Your Dundas Stories

Lumberjack Jackets!
Do you remember lumberjack jackets? Back in the '60's they were quite the thing with high school boys here in town. Each of my sons had one. 

We lived in Pleasant Valley. In those days there weren't buses to get the kids 'in town' to school. The boys would shorten their walk to Highland by cutting through the ravine. It was a very unhappy day for one of them when he didn't make the trip across the creek as safely as usual. He ended up absolutely soaked. But far worse for him was the discovery that the colours of the jacket's plaid pattern ran (badly) when wet!!!  
Joan, November 15, 2011


We Will Remember
I am not from Dundas, but I have had a special connection to it since I first ventured into town in 2005. My most special memory of Dundas thus far holds a place in my heart. I worked with a great volunteer team at the Dundas Museum on the exhibit entitiled 'Put Victory First', which highlighted the home effort of the community during the world wars. In preparing the exhibit we had the opportunity to read letters (now in the Museum's archives) that were sent home by soldiers serving in Europe. These letters made us laugh and made us cry. The intimate moments in these letters brought history to life for me. It was so beautiful to see the sense of community in Dundas in these letters as well.
Lisa, November 9, 2011  


A First Halloween
Story: Halloween, circa 1953. For my very first Halloween outing, my older brother took me down that night to the Town Hall, where other witches, goblins and ghosts had gathered. From there we paraded up Main and King streets. I remember passing the former Riley Hotel, at that point, a run-down dark, spooky looking place. (A parking lot for the Mainhatten condos now occupies the site.) We proceeded to the Market Street arena, where we were rewarded with our treats!
Tom, October 26, 2011

 
A Teacher Loved By Many
It was Easter Monday, in 2003, that I took my dog Simon for a walk through the Driving Park and up the Helen Street stairs to do a round or two through Grove Cemetery.

In the North Quarter, I came across a thin limestone tablet that was bowed forward as if genuflecting and welcoming all who pass to stop and visit for a while. It marks the grave of Miss Elizabeth (Bessie) Ridler. I stopped to read the faded inscription. She died April 21, 1903, in her 87th year, exactly 100 years prior to my visit that day. Who was this lady, and what was her contribution to Dundas history?

Between 1849 and 1902, Bessie Ridler's Private School nurtured the growing minds of the young Wilsons, Graftons, McKenzies, Bertrams and scores of others of the town's leading families who would determine the destiny of Dundas for generations.

Her classroom was a large front room of her home on 34 Hatt Street (now the address of the Ellen Osler Memorial Home). It had an entrance for the boys, and one for the girls. In the centre of the room was a large table where the boys sat on one side, the girls on the other. Miss Ridler, being the ruling monarch of her domain, sat at the head. Beside her, like a royal mace, sat her ivory-tipped pencil, which was used for marking the lessons of the day.

The typical school day began with arithmetic and writing, followed by spelling, geography, history, and home economics, including sewing. The boys learned the fine arts of the needle and thread as well as the girls. It was not uncommon to walk by the school and hear the furious scrawling of chalks on slate, and angelic choruses of "Yes, Miss Ridler" and "No, Miss Ridler." As the children grew older, school books were passed on from the elder to younger siblings.

She lived with her brother, George, in that house on Hatt Street, where she strived "to create heroic pride in well doing" in her charges. She was a little woman, much beloved by all who were taught by her, whose good-humoured face was incapable of a frown and her pleasant disposition allowed her lessons to not be soon forgotten.

Bessie never married or had children of her own. I read her epitaph: "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." Perhaps the love and lessons she passed on to her students allowed her to do just that.
- Stan, October 17, 2011


I Can Smell Them Yet!
Do you remember Strubs Pickles being up on Mill Street? You could smell it all over the west end of town when they were putting down dills! It was great. Well, great if you liked dill pickles, I guess. I just discovered that you can find the 'family recipe' for their brine on the internet! Sad that they moved the operation to Brantford.
- Ellen, September 12, 2011


Back to School
Story: Back to school, 1960! In the fall of 1960 I returned to old Central Public for 7th Grade after a few years in a newer school. The morning and afternoon bell was still rung by hand by the caretaker. Boys and girls climbed their separate stairways from separate entrances to the upper floor. There was no gymnasium (one was under construction at that point) so all our 'co-ed' gym classes were held outside. The scuffed hardwood floor of our classroom sagged a bit.
- Tom, August 26, 2011


Farm to Table
Pleasant Valley and Sherwood Park surveys used to be the Whitfield and Patterson farms. Our family was one of the first families to purchase a home in the brand new Pleasant Valley, back in the 60's. I remember Mr. Whitfield (I realize I don't even know what his first name was - even we adults called him that) coming by in his old farm truck to sell us strawberries and blueberries. He had not sold off all of his property and still lived in his beautiful farmhouse at the end of Turnbull Road. Our kids used to love to go up to his barn and visit the horses. 
- Joan, August 26, 2011


A Dream, Come True
Living as I was in Flamborough and working in Hamilton, I drove to and from work on Highway #8, through the beautiful town of Dundas. I promised myself, that when circumstances allowed, I would live in Dundas - that was my dream. I bought the Coach House in 1996 (how lucky was I?) and have spent 15 happy years in my adopted town - the town of my dreams. Thank you Dundas, for all that you are!
- Fran, August 21, 2011


Fire Department
When I was 8 years old I moved to Dundas from Hamilton. We moved to 93 Park St. W. and our neighbour was a firefighter on the Dundas Fire Department, Harry Hill. I used to go down to the fire hall and sit on Pumper #1 on Saturdays and polish the truck, hoping for a fire call to watch them leave. In 1983 I joined as a part-time firefighter, till 1995. In 1999 our Rotary Club bought the Pumper and we have restored it for the kids. I'm working on building a Fire Department Museum.
- Keith, August 18, 2011


Lions' Club Pool
With all the heat we've been having, memories of the old Lions' Club Swimming Pool popped into my head as I drove down Creighton Road the other day. In temperatures like these the line ups would have been HUGE! The big and little pools were outdoors, beside the Arena. Today the Little Theatre is a retrofit of the old change house. I think it was 15 cents in the afternoon (two shifts) and 25 cents at night. I remember the day the lifeguard plucked me out of the deep end. I'd jumped in off the low diving board, following buddies, somehow imagining that I could swim.
- Ian, August 12, 2011
 

Barbie Dream House, Home Edition
Barbie dolls were new, and terribly exciting, when I was a kid. Mine was $3.50 and I proudly told the sales woman in Eatons that I was paying for it with my own money. It had taken weeks to save up! 

