BIG TURNOUT FOR ROBERTS REUNION
The Roberts family reunion in Moose River, N.S. in mid July was a
resounding success. The event got underway Friday evening, July 16, at
the Smith House. Tara Phillips, the present owner, had a huge
military-style tent erected in the backyard for registration and about
100 people checked in. The house was open and old family pictures were
on display, some with identification and some without. Ken Roberts used
a tractor-drawn hay wagon to take guests on an historical tour of Moose
River. About 8 pm everyone crowded in to the tiny St. Mark's Anglican
Church for the formal part of the genealogy session.
Tara, a Halifax school teacher and organizer of the reunion, called on
Rhodes Oulton to talk about the Smith family. He spoke briefly of John
W. Smith, his wife Sarah Elizabeth Roberts (1.2,6,) and their two oldest
children, David Samuel, and Freeman J. Smith.
Rhodes devoted most of his talk to the third son, Charles W. Smith
and his wife, Nancy Jane Faulkner, his grandparents. He traced their
eleven children and told some interesting stories about Charles and
Nancy. More about them in future letters.
The next speaker was Rayne Schultz of Ottawa who talked about what he
called the "lost tribe" or the branch of the family that moved to
British Columbia in the early 1900s. They eventually lost contact with
their relatives back in Moose River. Rayne, however, was prepared to
tackle any part of the Roberts' history as he came with his trunk full
of genealogical documents.
After that I brought greetings on behalf of the Beck side of the
family, and explained that we had started our family gatherings and
research 36 years ago. I gave an overview of the first family picnic in
1963, and the work since then by Jim Beck and others to produce the
"Listings" and the "Biographies." I then reviewed events at last year's
reunion in Murray River and issued an invitation to the Roberts line to
join us at our next get-together in 2,003. I suspect that at that
reunion we'll see quite a few people gathered around tables 1 and 2 as
the descendants of Elizabeth Emma and Martha Lucy find their way back to
the fold.
The rest of the unusually hot weekend was devoted to sports and social
events, but you would be badly mistaken if you were to think genealogy
was put aside and forgotten. Every place you looked there were knots of
people gathered discussing family history and lineage. By dinner time
Saturday evening charts were up on the walls and Tara was urging people
to add everything they could to them.
A group photo was scheduled for 1 pm Sunday followed by a church
service at 2 pm and then people left to go their separate ways.
How did the people respond to it all? Very positively. In the words of
one amazed family member, "I never thought I'd ever live to see the day
when so many of us would turn up in one place."
From the viewpoint of distant cousins, Sheila and I couldn't get over
the warmth with which we were received. From the moment we drove through
the gate on Friday evening we were made to feel right at home, and
people made sure we were included in everything. The Roberts' and Smiths
are very friendly people indeed!
________________________
A VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY.
People attending the Roberts reunion got a chance to mark a very
special birthday. Helen Roberts of North Reading, near Boston, was 102
on July 16. She is the widow of Cecil Roberts
and made the trip to Moose River by car with her immediate family.
Mrs. Roberts attended the formal session on Friday evening when it
was announced that it was her 102nd birthday. She certainly did not look
to be that old, and was quite spry.
At the closing dinner at the Parrsboro Fire hall on Saturday
evening, her family brought in a large birthday cake. Those in
attendance rose and sang Happy Birthday and then Mrs. Roberts got a
knife and cut the cake while a dozen cameras flashed away from every
angle.
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TEACHING IN KOREA
Last month we had a story about Tobi Jackson (1.4.6.8.3,4) who is
teaching English in Korea. Since then Tobi has sent me more information
and it turns out this is her second teaching session over there.
Tobi graduated with a B.Sc. from the University of Prince Edward
Island in May '97. She was unsure of what to do after that, but since
she enjoyed traveling she decided to try teaching in Korea. She left in
Nov. 97, and lived in Seoul for a year. "It was a great experience and I
cried a lot when I left."
This past January, Tobi enrolled in a teaching program at the
University of Maine and spent a semester there. She decided to try
teaching English again and received more than 60 offers, and opted for
Masan, a city of 450,000 about 5 hours south of Seoul. She started her
job in mid-May.
"I'm teaching elementary, middle and high school children. I have
about 15 different classes with 5 to 9 students in each." Classes are in
the evenings, Monday through Saturday, and she is the only foreign
teacher at this school. "My boss teaches grammar, and I teach
conversation, which is great because I love talking."
Tobi says there are a lot of good things about Korea. Friendly
people, interesting food, eating with chopsticks, good looking guys,
nice clothes, tacky dance clubs, good music, cheap transportation, good
restaurants, and no tipping! Plus everything you need is within walking
distance. She finds it a big change from PEI, "where you have to drive
an hour to see a movie, or go shopping or to the dry cleaners."
Tobi says she loves learning about Korean culture and history. "Our
history books talked about the Korean War from our point of view. But
now I'm seeing it through the Koreans' eyes. They blame the Americans.
That's why I always make it a point to tell them I'm Canadian."
