There was no kindergarten, and um when I first started in grade-one a lot of teachers were nuns from the convent. Ah there were some lay-teachers, but not a lot and there were no men-teachers.

Speaker: Well, ah, when I was- I was going to school- particularly in, ah- not only the grade-school, ah, there were very few la-- ah, well, I would say, maybe a couple, two or- maybe a couple of- two or three lay-teachers in the school, but there were mostly all- Interviewer: Lay-teachers? Speaker: Lay-teachers. Lay-- lay-people, not religious sisters, you-know, ah, belonging to religious communities.

Speaker: And then the building that was built up, you-know built up to a- a place, just slanted like that. ... They call that a lean-to. ... There was lots of farm buildings had a lean-to you-know? ... Yeah there was no- there was no upstairs in them, or loft or how they like to call it.

Interviewer: You're going to be camping in the winter? Speaker: Yeah. Without a tent. ... Or sleeping bags. Interviewer: What are you going to do? Speaker: We- we're supposed to take a ah survival kit with an emergency blanket in it and just sleep under lean-tos and-things-like-this. Interviewer: That you're going to build yourselves? Speaker: Yeah.

... I said to him, I said, "What are- what are those?" And he explained to me that ah they were the hobo lean-tos, they were hobo-houses.

And that whole area from Farley down was woods, 'cause we used to hunt ah rabbits and-everything in there. And it became what we called at that time Hobo-Junction because the hobos used to have a couple o' lean-tos in there and they never bothered anybody, they came around to d-- houses and to see if there work to be done ah chopping wood for anybody or for a meal or-something-like-that ... But going back to ah to the lean-tos and-so-on, when we used to go hunting we'd always ah drop off a rabbit to them and they would skin it and make rabbit-stew and that rabbit-stew would last them for- for a week down there. ... But they had had their little campfires back in- just on- just enough underneath to keep the back end of the lean-tos which they would have ah boughs on and-so-on.

And then one other time, dad was working up at- well we were both working up at- at my cousins barn and there was a- a lean to in the south side and so we were- it must have been in the- in the- well it was probably in the fall.

Is the, ah- the log work that our forefathers would hew out of the- out of, ah, the bush in order to build their shelter, ah- to build their house. Ah, in many cases the first- the first winter was sometimes just, ah, made- or the shelter was made out of a lean-to and, ah, how they survived some of those winters I'll never know. And I know, ah, one of- one of- one of my, ah, ah, grand- grandfathers remembers, ah, living a whole winter in a dug out area and basically it was just one little hole to get in and out of.

Interviewer: Did you learn- you've probably- that relationship probably changed you a lot right? Like- Speaker: Um- Interviewer: Lessons. Speaker: Actually not really. Ah (laughs)- Interviewer: Aw (Laughs). Speaker: It learned me how to not to treat a girl- Interviewer: There you go. Speaker: That's for sure. Um, I'm in a relationship now that's just over six months.

Oh, mercy, no. (Laughs) I certain-- she tried to show her sister, that's the one I was talking about that had two boys that you taught. Or leastly, they were in school. And ah, she tried to show her sister how to do it and Cathy just put her arms up in the air, oh she wouldn't do that.

The Liturgy is- we follow a special- special format, and in some of the Protestant churches now, you-know, ah, regarding the Lectionary, or the r-- book of readings, eh, are- are the ones that, ah, are the same as we use now, because they- they f-- follow the same, ah, same readings, eh?

Then I do remember particularly, you-see I left on the twentieth of April, that was my swan song, my last service in St-Thomas church, but the Sunday before in the legion and the army and navy chaps decided to come to church and mass. It turned out with a pipe band and a colour party and a couple of hundred ex-servicemen and it was a tremendous tribute and everything and the church was packed to the doors.

Interviewer: Yeah. What do their spouses do? Speaker: Um, my son-in-law, he works at um, the legion at 1-0-1-legion. Interviewer: Oh yeah. Speaker: And um, my daughter-in-law, she works for- is it Guinness's? Interviewer: The beer?

Interviewer: No it's looks like a suburb now. Speaker: As a kid I- I remember that it was um as I said quite charming and kind of little bit of the old world. There was a lovely stone house um building where the legion now stands and the knocked that down unbeknownst to anyone. Interviewer: (inc)? Speaker: No they had the- the new legion building had been constructed and the old stone house was still standing but now it 's a parking lot. And somehow, I wasn 't living here then, but I think they just demolished it before there were any controls on that.

All depends on, you-know, ah how much business they had. But they'd have four or five delivery-boys and you would deliver fish-and-chips and stuff- like-that. But you got a lot of the war-stories from ah around the Legion. If you were near the restaurant, near the Legion. And then they all came out and you 'd hear war- stories and, you-know, how they made it possible for us to live free and all-that-stuff.

It's full of seniors now. But I-mean at least it- the- the- ah the village is busy. And of course Fenelon has the high-school, they have a legion, what else do they have? I'm not sure if the have girl-guides or boy-scouts, that I can't tell you. And I don't know what the legion has. ... I know the legion is there too.

Um and we've also tried to find good spots for ah the militarily- ah or the military-related ah stuff over at the ah- "stuff," such a bad way to put it. The memorial plaques over at the ah ah the Belleville-Armouries, ah care of the ah the Legion and the- and the- the group here so. Ah I think we've done a pretty good job of just trying to hold on to what we've got and ah make sure that all the meaningful things find a- an appropriate home.

There was always something for the kids to do for free. The city took care of that. The legion ... some other outfits, parents ah volunteered their time. Teenagers, high-school kids volunteered their time. There was always something to do and it was always free 'cause everything was donated. Parents would buy them or the city would buy stuff. Today they don't have any of that ...

... now our youngest one just hasn't had as much time to develop, but they're- you-know they love running, they love volleyball, they love you-know. They'll go run at- on the weekends with the legion track club, you-know when it's raining or snowing or-whatever, through mud and-everything-else. I don't understand it, but (laughs) they seem to love it.

Interviewer: Okay. How did you get involved with the legion? Speaker: I got- I- I reti-- I retr-- I retired and I thought "Gee, what do I do with myself now?" (laughs) So I joined the legion and then I volunteered. Ah well first of all I joined the curling club and I took up curling until I hurt my back and I couldn't. But then when I was there I had my Smart-Serve so when I joined the legion here of course they put me to work in the bar and then ah I joined the legion, went on the executive and ah then they made me chairman of the Bingo and so this is the first year I'm not on the executive for three years so.