Mildred ( Dunbar ) Barbour Obituary

1914-1985

      The death occurred suddenly today, at Community Hospital, O'Leary, of Mrs. Mildred Sarah Barbour of Alma at the age 71 years.

      She was the daughter of the late Joseph and Mary (Harris) Dunbar of Alma.  She leaves to mourn, besides her husband Archie Barbour, one son and two daughters: Robert of Brantford, Ont., Carol, Mrs. Dennis Ranka of Victoria, B.C., and Helen Barbour of Toronto, as well as six grandchildren and a number of nieces and nephews.

     She is also survived by one brother, Keir of Vancouver, B.C.

     She was predeceased by two brothers and three sisters: Isaac, William, Celesta, Eliza and Ellie, and a grandson, Ricky.

     Remains are resting at Ferguson Funeral Home, O'Leary.  Funeral notice will be later.  Visiting hours Thursday are 2-4 and 7-9.  Memorials to the Alma-Alberton United Baptist Church or the Canadian Heart Foundation would be appreciated.

     Post-script.  The notice of Mildred's funeral was in the Journal-Pioneer Newspaper on Saturday, December 14, 1985.

Duggan Homestead destroyed by fire

     On Sunday evening, October 14th, 2012 the Ralph and Doris (Adams) Duggan homestead was destroyed by a control-burn by the Alberton Fire Department. 

     Doris died in August 2000 and following Ralph"s death 2-1/2 years later the house was rented on and off and had recently been vacant requiring too many repairs to salvage.
     This place held many fond memories for the Duggan family and all you called them friend.

     The house was located at the corner of the Western Road and the Cheese Factory Road in Alma.

     This house was built around 1950 by local carpenter Dave Gordon for Hutt Duggan of the Centerline Road in Lauretta.  Hutt ran a sawmill from here for a few years until he retired in the late 1950's and moved to Malagash, Nova Scotia to live with his sister.  At that time Ralph and Doris bought the house from his Uncle Hutt and lived here till their passing.  
     Ralph was the son of Margaret "Sybil" (Duggan) Dayette.

Above: Doris & Ralph Duggan

     The Duggans in Lauretta/Alma came to be when Mysie Simmons Duggan married John Smith of Centerline Road in Lauretta.  Mysie had six children when she married John - they were: Hutt, Roy, Sybil, Ada (m. Pat MacIntyre), daughter-1 (lived with Hutt), daughter-2 (lived in Malagash).   

     Mysie use to light the fire at Lauretta School.  Wilbert Jeffery recalls as children they would go across the road to John and Mysie Smith's to get water for the school.  

     The following information comes from a Cemetery Tour given by Carter Jeffery of the Holy Trinity Alma Cemetery during the 150th anniversary of the Alberton-O'Leary Anglican Parish in August 2009.

Hugh “John/Jack” Smith  Birth and death dates unknown.  He raised foxes and farmed.  John has three wives buried here beside him – to his left his first wife Jannie McMeeken 1870-1899. To his right, his second wife Holly H. Vincent and to the far right, his third and last wife Mysie Simmons Duggan 1877-1945.  John lived on the Centerline Road in Lauretta across the road just before Lauretta School - later owned by Lawrence Arsenault.  John use to take-up the collection at the church.  
Excerpt from Eva & Mary Jeffery’s Journal –

Feb. 24, 1930: Rain forenoon.  Father to church and Jack Smith fixing roof.

June 17, 1930:  Warm day. Jack Smith here for ladder for to put up staging in church.

July 4, 1930:  John Smith here got money to pay Bowness for painting church.

Heritage Prayer

We were at Cumberland Historic Village this week near Ottawa - in this Knox United Church (formerly located in Vars, Ontario) we saw this prayer in the vestibule - it was adapted from a prayer in the old Covenanters' Church - 1804, Grand Pre, Nova Scotia.

