editorial
6 - Southpoint Sun
Memories of... Kingsville, Leamington Memories of... and Wheatley Photos Kingsville, from Kingsville-GosfieldLeamington Heritage Society 1790-2000 A Stroll Through Time and Wheatley
Cedar Beach Drug Store, Wednesday, May 5, 2021 owned by Red Morris, Photo courtesy of the Kingsville Archives offered drugs, toiletries, china and souvenirs for sale as well as providing a luncheon menu. Speed boat rides were available from the Cedar Mark Ribble Beach Drug Store for 50 not going to be around forever. cents a ride As my grandkids grow from toddlersfor summer to young people with so much ahead ofvisitors renting them, I wonder how she would have in-a cabin or for teracted with them at this stage in theircottagers not owning a boat. lives. The boats could be taken through the placid canal or out into the rougher waters of Lake Erie. This She was a true champion of her kids photograph of an unidentified family, standing outside the Cedar Beach Drug Store, was taken in and her grandkids. None of us could do the late 1940s or early 1950s.
An ode to my mother This September will mark 20 years since my mother died. She was only 76 and it’s hard to believe I’m now only 16 years shy of that age. I often sit and think about how she would have reacted to all that’s going on in today’s world. I’ve also often said that she and my dad were blessed to have been long gone when this pandemic descended upon the world. One thing I do know, is that the growing family that they started together after they got married in 1944, was — and would still be — my mom’s pride and joy. They raised four kids in that big old clapboard house at Point Pelee. Family was everything to her. She doted on her grandkids like nobody else I’ve ever seen. Heck, she even doted on my siblings and I when we were growing up. She did so many things that we just took for granted. We also took for granted that she’d be around forever, but in the spring of 2001, it became apparent that she would not. I was going through a transitional period in my life at the time and looking back, I regret not just putting my life completely on hold and spending more time with her. After all that’s what she would have done for me. She was in the hospital for much of her last months on this earth and as a family, we were there for her. We all visited very regularly, but as time slipped away, I was torn between trying to get my life back together and wrapping my head around the fact that my mom was
RIB’S RAMBLINGS
any wrong in her eyes and she’d give her last breath to make sure we could thrive. Of course, we have pictures and a small amount of video that can refresh our memories from time-to-time, but it’s not the same. Every once in a while, I feel like I can hear her voice calling out to the kids in the back yard and I picture her showing up in that little green Mercury Topaz, overflowing with break-open Nevada tickets and cigarette ashes, and showering the kids with candy and love. She comes up often in conversation when we’re together as a family. We joke about some of her more colourful phrases and language and that brings a smile to my face. As we observe the 20th Mother’s Day without her on Sunday, a piece of me will be thinking of all the things she did to make our lives better. If you’ve still got your mom, make sure you celebrate her this Sunday in whatever way you can in this crazy world of 2021. She deserves it and so do you.
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LookBrownies, at Leamington’ s Past of Mary C. Scott 1stA Ruthven Olinda, 1960-61. Left tocourtesy right: unknown, MaureenHolland Snook, Krysanne Klassen, Kristine Galloway, Linda Bunn, Daphne Dresser. A Look at Leamington’s Past courtesy of C. Scott Holland April 1973: Buckingham Real Estate edged Gulliver Insurance 2-1 to win the Midget hockey trophy. At left is captain Ken Dick who scored both goals with coach Randy Critchlow.
May 1986 - The 1st International Tae-Kwon-do Competition was held at the Sherk Complex with over 300 taking part. Here two are seen in action; the competitors were entered in a variety of classes and ages.
Clippings from the Wheatley Journal, May 1989 Clippings from the Wheatley Journal
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Submarine cycling - Ditches rose foot after foot following the Thursday evening rainfall and these young ladsScratch wastedJr.no time inventing a the new game, “submarine cycling”. May 2001 - Gerry displays the catch of day after carefully clearing an idealIf nothing else, it’s a quick way to wash a ten-speed bicycle! sized yellow perch from the twine.
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