A response I posted on you’re being upset with West Brome. But later erased.
You claimed living in West Brome was like living in the 60′s. ( You would have been lucky indeed to have been there then.)
No language issues then, just long hot lazy summers with a clean little river to swim and fish in. Lots of kids to hang with and lots of safe places to hang. Movies or dances Saturday nights and nary a Private Property sign to be seen anywhere.
Friendly caring people, everybody knew everybody and their kid’s.
Weekend baseball in the ballpark against Brome, Foster or Knowlton. Often no shoes for days, picnics, frog hunting along the river, homemade rafts, overnight camp outs, trek the brooks with fishing poles, bonfires and Winne roasts. About as close to Tom and Huck you could get this far north of the Mississippi.
Fred Edwards store with the musical Pepsi cooler and the little bottles of Sutton chocolate drink ( Bet you never saw any of that in NS ) The nightly gathering of local old timers each with his own chair strategically located to get a good view of one of Bob’s new RCA tv sets.
George Durkee’s store (gone now), where for a quarter you could buy a Hires Root Beer 10 oz, 10 cents and a big bag Maple Leaf potato chips ten cents. Give up that last nickel and George would slice you off a 1 inch thick slice of baloney and wow you with a hard to believe fish story about the monster that got away.
In the early 50′s there were 3 stores in West Brome, 2 places to buy gas and Park’s Restaurant with a jukebox where for 5 cents you could hear Elvis. A working, water powered sawmill employed 2-3 people, the dam would back water up at night and run the mill the next day.
There were several places along the river(bigger then) that come sundown, my grandfather and I would walk to and fish Rainbow trout. I can still smell his pipe and hear the sunset bullfrog chorus along the river.
At “The Rock” one of two swimming holes in the village, you could row a boat almost up to the “Iron Bridge” railway tressel and pick up a few nice Rainbows along the way. There was a train station (gone now) a station master and 2 trains daily to Montreal and one daily to Boston.
You were in Montreal in about 1hr 20 min and no hassle with traffic.
It appears the village has come a long way since joining the Town of Brome Lake, question is which way ?
Personally I haven’t lived in West Brome in 40 years, but it will always be special to me and it’s the place where I’ve chosen to finally wind up. I hope the new incoming administration can do something for you, so that someday you may look on your days in West Brome as fondly as I do mine. Morris Croghan Fulford
Kathleen – loved your comments of the 50′s and 60′s – I loved those days – no problems. I remembered those days with fond memories. I no longer live in Knowlton (after 50 years) but when I think of Knowlton – it is the 50′s to 80′s I think of – not now. Such a change in every way that I don’t recognize the place.
So how about that H1N1? hint hint, nice addition for a discussion strain?
I know I have questions and am looking for answers, anyone care to help? how are the lineups? anyone turned away? anything needed to prove priority? anyone have it? how are you doing? etc…?
#4 by Jean Claude Blanche on November 8, 2009 - 11:24 am
To Anonymous on November 3rd,
Concerning H1N1 :
You can look in the Brome County News for the splendid full page information they have provided for all with the dates.
According to the news on TV (the local papers didnt write much on the local event) the situation appears to be going on very well with the coupons. They give it to everyone in the morning according to the number of doses they have and then you can come back at the time listed on your coupon. Overall, it takes 40 minutes in the region.
The big issues was north of Montreal where they werent prepared and next to Ottawa where people from Ontario crossed over to get an early dose as they were supposed to be later.
The majority of the population should get access to it, if there are still doses left, in the first or second week of December.
Just got back from a Atom A hockey game in Farnham.
Took my grandson to Chez Roger to try their always great Hot Dogs and Fries.
When I couldn’t find any packaged vinegar at the condiments bar or any vinegar bottle at our table. I asked the girl who took my order,
“Oh IT’S out there on one of the tables” she informed me waiving towards the 20-30 people sitting at a dozen or so other tables.
