Stories

Ellsmere, Thomas #1892 *

Honoured by Sadie Youmans

My Uncle Tom was the one who stands out in my family as the one most loved and admired. He gave me away at my wedding and carried off the reception party.
He and his brother Jim operated Ellsmere Brothers Lumber Co. from 1941-1961 at Tilden Lake. Uncle Jim was killed in 1946. They employed between 20 to 30 people and a little school was built for about 15 children. There were three tourist camps on the lake, mostly Americans. His old farm at Craighurst was sold to E.P. Taylor of Toronto and is today Horseshoe Valley. One of 11 children, he was the leader; he was there for his brothers and sisters throughout their lives. They worked for him in the business, built modest homes, set them up any way he could help, free equipment and lumber in many cases. He belonged to the Lumbermen’s Association and was well known in the industry. He was a big supporter of St. John the Divine Anglican Church and built the Minister, Rev. Jarvis, a retreat on the Tomiko River. My mother and father were divorced in 1948. We lived in a rented house next to the old homestead at Craighurst. Times were very tough for my mother. Uncle Tom offered her a job in the cookery at the mill for about 25 men. Mom had never worked outside the home, but was always helping on the farm, killing chickens, picking potatoes, feeding the threshers, etc. My sister Jean was 16 and very good at high school, but she was taken out to help mom (the cookee). She always wanted to go back to school. I could go to school at the mill. My Aunt Enola was the teacher. There were always lots of cousins from the families in Craighurst or at the Mill. Uncle Tom took a carload to church or whenever he went to North Bay for appointments or whatever. He took me to and from high school in North Bay where I had to room and board. He was a terrible tease. He arranged a bicycle for me from Cochrane Dunlop Hardware and a cocker spaniel, Taffy. He never gave me money, just love. The whole family played musical instruments and he played the fiddle for the dances in the school house. He loved to travel and see progress. He bought three farms at Crown Hill where his daughter, Gladys, and her family, ran them. He spent five months in Florida every year in the 1950s and there he died at 68. My husband Dave (we met at the mill) and I were to have our honeymoon in Florida. Today, if you turn in Ellsmere Road at Tilden Lake, a small village remains and the old cement burner still stands. A Community Centre and volunteer Fire House is on the Sawmill site. As I grew older, I realized the impact he had on my life and I never got to tell him. I regret that.

Sadie Youmans

Syme, Bob & Frankie #1986 *

This Pergola Leaf is dedicated to the 25th Wedding Anniversary of Bob and Frankie Syme on October 4th, 2011.

Our wedding theme was to celebrate:
“The First Day of our Lives Together.”

John Robert Syme and Frankie Ann Barham (nee Legault) were united in marriage on Saturday, October 4th, 1986 at St Andrew’s United Church, North Bay, Ont.

Maid of Honor – Leona Dunn (friend of the bride) Best man – Earl Gummeson (brother-in-law of the groom) Ushers – Darrell Levitt (friend of the groom)
Terry Barham (son of the bride)

Officiates: Rev. Jim Sinclair and Rev. Dr. Bill Kitto

Organist: Sharon Paris
Soloists: Joan Gummeson (sister of the groom)
Richard Levesque (friend of the bride and groom)

Our parents celebrated with us. Effie and Gene Legault were with us and Marjorie and John Syme were with us in spirit.
Our children Terry Barham, Leslie Hendry ( Barham ), Carolyn, Evelyn and Jocelyn Syme also shared in our joy.

We thank all our friends and family for blessing us with their presence and sharing in our wedding day.

Our 25 years together has been a life of sharing, caring and having fun. We have travelled, we have learned and we have enjoyed each other’s company.
There have been many blessings and also very sad times.
We now have six grandchildren:
Michael Hendry – December 3rd, 1982
Matthew Hendry – July 2nd, 1985
Jacqueline Hebert – October 18th, 1991
Danielle Hebert – November 19th, 1993
Aidan Bellamy, March 7th, 2003
Olivia Bellamy, January 17th, 2005
We lost a precious granddaughter Candace Cara Hendry, Aug. 27th, 1988 – Aug.
8th, 1996 in a house fire. Frankie’s parents and Earl Gummeson have passed away also. We now have four great grandchildren.

We enjoy our family, friends St. Andrew’s church family and especially each other. We enjoy the North Bay Waterfront and are pleased to be part of the Pergola project.

Unknown to us, a good friend, Neil Benninger, told us St Francis of Assisi is also celebrated on our wedding day of October 4th.

Throughout our 25 years, we have tried to live by his prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; To be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Scott, Helen Ruby (Tuck) #500 *

Born August 14, 1907, to Arthur and Mary Jane (McCauley) Tuck, Helen Ruby, was the third daughter of five who grew up at 680 Bell Street in North Bay. Her youngest sister, Isabel Smith, who is 85 years young, is the only remaining sister. She is living in North Bay at present.

