The Way We Were – November

25 Years Ago - Nov. 5, 1998

Onslow, St. Mary’s offer 25 cent breakfasts: Between bites, the kids chatted, probably about how much candy they got on Halloween. In the din of simultaneous voices, it was difficult to catch the subject matter but the excitement was obvious.
It is a breakfast club in the truest sense of the term, with the participants chewing down on a hearty breakfast of bagels and cheese, fruit, juice and milk, while sharing conversation.
In their second week, the breakfast clubs at Quyon’s Onslow Elementary and St. Mary’s schools are hugely successful both in popularity with the kids and acceptance by teachers and parents.
“I like it very much because the food is very good,” says an unidentified Onslow student. “(After eating) I feel really energetic.”
“It certainly benefits the children,” says Onslow Principal George Singfield. “They’re getting a full breakfast for 25 cents; you can’t beat the price.”
The clubs are organized and supplied by the Quyon Mutual Aid Food Service and the Quebec Breakfast Club. The latter is an offshoot of the nation-wide program Breakfast for Learning started by Canadian Living magazine several years ago.
New ladybug species population explodes: Some say they’re a sign of a good winter; others say they’re good luck.
But this year the number of ladybugs has exploded, causing them to be an aesthetic nuisance for some and just a strange phenomenon piquing the curiosity of others.
There were so many ladybugs on the outside of Andrea and Michael Moore’s Shawville house, the couple felt they were being swarmed when they made a mad dash for the door. In late September, early October, hundreds of the beetles could be found crawling along the walls of their house.
Not only in Pontiac, but throughout Quebec and Ontario there has been a population explosion of what is known as the Halloween ladybug, so named because it is highly visible around Halloween.
Ladybugs are a good sign for farmers and gardeners, says MAPAQ agronomist Ghislain Poisson.
“They are useful in agriculture to decrease the pest population,” he says.

50 Years Ago - Nov. 14, 1973

Pontiacs win at home and lose on the road: The sign of a good hockey club is the ability to win consistently on home ice and be tough and competitive on the road. The Shawville Pontiacs reached this point during the past weekend.
To date, the team in general lacked somewhat in conditioning as well as in team play. However, a fine third period surge in a losing cause Friday night and a convincing win at home on Sunday may persuade people connected with the team and local fans that the team is now ready for the big upcoming weekend against the undefeated Embrun Panthers.
Friday night, Shawville visited Wendover Rockets in Rockland and lost 6-5. The line of Carson Ryan, one goal; Keith McKinnon, two goals; and Ray Robinson, one goal, accounted for the third period scoring surge while Jack Aliquette accounted for the other marker.
On Sunday, Killaloe visited Shawville with hopes of moving back into a third place tie with the Pontiacs. They left soundly beaten and badly outplayed. In this wide open contest, the Pontiacs played the whole game as a team, the way they have been capable of doing all along.
Bank of Montreal magazine features Shawville Centennial: The November issue of Concordia is helping to spread the word of Shawville’s Centennial.
The lead story in the magazine was written by Pat Dubé, a Shawville resident and employee of the Shawville Bank of Montreal and it publicizes the community and the centennial.
Distribution of Concordia is to Bank of Montreal employees and bank pensioners.
A few excerpts from Pat’s submission: “During 1973, Shawville is marking its centennial. And, also in 1973, the bank’s branch here is celebrating its 75th year since it was established in 1898 as an office of The Merchants Bank of Canada which became a part of the Bank of Montreal in 1922.
Since we were dressing the fashion of 1873, we decided to decorate the branch to look like the same era. We were successful in turning up many items that were actually about 100 years old. A big find was an old teller’s cage that was originally a part of the bank’s sub-agency at Bristol. The bank’s museum supplied an old-fashioned display case and a number of banking artifacts, including penny banks, gold scales and revolvers.”

75 Years Ago - Nov. 25, 1948

Missing from our files

100 Years Ago - Nov. 15, 1923

Local News: The supper and social at Zion Methodist Church came off very successfully, financially and otherwise. The receipts amounted to $112.
Fire of an unknown origin completely destroyed all of the outbuildings, a fine team of horses and a threshing separator on the farm of Mr. Anthony Armstrong on the evening of Nov. 1. The fire was first noticed by one of the men during tea time and immediately all hands set to work to unleash the animals in the several buildings which were all attached.
Mr. Leonard Mee, a neighbour, who was at the farm at the time, managed to get his own team out of the stable and rushed back to get the other horses, but by this time the stable was ablaze and nothing could be done to save the unfortunate animals. Scores of automobiles rushed from town and vicinity to the scene, but the fire was so far advanced that nothing could be done to check it. Threshing had been finished a few days previously and a quantity of grain and hay were also destroyed.
Among those who went west to help with the harvest, the following young men of this vicinity have returned during the past couple of weeks: Ralph Finnigan, John McKinley, Lloyd Horner, Percy Wilkie, Ross MacCallum, Bert Stark, and Cecil Sinclair.
It is announced from Toronto that Professor J.R. MacLeod, of the Department of Physiology at the University of Toronto, will divide his $20,000 share of the Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin with Dr. J.B. Collip, Professor in Alberta University.

Household tip: Smoke from a lamp or gas often soils a ceiling in the one particular spot, while the rest remains beautifully white. It is useful to know that soiled ceilings caused by lamp and gas will be rendered less conspicuous if rubbed over with dry whiting.

125 Years Ago - Nov. 17, 1898

Local News: A recent issue of the Ottawa Journal had the following item: Dr. Rimer and Archie Martin who left Aylmer last spring for the Yukon, have “struck it rich” on one of the tributary creeks of the Stewart River and have staked out claims which they believe will turn out to be among the richest in the district.
The Baptist congregation of North Clarendon through the efforts of their pastor, have succeeded in getting a suitable little church of their own. This was done by the purchase of a building from Mr. J.M. Hodgins, which has been nearly fitted up for the purpose named. The adherents of the Holiness movement in the same locality are also making preparations for the erection of a place of worship.
The first real snow storm of the season, so far as this section is concerned, began about noon on Thursday and continued till several inches of “the beautiful” had fallen.
Mr. J. Obalski, inspector of mines for this province, examined the nickel deposit on Calumet Island. He says the prospects are so far very good but he would not care to say the deposit is likely to surpass the deposits at Sudbury.
Mr. Harry Perry has sold out his tinware business to Messrs. G. and R. Dale, who will continue business in the same stand.
Mr. H.S. Dowd of Quyon, has commenced preparations for the erection of an oat meal mill in close proximity to his roller mill. Mr. Dowd’s new venture will have a capacity of 500 bushels per day and will be equipped with the very latest machinery manufactured. The enterprise will undoubtedly be one of very great benefit to the farmers of the district. The Quyon council has exempted the proposed mill from taxation for a period of twenty years.