Talk about a dangerous lack of information
M. Blanche !
In the age of H1N1 one 4 oz vinegar bottle passed hand to hand,table to table, WOW not for me or my grandson thanks !
The good news was our Wterloo Maroons
( many Brome Lake players ) beat Farnham
7-3.
Morris Croghan
#6 by Jean Claude Blanche on November 10, 2009 - 9:01 am
Poppies:
I am French Canadian.
This statement is not based on language. It’s based on fact: my father was born in Paris and lived his early life in France. My mother is from Montreal so I am actually French and Canadian.
I was raised with stories of both World Wars. I remember because I was given those stories by my father. They came from my family. We are all part of those stories.
I was raised with stories of WW1 and WW2 where my grandfather was a common soldier in the first one in the French army. I remember stories of German and French men, cannon fodder on both sides in the trenches, afraid of the whistle (that was the tool of the sergeant to tell the men to get out of the trenches and run towards the enemy trenches and to take it from them).
It’s one of the reasons WW1 was called the war of trenches.
They were there for freedom and the Allied forces won that freedom in WW1 with too many lives lost. They forgot. Yes they forgot what happened and on came WW2.
WW2 was more known most probably because of the madness that surrounds it.
My grandfather was again asked to fight for his country. My great uncle and he fought again but France was defeated early. Both of them took great risks during those years as being part of the French Resistance. They didn’t have great roles in the Resistance. Not like in the movies. The Resistance shown in those is something like giving Allied forces some secret location to some unknown weapon or something dire. No…They didn’t do something as spectacular as kill German officers or be killed for some spies of the Americans so they can become the heroes at the end of the movie. That’s not life.
My great uncle came back from Algeria and suffered great illnesses during those years. It took him 2 years to come back home after France was defeated. There were no planes, no method of transport like today. He came back with a broken health. Not being able to eat properly for so long. He never fully recovered. He worked upon his return in supplying the families in France with something as simple as butter, bread, water. That’s the real Resistance. Feeding the people with more than water.
My grandfather was sent to a work camp and was able to supply my great uncle some additional food at the risk of his life. These weren’t the death camps so many Polish, Jews Russian and others were murdered in. These were camps where manual labor was being given to slaves…the defeated…
Germans early in the war were given clear instructions to be polite to the French people. You see, the madness was that if the Germans were seen as liberators of the current government instead of tyrants, the other countries might fall more easily if they were to see that French people were happy with the new regime.
Later German forces took the idea of work camp to another level of madness. They took a lot of idea towards madness.
It was Americans that liberated the small French village my father grew up in. Of course, the Canadian had a major role in having the Americans come to shore. But it came to chance that the Americans came first to that village. No one understood them as they only spoke English. But they were heroes.
All of them were. They gave hope and freedom wherever they came.
My father grew up in a war that was insane. He was in school where bombs were constantly dropping on him. You see, Allied and Central forces were putting ammunitions in the basement of those schools. The Germans were willing to sacrifice those children and were putting an incredible strain in the minds of the people in the Allied bomber planes. Till his death, he couldn’t see fireworks. He was reliving the whistling of bombs and the detonation. For me, fireworks are sad. I saw my father wince in pain every time.
Remember November 11th.
I personally remember it because without it, I wouldn’t be French Canadian.
Actually, chances are I wouldn’t be here at all.
I wear the poppy on November 11th but I must assure you it is a part of everything I am and I wear it in my mind and in my hearth every day of my life, by honoring the life of my grandfather , my great uncle and my father as well as all the others who lost their lives.
You should be wearing it because you are the legacy of those heroes. They made it possible for me to exist, for you to live in this great country of freedom.
You should be wearing it because your great grandfathers, your grandfathers and possibly, your fathers were or knew someone during that time and lest we forget like we did with the first WW1, we might have to relive the horrors, the madness all over again.
How many times must we forget to learn? Live the moment. Remember the past. Do not make the mistake to relive the past. Plan the future and remember.