Tobi finishes this assignment on Aug. 22, and returns home for a
short stay. Then it's back to the University of Maine for another
semester. Then she'll spend four months practice teaching in PEI, from
January through April, before graduating in May. After that, Tobi says
she'd like to work somewhere for a few months, save some money and
travel around Europe.
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A ROCKY START FOR OUR SPONSORSHIP OF THE KOSOVARS.
As I told you last month, Sheila and I are part of a group of CBC
retirees sponsoring two Kosovar refugee families. We were all ready for
a smooth move of our families from Canadian Forces Base, Halifax, to
their apartments in Dartmouth when things starting to go off the rails.
On July 2nd, Enver Halili heard that the government was willing to help
people return to their homes in Kosovo. He immediately applied to go
back. We canceled his apartment and started assisting with the paper
work required for him to take his wife and young child home.
While that was going on we starting moving the other family,
Nerxhivane Alishani and her two sons into their apartment. On Monday,
July 5th we moved the furniture we had collected and stored in our
garage to the apartment. It was an unusually hot day, but fortunately we
got help from other Kosovar men already living in the apartment complex.
On Tuesday, the women in our group looked after cleaning, and unpacking
dishes, linen and other household goods and took Nerxhivane to the
grocery store to stock the larder. Wednesday she and her boys moved into
their new home. At the same time, Enver announced he had changed his
mind and was going to stay in Canada after all. Fortunately the
apartment was still available so we started moving the rest of the
furniture to his place. Everything was completed and the Halilis moved
in on Friday.
By then we had received word that Nerxhivane's husband, Nuh (Nu-he)
Koprani, had been cleared to join the family here. (She had been using
her maiden name after becoming separated from him in the confusing
exodus from Kosovo.) He arrived in Halifax on July 16th and we all went
out to the airport to meet him. He had lost a lot of weight, and was
tired but still looked fit and was glad to be reunited with his family.
After that we concentrated on the routine stuff such as getting
them enrolled in English classes and seeing that they got there;
arranging for doctors and dentists and getting them there for routine
checkups, assisted by interpreters as the doctor did not want any
misunderstandings over their care.
That's when a second crisis erupted. Makfire (Mak-firah) Halili's
father died or was killed during the turmoil in Kosovo. Makfire was
unaware of this until she overheard Enver telling his sister about it.
He had known for a month but thought it best not to tell Makfire. She
was terribly upset and insisted that they go home right away. She could
not be talked out of it so arrangements were made to start the paper
work all over again. Finally she relented, and agreed to stay after
three or four days of talking with family and other Kosovar friends.
Enver said they would stay at least until September so that is the
way it stands at the moment. We'll see what new challenges August will
bring.
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Speaking of Kosovars, some who went to Prince Edward Island took
a look at Southern Kings County and decided it wasn't for them. Church
groups in Murray River and Murray Harbour sponsored three families. They
found three houses for them - one in Murray River, one in Gladstone and
the other at High Bank. The Kosovars felt the houses were too isolated
and they refused to stay in Gladstone or High Bank. They spent one night
in Murray River in the home once owned by Vance Strickland (1.12,6,5.).
Sixteen of them crowded into the house and managed to find a place to
sleep .. and left for Charlottetown in the morning and were placed in
apartments there.
Ten of the 16 later opted to return to Kosovo and left Charlottetown
July 21. They thanked their hosts in Charlottetown for their help and
especially wanted to thank the people of Murray River and Murray Harbour
for the understanding they showed when they refused to stay there.
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Only Early Risers Need Apply.
For those of you who have always had a secret desire to return to
the Island and take up fishing, here's an idea of what's involved. The
first thing you have to do is learn to get up early in the morning, long
before daylight. Sarah Jackson says she and Hughie get up about 3:30 and
leave home by 4 am. They set their traps on Fisherman's Bank, a few
miles off Cape Bear. Their day consists of hauling traps, removing the
lobsters, measuring the smaller ones to make sure they are not
undersize, rebaiting the traps and pushing them back overboard to settle
to the bottom. They get back in about 1 pm with their catch, sometimes a
little later when the the fishing is good.
Sarah says 39 boats operated on Fisherman's Bank this spring, and
three of them were built by Hughie, including their own. Over the years
he has built 27 fishing boats.
The weather was good this spring, and there was only one week when
it was windy. However, Sarah says it was not a great year for lobsters.
The catch was down about 25 per cent, but the prices were up, helping to
offset this.
You'd think that after two months of bouncing around in a small
boat, Sarah would really have her sea legs under her. Perhaps not. I'm
sorry to inform you that Sarah fell from a chair while reaching into an
upper cupboard in the kitchen a couple of weeks ago and broke her left
wrist. A serious blow for a left hander! Fortunately the Jacksons did
not plan to do any more fishing this year so there is no pressure to get
back to work.
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Letters To The Editor
Imagine my surprise when I finally checked my Yahoo! e-mail and
discovered more than a few messages regarding the Beck clan! I
apologize for not touching base with you sooner, and I would very much
appreciate it if you would update my e-mail address to
pjmurdoch@sympatico.ca.
