JULY 20, 2012 - I've had a absolutely marvelous week here in VB - but it's time to move on - after coffee I will be heading for Morris - want to go to the Stampede tonight and maybe tomorrow - haven't been to the Morris Stampede since I was a teenager- back in the 50's I worked there one summer, selling tickets to the pony rides - but then I also got free rides on everything else - Went to Kenora on Wednesday, with Mary and Jen - after some shopping etc. we had dinner with Dan, Sue and Stephanie - lovely dinner and a great visit - didn't get to see Spencer as he was in Winnipeg - it is literally impossible to see everyone, what with work, holidays etc. - yesterday, we went into Dryden again to do a few errands, had french fries from Chip Box downtown, just a little place, but they have got to be the best!!!! Amber would have loved them!! Visited Mary's sister, Clara while we were in Dryden - sure was great to see her again - Last night, sorted and looked at pictures to scan and copy. Thank you, Mary and Jen for a wonderful week!
I may not have Internet connections for the next few days, so this may be my last post for a while - I am just not sure where I will be, but will try and post whenever I can.
Take care and God Bless! ~D~
Friday, 20 July 2012
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Still busy in Vermilion Bay
Hello everyone!
JULY 16 - After coffee at The Fort in VB, we came home, grabbed a quick lunch and headed into Dryden, (about 35 km) - developed some pictures, did some shopping (groceries), stopped to bug Mike at work, and also his daughter, Emily at the library - she is doing some volunteer work this summer - coffee break at Timmy's and then home. Shopping is tiring! LOL, so we just relaxed, watched some TV etc in evening. Weather was much cooler and drizzling rain - cool enough for jeans - a welcome change.
JULY 17 - Coffee at (you guessed it, The Fort) - but then we got BUSY!!!! We made 18 dozen perogies (Mary is catering to a wedding in Sept, so I offered to help make perogies, have to earn my keep somehow! LOL!) - I made a casserole of 'lazy cabbage rolls' and a mandarin orange cake (new recipe from cousin Kathleen last week) Mary made a batch of 'turtles' and a roast - some of this is to take to Kenora tomorrow. What a full day - but fun - somewhere in between all that, we managed to find time to go back to VB, picked up a friend and went to the Fort for hard ice cream! Yummy! Beautiful day, quite warm, but is supposed to get much hotter again in the next few days. Oh well! That's what summer is all about! The train still goes by here quite often - love it! Lori heard it over the phone the other night!
Take care and God Bless! ~D~
JULY 16 - After coffee at The Fort in VB, we came home, grabbed a quick lunch and headed into Dryden, (about 35 km) - developed some pictures, did some shopping (groceries), stopped to bug Mike at work, and also his daughter, Emily at the library - she is doing some volunteer work this summer - coffee break at Timmy's and then home. Shopping is tiring! LOL, so we just relaxed, watched some TV etc in evening. Weather was much cooler and drizzling rain - cool enough for jeans - a welcome change.
JULY 17 - Coffee at (you guessed it, The Fort) - but then we got BUSY!!!! We made 18 dozen perogies (Mary is catering to a wedding in Sept, so I offered to help make perogies, have to earn my keep somehow! LOL!) - I made a casserole of 'lazy cabbage rolls' and a mandarin orange cake (new recipe from cousin Kathleen last week) Mary made a batch of 'turtles' and a roast - some of this is to take to Kenora tomorrow. What a full day - but fun - somewhere in between all that, we managed to find time to go back to VB, picked up a friend and went to the Fort for hard ice cream! Yummy! Beautiful day, quite warm, but is supposed to get much hotter again in the next few days. Oh well! That's what summer is all about! The train still goes by here quite often - love it! Lori heard it over the phone the other night!
Take care and God Bless! ~D~
Monday, 16 July 2012
Vermilion Bay, Ontario
JULY 13 - Mary and I went to The Fort for coffee with some friends and lunch at Buster's with another friend - OH! but isn't this the LIFE! I am taking advantage of every opportunity and enjoying every minute - There are three RC churches served by the resident priest in Dryden. One, Our Lady of Fatima in VB, about 45 km west of Dryden, and the other in Ignace, over an hours' drive east of Dryden, so Masses can't all be held on Saturday night or Sunday morning. As a result here at Vermilion Bay the Mass is celebrated at 5.30 pm on Friday, so that's where I went - one of Mary's friends attends so I even knew someone. When I got back home Mary had prepared a lovely crab leg dinner - Yummy! after which we watched some videos.