Wear the poppy in honor of those who died so you could live. That is a very small request in return for so much. It is your choice however and freedom paid with so many lives gives you that choice.
Remember and live the future accordingly.
Jean Claude Blanche
Had to chuckle about the chez roger comment.
Used to have a summer place at Selby lake and always stopped there on the way. 60′s it was a TINY trailer and then expanded to a bigger trailer then to what it is today.
Took my mom (in Calgary now) to lake Selby for a trip down memory lane 4 years ago and she insisted on a stop there..
Not like she had a choice anyways….lol
Also fond memories of back road.. no plate, no brains,no license teenage motorcycle rides to Brome Knowlton etc.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane folks.
Al Wilkinson
Your comments about back road, no licence, no plate, motorcycle trips to Knowlton in the old days, reminded me of my own early motoring experiences.
Summers at the old family (Hartley) place in West Brome at the top of Durkee Rd corner of the 139.
Come evening I would offer to “lock up the car”. Instead of turning the ignition on my mom’s old Chevy to “Lock”, I would just turn it to “Off”.
Having had permission to sleep out over night, at about 2 am myself and two buddies (we were about 14-15 years old in 58-59) would return, put the car in neutral, push it out of the driveway and get it rolling down the big hill going towards to the village.
To avoid any starter noises we would turn the switch to “On”, put it in gear, then dump the clutch.
Off we’d go up the back roads, taking turns, driving all night.
If we were low on fuel we would sometimes go to Cowansville where there was an all night gas bar. $ 2 would provide fuel for the evenings adventures.
One night approaching Cowansville from the Scotsmore Rd, we stalled the Chevy right on the sharp little hill that was the CPR track crossing at Sweetsburg. Sure enough we saw the big light and heard the approaching locomotives horn signalling the crossing.
Did we panic ? No, not us dopey teenagers, laughing uncontrollably, we couldn’t get the Chevy to start ! At some point the locomotive’s engineer must have seen us and began frantically honking the horn.
Finally, putting the car in gear and using starter alone, we managed to “jump” the car off the tracks. Wow, what fun, what excitement !
Another time we hit a skunk and spent the whole night with the car in the river,( at what we called “the car wash”) a shallow, gravely river crossing off Soles Rd. in West Brome. We did the best we could but the smell lingered, I don’t recall how that occurrence was smoothed over.
Dawn breaking, we would speed up the hill out of West Brome, going towards Sutton, turn the engine off and coast silently back into the driveway.
Eventually my mom started to notice the missing fuel and got a locking gas cap, that slowed or overnight forays considerably, we could no longer replace fuel we’d burned up and were in danger of being discovered, so we quit.
Perhaps we passed you Al, on your motorcycle, one of those crazy summer nights, long ago, up a back road ?
Well Morris you have a few more whiskers than do I.
My dad built our cottage in 61 I think.
My cruising days were late 60′s early 70′s.
Although it is quite possible that we passed each other by as our family spent many a summer nite at the Richford VT drive-in when I was younger.
Back in the days when the border guards told u to enjoy the show. And at the Canadian side they had gone home already when we returned.
Do u recall that there was a ski hill called the pinnacle? Was not on the actual pinnacle mountain but was close enuf that’s what they called it.
I enjoy going on google earth and having a look about.
It was saddening to see the state of Selby lake tho when I was last there….DON’T TOUCH THE WATER type warnings.
Geez as a kid as soon as the Mom imposed mandatory wait to swim after eating had passed I spent ALL day in that lake.
It’s an actual year around community now…At one time the road was plowed as far as the Rudds store and then we hauled our winter things in on toboggan.
Then another family that was 2 lots away moved in year round and that was a godsend.
One thing my brother and I still laugh about is when we had garbage pick-up the fella would come around in his truck and load it up…couple of days later he was back with the back of the truck full of vegetable produce…
I know it is not quite Brome but our Sunday drives were all through there…We had to go here for cheese, here for bread…was a ritual.
