Having read with interest the ramblings of Brian Rider and Paul Bennett, I felt I must add a few anecdotes of my own. Although younger than Paul, I did chum around a bit with him and Byron Adams and Bill Bryson. I think the connection was Bill working at CKNX as a photographer and maybe the local paper. I have many fond memories of living and growing up in Wingham. We moved there in 1946 after the war when my dad took a job with CKNX as the news editor. He worked there through the expansions and introduction of TV until his retirement in 1987.

My school friends were Don Lee, John Madill, Doug Spry, Bruce Machan, Ken Harrison and many others. However, I did seem to try out older friends such as Byron Adams, Paul Bennett, etc. I have fond memories of the Lyceum theatre Saturday afternoon matinees, usually a cowboy movie preceded by News of the World, the Three Stooges and a cartoon (Mr. Magoo?). Nobody dared sit in Harry Tofting's seat on the left aisle about 3 or 4 rows down. Also remember our little clubhouse in the basement of the theatre. Often helped with the theatre cleanup and got free admission.

Back to Byron, Paul and Bill. Remember those cold winter nights in Bill's Volkswagon running down the sideroads outside Wingham with no lights on and surfing (or smashing into) the snowbanks. Wonder we weren't killed. Oh, the thrills of youth.

Hope more people post stories of growing up in Wingham. I could write a book. Hope to see many of my old friends at the 2014 reunion.

John Strong

 The first 5 years of my life were during the war. Just a few brief memories survive from that time. I do remember being scared at times clinging to my mother. That was probably the cause of my stuttering problem. That seemed to have disappeared when I learned English in Canada. Another memory is going to the central food kitchen just after the war with my Dad. The outstanding memory is of the Canadians entering our village (Tzummarum). They were given a great welcome. Actual fighting did not take place so much in our part of the Netherlands during the German occupation, and shortages were generally not as acute as in the southern regions.

 After the war, life continued much as before. Tzummarum ,with a population of about 1600, was a largely rural community, and depended on agriculture for its existence. Commercially, it had 5 bakeries, about 10 grocery stores of small to very small size, 2 butchers, and various other small stores selling other items. There was one blacksmith and 4 carpenters, and 2 bicycle repair shops. Besides my father’s paint and paper business, there was one more. A number of small time farmers who rented land lived in the village. There was also a substancial orchard next to the village. The village even had a village crier! He would stop at various locations, ring his bell, and call out his message. He was still active in 1952. A hotel or inn was also located in the village. Bus service came twice a day. There were maybe 5 cars in the village. A horse drawn wagon provided daily freight service to a larger town 6 km to the south and maybe to other nearby villages as well. I took it once to get to my aunt when my mother was having another child. When my youngest sister was born in 1950, Dad came to where Doug and I were playing to tell us we were going to my grandparents. We were so thrilled that we never stopped to see the new baby, and were taken straight there! Mother was not impressed! This was her ninth child, and even at that time when I was almost 10, I didn’t know where babies came from! How times have changed- at age 3-4 my grand daughter asked her mom if she had another baby in her tum. She must have overheard her parents talk about it. Speaking of leading sheltered lives- that brings me to another aspect of our village-the role of religion and church.

 In the area of religion, there were 4 different groups: the unchurched, the Hervormde Kerk (a very liberal church), the Gereformeerde Kerk (a small somewhat evangelical church), and the Christelyke Geforneerde Kerk ( a quite orthodox church). This is the equivalent of the Christian Reformed Church, the one that my family belonged to. Kerk is the dutch word for church or the Scottish word Kirk. The last 2 groups generally followed the view of the theologian Abraham Kuiper in the late 1800s. His view was that Christ is sovereign in all areas of life. This led to the establishment of Christian schools, political parties, labour organizations, and many other Christian organizations.. Anything that was not Christian was neutral, and that was considered impossible. You were either for or against. In our village this manifested itself in a Christian and Public School, a Christian brass band and a neutral band, etc. etc. The village was divided between the two, and the two generally didn’t mix, or patronize each other in business, shopping etc.. We were “sheltered from the world.” in all areas of life. When we came to Canada, Dad made the comment that it was sometimes good to be away from those constraints. If there was no Christian Reformed Church, the Presbyterian Church was recommended. That reminds me of the lady who was proud to be Scottish Presbyterian. She was told that would not keep her from sinning, but it would sure keep her from enjoying it! I got the impression in talking to Miss McLaughlin,.when she was in Huronview, that she was one of these staunch Presbyterians. With this background of life in my village I will stop and write about emigration from it in my next article. Dick Roorda, Clinton