JULY 14 - Went on a pontoon boat ride all around Eagle Lake - and yes, we saw some bald eagles -four adults and three immature ones who don't yet have the white heads - I took pictures but it was very far away - used the Zoom - hoping I will be able to enlarge further - there were 4 pontoon boats and about 30 seniors and were were on the lake for about two hours - got a bit of sun on my face - back on shore we had a BBQ at the Pavilion - a gazebo like structure that the community has constructed for that type of use - everything around here is mostly made of logs - so rustic - I've been here (VB) many times, but this time I am taking in every sight and sound! On our way home we took the scenic route. I was pretty tired from the water, the wind off the lake so I retired quite early - yes, I know that's not like me - must be the good country air!
JULY 15 - Attended St. Mark Lutheran Church with Mary at 11.30, the pastor also has to come from Dryden which is the reason for the later service - coffee and goodies after service - had a couple of hours to relax and then we were off again - ten ladies carpooled and drove to a German restaurant east of Dryden - lovely dinner and good company - another full day - can it get much better? I do miss you guys in Kelowna, but I am really enjoying this adventure.
JULY 16 - What will we do today? I know we will go to The Fort for coffee, but after that Mary has not let me in on her plans - I'm sure she will think of something.
Take care and God Bless!
JULY 14 - Went on a pontoon boat ride all around Eagle Lake - and yes, we saw some bald eagles -four adults and three immature ones who don't yet have the white heads - I took pictures but it was very far away - used the Zoom - hoping I will be able to enlarge further - there were 4 pontoon boats and about 30 seniors and were were on the lake for about two hours - got a bit of sun on my face - back on shore we had a BBQ at the Pavilion - a gazebo like structure that the community has constructed for that type of use - everything around here is mostly made of logs - so rustic - I've been here (VB) many times, but this time I am taking in every sight and sound! On our way home we took the scenic route. I was pretty tired from the water, the wind off the lake so I retired quite early - yes, I know that's not like me - must be the good country air!
JULY 15 - Attended St. Mark Lutheran Church with Mary at 11.30, the pastor also has to come from Dryden which is the reason for the later service - coffee and goodies after service - had a couple of hours to relax and then we were off again - ten ladies carpooled and drove to a German restaurant east of Dryden - lovely dinner and good company - another full day - can it get much better? I do miss you guys in Kelowna, but I am really enjoying this adventure.
JULY 16 - What will we do today? I know we will go to The Fort for coffee, but after that Mary has not let me in on her plans - I'm sure she will think of something.
Take care and God Bless!
Winnipeg in the hot summer of 2012
Hello everyone! Well, now I am playing catch-up - I was so hot and humid in Wpg - not too bad when I went outside or in my car, but then I didn't have access to the Internet - so here's a summary of my activities in the last week or so.
JULY 4 - Went to see a lady who had contacted me when she saw Dan's obituary in the Winnipeg Free Press, she was into genealogy and knew that her husband was related to mine - she invited me over to her house in St. Vital - we had a wonderful time - she has the Family Tree Maker program as well and said that if I brought her a flash drive she would download all her information for me. It was so nice to talk to someone who loves genealogy as much as I do. She said she felt the same - Different strokes for different folks, as they say!
JULY 5 - Arose at 6.15 am - sat in Margaret's cabana - so much cooler in there - Margaret made soup (summer borscht) and rhubarb sauce in her cabana - made a bunch of calls while in the cabana trying to stay cool - or rather cooler! Congratulations to my friend, Lorraine on becoming a great grandmother for the second time this year - a great granddaughter this time! Enjoy them both, my friend!