I developed a true love for the area the era and the folks.
AL
Didn’t know you were only a youngster Al.
I remember the Richford Drive –in very well, though most” Saturday nights at the movies” were spent either in Cowansville or Sutton theatres. Westerns and war pictures were our favourites, Randoff Scott, Rory Calhoun, Tony Curtis, Audi Murphy and of course Gary Cooper and John Wayne. An alternate parent would provide transportation for 4-5 of us West Brome village teenagers most every week.
When you mentioned the drive in though, you brought back a memorable evening in 1958. The Orr family had built a cottage in West Brome and their son “Billy” was one of the village’s numerous teenagers.
At some point in the summer of 58, the Orr’s arrived with a brand new 1958 Ford Edsel, powder blue and white, V8, hardtop, automatic, WOW !
Billy had just received some type of licence or permit to drive and while he and I were admiring the impressive machine, just jokingly, he asked if he could borrow the car on Saturday night.
To our astonishment his dad said OK !
Billy and I had met two girls who worked as domestic assistants at some big fancy place on Brome Lake.
Saturday night, after dire warnings from Mr Orr to be careful with his new car, Billy and I took off for the lake to pick up the girls, intending to go to the Richford Drive in. Then it started !
Coming around the lake, the car in front of us threw up a stone, it cracked the new Edsel’s windshield from one side to the other.
Disaster ! What to do ? No use fretting , it’s done, on to the drive in.
Watching the movie through the windshield crack and being real cool enjoying a smoke in the back seat with my date, I reached up, cigarette in hand, to put my arm around her shoulder. Mistake !
I accidentally dragged the burning cigarette along the plastic fabric lining the inside of the cars roof (headliner) burning a streak in it and showered her in hot ash and embers ! Dam !
I don’t recall how the rest of the evening with the girls went, but I do remember the anxious drive home to West Brome and Mr Orr.
Thankfully, he was asleep, so we decided to get together and fess up in the morning, ( I kind of thought I might be a little late for that meeting ) Billy drove me home.
The 58 Edsel had a huge “courtesy” light on the front windshield pillar designed to light up the road when you opened the front door to exit the vehicle. Dammed if my knee didn’t hit it and shatter it ! It fell on the road.
We now had a cracked windshield, a burnt headliner and a smashed courtesy light, all in one night and all on Mr Orr’s expensive new car with 150 miles on it !
We anticipated the worst, but to our surprise Mr Orr turned out to be not only a good guy, but very understanding as well.
No ugliness at all. We managed to clean up the headliner, Billy and I ordered, paid for and installed a new courtesy light and presumably insurance paid for the new windshield.
We never did get the Edsel again, but then again we never asked for it again !
Wal-Mart now sell’s Raleigh bicycles, excellent quality, made right here in Waterloo, Quebec, Canada and no more expensive than the China built stuff offered by the other big Cowansville retailer.
Besides the numerous jobs they provide,
Raleigh supports the Waterloo Arena and is active in supporting many local clubs and associations with bicycles for prizes etc.
I think we should support Raleigh, so if you or your kids need a bike this summer, check out the Raleigh line at Wal-Mart.
Hi, I would like to ask if there´s someone living long enough in or near Knowlton who can help me to find some filming locations from an old 70s movie. I´ve posted the missing ones on my blog, see part29. Any help would be great, thanks! rynnjacobs.blogspot.com
#1 by Morris on October 22, 2009 - 4:55 pm
FOR KATHLEENE re WEST BROME 50′s 60′s
From MORRIS
A response I posted on you’re being upset with West Brome. But later erased.
You claimed living in West Brome was like living in the 60′s. ( You would have been lucky indeed to have been there then.)
No language issues then, just long hot lazy summers with a clean little river to swim and fish in. Lots of kids to hang with and lots of safe places to hang. Movies or dances Saturday nights and nary a Private Property sign to be seen anywhere.
