| Number 24 | December 1, 2002 |
ARCHITECTS DESIGN A "TREE" HOUSE
Canadian university students are at work designing a home for the Canada Tree. It's a project taken on by the Carleton University School of Architechture in Ottawa. Students in the Master's program are designing what they think would be a fitting structure to house the Tree, created by Tyler Aspin (1.6A.4,6.2.2A.2) of Prince Edward Island, who died last year in Quebec at the age of 31.
The Tree was built from hundreds of pieces of wood donated by people from all parts of Canada. Each donation included a story and the completed project has come to symbolize Canadian multiculturalism.
Michael Jemtrud, an assistant professor at Carleton, led a group of eight students to PEI in late September to gather information about the tree. They spent some time in Little Sands visiting Phil Stoshnof, Tyler's father.
Mr. Jemtrud said the Tree is an amazing project. "It's about Canadian culture and it's about as perfect as you can get to describe Canadian culture. It's just beginning to sink in how important this is to Canada. I hope I can make it part of a larger discourse among Canadians. It's perfect in PEI, it seems to fit in here." He made his remarks to Jason Perrin of The Eastern Graphic.
Tyler outlined his ideas for the Tree's permanent home in a document written before he died. His plan was to build the structure in much the same way as the Tree, itself, was built with wood supplied from various sources across Canada. That would mean that everything that went into the structure would have a story connected to it. This might include windows from an old church, doors from a town hall or beams from an abandoned fish factory.
PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
A training course is underway in Souris to prepare people for call centre work. Eighteen women are enrolled in the course that is being conducted by the Montague Computer Company. Debby Beck, (1.6B.5.1.1A.2) the owner of the company, says a second course will be offered in January if there is enough interest. She said, "We offered a similar training program in Montague in April and trained 69 people, most of whom are now employed with On-Line Support here in Montague."
Debby told The Eastern Graphic that prospective students need to remember that whether or not a call centre locates in Souris, the skills being taught are transferable to other types of employment. "The successful student could apply for work at a call centre in Montague or Charlottetown, or any other type of technology-based business."
The program offers basic computer literacy, internet skills, and time and stress management techniques.
Debby said this is not just any old program thrown together. "The call centres themselves developed the program that included core training, things that they said were important, ground level requirements for new employees. Once a person is hired to work for a particular call centre, the centre itself would teach more specific skills."
The eight-week course ends on December 20th.
ARTISTS GAIN EXPOSURE
The Third Annual Studio Tour was held in Prince Edward Island on the first weekend in October with more than 140 displays of art staged throughout the province. At Murray Harbour local artists displayed such things as hooked rugs, wood work and paintings in the Community Centre.
Zelda MacNevin (1.4.4,1.2,3,) of Murray River was one of those who took part. She has been painting for many years, becoming seriously interested in art in the seventies while living in Quebec City. In an e-mail interview, she said she studied with Albert Rousseau, a well-known Quebec artist.
"My work was included in Art Exhibitions of his students for three years," she said. She also completed two studio courses at Queen's Universty in 1977 as part of the requirements of her undergraduate degree.
Zelda said that since moving back to Murray River she has been active in the "Out of Our Minds" studio group in Murray Harbour which has Sandi Komst of Beach Point as its mentor. She paints with Sandi's group at the Community Centre each Wednesday and at home, "When I feel creative or have the time."
Zelda says she enjoys painting landscapes, flowers and water birds. She works on paper in water colour, and on canvas in acrylics or oils. and recently finished this collage, entitled "The Voicebox."
"When possible I work on location but always take photos so I have ready reference as my work develops. One of my favourite locations is the MacLure Dam in Murray River where the new golf course affords novel and interesting perspectives."
She adds that one of her special interests is attempting to recreate on canvas local features that time has erased, such as the old mills. "For some of these I can rely on pictures that my father had saved, and for others I am still looking."