JULY 6 - Visited Dan's last living Aunty Frances who is 95 - she is having trouble remembering, but I do believe that she remembered me - at least for the moment.- When I said that I was Doreen, Danny;s wife, she said, "Oh Danny was such a good boy, Danny was such a funny boy!" LOL She is living with her daughter who lent me three albums of pictures to scan onto my computer - She had some old wedding pictures of aunts and uncles. Lunch (hot dogs) at Lawrence Auto Repair ( where they fixed my car) - every Friday they have hot dogs or hamburgers - Thank you Dorothy - Margaret and Dorothy went shopping so I decided to go to St.Vital cemetery to see Lorne, but on my way, I stopped at 37 Fermor Ave - our first home that we purchased in October of 1964 when Debbie was just a 5 months old. A guy was doing something at the back of the truck in front of the house, so I stopped and asked him if he lived at # 37. He said yes so I told him that I had lived there from 1964 to 1967 (Kim was born while we lived there). He said it was okay to take some pictures and we kept on chatting - he told me that they had renovated the whole house, opened up the veranda to make the living room larger, and the basement. They raised three children there - told him I was happy to hear that a happy family was still living there - one thing led to another and he invited me in to see the inside - he had done a great job, but it still felt like home - what a flood of memories - Wow! I have had so many sentimental moments on this trip! He said he like to see what the house looked like in the sixties, so I'll be e-mailing him pictures. After that I did go to the cemetery and paid brother Lorne (and Bette) a little visit. Then I went to London Drugs and bought an external hard drive (instead of a flash-drive), stopped in at my new friend's home and she transferred all the information on the Marks' family that she had on her computer to mine.Watched part of the Wpg/Mtl game and all of the BC/Hamilton game - with the time change, Margaret went to bed to read and so I could watch it till midnight - Lori, Kim & I texted back & forth throughout the game - was fun, not a very pretty game but we will take the W none the less.
JULY 7 - Linda & Gary came for coffee, as did Judy and Leonard - we waited all day for Marg's new frig to arrive - finally arrived at 7 pm -
JULY 8 - Slept in - felt a bit out of sorts, but started feeling better after a while, so decided to go to the 11am Mass at Saint Bernadette's in Windsor Park - not far from where Leonard & Evelyn and Margaret & Bill lived in the 70s. At the introduction before Mass Fr. said that he was a bit unsure about the future - after a pause, he added, " I guess you're all wondering whether I am talking about the weather or the Bombers". Everyone chuckled and then he welcomed all visitors and asked us to stand and say where we were from. I couldn't pass up that opportunity so I stood up straight and said, "Kelowna BC - Go BC Lions!" That brought an even bigger chuckle - he must be quite a football fan because later on at the baptism of a little boy, the boy's father dropped a 'yet unlit' candle to which Fr. remarked, "Maybe you should play for the Bombers - Oops - Sorry!" I'm not sure if everyone 'got' that remark. Sunday night we were invited to Leonard & Karen's for a lovely roasted chicken dinner complete with all the trimmings! Thank you, Len & Karen - it was a lovely evening.
JULY 9 - Spent most of the day scanning pictures from the 3 albums and printing some pictures for Margaret that she wanted from our trip and various other occasions.
JULY 10 - Took a drive to return the albums and say Hi to Aunty - she wasn't as alert as she was on Friday. Later in the afternoon I took a drive over to Len & Karen's again - we looked at some old pictures - many of Len as a young boy which he hadn't seen or didn't remember seeing, so I have to send him copies of some of them when I get home. Karen made BLT's for dinner - just too hot for big meals - even with A/C.
JULY 11 - Five years since brother Marvin passed away - RIP Bro! Hottest day so far! Even after a cool shower it was difficult to get dressed! Wonderful to get into the car and drive to Carman - we ( Dyck cousins) met at Kathleen's home and then went to Harry & Anne's to surprise them - Harry was 90 on July 10 and Anne's was 80 on the 12th. The common room had A/C so had a real nice visit - lemonade, iced tea etc - then we all went out to dinner and back to the common room for dessert - lots of laughts - pictures - a good time was had by all - their were seven cousins and three spouses, plus Len & Karen. Back at Marg's it was sweltering once again.
JULY 12 - Packed up early before it got too hot and left Wpg shortly after 9 am - stopped at Richer to see an old RC church that has was closed in 1995 but the community has made a lot of beautiful upgrades and are turning it into a heritage site with a lot artifacts from the turn of the century - it's called Enfant Jesus. I stopped and was just going to take a few pictures of the outside when a couple pulled up and invited me to come into the church and she gave me a royal tour - what a nice little break. I continued east arriving in Vermilion Bay just after 2 pm - went to the cemetery to visit Marvin, and then waited till Mary arrived home,
Take care and God Bless!
JULY 4 - Went to see a lady who had contacted me when she saw Dan's obituary in the Winnipeg Free Press, she was into genealogy and knew that her husband was related to mine - she invited me over to her house in St. Vital - we had a wonderful time - she has the Family Tree Maker program as well and said that if I brought her a flash drive she would download all her information for me. It was so nice to talk to someone who loves genealogy as much as I do. She said she felt the same - Different strokes for different folks, as they say!