Friendly caring people, everybody knew everybody and their kid’s.
Weekend baseball in the ballpark against Brome, Foster or Knowlton. Often no shoes for days, picnics, frog hunting along the river, homemade rafts, overnight camp outs, trek the brooks with fishing poles, bonfires and Winne roasts. About as close to Tom and Huck you could get this far north of the Mississippi.
Fred Edwards store with the musical Pepsi cooler and the little bottles of Sutton chocolate drink ( Bet you never saw any of that in NS ) The nightly gathering of local old timers each with his own chair strategically located to get a good view of one of Bob’s new RCA tv sets.
George Durkee’s store (gone now), where for a quarter you could buy a Hires Root Beer 10 oz, 10 cents and a big bag Maple Leaf potato chips ten cents. Give up that last nickel and George would slice you off a 1 inch thick slice of baloney and wow you with a hard to believe fish story about the monster that got away.
In the early 50′s there were 3 stores in West Brome, 2 places to buy gas and Park’s Restaurant with a jukebox where for 5 cents you could hear Elvis. A working, water powered sawmill employed 2-3 people, the dam would back water up at night and run the mill the next day.
There were several places along the river(bigger then) that come sundown, my grandfather and I would walk to and fish Rainbow trout. I can still smell his pipe and hear the sunset bullfrog chorus along the river.
At “The Rock” one of two swimming holes in the village, you could row a boat almost up to the “Iron Bridge” railway tressel and pick up a few nice Rainbows along the way. There was a train station (gone now) a station master and 2 trains daily to Montreal and one daily to Boston.
You were in Montreal in about 1hr 20 min and no hassle with traffic.
It appears the village has come a long way since joining the Town of Brome Lake, question is which way ?
Personally I haven’t lived in West Brome in 40 years, but it will always be special to me and it’s the place where I’ve chosen to finally wind up. I hope the new incoming administration can do something for you, so that someday you may look on your days in West Brome as fondly as I do mine. Morris Croghan Fulford
#2 by Maggie on October 25, 2009 - 1:54 pm
Kathleen – loved your comments of the 50′s and 60′s – I loved those days – no problems. I remembered those days with fond memories. I no longer live in Knowlton (after 50 years) but when I think of Knowlton – it is the 50′s to 80′s I think of – not now. Such a change in every way that I don’t recognize the place.
#3 by Anonymous #3 on November 3, 2009 - 4:56 pm
So how about that H1N1? hint hint, nice addition for a discussion strain?
I know I have questions and am looking for answers, anyone care to help? how are the lineups? anyone turned away? anything needed to prove priority? anyone have it? how are you doing? etc…?
#4 by Jean Claude Blanche on November 8, 2009 - 11:24 am
To Anonymous on November 3rd,
Concerning H1N1 :
You can look in the Brome County News for the splendid full page information they have provided for all with the dates.
According to the news on TV (the local papers didnt write much on the local event) the situation appears to be going on very well with the coupons. They give it to everyone in the morning according to the number of doses they have and then you can come back at the time listed on your coupon. Overall, it takes 40 minutes in the region.
The big issues was north of Montreal where they werent prepared and next to Ottawa where people from Ontario crossed over to get an early dose as they were supposed to be later.
The majority of the population should get access to it, if there are still doses left, in the first or second week of December.
#5 by morris on November 8, 2009 - 2:53 pm
On Farnham and H1N1
Just got back from a Atom A hockey game in Farnham.
Took my grandson to Chez Roger to try their always great Hot Dogs and Fries.
When I couldn’t find any packaged vinegar at the condiments bar or any vinegar bottle at our table. I asked the girl who took my order,
“Oh IT’S out there on one of the tables” she informed me waiving towards the 20-30 people sitting at a dozen or so other tables.
Talk about a dangerous lack of information
M. Blanche !
In the age of H1N1 one 4 oz vinegar bottle passed hand to hand,table to table, WOW not for me or my grandson thanks !
