CAPTAIN JOHN DENNISON BORN – Penrith, England, 1799. Held a commission in the British army serving in the Peninsular war and in India under Sir Charles Stapleton Cotton, Viscount of Combermere Abbey. Sir Charles was known for his “splendid appearance in battle” which earned him the moniker “Lion of gold.” Dennison married Anne Sanderson of […]
In 1897, on the advice of her father, eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a short letter to the editor of The New York Sun in which she sought confirmation of Santa Claus’ existence. In response, Francis Pharcellus Church published an editorial on September 21st, entitled ‘Is There a Santa Claus? ‘. Of interest, in 1997 Virginia’s […]
DEER CAMP MEMORIES Basically these memories stem to 2008 when I joined The Ridge Deer Camp. Many of the original members can date themselves as far back as 62 years. The accompanying photos are indicative of the good times shared by some very fine sportsmen. By no means does this include all of the good […]
TWO ALLIGATOR STORIES FROM 2022-12-20 IDAHO – Sounds like an old tyme dirt farmer said “I’d a hoe” when he started out. But I digress. Brian Marek of the Idaho Department of Fish & Game received an unusual call on Friday, October 20 at 8:30 pm from a dog walker who came across a loose […]
On May 21, 2022, a major wind storm, known as a derecho, laid waste the bushlands across southern Ontario running north of and parallel to Highway 7 felling trees like falling dominoes. The devastation impacted Marmora, The Ridge Road near Coe Hill and Limerick Township. Hydro crews were pressed into service. It took weeks in […]
Tootsie Rolls There was a time when you could find these candies everywhere. During the Korean conflict the army loved tootsie rolls because they weren’t prone to a meltdown when included with army field rations. In order to confuse the Chinese military Intel decided to use the word tootsie roll to mean bullets. And so […]
THE HAY LOFT DEER Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a young family who lived back in the bush of rural Ontario. The father and mother had cleared some land and used the trees to build a small log cabin and a barn for some animals. They planned to be […]
THE LAST DEER CAMP – November 7 to 20, 2022 Following the passing of Jim Bamford, our deer camp’s mentor, we celebrated a last deer hunt in accordance with his wishes. In attendance were, in alphabetical order, Barry Austin, Deryk and his son Anthony Gilpin, Gary Kerton, Barney Moorhouse, Mike O’Leary, Johnny Salvalagio, and Alan […]
FROM THE BICE PAPERS – Beaver and Why They Die (1976) Scrapper is gone. He died suddenly, and the autopsy showed that he had had a heart attack. So few will know just who Scrapper was. Scrapper was a beaver, not just an ordinary beaver, but THE beaver. This little animal was found three years […]
Life on the Farm Mother did most of the gardening and I helped her. Andrew and I ploughed the garden with oxen. We raised cattle and sheep. We drove the animals to Fort Stewart where we bartered them at the General store. Father came along in the horse and buggy. He would buy a package […]