I have always been interested in the Beck family history and
recently received copies of the Vere Beck Family Biographies and Name
Listings of the Vere Beck Family from Jim Beck in Michigan. I really
like your idea of The Beck Bulletin and, after eagerly reading the
premiere edition, printed a copy for my Dad (Lorne MacPherson, Ralph's
brother) to take on his annual trip to Prince Edward Island! It's a
great way to keep up-to-date, especially with (unknown) relatives
scattered around the world.
Thank you for including me on your e-mail list. I'm proud to be
part of such a big, fascinating family, and I look forward to further
Beck news.
Janice MacPherson Murdoch (1.6A.4,6.1,1.1)
North Bay, Ontario, Canada
__________________________________________
A great newsletter! Keep it up.
Trish Linke
______________________________________________
I just went to send you an e-mail and was pleased to see your
newsletter. I found it very interesting. I'll pass it on.
Sarah Jackson
_______________________________________
That is a great newsletter! It will be a hard act to follow!
The
pictures come through beautifully on the monitor. I printed them in
black and white and they still look good.
I will make sure that I update my Beck Listings with the
information that you have provided.
Thanks for a great job. I am sure that it will be much
appreciated.
Jim (Beck)
_______________________________________
(This letter was to Jim Beck who forwarded a copy of the Newsletter to a
friend)
This is just a quick "thank you" note...
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your Family Newsletter. It made me
wish I was part of the family!
Ralph and Suzanne enjoyed it also. In fact, Sue asked to take it
to work with her for a friend to read.
He's a gentleman who with his wife owns a 5 bedroom home on PEI
and he has been offering it to us for some vacation time!
Now we are certain to accept his invitation!
We've talked about vacationing there for a long time ... now we're
seriously talking September 2000!
Do keep me on your list. I enjoy good Newsletters!
Virginia Jones Mulley
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Voice Replaces Code
The Canadian Coast Guard officially ended the use of Morse Code on
July 31, after 100 years of service. In February the International
Maritime Organization directed that all countries should switch to
satellite voice communications. "Wireless" operators have been sending
out their dots and dashes now for 100 years on this coast.
Morse code played an important role in eastern PEI for a number of
years. Cape Bear was one of seven stations that went into operation in
1905 in the Atlantic region. In his history of the area, Whitman Daly
says a 165-foot radio mast was erected near the Cape Bear Light. Hedley
Penny (1.4.1,3.) used a horse-operated capstan and shear pole to put up
the three-piece unit. A small building was constructed for the radio
equipment and the station was manned 24-hours a day during the winter
months in order to maintain contact with the icebreaking steamers,
Stanley and Minto, operating a ferry service between Georgetown and
Pictou.
Perhaps that's why Cape Bear was the first Canadian land station to
pick up the SOS from the Titanic after she struck the iceberg in April,
1912.
According to Daly, the station closed in 1922 when the service was
moved to Charlottetown.
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Vital Statistics:
Brehaut, Frank. (1.7.2,3,4) died in the Riverview Manor in Montague,
June 26, 1999. Frank was the son of Harry and Lena Brehaut. He was 83.
At the request of the family there was no visitation. He was buried in
the Murray Harbour Cemetery.
_________________
Ferguson, Paul and Sherri (1.4.4,11a.2.4.) Born, June 8th, a daughter:
Maria Kathryn, a sister for Alyssa.
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From the Guardian
The Guardian is at work on a project to publish a record of
Islanders over the past 100 years. It will be called, Islanders - Past
and Present. The newspaper plans to record as many names and faces as
possible of the people who lived in the province in the past 100 years.
It will run the names alphabetically and hopes to include everyone born
between January 1, 1900, and December 31, 1999. It will include both
native Islanders and people who moved to the Island in the century.
____________________
Northumberland Ferries is offering entertainment on the crossings
between Wood Islands and Caribou during the Summer months. The Holiday
Island and Confederation will become the "Fiddlin' Ferries" during the
daily afternoon round trips starting at 1:30. Forty regional musicians
will take part during the ten weeks of the program. Travelers will be
told of upcoming Island events during breaks in the entertainment. How
does the Bridge compete with that?
________________
This past weekend was an exciting time in Murray River. It was the
annual Northumberland Days fisheries exhibition held in the local arena.
It opened with the parade on Thursday evening and continued through
Friday and Saturday with the closing on Sunday. Dory races are held on
the river along with a number of other events where fisher folk can
demonstrate their skills. The big draw is always the lobster suppers on
Friday and Saturday evenings. The women of Murray River are in charge of
one supper and the women of Murray Harbour handle the other one. An
excellent meal is always assured as the two groups vie to outdo each
other.
___________________________
That's the news for this month. Share your copy with other
relatives, and send email addresses of any who would like their own
copy. Be sure to let me know of anything of interest happening in your
life.
Ivan Munn, Editor. imunn@ns.sympatico.ca
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