The good news was our Wterloo Maroons
( many Brome Lake players ) beat Farnham
7-3.
Morris Croghan
#6 by Jean Claude Blanche on November 10, 2009 - 9:01 am
Poppies:
I am French Canadian.
This statement is not based on language. It’s based on fact: my father was born in Paris and lived his early life in France. My mother is from Montreal so I am actually French and Canadian.
I was raised with stories of both World Wars. I remember because I was given those stories by my father. They came from my family. We are all part of those stories.
I was raised with stories of WW1 and WW2 where my grandfather was a common soldier in the first one in the French army. I remember stories of German and French men, cannon fodder on both sides in the trenches, afraid of the whistle (that was the tool of the sergeant to tell the men to get out of the trenches and run towards the enemy trenches and to take it from them).
It’s one of the reasons WW1 was called the war of trenches.
They were there for freedom and the Allied forces won that freedom in WW1 with too many lives lost. They forgot. Yes they forgot what happened and on came WW2.
WW2 was more known most probably because of the madness that surrounds it.
My grandfather was again asked to fight for his country. My great uncle and he fought again but France was defeated early. Both of them took great risks during those years as being part of the French Resistance. They didn’t have great roles in the Resistance. Not like in the movies. The Resistance shown in those is something like giving Allied forces some secret location to some unknown weapon or something dire. No…They didn’t do something as spectacular as kill German officers or be killed for some spies of the Americans so they can become the heroes at the end of the movie. That’s not life.
My great uncle came back from Algeria and suffered great illnesses during those years. It took him 2 years to come back home after France was defeated. There were no planes, no method of transport like today. He came back with a broken health. Not being able to eat properly for so long. He never fully recovered. He worked upon his return in supplying the families in France with something as simple as butter, bread, water. That’s the real Resistance. Feeding the people with more than water.
My grandfather was sent to a work camp and was able to supply my great uncle some additional food at the risk of his life. These weren’t the death camps so many Polish, Jews Russian and others were murdered in. These were camps where manual labor was being given to slaves…the defeated…
Germans early in the war were given clear instructions to be polite to the French people. You see, the madness was that if the Germans were seen as liberators of the current government instead of tyrants, the other countries might fall more easily if they were to see that French people were happy with the new regime.
Later German forces took the idea of work camp to another level of madness. They took a lot of idea towards madness.
It was Americans that liberated the small French village my father grew up in. Of course, the Canadian had a major role in having the Americans come to shore. But it came to chance that the Americans came first to that village. No one understood them as they only spoke English. But they were heroes.
All of them were. They gave hope and freedom wherever they came.
My father grew up in a war that was insane. He was in school where bombs were constantly dropping on him. You see, Allied and Central forces were putting ammunitions in the basement of those schools. The Germans were willing to sacrifice those children and were putting an incredible strain in the minds of the people in the Allied bomber planes. Till his death, he couldn’t see fireworks. He was reliving the whistling of bombs and the detonation. For me, fireworks are sad. I saw my father wince in pain every time.
Remember November 11th.
I personally remember it because without it, I wouldn’t be French Canadian.
Actually, chances are I wouldn’t be here at all.
I wear the poppy on November 11th but I must assure you it is a part of everything I am and I wear it in my mind and in my hearth every day of my life, by honoring the life of my grandfather , my great uncle and my father as well as all the others who lost their lives.
You should be wearing it because you are the legacy of those heroes. They made it possible for me to exist, for you to live in this great country of freedom.
You should be wearing it because your great grandfathers, your grandfathers and possibly, your fathers were or knew someone during that time and lest we forget like we did with the first WW1, we might have to relive the horrors, the madness all over again.
How many times must we forget to learn? Live the moment. Remember the past. Do not make the mistake to relive the past. Plan the future and remember.