JULY 5 - Arose at 6.15 am - sat in Margaret's cabana - so much cooler in there - Margaret made soup (summer borscht) and rhubarb sauce in her cabana - made a bunch of calls while in the cabana trying to stay cool - or rather cooler! Congratulations to my friend, Lorraine on becoming a great grandmother for the second time this year - a great granddaughter this time! Enjoy them both, my friend!
JULY 6 - Visited Dan's last living Aunty Frances who is 95 - she is having trouble remembering, but I do believe that she remembered me - at least for the moment.- When I said that I was Doreen, Danny;s wife, she said, "Oh Danny was such a good boy, Danny was such a funny boy!" LOL She is living with her daughter who lent me three albums of pictures to scan onto my computer - She had some old wedding pictures of aunts and uncles. Lunch (hot dogs) at Lawrence Auto Repair ( where they fixed my car) - every Friday they have hot dogs or hamburgers - Thank you Dorothy - Margaret and Dorothy went shopping so I decided to go to St.Vital cemetery to see Lorne, but on my way, I stopped at 37 Fermor Ave - our first home that we purchased in October of 1964 when Debbie was just a 5 months old. A guy was doing something at the back of the truck in front of the house, so I stopped and asked him if he lived at # 37. He said yes so I told him that I had lived there from 1964 to 1967 (Kim was born while we lived there). He said it was okay to take some pictures and we kept on chatting - he told me that they had renovated the whole house, opened up the veranda to make the living room larger, and the basement. They raised three children there - told him I was happy to hear that a happy family was still living there - one thing led to another and he invited me in to see the inside - he had done a great job, but it still felt like home - what a flood of memories - Wow! I have had so many sentimental moments on this trip! He said he like to see what the house looked like in the sixties, so I'll be e-mailing him pictures. After that I did go to the cemetery and paid brother Lorne (and Bette) a little visit. Then I went to London Drugs and bought an external hard drive (instead of a flash-drive), stopped in at my new friend's home and she transferred all the information on the Marks' family that she had on her computer to mine.Watched part of the Wpg/Mtl game and all of the BC/Hamilton game - with the time change, Margaret went to bed to read and so I could watch it till midnight - Lori, Kim & I texted back & forth throughout the game - was fun, not a very pretty game but we will take the W none the less.
JULY 7 - Linda & Gary came for coffee, as did Judy and Leonard - we waited all day for Marg's new frig to arrive - finally arrived at 7 pm -
JULY 8 - Slept in - felt a bit out of sorts, but started feeling better after a while, so decided to go to the 11am Mass at Saint Bernadette's in Windsor Park - not far from where Leonard & Evelyn and Margaret & Bill lived in the 70s. At the introduction before Mass Fr. said that he was a bit unsure about the future - after a pause, he added, " I guess you're all wondering whether I am talking about the weather or the Bombers". Everyone chuckled and then he welcomed all visitors and asked us to stand and say where we were from. I couldn't pass up that opportunity so I stood up straight and said, "Kelowna BC - Go BC Lions!" That brought an even bigger chuckle - he must be quite a football fan because later on at the baptism of a little boy, the boy's father dropped a 'yet unlit' candle to which Fr. remarked, "Maybe you should play for the Bombers - Oops - Sorry!" I'm not sure if everyone 'got' that remark. Sunday night we were invited to Leonard & Karen's for a lovely roasted chicken dinner complete with all the trimmings! Thank you, Len & Karen - it was a lovely evening.
JULY 9 - Spent most of the day scanning pictures from the 3 albums and printing some pictures for Margaret that she wanted from our trip and various other occasions.
JULY 10 - Took a drive to return the albums and say Hi to Aunty - she wasn't as alert as she was on Friday. Later in the afternoon I took a drive over to Len & Karen's again - we looked at some old pictures - many of Len as a young boy which he hadn't seen or didn't remember seeing, so I have to send him copies of some of them when I get home. Karen made BLT's for dinner - just too hot for big meals - even with A/C.
