighbourhood, then one day you look and they are gone. Sunshine Island Dairy was such a place for me. It was always there and I thought it always would be.
In May of this year Purity Dairy ended it's milk home delivery service.

My brothers and I spent a lot of our youth at the dairy both working and playing. On Saturday mornings we would go down to the dairy after we finished delivering our newspapers to see about going out on milk delivery.
The first man that let me tag along was Mr. Hamm, Frank was his first name but we never used it, he was Mr. Hamm. He was one of countless
men who left their homes and families and went off to war. Fought for King and country, lost many friends in battle, then returned and picked up their lives again and got on with building a family.
I never heard him speak of the war even though it had only been a few years since it ended.
He was a strong man, if anyone recalls how milk was handled back then. The stainless cannisters weighed about 35 lbs empty and must have been well in excess of 100 hundred lbs when filled with milk. Mr Hamm would carry one in each hand and toss then up on his wagon as if they were weightless.
In this era dairy farmers had their customers for milk but didn’t have the equipment to process it, so they would take it into a dairy and sell it and buy pack a finished product to sell to their customers.
The milk was packaged in glass bottles with a cardboard stopper on top with the name of the company printed on it. Milk was available only in one grade, 5% and it wasn’t homogenized so the cream always rose to the top. Before you used it you had to shake the bottle to suspend the cream in the milk.
In the winter the milk would freeze and the cream would push the stopper out of the bottle and a frozen cream cone would rise up.
Mr Hamm lived out in Mt Herbert and would make the trip into the dairy early each morning, after he finished milking his cows, and load up his wagon with bottles and start his deliveries.
Each Saturday and all summer I would be at the dairy waiting for him to arrive. I was too small to help unload the milk but was able to carry the wooden cases of bottles and stack them on the wagon.
Oh , by the way Mr Hamm did not use a truck but a horse and wagon in the summer and a sleigh in the winter. I ‘m at a loss as to the horses name but it was along the lines of “Annabelle” I hope someone can tell me what the name was. Summer was a great time to deliver milk, the weather was so warm , you were up early and always finished by 12:30. Mr Hamm had a few customers who actually took a vacation in the summer and left their house and didn’t require milk.
This is where a kid is most handy. Our horse new the milk route as well as Mr. Hamm did and would stop at our customers houses and wait for me to deliver and come back and then move on to the next customer. When we would come to a house where the people were away the horse would stop anyway, not knowing about vacations. The horse would stop and wait for the delivery , so I’d jump of the wagon, rattle the bottles and jump back up on the seat and she would be content and move on to the next customer. Winter was the opposite, it was so cold, and as I mentioned in another story, we wore rubber boots with wool sock. The insulating value was a minus factor and after about 5 steps the socks fell down your leg and bunched up in your toe. After a few hours your feet lost all feeling and you forgot about them until you went home and took off your rubber boots and placed your feet on the oven door and they began to sting as the cold began to leave.
One day in the fall Mr Hamm arrived with a different horse “Annabelle was sick. This was a much younger horse and not too experienced, a lot like me.
Mr hamm warned me not to stand up but to sit as this horse would make sudden moves and I could get hurt. Well it didn’t take long.
It was a very cold morning and there were ruts frozen in the mud around the dairy.
We loaded the cart and pulled away from the loading hatch and began to drive up Belmont Street , when suddenly the horse stumbled over a mud rut, lost his balance and fell down. The cart was loaded with milk crates and was very heavy, if the horse tried to get back up he would either tip the cart or break the shaves. In a flash Mr. Hamm jumped off the seat of the cart and landed by the horses head, he put his knee on the horses neck to prevent him from being able to stand. I ran up to the White Rose and sounded the alarm and Walter, Wenn, and Bill Burhoe and Allison Moore came running down. They unhitched the cart and kept it from rolling back down the hill. Mr Hamm got the horse back up and hitched it back into the cart and away we went.
As We drove along Mr Hamm would teasingly say
“ Did you trip the horse? I thought I saw your leg stick out”.

“ No way Mr. Hamm, look I can’t even come near his leg”

Later that day we were going up Walthen Drive and I’d forgotten his warning and was standing up when the horse suddenly moved. I lost my balance and fell on the horse’s rump , tried to hang on to the harness but slid down his back between his legs and onto the street underneath the horse.
The horse got a scare and began to jump around with me under him my hands and legs sticking up trying not to get kicked or stepped on. There were hoofs flying every where but I managed to roll out from under him unscathed.
I sat down the rest of the day. When we finished the milk route and returned back to the dairy, I would put a blanket over the horse and put on his feed bag, then I would help him unload the empty bottles and place them in the bottle washer.
What a neat machine , it was a conveyor and we turned the bottles upside down and they were washed and steamed to sanitize them. I recall a bottle of milk was seventeen cents.
Mr Hamm would give me 25ct.for helping him and away I’d go home for dinner and then off to the Capitol Theatre to watch a good Cowboy movie.
I never remember Mr Hamm with a truck only his horses and his quiet and thoughtful manner.
I grew a little older and lost interest in the horse and wagon and went on to help Louie Savident and ride in a new truck.


Reg Gay loaned me these pictures.
The two men at the back are Des Whitlock and Arnold Roper?
The other man with white hair is Bob Farqueson
and in front are Elmer Paquet, Dick Bevan, And Louie Savident.
The picture was taken fron the balcony up at Walters.
The two houses that are where Chandler Bros is were bought by Stu Mackay and moved.
They are both on Donwood Drive in Parkdale.