Last year the "Out of Our Minds" studio members jointly exhibited their paintings at a Gallery at the Down East Mall in Montague. This summer, "My work was hung at various craft stores locally. We find, however, that tourists are usually interested in only smaller works. When local residents purchase my paintings I feel really honoured," Zelda said.
"Art is a wonderful 'escape' for me," she added, "but it requires hard work!"
VITAL STATISTICS
BIRTHS
BECK: Sullivan Lyon Beck was born July 23, 2002, in Richmond, Virginia, to Lindley Wellons Beck and Coburn Robinson Beck (1.11.1.6.2.2.). Sullivan Lyon is their second child and a brother for Joseph Lindley Beck who was born on Nov. 1, 2000.
ANNIVERSARY
MACDONALD: Ivan and Kaye MacDonald (1.4.3A.3.2,) of Montague celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in early November. The couple were married at the home of the bride's parents, Jim and Jessie Beck in Alliston, on Nov. 4, 1937. They said it was a beautiful, sunny day.
Ivan and Kaye lived and farmed in Brudenell, where they raised four children.
They marked the anniversary with a family dinner at Joseph's Restaurant, accompanied by Eric and his wife Janet; Alice and her husband, Barry Poole; Bill and his wife, Joan, and Doris and her husband, Merrill Herring. They have 6 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.
DEATHS
BECK: Margaret Vera Beck (1.4.3B.7.1) died at the Garden Home in Charlottetown on November 2, 2002, at the age of 82. She was the oldest child of the late Robert W. and Margaret (Martin) Beck. She is survived by sisters Peggy MacIntyre, Betty Ann Giffin, Barbara Jenkins, and sister-in-law Shirley Beck, and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. She was predeceased by brothers Ralph, and Mac.
Vera was a resident of Montague and was involved in the family business of Vere Beck and Sons for many years. She helped organize the first Beck family reunion at Guernsey Cove in 1963, recording details of family members. Mac told of this in Appendix J of the Vere Beck Family Biographies.
"I spent all that afternoon doing nothing but filling in the names," he wrote. "Bebe (Vera) worked a lot that day on this with me, even though she had more inclination to talk with her newfound relatives than to write down names."
Vera was a lifelong supporter of the Church of Christ and was very active in community affairs in Montague.
The Town Council paid tribute to her work at a meeting on Nov. 14th. The Town has been known as "Montague the Beautiful" for as long as people can remember and Vera had a lot to do with that. She was credited with being one of the founding members of the Montague Beautification Committee which pushed elected officials into planting trees, shrubs and flowers to improve the look of the community. Town councillors recalled that Vera almost single-handedly pressured past town councils for cleanups and junk removal as well as for funding for beautification projects.
Her funeral service was held at the Montague Church of Christ on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2002, with interment in the Community Park Cemetery.
BREHAUT: Eva Love (Buell) Brehaut died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2002. She was 67 and the wife of Boyd Brehaut (1.4.4,2,4.1.) of Charlottetown.
She is survived by three children, Eldon, Allan and Marjorie (Leonard) Currie, as well as grandchildren and great grandchildren.
The funeral service was held from the Cutcliffe funeral home chapel on Oct. 3 with interment in Floral Hills Memorial Gardens, Pleasant Valley.
WHITE: Evelyn Elizabeth (Buell) White died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown on Nov. 17, 2002. She was 82 and the widow of Lloyd White (1.4.6.7,2.) of Murray Harbour.
She is survived by their four children, Fred (Joyce) of Abney; Paul (Faye) of Murray Harbour; Lorraine (Fenton) Stewart of Lower Montague, and Beverly (Frank) MacKinnon of Charlottetown. Other survivors include 13 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
The funeral was held from the Murray Harbour United Church with interment in the Murray Harbour cemetery.