At a very early age, Helen decided that she wanted to be an opera singer and was fortunate enough to be able to take singing lessons when she was a teenager. She had acquired her love of music from her father who enjoyed playing ’78 records on the old gramophone and listening to classical music on the radio. Her father, a conductor on the T&O Railroad (later the ONR), was a kind and gentle man who also fostered her love of sports.  Helen excelled at Track and Field while attending North Bay Collegiate.

After graduating from High School, her hopes of becoming a professional singer were dashed when her parents steered her away from what they called an “unstable artistic future”. She was encouraged instead, to go into nursing at Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto. After receiving her cap, she contracted osteomyelitis and was forced to curtail her training.  She returned to North Bay and, once her health improved, she worked for Dr. Crowe in his office on McIntyre Street.

She started singing in St. John’s Church choir and joined the Grace Gibbard Women’s Auxiliary in 1924.  She eventually joined the Victor Chorus, which became the North Bay Choral Society, where she continued to sing for many years.

In 1925, Helen met Herbert William Scott who was attending Teacher’s College in North Bay. On May 20, 1930, they were married and had four children: Stanley Herbert (deceased), Robert John, Helen Joanne and Beverley Jean.

They raised their children for the first sixteen years in Capreol, while Herb worked on the railroad and then moved back to North Bay to 459 Harvey Street in 1948.

In those happy times, the children enjoyed rushing home from school to have their senses assaulted by some wonderful aroma of baking, cooking, pickling and jelly-making. Her specialties were Jelly Braid and chili, but hundreds of pies, cakes, stews, soups and casseroles magically appeared from the kitchen onto the dining room table!

In fact, everything she tried became a joyous endeavor – embroidered tea towels, pillow cases, smocked dresses, petit-point pictures and chair cushions. She had inherited her mother’s love of baking, sewing and handicrafts.  Eventually, the walls of her home were all adorned with her paintings and handiwork.

Helen and Herb also joined the Eastern Star where they became Matron and Patron at one point and loved traveling all over Canada to attend many functions.  By this time, because Herb had retired, they extended their travels to Europe, visiting their daughter, Joanne, in England and Beverley, in Ireland.

They eventually decided to join the “snowbirds” in Florida every winter so Herb didn’t have to miss any golf. They maintained a mobile home in Dade City for over twenty years.  Helen
continued to sing in the church choir in Florida for six months of the year.

Ahead of her time, Helen was environmentally and politically astute and constantly wrote to members of Parliament for improvements to the regulations concerning the environment.
Eventually, the United Nations contacted her in 1998 and asked her to be an ambassador.  Though flattered, she had to decline because, at the age of 90, “the traveling required would have been
too much” for her.

Helen died on April 9, 2003, in her 96th year, after a brief struggle with cancer.  For most of her life, she lived happily and prospered, all the time keeping her home here in North Bay.  She dearly loved her eleven grandchildren and thirty-three great-grandchildren. Helen inspired all
those whose lives she touched.

Laporte, Beverlee & Keely #1953 *

Honoured by Lori Laporte.

I often talk about my sister Keely. She truly inherited the green thumb from Grandpa and Grandma Laporte, who owned and operated Laporte’s Nursery and Greenhouses. She definitely had a passion for plants. She lost her fight with breast cancer on June 4, 2005 at the age of 43. She left a beautiful legacy for her two children, Tara and Eric. Keely and I had so much fun growing up. We both
had a wicked sense of humour. We laughed a lot. I really miss her.

My mother Beverlee passed away 22 months later. I was lucky enough to have had the greatest mother ever. My Mom’s love of laughter and life was infectious. Mom always made sure all holidays were very special for my sister and me and then she really spoiled our children. In addition to Keely’s children, I gave birth to two girls, Ashley and KC (Kelsey) Generoux. My Mom was as wonderful a grandmother as she was a mother. The kids loved going to Grandma’s.

I wish both Keely and mom would have lived long enough enjoy our extended family; Keely’s grandchildren Jacob, Angel and William and my grandson Arthur. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of them. I pay special tribute to two of the most beautiful and wonderful people in life. I love you guy’s non-stop around the world all the way to infinity.

Lori Laporte

Laporte, Aldege & Christina #1951 *

Honoured by Lori Laporte.

Aldege and Christina Laporte

Aldege and Christina Laporte were the love behind Laporte’s Nursery and Greenhouses. They lived on a small farm in Nipissing Junction which is located at the south end of Lakeshore Drive. They were both blessed with green thumbs and passed it on to their children and grandchildren. They had three children; James William Laporte (Beverlee – deceased 2007), Denis Laporte (Paula) and Lea Bale (Bill). Jim had two daughters, Keely and Lori and Lea had three children, Steve, Karen and Cathy.

