A Life, Lived

Travel Tuesday - Eglise Notre Dame du Mont Carmel

The large imposing Roman Catholic church of Notre Dame du Mont Carmel is a late Victorian Gothic brick structure situated by the sea in Mont Carmel, PEI. It is built in the classic "T" formation with two bell towers at the corners of the front of the building.

As the third Roman Catholic church constructed on this site since 1812, Notre Dame du Mont Carmel is significant as the spiritual home of many Acadian families in the Mont Carmel area of PEI.

It was built in 1898 from funds raised by the parishoners and the work was completed by many local artisans, including Anglophones who were not members of the parish. All of the estimated 450,000 bricks were made nearby at Frederick Strong's brickyard in Lower Bedeque.

The architect for the design was Rene P. Lemay, the son of Pamphile Lemay, who had translated Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's influential 1847 poem, "Evangeline", in 1865. The centennary of the building was celebrated in 1998.

September 11

Travel Tuesday - London

Our last real trip was in March of 2019. We spent a week in London. Somehow that trip popped into out minds this weekend and we spent some time reliving the memories.

I'm doing the same for Travel Tuesday!

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Travel Tuesdays - Woodland Cultural Centre

The Canadian government has implemented Sept. 30 as a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day honours the lost children and Survivors of residential schools, their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process. 

In order to learn more about the Canadian residential school system I recently visited the Woodland Cultural Centre. The centre is located on the site of the Mohawk Institute (the residential school that was located near the 6 Nations Reservation) and is dedicated to reserve and promote Indigenous history, art, language and culture.

Our visit was particularly poignant this year after the discovery of thousands of unmarked graves on former residential school sites - the children who never made it home to their loved ones.

Travel Tuesdays - Battle of Stoney Creek Memorial

The battle of Stoney Creek National Historic Site of Canada is a memorial park built on the site of a battlefield from the War of 1812. It is located at the edge of the Niagara escarpment on the east side of the town of Stoney Creek, Ontario. The site includes the Gage House, the Stoney Creek, Smith’s Knoll and the Stoney Creek Cemetery Monument, the Dunnington-Grubb and Stoney Creek Cemetery landscape; archaeological resources; and objects held in repositories and on the site. Official recognition refers to the Battlefield Park and Smiths Knoll cemetery which encompasses the Stoney Creek Memorial, the cemetery and Gage House.

The Battle of Stoney Creek, which occurred on 6 June 1813, was a critical turning point in the War of 1812. During this battle, American forces under Generals Windler and John Chandler were driven back by the British 8th and 49th Regiments led by Lieutenant Colonel John Harvey and Major Plenderleath. This battlefield marks the most advanced position achieved by American forces on the Niagara frontier.

The importance of Stoney Creek Battlefield was first acknowledged when the Women’s Wentworth County Historical Society opened a commemorative park on the battlefield site in 1899, and shortly thereafter acquired the adjacent Gage property, which was also associated with the battle. Between 1909 and 1913, the County of Wentworth Veteran’s Association erected a monument and in the 1920s, the firm of Dunnington and Grubb formally landscaped the park’s grounds. Management of the park was taken over by the Niagara Parks Commission in 1963 and today is run by the City of Hamilton.

Paul and I visited the site on Saturday.

Travel Tuesdays - Crawford Lake

Crawford Lake Conservation Area is a conservation area owned and operated by Conservation Halton. It is categorized as a regional environmentally sensitive area, an Ontario area of natural scientific interest, and part of the Niagara escarpment world biosphere reserve. The conservation area contains Crawford Lake, a meromictic lake, which makes the lake a prime site for archaeological and geochemical studies. The site was first discovered in 1971 after a study of the sediment of Crawford Lake. Using pollen analysis, reconstruction of the history of the area over several hundred years was possible.

The lake was named after the Crawford family, who originally lived on the site. Their house remained there until a group of teenagers burned it down, all that survived was the front porch that was constructed of cement. Photographs of the original house and members of the Crawford family exist.

The pollen analysis revealed the agricultural history of the native Iroquois Indians and the presence of their village. The Wendat village has been reconstructed in the conservation area and is based on many years of work by archaeologists. Moreover, geochemical analysis of sediment cores has allowed for the reconstruction of the pollution history of the area. This analysis revealed the trends and sources of air pollution over approximately 150 years.

 

Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today the world marks Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp by the Soviet Red Army in 1945.

Some ten days prior to the liberation of Auschwitz, 58,000 inmates were marched away because the Nazis did not want them to fall alive into the hands of the liberators; instead, they had to go on what has become known as the Death Marches. Over half of them would die as a result. They left behind the ashes and bones of over a million human beings, more than 900,000 of them Jews, most of whom died by gassing, and some 7000 sick and dying inmates, including Jewish and Roma children on whom the German doctors had performed murderous medical experiments.

Having visited Auschwitz in a few years back today is even more poignant for me.

This sign is the first thing you pass when you enter the facility.

The Holocaust, which established the standard for absolute evil, is the universal heritage of all civilized people. The Holocaust profoundly affected countries in which Nazi crimes were perpetrated, but also had universal implications and consequences in many other parts of the world. As genocide and atrocity crimes keep occurring across several regions, this has never been so relevant.