BIOGRAPHY
Lucy Amelia Lumsden (1.4.7.) was born Jan. 28, 1873, the daughter of James Lumsden and Mary Fletcher Jorden. Her father drowned when she was an infant and her mother married James Hume. Lucy grew up at Beach Point and married Will Beck on Sept. 28, 1896. Will was a fisherman and they made their home at Beach Point.
They were founding members of the Church of Christ at Murray Harbour. They were listed as members of the church in 1899 at a time when the members were meeting in private homes on Sunday for church service. It was that year, according to the church history, that the original building was erected by the men of the congregation. The first service was held in the church in August 1899. There was a Women's Aid Society and they held bazaars and tea parties to raise money to pay off the church debt. Lucy was said to be a good cook and she would have been contributing to the work of this group. Records show that a bazaar held on April 15, 1900, raised $11 for the church.
Will and Lucy did not have any children of their own so in 1904 they adopted Wallace Hume who was four years old at that time. Twenty years later they adopted a second child, Clara Chapman, who was being raised by her great grandmother Moore. Clara was ten when she joined the Beck household, and immediately felt right at home. She eventually changed her name to Beck and when she married she still kept "Beck" in her name.
Clara said Lucy was a marvelous woman, and “an aunt to my natural father.” Clara married Ray Jordan and they lived with Lucy and Will at Beach Point. They had two children, Zoena, born in 1934 and Beck born in 1936. The workload in the home was shared. Ray fished and Clara looked after the animals, the garden and other outside chores. Lucy was the cook and housekeeper and Will, who wasn't able to do much work anymore because of heart trouble, looked after the Jordan children. Lucy would also help with the children and would sing to them, “off-key.” Clara said Will was a great singer, but Lucy couldn't carry a tune. She was singing to the children one evening and said to Ray, “Zoena isn't singing.”
“She doesn't know the tune,” Ray replied.
“Sing whether you know the tune or not,” Lucy urged. Clara said that became a standard joke in the home after that. The answer to everything was always, “sing whether you know the tune or not.”
Lucy enjoyed good health and was only to the doctor once in her life. She died March 1, 1961, at the age of 88.
CELL PHONE TOWER ON HOLD
The fight against a cell phone tower in Caledonia, P.E.I. is continuing. Concerned citizens from the area met with Rogers AT&T officlals in Montague in mid-October and the company agreed to postpone action for six months to give the residents time to study their position.
Geoff Genge, (1.4.6.5,4.1.1,) the spokesman for the Caledonia group, said they need more time to prepare questions they want Rogers to answer. The group has been fighting plans to build the tower in their community for the past two years. They say Canada has one of the lowest standards for cell phone tower emissions in the world, adding that China has far better regulations.
However, some changes may be in the works. Geoff says he is pleased with a government announcement calling for a national review of antenna tower placement. "The new board calls for a complete review of cell siting," Geoff said. He added that it's too early to tell exactly what is meant, but "We think it's a good thing that government is addressing people's concerns."
The meeting lasted for more than three hours and ended on a note of co-operation. They will meet again next March to continue their talks.
SPRUCING UP FOR CHRISTMAS
Jock Beck (1.4.3B.7.2.2.) is receiving praise for an idea he raised at Montague Town Council. During a discussion of Christmas decorating, he suggested that the town take a more traditional approach to decorating and encourage residents to do the same. Jock, who is the Deputy Mayor, said using boughs, berries and bows would provide a more traditional Christmas appearance. He said this would give Montague a more distinctive look and set it apart from so many other cities and towns who compete at this time of the year to see who can put up the most Christmas lights.
Jock added that safety would have to be taken in to consideration as candles would be a fire hazard.
Mary-Ellen Godfrey of The Eastern Graphic reported the suggestion in her column, and said it deserved consideration from council and town residents. She saw the proposal as an opportunity for Montague to become a trendsetter in the field of Christmas decorations.
A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The Vere Beck Family Home Page
We're always looking for news of Beck family members. If you know of any significant events drop me a line with the information. imunn@accesswave.ca
imunn@accesswave.ca