Number 68 April 1, 2010
ANNEARS KEEP ON TRUCKIN'
A massive fire destroyed the headquarters of the Morley Annear trucking business in Brudenell in early February but barely slowed the company's operations. The fire broke out about 2:30 Sunday afternoon, February 7,in the building that housed the company's offices and garage. The structure was totally consumed by the blaze that was fuelled by petroleum and rubber products stored inside.
Fire departments from Montague, Cardigan, Georgetown and Murray River responded to the blaze which burned most of the afternoon sending thick, black clouds of smoke over the town of Montague.
Quick work by local residents saved most of the trucks and equipment. There were no injuries but three trucks and two payloaders were destroyed.
General manager Scott Annear (1.11.6,4.3.1.) thanked the community for its tremendous support and efforts to save the remainder of the fleet of 25 trucks. "It meant a lot to see everyone help out, including friends who moved the trucks and tried to manage the fire," he said. "The keys were inside the shop so there was no way of starting the trucks. We had a loader and hauled them out of the way."
Scott said if it hadn’t been for everyone's efforts, the entire business could have been lost. The property was insured and Scott said the business will be rebuilt on the same location.
The company is operating out of temporary quarters on Main Street in Montague. It offers local and long distance trucking with registrations covering all the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, and Ontario and the eastern seaboard of the United States.
SUMMER PLANS INCLUDE THE CANADA TREE
One of the sights to see in Montague, PEI, this summer will be Tyler Aspin's (1.6A.4,6.2.2A,2.) Canada Tree. His family decided last September that Montague would be the permanent home for the gigantic work of art.
The Town Council announced on March 8th that the tree will be on display for three weeks this summer. The town has earmarked $20,000 in its budget towards installing the Canada Tree as a permanent fixture on the waterfront. Coun. Janice MacBeth said efforts are ongoing to find the money to build a permanent structure to protect the work of art.
The Canada Tree was erected on the Montague waterfront last August as an attraction for the Canada Games that were held in PEI last year. There had been competition from Halifax and Ottawa to provide a permanent home for the Tree, but the nod went to Montague.
Tyler's mother, Linda Aspin, said that when the family saw the response it received locally it was an easy decision to make. “The tree is getting old and it doesn’t want to be moved around forever and ever. We didn’t really know where the tree belonged until we came here with it,” Linda said in announcing the decision last September at a public gathering in Montague. “We’ve been won over by you people and by the spirit of the community.”
The base of the Canada Tree is made from a giant red oak tree from Prince Edward Island. More than 600 artifacts from each Canadian province and territory are embedded in the towering 35-foot tall, wooden sculpture. Tyler spent more than three years gathering and documenting the artifacts from all across the country. Each piece was numbered and recorded, along with a personal story. Some of the donations include shingles from the Green Gables House, a pencil from author Margaret Atwood, a plank from the Bluenose II, and a toy mallet from journalist Peter Gzowski.
Tyler died accidentally in August, 2001 at the age of 31. He had taken the sculpture on a nation-wide tour before that. He had plans for a “tree-house” to shelter the tree, but they were only in writing. Linda said the actual design will be left to the imagination of local artists.
FIGHTING THE WINTER ICE
It's almost 200 years since Vere Beck and his young family first arrived in Guersey Cove, PEI. During the 65 years that Vere spent on the Island, the arrival of winter signalled almost complete isolation from the outside world. In the early years a few crossings were made annually in small skiffs known as iceboats.
In the 1830s as a member of the Island legislature, Vere pushed for a steamboat to connect the Island to the mainland, “so long as the navigation shall remain open.” Despite the unanimous support of the legislature, little was done to improve the situation.
In 1873, Prince Edward Island agreed to join Confederation in exchange for assistance with the provincial debt and the promise of a reliable year-round steamship connection with the mainland. Ottawa tried, but without much success. In the winters of 1874 and 1875 an old wooden steamer named Albert made pitiful attempts to cope with the ice in the Northumberland Strait. The federal government decided it would have to build its own icebreaker and the Northern Light went into service in 1876. Vere lived until the spring of 1878 and had lots of time to watch this her try to cope with ice in the Strait. On her sailings between Georgetown and Pictou, the ship was often icebound off Guernsey Cove and on one occasion spent 29 days locked in the ice. I wonder if Vere ever imagined that some day one of his descendants would be involved in helping ships move freely through the Strait?