Lest We Forget

 

The celebration of Remembreance Day will have new meaning in Canada today with two soldiers having been killed on Canadian soil recently.

1. Remembrance Day was first observed in 1919 throughout the British Commonwealth. It was originally called “Armistice Day” to commemorate armistice agreement that ended the First World War on Monday, November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.—on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
2. From 1921 to 1930, Armistice Day was held on the Monday of the week in which November 11 fell. In 1931, Alan Neill, Member of Parliament for Comox–Alberni, introduced a bill to observe Armistice Day only on November 11. Passed by the House of Commons, the bill also changed the name to “Remembrance Day”. The first Remembrance Day was observed on November 11, 1931.
3. Every year on November 11, Canadians pause in a moment of silence to honour and remember the men and women who have served, and continue to serve Canada during times of war, conflict and peace. We remember the more than 1,500,000 Canadians who have served throughout our nation’s history and the more than 118,000 who made the ultimate sacrifice.
4. The poppy is the symbol of Remembrance Day. Replica poppies are sold by the Royal Canadian Legion to provide assistance to Veterans.
5. Remembrance Day is a federal statutory holiday in Canada. It is also a statutory holiday in three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) and in six provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador).
6. The national ceremony is held at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. The Governor General of Canada presides over the ceremony. It is also attended by the Prime Minister, other government officials, representatives of Veterans’ organizations, diplomatic representatives, other dignitaries, Veterans as well as the general public.
7. In advance of the ceremony, long columns of Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces members, RCMP officers, and cadets march to the memorial lead by a pipe band and a colour guard. At the end of the ceremony, they march away to officially close the ceremony.
8. Some of the 54 Commonwealth member states, such as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, observe the tradition of Remembrance Day on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Other nations observe a solemn day but at different dates. For example, ANZAC Day is observed in New Zealand on April 25. In South Africa, Poppy Day is marked on the Sunday that falls closest to November 11.
9. Many nations that are not members of the Commonwealth also observe Remembrance Day on November 11, including France, Belgium and Poland.
10. The United States used to commemorate Armistice Day on November 11. However, in 1954 they changed the name to Veterans Day.

The celebration of Remembreance Day will have new meaning in Canada today with two soldiers having been killed on Canadian soil recently.

1. Remembrance Day was first observed in 1919 throughout the British Commonwealth. It was originally called “Armistice Day” to commemorate armistice agreement that ended the First World War on Monday, November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.—on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
2. From 1921 to 1930, Armistice Day was held on the Monday of the week in which November 11 fell. In 1931, Alan Neill, Member of Parliament for Comox–Alberni, introduced a bill to observe Armistice Day only on November 11. Passed by the House of Commons, the bill also changed the name to “Remembrance Day”. The first Remembrance Day was observed on November 11, 1931.
3. Every year on November 11, Canadians pause in a moment of silence to honour and remember the men and women who have served, and continue to serve Canada during times of war, conflict and peace. We remember the more than 1,500,000 Canadians who have served throughout our nation’s history and the more than 118,000 who made the ultimate sacrifice.
4. The poppy is the symbol of Remembrance Day. Replica poppies are sold by the Royal Canadian Legion to provide assistance to Veterans.
5. Remembrance Day is a federal statutory holiday in Canada. It is also a statutory holiday in three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) and in six provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador).
6. The national ceremony is held at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. The Governor General of Canada presides over the ceremony. It is also attended by the Prime Minister, other government officials, representatives of Veterans’ organizations, diplomatic representatives, other dignitaries, Veterans as well as the general public.
7. In advance of the ceremony, long columns of Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces members, RCMP officers, and cadets march to the memorial lead by a pipe band and a colour guard. At the end of the ceremony, they march away to officially close the ceremony.
8. Some of the 54 Commonwealth member states, such as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, observe the tradition of Remembrance Day on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Other nations observe a solemn day but at different dates. For example, ANZAC Day is observed in New Zealand on April 25. In South Africa, Poppy Day is marked on the Sunday that falls closest to November 11.
9. Many nations that are not members of the Commonwealth also observe Remembrance Day on November 11, including France, Belgium and Poland.
10. The United States used to commemorate Armistice Day on November 11. However, in 1954 they changed the name to Veterans Day.

Lest We Forget

Thinking of my grandfather today who fought in WW1. He was a sapper or railroad engineer whose job it was to ensure a steady supply of materials to the front lines (and likely quick transport out as well).

I remember the stories he told us as kids - tunneling into the ridge to build a protected rail line during the battle of Vimy Ridge, the gas mask he used to pull out and let us try on, the coin he received after it tipped him off that the guy he was talking to at a bar in Paris might be a German spy, the letters, tied with a green ribbon, from a mysterious woman he left at home (who was definitely NOT my grandma). As an adult I now realize the things he never spoke of. . . particularly how most of the males from his home town who signed up did not return.

Thankful for all who have served to keep our country safe and provide peacekeeping services in countries in turmoil.