"Heritage Prayer"

Father God;

We keep forgetting all of those who lived before us.
We keep forgetting those who lived and worked in our communities.
We keep forgetting those who prayed and sang hymns in our churches before we were born.
We keep forgetting what our fathers have done for us.
We commit the sin, Lord, of assuming that everything begins with us.

We drink from wells we did not find.
We eat food from farmland we did not develop.
We enjoy freedoms which we have not earned.
We worship in churches which we did not build.
We live in communities we did not establish.
This day, make us grateful for our heritage.

Amen

Helen Dunbar, Alma passed Junior Exams 1895

The following cf. http://www.islandregister.com/1895teachersmatric.html

From the Daily Examiner, July 17, 1895
Prince of Wales College and Normal School, July, 1895.


The following candidates passed the Junior.

Sidney C. Hayden, Vernon River, 311	Elsie LePage, Charlottetown, 294
Regina M. Flood, Maplewood, 287	George Hyndman, Charlottetown, 266
Mary LePage, Charlottetown, 262	Helen Dunbar, Alma, Lot 3, 261.

Dorothy (Gordon) Rayner Obituary 1907-2010

Dorothy (Gordon) Rayner
1908-2010

     The death occurred peacefully at the Wedgewood Manor, Summerside on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010 of Dorothy (nee Gordon) Rayner in her 103rd year. 
     Dorothy was born on Jan. 6, 1908 in Alma , P.E.I. to her late parents , John and Grace (nee Riley) Gordon. Beloved wife of the late Marshall Rayner and loving mother of Jean (Eldon) MacArthur of Tyne Valley, Jessie Rayner of Summerside, Grace (Thomas) Palmer of Oshawa, Ont., Joyce Baglole and Elizabeth Rayner of Summerside, Eva (Harold) MacDonald of Font Hill, Ont., John (Barbara) of Alma, and daughter-in-law Faye Rayner of Summerside.   
     Also lovingly remembered by her 19 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren, 16 great-great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. Besides her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her son Eldon, son-in-law Desmond Baglole, grandson Donald Palmer and a great-grandson in infancy. 
     As Dorothy was the last surviving member of her and her husband's immediate families, she was also predeceased by the following sisters: Mary (William) Horne, Lilla (Wilfred) Matthews, Hazel (Bertram) Ramsay, Jean (Harrison) Thompson and Ethel; brothers David (Minerva) , John (Elizabeth) and James (Empress); and brothers and sisters-in-law: Amanda (William) Getson, Ruth (Wilmot) Read, Jennie (Benjamin) Thomas , Wallace (Linnie) , Russell (Vera) , Edith (Austin) MacDonald, Helen (Wallace) Graham , Eva and Irene. 
     Resting at the East Prince Funeral Home, 245 Pope Rd., Summerside until Friday, Aug. 20, for funeral service in the funeral home chapel at 11 a.m. Interment to take place in Greenmount Church of Christ Cemetery, P.E.I. Visiting hours on Friday morning only, 9:30 a.m. until time of funeral service. Memorial donations in Dorothy's memory to the Greenmount Church of Christ Cemetery, Wedgewood Manor Equipment Fund or a charity of your choice would be greatly appreciated. 
     Online condolences can be sent to epfuneral@eastlink.ca. Arrangements entrusted to the East Prince Funeral Home, Summerside, P.E.I.
www.prifuneralcoops.com

     Dorothy was a school teacher and fondly recalled her days of teaching and had a great memory to recall her students.

1888 Alma Train (Flag) Station

     On April 24, 2001 my father, Wilbert and brother, Kerras and I went to measure and photograph the old Alma Flag Station located at H.I. Construction on the Western Road in Alma.  The purpose of our visit was to see the old station as it was to be torn down as a result of damage to one corner of the building following a major fire at the construction site on March 6, 2001.  Kerras was able to salvage some boards and a few things which he used to make a few benches for souvenirs.  The station was demolished on May 1, 2001.

     Below are drawings I prepared from our visit - Dad helped us to identify the two areas and what was found in them.