JULY 11 - Five years since brother Marvin passed away - RIP Bro! Hottest day so far! Even after a cool shower it was difficult to get dressed! Wonderful to get into the car and drive to Carman - we ( Dyck cousins) met at Kathleen's home and then went to Harry & Anne's to surprise them - Harry was 90 on July 10 and Anne's was 80 on the 12th. The common room had A/C so had a real nice visit - lemonade, iced tea etc - then we all went out to dinner and back to the common room for dessert - lots of laughts - pictures - a good time was had by all - their were seven cousins and three spouses, plus Len & Karen. Back at Marg's it was sweltering once again.
JULY 12 - Packed up early before it got too hot and left Wpg shortly after 9 am - stopped at Richer to see an old RC church that has was closed in 1995 but the community has made a lot of beautiful upgrades and are turning it into a heritage site with a lot artifacts from the turn of the century - it's called Enfant Jesus. I stopped and was just going to take a few pictures of the outside when a couple pulled up and invited me to come into the church and she gave me a royal tour - what a nice little break. I continued east arriving in Vermilion Bay just after 2 pm - went to the cemetery to visit Marvin, and then waited till Mary arrived home,
Take care and God Bless!
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Vermilion Bay, Ontario
Arrived in Vermilion Bay this afternoon - testing to see if this works here, or not
Friday, 6 July 2012
July 6,2012 - Back in Winnipeg
Hello everyone!
Arrived back in Winnipeg Tuesday afternoon - OMG - it is soooo hottt! It's been just too hot to even think of blogging - just the heat from my laptop on my lap is even making it worse! LOL! Oh well! Better today, although the humidity is pretty high and it is drizzling this morning.
TUESDAY ( JULY 3), I took a fabulous sentimental journey from Gimli to Winnipeg - Back in the late 50's and early 60's (when Dan & I were dating and first married), we used to leave his parents' home to come back to Winnipeg on Sunday nights - we would stop at Great Aunty Demchuk's for a while, then go to the 'Falcon Cafe' in Gimli for french fries with gravy, ketchup, vinegar and salt, and a Coke - then we would drive on Hwy 9 (most people now use Hwy 8 as it is faster, Hwy 9 goes through a bunch of small towns) to Winnipeg Beach, go on the 'Boardwalk' - a roller coaster ride (big one), and have a hard ice cream cone! What a life! We would then continue on towards Winnipeg, stopping at a place in Lockport, called the 'Half moon' for a foot long hot dog, and then finally into Wpg. Well, Aunty Demchuk is long gone, so is the roller coaster,and the Falcon Cafe, but I had the 'maple walnut' ice cream and the foot long dog ( I could only eat half of the foot long), and was reminiscing about 'those good old days' all the way - even a few tears!! but they were good tears! I took pictures of the Boardwalk entrance sign, the Half Moon sign and even the footlong - now if I could only figure out how to get those pictures on this blog! Back in Wpg, I visited Olga's (my best friend and matron of honor, who died in 1988) sister, Ann & her husband, stayed for dinner (perogies, yummy), and then we all went to Iris (another good friend and bridesmaid) & Henry's for a short visit - I've already seen her twice before - she is battling cancer and just finished chemo, so our visits are often, but short so as not to tire her out too much!
Gimli - June 24 - July 3 - Wow! where to start - SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY, (JUNE 24 & 25) was mostly spent visiting and catching up with the news - went to bingo with Leona Monday night - won $40.00 - paid my way + a little. TUESDAY (JUNE 26), we went to the Berlo cemetery (Dan's Mom & Dad are buried there, and the original Matthias Marks' farm since 1903 is just across the road), stopped in to see a long time neighbor/relative, and a cousin who still lives on his ancestors' original farm, which was Dan's other grandfather, Matthias Gottfried. WEDNESDAY, (JUNE 27), spent most of the afternoon at the library, trying to get on-line, but no luck - I could read my e-mails, so at least I caught up on all the news - I could also get on Castanet, wrote on the blog, but then it wouldn't send, or save - no cell connectivity either - Telus only serves certain areas, and I really don't know what happened with the Internet - here at Margaret's I have no problem getting on wireless and she only has Dial up - so go figure!!! LOL!! We were at Dorothy's for a lovely roast beef dinner that night! THURSDAY, (JUNE 28) I helped Leona with her SD card on her Photo Screen and also helped her get pictures developed at the local drug store on the machine - had to earn my keep somehow! Was glad to help her - they treated me like royalty - barely out of bed and the coffee, juice and even breakfast was right there!! I managed to help her clean up and load/unload the dishwasher a few times, but I had to really be on my toes, or it would be