My girlfriend and I made our own wardrobes for them, without the benefit of needle or thread. My Aunt Mildred was an avid sewer and would give us big bags of scraps from her sewing projects. We would cut holes for the head and arms, pinning them or using 'belts' to keep them on. Barbie Dream Houses weren't invented yet, so we built our own using a series of tables, boxes and chairs. We didn't need to be entertained. We made our own fun. It was a great way to spend the summer.
- Jane, August 11, 2011


Boys of Summer
When my friends and I hit the age of 12, or so, we didn't hang around the house much over the summer. If we couldn't find enough guys to play baseball, we'd head out walking along the railway tracks, either west to the Copetown General Store or east to what is now named the Lilac Dell, ending up down the hill at the edge of the Bay. These were definitely all day hikes - especially out to Copetown. That's a long way by foot. 

We'd cook our lunch over a camp fire (the can of beans and package of weiners we'd brought from home). It only took our first time out to learn that you're supposed to put a hole in the can of beans before putting it into the fire to heat. Luckily none of us were beside the fire when it exploded!  
- Brian, July 29, 2011


Lord Stanley's Cup
The excitement in Dunnville, last weekend, with the visit of the Stanley Cup took me back to last September and the Cup coming to Dundas. My husband and I were part of the Hockeyville crowd awaiting its arrival at the Driving Park.

Some Background: We didn't miss too many Merchant or Blues home games at the Dundas Arena when we were dating and in the early years of our marriage. 'The Group' would all be there. The girls watched from the Reds, as enthused about getting caught up on each other's week as we were in the game. The guys watched from the the rail behind us, their conversation shifting back and forth only from analysis of the game in front of them to what was happening in the NHL. Tucked between the Merchants on Friday night and the Blues on Sunday afternoon was Hockey Night in Canada, my husband again totally involved. Me? Well, my head would come up for the replay as I worked away at the 'craft of the moment' (ahh, the 70's!) The bottom line, and even after the forty years that have now passed, I am definitely only a Spouse-of-the-True-Fan.

But last fall, when that Cup came into view, here in our very own Dundas, tears sprang to my eyes. I reached over and grabbed my husband's leg, madly shaking it and choked out, 'Here it comes! Here it comes!' I'm still amazed at my reaction. I can only guess how much more special it was for the True-Fans.

- Carolyn, July 19, 2011
    

House Prices! 
When we bought our home at 125 Park Street West (almost next door to the museum) the previous owner gave us some info. about it. This included a note saying that that the house was sold to Jane Coleman, aunt of the first mayor of Dundas, for $520.
- Sally, July 12, 2011


House of Providence
Years ago, Canada Day was called "Dominion Day", and for many years in this town that meant the House of Providence Picnic, a truly family event. It was the mysterious rambling old building on the hill, though, that really intrigued me as a kid. One year, an open house allowed me my first glimpse of the inside, and I climbed the steps to the veranda. The nuns, then always dressed head to toe in black and white habits, certainly added to the sense of mystery.
- Tom, June 26, 2011 


Exercise Tocsin
Does anyone remember “Exercise Tocsin”? It happened one day in the late 50’s, post-Sputnik, at the height of the “cold war”. People were worried about possible nuclear attacks, and Dundasians were no exception. Some local residents were building private fall-out shelters. It was a one day emergency preparedness drill, and, while my memory of the day is vague, I do recall fire trucks rushing up King Street, sirens screaming, volunteer fire fighters clinging to the running boards. It was a bit scary.
- Tom, March 3, 2011


The Roxy
As a child in the 1950’s, like many other kids, I frequented the old “Roxy” movie theatre – now the home of the Horn of Plenty. It had previously been called the “Majestic”. Saturday matinees cost 25 cents and 10 cents would buy you a chocolate bar. I was intrigued by the forbidden “smoking loge” in the balcony.
Some of the best movies of my memory were screened there, including The Ten Commandments, Bridge on the River Kwai, Rio Bravo and Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Right after each movie ended, on would come a film showing Buckingham Palace, the Grenadier Guards and a cameo of the Queen, thus signaling us to stand for the National Anthem (ie: The Queen). But by that point we were already on our way out to sunny King Street and the “variety stores”.
- Tom, February 8, 2011


Dickens of a Christmas in Dundas
Did you hear the carollers downtown on the weekend? It's definitely a Dickens of a Christmas in Dundas. Lovely.
- Valerie, December 20, 2010


Cannon Hill
With our first snow this week I've thought about my mother's tales of Cannon Hill, that s-t-e-e-p hill that runs from the escarpment to the back corner of Central School. When she was a girl, the kids used to bob sled down it! This would have been in the 1920's and there wasn't the traffic there is today.
- Chris, December 17, 2010


Glessings
While sitting in the optomotrist's office the other day I wondered how many remember Glessings? When Dr. Conron expanded his office space he took over the area that had once been the coffee shop.
- Martha, December 17, 2010