Wear the poppy in honor of those who died so you could live. That is a very small request in return for so much. It is your choice however and freedom paid with so many lives gives you that choice.
Remember and live the future accordingly.
Jean Claude Blanche
#7 by Al on March 27, 2010 - 3:03 am
Had to chuckle about the chez roger comment.
Used to have a summer place at Selby lake and always stopped there on the way. 60′s it was a TINY trailer and then expanded to a bigger trailer then to what it is today.
Took my mom (in Calgary now) to lake Selby for a trip down memory lane 4 years ago and she insisted on a stop there..
Not like she had a choice anyways….lol
Also fond memories of back road.. no plate, no brains,no license teenage motorcycle rides to Brome Knowlton etc.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane folks.
Al Wilkinson
#8 by Morris on March 27, 2010 - 9:09 am
AL’s motorcycle in the 60′s
Your comments about back road, no licence, no plate, motorcycle trips to Knowlton in the old days, reminded me of my own early motoring experiences.
Summers at the old family (Hartley) place in West Brome at the top of Durkee Rd corner of the 139.
Come evening I would offer to “lock up the car”. Instead of turning the ignition on my mom’s old Chevy to “Lock”, I would just turn it to “Off”.
Having had permission to sleep out over night, at about 2 am myself and two buddies (we were about 14-15 years old in 58-59) would return, put the car in neutral, push it out of the driveway and get it rolling down the big hill going towards to the village.
To avoid any starter noises we would turn the switch to “On”, put it in gear, then dump the clutch.
Off we’d go up the back roads, taking turns, driving all night.
If we were low on fuel we would sometimes go to Cowansville where there was an all night gas bar. $ 2 would provide fuel for the evenings adventures.
One night approaching Cowansville from the Scotsmore Rd, we stalled the Chevy right on the sharp little hill that was the CPR track crossing at Sweetsburg. Sure enough we saw the big light and heard the approaching locomotives horn signalling the crossing.
Did we panic ? No, not us dopey teenagers, laughing uncontrollably, we couldn’t get the Chevy to start ! At some point the locomotive’s engineer must have seen us and began frantically honking the horn.
Finally, putting the car in gear and using starter alone, we managed to “jump” the car off the tracks. Wow, what fun, what excitement !
Another time we hit a skunk and spent the whole night with the car in the river,( at what we called “the car wash”) a shallow, gravely river crossing off Soles Rd. in West Brome. We did the best we could but the smell lingered, I don’t recall how that occurrence was smoothed over.
Dawn breaking, we would speed up the hill out of West Brome, going towards Sutton, turn the engine off and coast silently back into the driveway.
Eventually my mom started to notice the missing fuel and got a locking gas cap, that slowed or overnight forays considerably, we could no longer replace fuel we’d burned up and were in danger of being discovered, so we quit.
Perhaps we passed you Al, on your motorcycle, one of those crazy summer nights, long ago, up a back road ?
Morris Groghan…….Fulford
#9 by Al on March 28, 2010 - 3:09 am
Well Morris you have a few more whiskers than do I.
My dad built our cottage in 61 I think.
My cruising days were late 60′s early 70′s.
Although it is quite possible that we passed each other by as our family spent many a summer nite at the Richford VT drive-in when I was younger.
Back in the days when the border guards told u to enjoy the show. And at the Canadian side they had gone home already when we returned.
Do u recall that there was a ski hill called the pinnacle? Was not on the actual pinnacle mountain but was close enuf that’s what they called it.
I enjoy going on google earth and having a look about.
It was saddening to see the state of Selby lake tho when I was last there….DON’T TOUCH THE WATER type warnings.
Geez as a kid as soon as the Mom imposed mandatory wait to swim after eating had passed I spent ALL day in that lake.
It’s an actual year around community now…At one time the road was plowed as far as the Rudds store and then we hauled our winter things in on toboggan.
Then another family that was 2 lots away moved in year round and that was a godsend.
