Year: 2012

Nearly 160 excited children of all ages saw their dreams come true as they got to visit directly with Santa on Thursday, December 13, when the merry old gentleman dropped into Iroquois.

Santa landed at the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch # 370, to greet his many fans. He took his place in his special chair, and with Elf Paul (Paul Robertson of the Iroquois-Matilda Lions) handing out treats, he listened to many Christmas wishes. By all accounts, it was a very successful visit before Santa had to rush back to the North Pole to continue to get ready for the Big Night. 

“Everyone had a great time,” said Candace Menges, representing the Iroquois and District Business Group, who along with the Royal Canadian Legion, sponsored and organized Santa’s visit to town. Byers Furniture and Appliances joined the Iroquois-Matilda Lions in seeing that every child visiting Santa got a special treat. 

Donald Barkley donated his tractor and wagon to take many of the children and parents on an exciting hay ride around the town. Leading that procession were the OPP auxiliary and a truck from the Fire Department, itself lit up like a Christmas tree. 

And just in case anyone got cold on the hay ride, parents and teachers from Iroquois Public School served up homemade hot chili and hot dogs (given by Donald Barkley) as part of a fund raiser to purchase new SmartBoards. 

Besides visiting Santa, young visitors could enjoy crafts at the Early Years Learning Centre, count gumballs for prizes or seek out some hidden elves.

Nate Murray and his friend Mitchell Woodward found the hidden elves and shared in a prize of $100 in Iroquois and District Business Group gift certificates. Rhiannon Beckstead won the bubble gum guessing contest, while colouring contest winners were Sarah Stewart, Keaton Urquhart and Dylan Cowan-Kennedy. 

The Iroquois Legion was definitely the place to be on Thursday afternoon, when Santa Claus came to town. 

[…]

 Conductor Robert Jones had every reason to smile as he stood among some members of his 41 voice Seaway Valley Singers. The Singers had just finished their December 16 concert, O Come, O Come, in Iroquois United Church. The packed house gave the choir a standing ovation. 

The Singers present two concerts a year, and the Christmas celebration is eagerly anticipated in the community. 

Mixing classical and religious songs with  bouncing secular pieces, there was something to please everyone in this year’s program. The spiritual, Rise Up Shepherd And Follow, which highlighted all the choir divisions, was rich and soulful. The Minuet Noel, an unexpected mingling of Bach’s composition with the First Noel was also very pleasing. And with the full choir beautifully backing her, Margaret Whisselle (who is also the Singers’ accompanist) allowed her powerful soprano voice to fill the hall in Gesu Bambino. 

There was definitely a twinkle in conductor Jones’ eye as the Singers performed the (very) unconventional, The Twelve Days After Christmas. (How many of us, in the stress of the season, have not thought about a ‘cartridge’ and that partridge!) It was great musical fun.

The Handbell Ringers of Winchester United Church were again very welcome guests at the concert,  performing several pieces and leading the entire audience in a lively version of Jingle Bells. 

Word is that the Seaway Valley Singers are already hard at work putting together another fantastic concert scheduled for the spring. 

[…]

At last count, Peggy Williams has finished and sent 6,458 bears to children (and some adults) who truly need them. 

Now 88 years old, Williams says, “There have been many children who have been comforted by these little bears. I have even heard that CHEO sent some of them to a home for adults suffering from Alzheimer’s disease: they loved them. About four years ago, I sent 100 bears to babies in an orphanage in Chernobyl. Helping others, well, it just makes you feel good.”

Each of Williams’ small bears is lovingly made by hand in bright colours, soft and huggable. Since 2001 she has been sending bundles of them off to CHEO in Ottawa.

“CHEO sometimes calls them ‘pocket pals’, although I tend to think of them all as bears,” Peggy laughs. 

“They can go with a small patient into X-Ray units, with them for CT Scans. They are easily sterilized, so there really is nowhere in the hospital they can’t go. One of these bears is a friend for a child (even a child in his or her teens) to hold.”

Assisted by her daughter Dorothy Williams (“Peggy is the knitter. I cannot knit. I handle the stuffing and the bears’ faces,” Dorothy laughs), Peggy can make as many as five bears a day.

“But the creation of a personality for each bear takes a little longer.”

Dorothy says that her mother has always been a volunteer. 

Originally the family operated Ottawa Valley Ceramics in Kars. Despite the demands of  helping to run the business, Peggy continued to find ways to help her community. 

