| Number 21 | June 1, 2002 |
MONTAGUE ACTS TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT
Town council is taking steps to cut back on the use of pesticides on lawns. It has passed a motion urging the provincial government to ban the use of cosmetic pesticides within 100 metres of schools, hospitals and environmentally sensitive homes.
Deputy Mayor Jock Beck (1.4.3B.7.2.2.) introduced the motion that saw council evenly divided on the issue. He argued that there are many alternative products to control weeds that use organic and natural compounds and so are not a threat to people. Jock said his wife, Gwen, is one of many who suffer from environmental sensitivity and need protection from cosmetic pesticides.
"We're not proposing any pressures on agriculture, just to cut down on applications of these chemicals where people could be adversely affected," he said.
Council divided three to three on the motion and Mayor Pat McGowan broke the tie by supporting the motion. The resolution has been forwarded to the Federation of P.E.I. Municipalities for its endorsement and referral to the provincial government.
Montague is also pushing for a ban on smoking in public. At a meeting on April 25, Jock said that "second-hand smoke is a problem for many people and its time it was addressed."
The town had intended to institute its own municipal ban, but opted to wait when there was interest shown from other groups and communities for something broader. Council voted 5-1 to ask the Federation of Municipalities to seek a provincial ban.
MONTAGUE COMPUTER PLANS SECOND OFFICE
A Regional Information Technology Centre is to be built in the Pooles Corner Business Park near Montague. The announcement was welcomed by Debby 
Beck, (1.6B.5.1.1A.2) owner of Montague Computer, who said she would definitely be leasing space in the new building. "I've put a lot of thought into this and this is an ideal opportunity, not only for me, but for anyone who is interested in the IT business. It really proves that people don't have to live in big cities to be involved in information technology," she told The Eastern Graphic.
Montague Computer is involved in several aspects of the business through retail sales of computer hardware, as well as repairs, computer training, net-working systems and program development skills. Debby says she will continue to operate from her present location on Main Street. "What I'm planning to do is open a second location at the RIT Centre. Right now I don't know which part of the business will be moving ... but it will be one department or another, not the whole business."
Debbie, who is also secretary of the new Southern Kings and Queens Chamber of Commerce, said this development opens up opportunities for all business people in the area. "As the only existing IT centre in this part of the Island now, it only makes sense that Montague Computer is involved in the new RIT Centre. This is a great opportunity for eastern PEI."
CHARLOTTETOWN ABBIES BUILDING FOR NEXT YEAR
The hockey picture in Charlottetown is a lot clearer now that the Montreal Rocket of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has finally made a decision about its future. The team will not be moving to P.E.I. Team officials visited Charlottetown in April and worked out a deal to play there next season, but apparently when they notified the League they couldn't get approval.
Not everyone was disappointed, especially the management of the Charlottetown Abbies of the Maritime Major Junior A Hockey League. They are preparing to host the Royal Bank Cup national championship next spring and the arrival of the Quebec team would have created serious headaches for them.
While dealing with the uncertain future of the RBC and the team, Rory Beck, (1.4.3B.7.3.5.) director of hockey operations, said the Abbies went into survival mode.
"We had always said our first priority was to save the franchise, the second was to save the Royal Bank Cup," Rory told The Guardian. "We were constantly looking at ways and means to save the franchise assuming the Rocket would come. I don't think there was any doubt that if the Rocket had come, we would have dropped the RBC."
The uncertainty ended just in time to allow the Abbies management to concentrate on the midget-age
draft. Their first pick was Kyle Murnaghan. Rory says Kyle "is a strong, strong hockey player with major junior experience. I think he'll probably stick in major junior but if not, he's a guy who can step in and play in this league."
Charlottetown used its second-round pick to take defenceman Brett Vessey from the midget AAA Abbies.
"Brett just gets better and better all the time," said Rory. "His game really jumped this year. He put on some size, definitely a future junior hockey player for this team."
And the team acquired Jay Pilgrim of the Amherst Ramblers in exchange for the playing rights to Steve Richards, who played for Val-d'Or of the QMJHL and other teams in that league.
"You have to give up a good player to get a good player," said Rory. "Pilgrim is the second-leading point getter in our league as a 19-year-old returning player. I think he can fit into our top two lines. He wanted to come to Charlottetown."
SOMETHING TO LEAN ON
If you ever need a cane, there's a place in Murray Harbour where the price is right. Charlie Beck (1.6B.5.2.1) makes them as a hobby and gives them away. It's something the 82-year-old has been doing for years and it earned him a feature write-up in the April 17 edition of The Eastern Graphic. Charlie roams the woods of eastern P.E.I. looking for trees suitable for canes.
"I go back in the woods for miles," he said. "I can tell if a tree is going to make a good cane. You go by the size of the tree itself."
When a likely tree is spotted, Charlie digs around the base to check the roots. If they will make a good handle, then he cuts the tree and takes home the section he wants. Often he will go home with as many as 10 saplings ready to be peeled, stained and varnished. Reporter Ryan Craswell described the finished product as a professional looking job and Charlie estimates that he's given away about 900 of them. "My canes are right from Vancouver to PEI, down through the states and there are canes in Australia. It makes me feel good that they are helping people out."