One thing my brother and I still laugh about is when we had garbage pick-up the fella would come around in his truck and load it up…couple of days later he was back with the back of the truck full of vegetable produce…
I know it is not quite Brome but our Sunday drives were all through there…We had to go here for cheese, here for bread…was a ritual.
I developed a true love for the area the era and the folks.
AL
#10 by Morris on March 28, 2010 - 9:24 am
The 58 Edsel West Brome Richford Drive-in
Didn’t know you were only a youngster Al.
I remember the Richford Drive –in very well, though most” Saturday nights at the movies” were spent either in Cowansville or Sutton theatres. Westerns and war pictures were our favourites, Randoff Scott, Rory Calhoun, Tony Curtis, Audi Murphy and of course Gary Cooper and John Wayne. An alternate parent would provide transportation for 4-5 of us West Brome village teenagers most every week.
When you mentioned the drive in though, you brought back a memorable evening in 1958. The Orr family had built a cottage in West Brome and their son “Billy” was one of the village’s numerous teenagers.
At some point in the summer of 58, the Orr’s arrived with a brand new 1958 Ford Edsel, powder blue and white, V8, hardtop, automatic, WOW !
Billy had just received some type of licence or permit to drive and while he and I were admiring the impressive machine, just jokingly, he asked if he could borrow the car on Saturday night.
To our astonishment his dad said OK !
Billy and I had met two girls who worked as domestic assistants at some big fancy place on Brome Lake.
Saturday night, after dire warnings from Mr Orr to be careful with his new car, Billy and I took off for the lake to pick up the girls, intending to go to the Richford Drive in. Then it started !
Coming around the lake, the car in front of us threw up a stone, it cracked the new Edsel’s windshield from one side to the other.
Disaster ! What to do ? No use fretting , it’s done, on to the drive in.
Watching the movie through the windshield crack and being real cool enjoying a smoke in the back seat with my date, I reached up, cigarette in hand, to put my arm around her shoulder. Mistake !
I accidentally dragged the burning cigarette along the plastic fabric lining the inside of the cars roof (headliner) burning a streak in it and showered her in hot ash and embers ! Dam !
I don’t recall how the rest of the evening with the girls went, but I do remember the anxious drive home to West Brome and Mr Orr.
Thankfully, he was asleep, so we decided to get together and fess up in the morning, ( I kind of thought I might be a little late for that meeting ) Billy drove me home.
The 58 Edsel had a huge “courtesy” light on the front windshield pillar designed to light up the road when you opened the front door to exit the vehicle. Dammed if my knee didn’t hit it and shatter it ! It fell on the road.
We now had a cracked windshield, a burnt headliner and a smashed courtesy light, all in one night and all on Mr Orr’s expensive new car with 150 miles on it !
We anticipated the worst, but to our surprise Mr Orr turned out to be not only a good guy, but very understanding as well.
No ugliness at all. We managed to clean up the headliner, Billy and I ordered, paid for and installed a new courtesy light and presumably insurance paid for the new windshield.
We never did get the Edsel again, but then again we never asked for it again !
Morris Croghan
Fulford
#11 by Morris on May 6, 2010 - 3:47 pm
Wal-Mart now sell’s Raleigh bicycles, excellent quality, made right here in Waterloo, Quebec, Canada and no more expensive than the China built stuff offered by the other big Cowansville retailer.
Besides the numerous jobs they provide,
Raleigh supports the Waterloo Arena and is active in supporting many local clubs and associations with bicycles for prizes etc.
I think we should support Raleigh, so if you or your kids need a bike this summer, check out the Raleigh line at Wal-Mart.
Morris Croghan Fulford
#12 by guest on July 29, 2010 - 5:33 am
Hi, I would like to ask if there´s someone living long enough in or near Knowlton who can help me to find some filming locations from an old 70s movie. I´ve posted the missing ones on my blog, see part29. Any help would be great, thanks! rynnjacobs.blogspot.com