She personally knitted 600 outfits for ‘preemies’ prior to 2001. Along with creating her bears, last year she also began crocheting afghans for CHEO. “They help to warm people in their beds, or when they are in wheelchairs. I make sure the afghans are bright and cheerful.”

When they lived in Manotick, CJOH learned about the Williams ladies’ efforts. Max Keeping ran a story about their work at CHEO on the television news. 

In 2010, Peggy moved to Iroquois.

“I love it here. I wanted a place where I could see things going on. From my living room I can watch the river, the roads, the planes landing and I can still keep right on making my bears.”

In all the years that Peggy and Dorothy Williams have been making bears, only twice have they received any actual financial help to defray the costs of materials. They accept and collect yarn and material from friends and neighbours. They are very grateful when people make donations of knitting and crocheting material to them. 

In the meantime, the Williams’ bears are off on a new journey. 

Pictured above, in the centre, is Diane Orlicky, who is taking 110 of the bears to the 2012 South Dundas Christmas Exchange. Left is Peggy Williams, right, her daughter, Dorothy.

“I plan to keep on working on this as long as I can,” Dorothy Williams said.  

[…]

 First, it was Doesn’t That Hurt the Cow’s Back? Then came Picture This! And now author Steve Thompson has completed The First Time Isn’t Always the Best, the final book, he says, in the trilogy about his family.

“Unless the next generation coming up creates some new stories, this is the last family book for me,” Thompson said. Then he paused and added, “Some of them may be planning to make contributions. My daughter Bev, in Calgary, is a writer.”

The three books have followed the lives, the adventures (and misadventures) of the Thompson family, the parents and seven siblings Dave, Doug, Erik, Mike, Carol, Paul and Steve, growing up in the South Dundas area. 

“When I started, I actually hadn’t planned to do a series of books,” Thompson said. “I had written some short stories, and I was back at a literacy day in Winchester and read some of them aloud. I was asked, ‘Got any more of those?’ and was introduced to a publisher in Ottawa. 

The first book, well, some people said some nice things, and the stories just started expanding.”

As the books were developing, Thompson made a point of asking his brothers and sisters to share their memories with him. 

“I asked Paul, what do you remember about growing up? He looked at me and said, “Steve, do what you always do. Make them up,” Thompson laughed. 

The Thompson family, like many families, was made up of different characters, different personalities. Some relatives, Thompson freely admitted, teetered a little too close to the legal edge at times.

Thompson’s grandfather,  some of whose exploits are described in The First Time Isn’t Always the Best, was called the “John Dillinger of Ontario. Among other things, Grandpa John had two wives, my grandmother and another lady he decided to also ‘marry’.  

He had a few other secrets too. There was the cheese factory he owned that happened to burn down when he need some money. And there was the rum running during Prohibition. Grandpa maintained he was just helping the thirsty.”

Uncle Cam was also a bit of a black sheep, whose business activities (although quite successful) were described by Thompson as a bit “creative.”

“All my dad’s uncles had their ‘shady’ aspects,” Thompson laughed. “I have thought that that was probably why my dad was very upstanding. I remember him as stern and upright. From a very early age he had assumed responsibility for supporting his family and siblings. With his own children, he could be a bit aloof and distant. It may have all been a response to Grandpa John’s notoriety.”

His relationship with his parents is one that Thompson explores in his book.

In the afterward, Thompson writes that “I regret that I never told him (his father) much about my feelings concerning things that really mattered to both of us.”

In the book, Thompson’s mother is portrayed as an outgoing, sociable woman. “She loved to talk and visit. And she was a story teller, even sharing stories from the far past, the War of 1812.”

An Irishwoman, she loved the underdogs of the world. And she had a keen sense of humour: the ‘drama’ occasionally played out among neighbours always interested and amused her.

“She was the anchor of the family, the source of my love of story telling,” 

There are many stories, hilarious, poignant, a little sad in this final book about the boisterous Thompson clan. Readers will discover for themselves the joys, the sorrows, the adventures of growing up in rural Ontario decades ago. They may even recognize something of themselves in the tales.

“People are interesting,” Steve Thompson said. “Talk to your parents. Know your family history. Perhaps this was a simpler time, but life was good. Stay connected with your siblings. To this day all seven of us remain good friends, and have regular family reunions.  Of course,” he added, with a smile, “I take advantage every way I can.” 

Steve Thompson’s book is available at the Basket Case.

[…]