Grandma and Grandpa worked very hard in their garden. In fact everyone loved their vegetables so much they started asking if they could buy produce from them. That is how Laporte’s Nursery started. Prior to that my grandpa owed Alec’s Meat Market and Deli, known as The Joke shop for 40 years after the deli closed. Grandpa also drove the bus from Callander to North Bay. The garden centre is a four generation business. My dad Jim took the business over in 1971 and Aunt Lea has worked there since its inception. I now do the day to day operation of the business. Aldege and Tina were kind and gentle people and our entire family have fond memories and lots of love in our hearts for them. I pay special tribute to the awesome grandparents I was lucky enough to have.

Lori Laporte

Ill Eagles Hockey Club #1976 *

Honoured by all past and present members.

ILL EAGLES HOCKEY TEAM

The Ill Eagles are an Old Timers Hockey team that was formed in 1974 by Art Langley, Don Wallace, and several others. It grew out of a lavv)lers’ Touch Football team by the same name, and merged with a group of insurance brokers and business people in North Bay to form an Old Timers Hockey team.

Original members of the team included the following;

Pete Palangio, Bobby Kennedy, Rob Martyn, Don Young, Greg Wright, Mark
Hurtubise

The team participated in many Old Timer tournaments over the years. They started with no success, moved to little success, and finally achieved moderate success. Many players played for a number of years and then retired. Alumni of the Ill Eagles would number more than 100. Younger players have joined the team keeping the organization vibrant and competitive. Over the years we have lost a number of members including; Art Langley, Dave McLaren, Ernie Ladds, Murray Young, and Jerry Kervin. All of these gentlemen were good hockey players and great friends. There are still a good number of players in their 60’s and 70’s who continue to play.

The Ill Eagles have supported the community through a trophy donated to the North Bay Trappers Triple AAA midget hockey team each year for many years for players with Outstanding Heart and Dedication. They have also supported the Feasibility Study for a new arena, and the Community Waterfront Friends improvements at the waterfront.

Members can play three times a week and maintain physical fitness and close friendships established over the past 38 years. There is a lot of dressing room banter, and some great stories over the years. One of the best aspects of membership on this team is that children are encouraged to play along with their fathers when possible. This is great fun, and strengthens the bond between fathers and sons and between players. It is more of a large hockey family than a hockey team.

Tremblay, Roland & Thérèse #1945 *

Roland and Thérèse Tremblay were married in 1945. They raised their large French-Canadian family of 11 children in North  Bay, Ontario.

Roland was a very hard working man, a carpenter/builder by trade.  He co-owned a construction business in North Bay, Boulanger & Tremblay Construction and Supply Ltd. from 1956 to 1978. A few of their larger contracts include North Bay Hydro and Cité des Jeunes.  Roland passed away in 1988 at the age of 69.

Thérèse was an extremely busy homemaker, as well as being a kind, patient and loving mother. The family celebrated her 85th birthday on August 4, 2011.  We are truly grateful and blessed to still have this rare gem in our lives.  She now resides at Marina Point.

At last count, September, 2011, there are 18 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.  They all are extremely proud to have such loving parents/grandparents as well as excellent role models.  The legacy of Roland and Therese Tremblay lives in us all.

Roland et Thérèse Tremblay se sont mariés en 1945. À North Bay, ils ont élevé une grande famille canadienne-française composée de onze enfants.

Roland était un homme très travaillant, un menuisier/contracteur de métier.  De 1956 à 1978, il était le co-propriétaire d’une compagnie de construction, Boulanger & Tremblay Construction and Supply Ltd.
Quelques-uns de leurs grands contrats furent les édifices du North Bay Hydro et de l’école Cité des
Jeunes.  Roland est décédé en 1988 à l’âge de 69 ans.

Thérèse était une femme au foyer très occupée, en plus d’être une mère de famille dévouée,
attentionnée et patiente.  La famille a célébré son 85e anniversaire de naissance le 4 août 2011.
Nous sommes tellement reconnaissants et bénis d’avoir cette perle dans notre vie.  Elle habite présentement au foyer Marina Point.  À compter de septembre 2011, elle a 18 petits-enfants et 10 arrière-petits-enfants.  Ils sont tous tellement fiers d’être aimés par des parents/grand-parents qui sont aussi d’excellents modèles pour eux.  L’héritage de Roland et de Thérèse demeure vivant à l’intérieur de nous tous.

Honoured by all their children: Gisèle, Michel, Guy, Patricia, Carole, Louise, Claire,
Joëlle, Denise, Jacques and Claude, and their families.

 

Newman, Len & Rita #1725

Honoured by Mary & Frank Forest, Catherine & Ken O’Reilly, Michael & Dianne Newman.

Thank you for purchasing a leaf of inspiration honouring Len and Rita Newman and for supporting your Waterfront Park.  Story to follow.