     Alma Station, was originally called Montrose Station which was built around 1875.  In 1884 the schedule notes the departures time to be 7:42am.  The original building would have been very small, more like a shed building.  The Train "Flag" Station was probably built in 1888 when 51 new stations were built on Prince Edward Island to better serve the public.

     Summerside Journal 27-Dec-1877.  Mr. George Hardy, driver of the No. 1 train was much scalded at Montrose in his engine by the displacement of a plug allowing the steam to escape.  His fireman Thomas Trainor was also badly scalded.  Both are at Alberton in good hands though suffering much".  quote from the Patriot.

      Below are three photos I took that day.  The first photo shows the two original doors.

 Below:  the north side of the station.

      Below:  Inside, note the sliding door on the back wall, this was the in the freight shed facing west.

     The old station was used by the railroad up till the mid 1960's.  Dad often took the train to O'Leary to visit his in-laws in Knutsford, mostly in winter, as late as the winter of 1963-64.  The station was sold to Archie Dunbar who then sold it to Hayes Paying where it was used for a storage building until it was partially burned on March 6th, 2001 - see 

http://almalauretta.blogspot.ca/2012/03/hi-construction-in-alma-leveled-in.html

     For more information regarding this station and the A Photo History of Prince Edward Island Railway by Allan Graham.

Justin Smith, champion powerlifter ties to Lauretta

     There’s a connection to Lauretta in this story about Justin Smith – Justin’s grandfather was Weldon Smith of Lauretta.  Weldon was the son of Birt & Violet Smith – they lived across the road from Lauretta School on the Centerline Road.
     This story appeared in this weeks West Prince Graphic - http://peicanada.com/west_prince_graphic/publication/mount_pleasant_powerlifter_captures_three_medals_poland

Mount Pleasant powerlifter captures three medals in Poland

Wed, 09/05/2012 - 05:15 /By Cindy Chant / cindy@peicanada.com

             At just 18-year-old, Justin Smith has some more medals to put under his weight lifting belt after his recent trip to Szczyrk, Poland. The Mount Pleasant powerlifter not only won a gold, silver and bronze medals at the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Powerlifting Championships, he set a new world record for his deadlift.

            “When I won the medals it was a moment of awe, and felt that my past three years in the sport finally paid off,” said Mr Smith. He explained, “After I pulled my first deadlift (which was already good for a gold medal) I felt awesome because I knew that it was going to be good for either gold or silver since it was so far ahead of the second place starter.”

            For the competition Mr Smith was in the men’s subjunior 59 kilogram weight class, down from the 66 kilogram class he is used to competing against in the deadlift of 235.5 kilograms.

            “After I pulled the world record rather easily on my second I felt like I was on top of the world,” said Mr Smith.

            Powerlifting involves three components - the squat, the bench press and the dead lifts. The weight successfully hoisted in all three events is then combined for the competitor’s total score. That’s based on total weight lifted, divided by body weight. Evangeline Recreation Centre in Abrams Village has been called home for Mr Smith in preparation to the upcoming event.

            According to Mr Smith the silver overall medal felt more like a gold given the circumstances of how close the competition was.

            “It really came down to the last lift which unfortunately slipped from my grip,” he said.

            “I checked the final results/statistics and I actually have the best deadlift in the world, not only for my specific division, but for the entire sub-junior age division.”

            The grounded teen encourages anyone who is interested in getting into the competitive sport to take a few words of advice.

            “Firstly that they will not get big and bulky like the professional bodybuilders we constantly see on the cover of the magazines, regardless of gender. Expect to get in the shape of your life and gain a lot of strength and energy doing so. Also when starting out, what you lift is not important at that time. Proper form and technique to do the exercises is the most important thing,” said Mr Smith. He went on to say, “Lastly, if they take the time and dedicate themselves to the sport, they will get somewhere.”

            The three medals will hang over Mr Smiths’ team Canada T-shirt, which has yet to arrive after ordering it before leaving Poland. He will be keeping with tradition as all Mr Smith’s medals hang over his competition shirts.

            The world championships wrapped up Sept 2.