done! And she's 6 months older than I!!!! Then I went to the Municipal office to get a map of the Gimli cemetery, and off I went to that one. After dinner we went over to Cathy and Carl's home and spent a lovely evening with them. FRIDAY, (JUNE 29), I went to St. Benedict's cemetery, took more pictures of family and friends' headstones. There is a little replica of a church that was built in the early 1900's - the cross on the original church was made by Dan's grandfather, Matthias Marks who was a blacksmith for the whole village - I actually have a few of the nails and hinges that he made - Dan remembered him well. After that I went to get the pictures developed and then to the library to sit in the cool, sorted and recorded all the names from the three cemeteries in my book.Watched the BC Lions/Winnipeg Blue Bomber game till midnight - Mike & Leona went to bed! SATURDAY (JUNE 30), we went to Heritage Days at the Pavillion - Gimli is celebrating their 125th birthday on Canada Day, only 20 years behind the country - they had a lot of old pictures and had quite a few of the Berlo area as well as a book on the Berlo pioneers for $10.00 - I bought it and already have gleaned quite a bit of information from it. There were a few errors and omissions, and so everyone is saying that its up to me now to amend and write the whole story - quite a challenge - went to Larry & Natasha's cabin for a visit in the afternoon, back to the Pavillion to watch some Ukranian dancing, home for dinner, and back to Gimli for Mass at 5.30. At Mass we met another friend/relative who gave me more books to look at and copy. SUNDAY (JULY 1) HAPPY CANADA DAY! Watched a great parade with Larry, Natasha, Daniel & Dylan, and then. Mike took Leona & I out for Chinese Food. MONDAY (JULY 2), back to Berlo to see if another friend/relative could identify some old pictures that I had received from a cousin in Toronto 2 years ago. She identified some, so was happy about that, and her daughter-in-law scanned some for themselves so I was glad that I could give something back in return. Marilyn, Lorraine & Cathy (Leona's daughters) invited Leona & I out for lunch - we had a real nice 'girl' time! Finished off the day with bingo with Leona & Dorothy - no luck, but another 'girl' evening. And that brings me to Tuesday, July 3. I was up at 6.15, took another trip to the Berlo cemetery, packed up, went to the library to copy some more stuff, and another visit with Lucy (who had given me the books to copy). She was able to identify some more of those pictures, and invited me to stay for lunch, after which I left for Wpg, and that is where I started my blog! What a wonderful 10 days - Thank you, Leona & Mike and everyone else who made my stay so great! I will be going back before I leave for home, and Dorothy has invited me to stay at her home at that time. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful bunch of family and friends! (and I haven't even been to southern Manitoba or Ontario yet). That is all for now, my next blog will be about my adventures here in Wpg this week! so stay tuned! So Long and God Bless. Doreen
Arrived back in Winnipeg Tuesday afternoon - OMG - it is soooo hottt! It's been just too hot to even think of blogging - just the heat from my laptop on my lap is even making it worse! LOL! Oh well! Better today, although the humidity is pretty high and it is drizzling this morning.
TUESDAY ( JULY 3), I took a fabulous sentimental journey from Gimli to Winnipeg - Back in the late 50's and early 60's (when Dan & I were dating and first married), we used to leave his parents' home to come back to Winnipeg on Sunday nights - we would stop at Great Aunty Demchuk's for a while, then go to the 'Falcon Cafe' in Gimli for french fries with gravy, ketchup, vinegar and salt, and a Coke - then we would drive on Hwy 9 (most people now use Hwy 8 as it is faster, Hwy 9 goes through a bunch of small towns) to Winnipeg Beach, go on the 'Boardwalk' - a roller coaster ride (big one), and have a hard ice cream cone! What a life! We would then continue on towards Winnipeg, stopping at a place in Lockport, called the 'Half moon' for a foot long hot dog, and then finally into Wpg. Well, Aunty Demchuk is long gone, so is the roller coaster,and the Falcon Cafe, but I had the 'maple walnut' ice cream and the foot long dog ( I could only eat half of the foot long), and was reminiscing about 'those good old days' all the way - even a few tears!! but they were good tears! I took pictures of the Boardwalk entrance sign, the Half Moon sign and even the footlong - now if I could only figure out how to get those pictures on this blog! Back in Wpg, I visited Olga's (my best friend and matron of honor, who died in 1988) sister, Ann & her husband, stayed for dinner (perogies, yummy), and then we all went to Iris (another good friend and bridesmaid) & Henry's for a short visit - I've already seen her twice before - she is battling cancer and just finished chemo, so our visits are often, but short so as not to tire her out too much!