As I mentioned, my brothers and I were at the dairy every Saturday , with but one exception.
CARTOON CAVALCADE
Once a year Sussex Pop would sponsor a morning of cartoons at The Prince Edward Theatre on Grafton Street. To gain admission you had to produce 7 caps from Sussex pop. They also bottled Nesbitt’s Orange and Evangeline products.
We would spend days going store to store emptying out the cannister that collected the bottle caps, sort through them to get enough for the cartoons.
The Prince Edward was a grand old theatre with the box office in the middle of the entry with picture of coming movies on either side.
Kids rarely went to this theatre as they mostly showed mushy adult stuff about love, we went to the Capitol were they showed serials, short comedies like The three Stooges and a good western every Saturday afternoon.
Close to the Prince Edward was a Chinese laundry run by a family who lived there. The grandfather lived to be 112.
The family had children and in the evening as adults lined up waiting to purchase tickets the youngest son would march in front of the people playing a drum.
The adults would OOOOOH, & AAAAAH and give him money.
So the morning of Cartoon Cavalcade we would join hundreds of kids and have a feast of laughter, watching warner Bros. Cartoons, Abbot & Costello, The Bowery Boys, and of course The Three Stooges, what a morning we had.
I also saw King Kong , the 1930's version there, when Kong came on the screen I was gone, laying on the floor , terrified.
Niall would say
“It’s ok , he’s gone come on up”.
Sure enough I’d poke my head up Kong would roar and I’d be gone again.
So there we were watching the show when suddenly the show stops , the light come on and The Man, Mr. Mullis is standing there with our father.
He calls out Niall’s name and we are thinking what did he do , this is serious.
Niall goes up to see dad and then comes back to tell us he has to go.
Butsy Dennis, the milkman that Niall worked with , had a heart attack.
As I said before with Mr Hamm, the horse knew the route and all the stops, but a Chevy pick up truck didn’t.
They needed Niall to go with Butsy’s replacement and show him the route.
Saturday was a difficult day for milkmen as it was the day people paid for the week or bought tickets for the next week.
We were so proud of Niall that day as he left Cartoon Cavalcade to deliver milk.
Neither Rain, Nor sleet, Nor Cartoon Cavalcade could prevent the milk from being delivered.
The Prince Edward burned down one night, it was very elegant with a balcony with two winding stair cases up to it.
We went down to survey the fire the next morning and it was still smoldering. next to it was a small store caleed Ray's, it was badly smoke damaged and flooded with water.
LLoyd Duffy waded in , again thank goodness for rubber boots, he picked up smoe candy that was floating in the water and brought it out.
He gave me a soggy and a smokey Eatmore bar, mmmmmmmmmmm delicious.

THE FARM

Marilyn Burns gave me this picture, it was taken in 1963.

Spend some time and look for familiar land marks, The Pickle Plant,
Burke's Rink, The Pig Barn, The Apple Orchard, Burn's House, The Round Chicken House.
The Apple orchard, real apples with no worms or scabs and all you had to do was wait untill it was dark and jump over the fence , grab some apples and get back out before the Guards caught you. If you were patient enough and could wait untill Halloween Mr Parent gave out apples as treats, but the stolen ones tasted better.

ORIGINAL COLD BEER STORE

I just recieved this picture from Ted Beer's daughter, Karen.
Thats George, "Bobby" and Ian.
They are standing in Beer's backyard.










This shows the front of the store, look to the right of the photo and you will see a kid sitting there. Anyone know who it is?
That is Found's house in the background.



I don't know who is standing in front.





The store was located on Hawthorne Avenue behind their house on St Peters Road, we always called it Beer's Store.
Notice the "Buckingham Cigarettes Sign" on the side.
This was one tough smoke, I remember when I worked at the drugstore in the mid 60's these were still available.
When a man came in to buy a pack he would say
"Give Me A pack of Bucking, hack hack, cough, hack cough, hams", the word was too long and required to much lung capacity for the men who were addicted to them.
I can recall buying some candy there at various times and a bottle of Wynola Pop, the original cherry coke. I barely remember George's father who I think ran the store, was his name Russell?

I forgot about the gas pump at the front.
Ian looks about 2 years old so that would make this picture about 1947/48.
I think the store had Insulbrick siding and "Beaverboard" ceilings. The counter was on the right side and there were living quarters above.
in the mid fiftys Art Rynes ran the store and he also raised chinchillas, I wonder if he made any money?
The store burned one evening in 1956, we were allowed to go over the fence to sit on the stairs that led up to my sister Shirley's apt. above Vera's.
I think that my Father had a mild heart attack that night also.
I recall the intense heat and how bright and high the flames were. Parkdale Fire dept fought the blaze and I remember the "Old Federal" 1916 I think, fire truck which was used as a ladder truck.
The next day we went up to check out the remains, no one was hurt but I think Art's father had to jump from the second story, those who were there can correct me if I'm wrong.
As kids we were facinated by the burned out building and one thing that sticks out in my memory about was, Mr Matthews from the CAA grounds ( Charlottetown Athletic Association)
was there with his horse and dump cart beginning the clean up.
As we arrived he was opening the front door to the store and was coming out with Rynes's dog on the end of his pitch fork, I remember him as being a black Lab.
The dog had made it to the front door and died from the smoke. The site of that has stayed with me this 50 years.
The store was then torn down and a house built there.