The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

watermelon express the tribune twiy mardi 16 1967 p5 5 new pastor christ church anglican rev frederick e miller formerly of all saints anglican church kings- way has accepted a twopoint charge at christ church anglican in stouffville and st philips anglican unionville staff photo the green glens of antrim by sara shields a few years ago the min ister of the church i at tended asked if i woud vi sit an old lady who had recently arrived from northern ireland he said shes the most interesting person ive met in years but shes homesick now tomorrow is st patricks day could you go then ive told her about you she needs you so on st patricks day i set out to visit mrs kath leen oneill recently arrived in canada to make her home with a daughter and the welcome she gave me was heart warming in deed in her delightful irish brogue she said och shure an ive been waiting for you its glad indeed i am to see you as the minister said mrs oneill was a most interesting person and she was lovely in appearance too even at her advanced age her figure was so straight and upright and with her white hair and rosy face and kind eyes that looked one straight in the face with understand ing she was good to look at och canadas the grand country indeed but when a bodys eightyseven its hard to leave their native land they are a bit too old then to be pulling up their roots when i told her she was the youngest old lady id ever met she told me 1 must have kissed the blarney stone i visited mrs oneill for two years and after each visit came away looking forward to the next one one day she asked me if i remembered the glens of antrim when i replied i did she said theres a good story i can tell you that im sure will interest you it was just one of the many interesting stories she told me mrs oneill continued when i was a girl our nearest neighbours and i should say our best neigh bours were folk named ocallahan the eldest son was born on st patricks day so they named him patrick when he was twenty he emigrated to america and got a job in new york shure an the lad got on well his workmates would tell him he had the luck o the irish but he made one big mistake in the de sire to get on in the world and make money he forgot all about the way he had been brought up he forgot god money and prestige were now the gods he wor shipped a few years passed and one day he received a letter from his sister tell ing him his mother was ill and desired to see him he sent extra money but said he couldnt possibly come home as his business required all his attention by this time pat ocallahan was head of the construc tion business where he had started as a labourer one morning his fore man came into his office to tell him that a man had been hurt on one of the machines and had been taken to hospital also that the firm was to blame ocallahan called at the hospital to see the injured man whom his foreman had said was an irishman and not long in the coun try but the man refused to see ocallahan however he called again and this time a big surprise await ed him the injured man turned on him in fury listen to me pat ocallahan you dont rec ognize me but we went to school together back yon der in the glen of antrim we were pals and you had the making of a fine man but now all you care about is money and you dont care who you walk over to get it either you have for gotten many things ocall ahan amongst them is your soul and that one day you must account to god now get out of here and dont come back pat ocallahan stumbled out of that hospital room with an awakened consc ience and a great shame in his heart memories began to flood his soul why hadnt he recognized his old school chum the con tempt in the mans eyes and his plain words had stung ocallahan as noth ing else had ever done then he began thinking of his old christian mother no doubt he had hurt her too and likely it was her prayers for him that were being answered now and causing him such shame as he looked back on the past few years then he formed a plan as he sat thinking all through the long night he by betty ross oldtimers of uxbridge who remember the water melon express of the tor onto and nipissing rail way in the 1870s and pos sibly the issos all agree that the trip was great fun it was cheap 30c re turn from uxbridge to toronto and almost everyone returned carry ing a watermelon end of summer the express ran at the end of the summer when watermelons from the southern states were plen tiful in a june 1928 issue of the canadian national railways magazine d j mcmillan a veteran then of 54 years of railroading mentions in half a cen tury of railroading we ran an excursion during exhibition time at toron to for the toronto and nipissing employees their families and anybody else who could crowd on and get away with it exhibi tion those days meant the toronto industrial exhibi tion the forerunner of the canadian national exhibi tion from the crowding on sprang much of the fun box cars and open flat cars fitted with planks for benches as well as pas senger coaches accommo dated the crowds branches of cedar and spruce stuck in the stake pockets of the flat cars kept the hot sun off the passengers lots of fun picture the double head er wood burning locomo tive and entourage pulling into uxbridge on the day of the excursion the tor onto and nipissing rail way was the first narrow gauge train operated on the north american conti nent and ran as far as coboconk with a branch to jacksons point thus some passengers would have entrained before it reached uxbridge j a lord of uxbridge remem bers it this way well there was a real jolly would see his old school pal was justly treated and a bit over then he would go home to ireland to see his mother as morning dawned he had several plans to use some of his wealth that would help others the injured man recov ered and ocallahan heard through his fore man that the man was going home for a holiday they met again on the wharf as they awaited ship this time the man held out his hand in friendship saying an where would you be bound for pat the reply was shure the same place as yourself the green glens of antrim and when we come back therell be a good job wait ing