Gimli - June 24 - July 3 - Wow! where to start - SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY, (JUNE 24 & 25) was mostly spent visiting and catching up with the news - went to bingo with Leona Monday night - won $40.00 - paid my way + a little. TUESDAY (JUNE 26), we went to the Berlo cemetery (Dan's Mom & Dad are buried there, and the original Matthias Marks' farm since 1903 is just across the road), stopped in to see a long time neighbor/relative, and a cousin who still lives on his ancestors' original farm, which was Dan's other grandfather, Matthias Gottfried. WEDNESDAY, (JUNE 27), spent most of the afternoon at the library, trying to get on-line, but no luck - I could read my e-mails, so at least I caught up on all the news - I could also get on Castanet, wrote on the blog, but then it wouldn't send, or save - no cell connectivity either - Telus only serves certain areas, and I really don't know what happened with the Internet - here at Margaret's I have no problem getting on wireless and she only has Dial up - so go figure!!! LOL!! We were at Dorothy's for a lovely roast beef dinner that night! THURSDAY, (JUNE 28) I helped Leona with her SD card on her Photo Screen and also helped her get pictures developed at the local drug store on the machine - had to earn my keep somehow! Was glad to help her - they treated me like royalty - barely out of bed and the coffee, juice and even breakfast was right there!! I managed to help her clean up and load/unload the dishwasher a few times, but I had to really be on my toes, or it would be done! And she's 6 months older than I!!!! Then I went to the Municipal office to get a map of the Gimli cemetery, and off I went to that one. After dinner we went over to Cathy and Carl's home and spent a lovely evening with them. FRIDAY, (JUNE 29), I went to St. Benedict's cemetery, took more pictures of family and friends' headstones. There is a little replica of a church that was built in the early 1900's - the cross on the original church was made by Dan's grandfather, Matthias Marks who was a blacksmith for the whole village - I actually have a few of the nails and hinges that he made - Dan remembered him well. After that I went to get the pictures developed and then to the library to sit in the cool, sorted and recorded all the names from the three cemeteries in my book.Watched the BC Lions/Winnipeg Blue Bomber game till midnight - Mike & Leona went to bed! SATURDAY (JUNE 30), we went to Heritage Days at the Pavillion - Gimli is celebrating their 125th birthday on Canada Day, only 20 years behind the country - they had a lot of old pictures and had quite a few of the Berlo area as well as a book on the Berlo pioneers for $10.00 - I bought it and already have gleaned quite a bit of information from it. There were a few errors and omissions, and so everyone is saying that its up to me now to amend and write the whole story - quite a challenge - went to Larry & Natasha's cabin for a visit in the afternoon, back to the Pavillion to watch some Ukranian dancing, home for dinner, and back to Gimli for Mass at 5.30. At Mass we met another friend/relative who gave me more books to look at and copy. SUNDAY (JULY 1) HAPPY CANADA DAY! Watched a great parade with Larry, Natasha, Daniel & Dylan, and then. Mike took Leona & I out for Chinese Food. MONDAY (JULY 2), back to Berlo to see if another friend/relative could identify some old pictures that I had received from a cousin in Toronto 2 years ago. She identified some, so was happy about that, and her daughter-in-law scanned some for themselves so I was glad that I could give something back in return. Marilyn, Lorraine & Cathy (Leona's daughters) invited Leona & I out for lunch - we had a real nice 'girl' time! Finished off the day with bingo with Leona & Dorothy - no luck, but another 'girl' evening. And that brings me to Tuesday, July 3. I was up at 6.15, took another trip to the Berlo cemetery, packed up, went to the library to copy some more stuff, and another visit with Lucy (who had given me the books to copy). She was able to identify some more of those pictures, and invited me to stay for lunch, after which I left for Wpg, and that is where I started my blog! What a wonderful 10 days - Thank you, Leona & Mike and everyone else who made my stay so great! I will be going back before I leave for home, and Dorothy has invited me to stay at her home at that time. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful bunch of family and friends! (and I haven't even been to southern Manitoba or Ontario yet). That is all for now, my next blog will be about my adventures here in Wpg this week! so stay tuned! So Long and God Bless. Doreen
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