Fast forward 132 years. David Munn (1.4.2.2,2,2.1.) spent the month of February in Charlottetown as Captain of the Coast Guard icebreaker Earl Grey. His assignment was to assist shipping using the Northumberland Strait. His first task was to help a Swedish paper carrier get into Pictou, N.S., to load paper from the mill at Abercrombie. The ice was lighter than usual this winter and the work went smoothly.
A few days later there was a call from a freighter, also trying to make her way into Pictou. The BCC Pacific was stuck in ice off Cape Bear.David travelled down the Strait, broke the ship free, and led her into Pictou. The freighter was loading sections of a flare boom that were built in the Pictou shipyard. They're going to Dubai to be installed on a gas production platform that is being built for an oil company. The platform will be towed back to Sable Island when its finished. After the boom was loaded the Earl Grey escorted the ship out again, but this time the going was slower. Cold weather had thickened the ice and high winds had caused ridging and rafting. David said, “it took me the best part of 4 hours to go five miles. We could move but the freighter couldn't. We had to keep backing up to cut him out of pressure ridges. But we were successful eventually and I let him go on his own by 7 p.m. down near the Canso Strait.”
The next assignment was to get the oil tanker, Acadian, into Charlottetown with a load of furnace oil for Island homes. David broke a path down the strait and met the tanker off Wood Islands and escorted her into Charlottetown. After that it was off to Quebec to assist an oil tanker trying to get into Gaspe. David said it was a quiet 28 day shift, but they looked after all the problems that arose.
I'm sure Vere would have approved.
RECYCLABLES BIG HELP FOR HAITI
Since the earthquake in Haiti in early January, people around the world have been opening their wallets and fund raising tirelessly to help the devastated nation. But one man in eastern Prince Edward Island was helping out long before the latest crisis.
Guy MacKenzie of Beach Point started collecting recyclables from people in the surrounding area a year ago to help feed Haitian children. He raised $2,902.31 in 2009 for Haiti Ministries, led by Michel and Louise Charbonneau of Quebec, who are associated with the Emergency Relief and Development Overseas Agency. The mission feeds more than 2,000 children twice a week.
Guy has been following the situation on the internet and says, "They lost three of their people, including the assistant pastor and two of the children they support.” He said the earthquake was a serious setback to the mission. "They had nothing to start with and now they’re wiped out."
In a letter to The Eastern Graphic, Guy thanked all the people who had helped by donating recyclables. He said it costs about 25 cents a meal to feed the children, and the Mission was feeding up to 2,100 twice a week before the earthquake. They hope to increase that total to 10,000 twice a week. Guy plans to do his part by continuing to gather recyclables from anyone who wishes to donate.
Meanwhile Guy is now involved in another venture to assist orphans in Haiti. He is helping God's Littlest Angels, Canada, to collect goods for shipment south. In a letter to The Eastern Graphic, he said that when he learned there was no drop off place for donations in eastern PEI, he offered to accept them at his home in Beach Point.
The organization needs everything for infants from diapers to baby shampoo. They also need general items such as tents, tarps, rope, and lanterns as the rainy season approaches. Medical supplies for young children are also needed.
God's Littlest Angels is an independent, non-denominational ministry founded to care for premature, malnourished, and abandoned children in Haiti. It relies on churches and donors throughout North America and Europe for funding.
NEW COOKBOOK COMING
The cookbook lady is at work on another one. Sarah Jackson (1.4.6.8B.4,) of Beach Point has already published several cookbooks, but she says this will be her last. She's collecting recipes from friends and Beck relatives and hopes to submit the material to the publisher before the end of April.
The book will contain a lot of recipes from Kaye (Beck) MacDonald (1.4.3A.3.2,) and from Mary Saunders. But it will include recipes from many other individuals too. If you have a favourite you'd like included, make sure it gets to Sarah before mid-April. (hsnjackson@eastlink.ca)
She hasn't decided on a name yet, and the price has still not been determined. She plans to order three to four hundred copies. They will be available from Sarah herself, but will also be on sale at places such as the Cape Lighthouse, and The Log Cabin Craftshop in Souris.
Sarah will mail copies to anyone who wants one, but she still has to set a price for the books and check on postage rates.
BOWERS MAKING HIS MARK
It's playoff time in the Central Hockey League and Justin Bowers (1.4.6.5,10,1,2.)is bouncing back from an injury to help his team win some games. During the regular season, Justin placed second on the Allen Americans roster with 73 points in 49 games. That left him 6 points back of the team leader, despite having played in 15 fewer games. In the league standings, Justin ranked 12th, an excellent showing considering that those who finished ahead of him had almost all played a full 64 games.