for you i hope youll take it and im thankful we are pals again did you know that all being well we should be landing on the old sod on st pat ricks day 111111 crowd went anticipating lots of fun the open cars were preferred to the coach or box cars lots of young folks keeping time to their songs with the humptibump clickiticlick of the railway joints worn to receive the bumps of the wheels you can see if you look closely the bearded men some in their best clothing and those who had no hst the ruddy weathered faces of the farmers dis tinguished them from the paler townspeople the toronto industrial exhibi tion drew both townsman and farmer there could have been young bloods among the crowd who planned to miss the return train and instead take in the show anything from melodrama to burlesque at the royal lyceum theatre on king street mothers and daughters in their high necked long sleeved ankle length gowns were off for a days shopping or visiting or to view the exhibition per haps mama was found a seat on the passenger coach so that daughter could enjoy more freely the fun on the open flat car how many romances began and ended on the watermelon express pretty girls most of the middle aged and older men and women who boarded the water melon express must have carried in their faces and bearing the effects of the terrible toil and hardships of pioneer life in the ls70s it was only 40 to 45 years since the very first settlers had built their log cabins and hewed their farms north of uxbridge life was undoubtedly be coming easier one would expect the young girls to be handsome and healthy surprisingly considering the harshness and poverty of their lives so had been their mothers james tay lor in a travel book narra tive of a journey wrote in 1846 the female beauty of some of the canadians cannot be surpassed their features are finely formed and the expressions on their countenances quite fascinating to the children at any rate the speed of the train would have been the most exciting sensation imagina ble the ontario scenery the bush the farms the swamps the hamlets must have positively flown past at fifteen miles an hour and if a boy could thrust his hand into his pocket and feel a coin or two what more could he ask what more glorious could the future hold for him than to be a railwayman it is believed that the toronto and nipissing railway had running rights over grand trunk lines from scarborough junction its proper termi nal to the then union station at the foot of york street and the es planade from that point the watermelon excursion ist likely confronted on foot the sights smells and heady charms of the city or he may have boarded a toronto street railway horsecar whose lawful speed was not to exceed six miles an hour as for the home trip j a lord says on their re turn they were a tired crowd loaded with mel ons but they had a grand time and nearly always dated their next visit to i suppose it is just one year out of one hundred what a rirl must endure in this canadas centennial year will july 1 never come sixteen year old donna wright baker avenue stouffville may complain a little but she really doesnt mind in fact she thinks friend ed widcman is is really quite handsome with or without a beard ed says hell endure the agony of it all until judging day then off it comes staff photo kind competent nursing care or the chronic convalescent and aged tender loving care and understanding in a country home atmosphere our elderly guests receive personalized professional care in a spacious and con genial country home the manor is open for your inspection at any time green gables manor licensed by ont dept of health stouffville j03o61 approved by associated nursing homes inc ont markham student wins separate school speaking contest twelve year old michael barrack a grade 7 student at st patricks patricia mccann of st johns newmarket were the first prize winners in the york county oratorical contest held at st marks stouffville march 5 markham and 13 year old catholic womens league staff photo toronto on the next water melon excursion and our old railroader com pletes the picture for us when he says that prac tically every person young or old boarded the train to go home with a water melon under their arm needless to say all of the melons did not reach their destination attends christening at agincourt by ada steckley ringwood mrs frank atkinson attended the christening ceremony of her granddaughter mar garet ellen cockwell at agincourt sunday mr and mrs s pullcn and family of don mills former residents here had friday night dinner with mr and mrs clarence fockler and family there will be a good friday service in stouff ville christian church at 1045 am rev wm tyler of toronto one time min- ister at this church will be the scpawcr miss helen anderson or orillia had sunday dinner with her niece mrs stew- art vague and family mr clarence fockler spent a few days in winni peg last week mmrpuooiiime y 1 tag us etfwis mmj rippie for her learning to walk is hard hard work sometimes she cries usually you can josh her along but words dont always help so you love her until she gets her fight back then shes ready to try again love is one of three things that help a crippled child walk the other two arc skill and money weve found people with the love and skill to give were looking to you for the money not a lot just enough to put one child one day closer to walking akjusluttlsvwui kcw113ws 7 ialiim a symbol of hope for crippled children money received through the sale of easter seals by the lions club of sfoiiftvillc provide the necessary treatment equipment ami recreation for all crippled children in stouflville and area mail your contribution today tut your donation in the pink envelope and mail today to easter seal fund mr george williams manager hank of nova scotia box 700 stouffville ont this message sponsored by the following firms waggs jewellery china 24 main w stouffville weldons mens wear footwear 39 main w stouffville stouffville coop 47 edward st stouffville stouffville public utilities 130 main w stouffville aikens pharmacy 35 main w stouffville stouffville district credit union ltd 62 main w slmiffvliie hendricks hardware electric 23 main xv sloaffvllle