He was out of the lineup for a few games when he was called up for a tryout with the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League. Then he suffered a serious ankle injury and was on the disabled list for the last two weeks of Allen's regular season.
Justin was ready to play in the first playoff game against Laredo on Friday, March 26, but did not get any points as the Americans lost 4-3. However, in Saturday's game, he had two assists as the Americans edged Laredo 3-2. In the game on Tuesday, March 30, Allen defeated Laredo 4-1 to take a two to one lead in the series. Justin had two goals and an assist in the victory.
DEATHS
Beck: Edwin Howard Beck died at the Kings County Memorial Hospital in Montague on Monday, March 15, 2010, at the age 82. He was the husband of the late Anne Leeco who died last May.
He is survived by four children: Doug of Alliston; Louise (Malcolm Brown), Calgary; Boyde (Anna MacDonald), Mount Stewart; and Roy (Kim); Montague. Other survivors include six grandchildren: Stephen, Joseph, David, Daniel, Allison, and Alexander and great grandchildren Logan and Edwin. He is also survived by a sister Kaye Macdonald and by sisters-in-law Ena Beck and Vivian Beck.
He was predeceased by a daughter, Sandra, a sister Mabel Macdonald and brothers Vere and Ernest.
The funeral service was held at Ferguson's Funeral Home Chapel in Montague on Thursday, March 18, at 11:00 a.m.with interment in the Murray River Cemetery.
HERRING: Ethel Robertson Herring (1.4.2.6,7B.) of Charlottetown died at The Atlantic Baptist Nursing Home on Monday, March 15, 2010, at the age of 90. She was the widow of the late Elliot Robertson, and the late John Herring.
She is survived by a son, Errol (Lisa Lamb) Robertson, and daughter, Alanna (Paul) Vreeland, as well as grandchildren Lynda Robertson, Jason (Tammy) Robertson, Sonjel (Jalal) Eirikkson-Vreeland, Elliott Vreeland, Katherine Robertson and James Robertson. She is also survived by sisters Mary Pipke and Minnie Bain. She was predeceased by eight brothers and sisters.
The funeral service was held at the Wood Islands Presbyterian Church at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, March 21 with interment later in Birch Hill Cemetery.
SERIOUS SETBACK FOR THE MONTAGUE MARINA
Thieves have made off with hundreds of feet of copper wire from the waterfront location. The theft took place some time between late January and mid-March, and could cost the Marina tens of thousands of dollars. The wire was part of the power cords that provide electricity to boats that tie up to the marina. The cords are more than an inch in diameter and hundreds of feet are missing.
Jock Beck, the manager of the Marina, expressed outrage at the theft, saying it represented a major loss for the operation.
“It's a rotten trick for someone to pull off,” he told David MacDonald of The Eastern Graphic. “The cords had more value than the copper inside them, and all the culprits would get out of it is a part of the copper cost.”
Jock said that normally the cords would have been buried under the snow but because of the mild winter there was very little snow this year.
The marina is owned by the Montague Waterfront Development Corporation, a non-profit organization. Jock said the cords will have to be replaced by the first of May, when the marina opens for the season. He added that it's too early to say if the loss is covered by insurance.
UPGRADING THE HALL
Improvements are underway at the Murray River Community Hall. They've installed a new furnace and are making changes to the restrooms to make them wheelchair accessible. Other changes include some new windows and interior painting.
The Hall is well over a hundred years old. It was built in 1902 and has been at the centre of community activities since that time. It's hosted village meetings of all kinds, as well as school concerts, political rallies, and other events over the years.
At one time it doubled as the community theatre with movies once a week, and over the past few years has served as the base for the fund-raising ceilidhs for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The cost of the improvements will be about $25,000 with the funds coming from various government and local sources. The village council is expected to raise about half of it. The MLA for the area, Charlie McGeoghegan, recently presented a cheque for $8,000 on behalf of the provincial government's Island Community Fund.
It was accepted by Garnet Buell, a village councillor, who organizes and performs at many events in the Hall.
Garnet is going flat out these days as he guides fund-raising activities at the Hall.
The tenth season of ceilidhs for the hospital got underway on Saturday, March 6th. In the first nine years, the campaigns have raised almost $200,000 and they hope to reach $225,000 before this season ends. The concerts usually run for ten weeks.
The Vere Beck Family Home Page
We're always looking for news of Beck family members. If you know of any interesting events drop me a line with the information. imunn@accesswave.ca
That's it .. please share it with relatives who aren't on line. The next edition will be out on June 1, 2010 
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