And there's plenty more where they came from. Charlie says he has about a 1,000 not yet stained and varnished that he hopes to eventually finish.
A REUNION WITH A DIIFERENCE
The Jordans are returning to their roots for their next reunion. They plan to get together in Britain next summer and spend a few days touring the area that was home to their ancestors. The decision was made during their reunion in Murray River, P.E.I., last year. They have been holding their reunions on the Island every three years with some visitors coming from Britain, but last year they decided to reverse the trend, and speed up the schedule.
Liz Lacey is handling the planning in Britain. She said it was decided to schedule the reunion for 2003, rather than the following year, because some of those planning to go are getting up in years. She has lined up a number of sites to visit.
"There is a poem written about some of the Edward Jordens," she said, "and we have been investigating this and found the Methodist Church in Monmouth that one was associated with and we also found a Georgian family mansion built in 1720 by another Edward Jorden who was a Sheriff of Shropshire."
Liz said the schedule calls for the arrival of the group at Heathrow Airport in the early morning of Friday, July 11, 2003, where they will board a bus for the trip to Tintern in Monmouthshire to begin their their tour of Jorden country.
The hotel at Tintern gets very busy during the tourist season and reservations are required well in advance. Liz says she needs a rough idea by this July of who is going to attend and what they will need in the way of accommodation, such as single, twin, or double rooms.
Those Jordans with Beck connections will have to choose which reunion to attend, as the Becks will be gathering in Murray River at the same time, July 11 - 13, 2003.
For a detailed itinerary of the British tour, click here.
CEILIDHS A GREAT SUCCESS
Garnet Buell (1.6B.6.5,2.) packed them in at his ceilidhs in eastern P.E.I. during a seven-week campaign to raise money for new equipment for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. He held two a week over that period and raised $12,000 for the hospital. The entertainment was held every Saturday night in the Murray River Hall and every Sunday night at Kaylee Hall at Poole's Corner near Montague. Garnet said people were very supportive with large crowds for every performance.
"We had Jerhico Road here last week," he told The Eastern Graphic. "When you have to put the premier in the kitchen you know you have a full house." He said the ceilidhs had the support of many performers and contributors as well as the public.
Garnet said that's he's very proud to have been able to support the hospital's equipment drive.
"My main goal is to keep people here on the Island if they need treatment."
PROMISING WRESTLERS
Two of Hugh and Sarah Jackson's grandchildren won awards recently in school wrestling competition.
Chris Penny (1.4.6.8.3,3,1) and Nigel Jackson (1.4.6.8.3,4,1) are members of the Southern Kings Wrestling Team. The Team captured three division titles at the PEI school championships held at the Gulf Shore Consolidated School in North Rustico.
Southern Kings won the novice and bantam boys divisions, and the bantam girls division.
Chris and Nigel won Silver Medals in the novice division.
DEATHS
BECK, Elmer Freeman (1.6B.5.1.1.) of Murray Harbour died on April 8, 2002, at the age of 81. He is survived by daughters, Debbie (Neil) Leonard, British Columbia; Patti (Gordon) Pedden, Alberta; and stepdaughter, Gail (Norman) Snook, Port Charlotte, Florida. He is also survived by sisters, Ruth, Beach Point, June (Casserly), Somerville, Mass., and Vera (Taweel), Charlottetown. He was predeceased by wives, Mildred MacDonald, and Annie (Penny) Philpot (1.4.1,3.9B.) as well as an infant brother, Louis.
Elmer was a fisherman and later joined the Air Force. After that he worked as a mechanic in Western Canada before moving back home to Murray Harbour. He was an avid gardener and was working in his garden the day he died.
DUNN, Harry Everett (1.7.2,2.3.) Died at his home in Murray Harbour, on Monday, May 6, 2002. He was 72. Harry was a life-long resident of Murray Harbour. He worked for about 20 years on the railroad and another 20 years as a fisherman.
He is survived by his wife, Arvilla (Penny) Dunn, (1.4.1,3.4.1,) a son, Charles and his wife Michele, and two grandchildren, Jenna and Travis.
The service was held from Ferguson's Funeral Home Chapel in Montague with interment in the Murray Harbour cemetery.
McLELLAN, Nancy Jane (1.12,6,2A,5.3,) 51, died May 20. 2002, in hospital in Halifax. Born in Saint John, N.B., she was a daughter of Clayton "Nick" and Hope Nicolle. She graduated from Harbourview High School (formerly Saint John Vocational School) in 1968. She was a former employee of the Saint John Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, and S. Norman Sancton & Son Ltd. She was a member of the Douglas Avenue Christian Church and active in C.G.I.T. Nancy was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. Her family moved to Dartmouth in 1986 and she owned and operated Nancy's Trophies and Awards Ltd. in Cole Harbour. Nancy had many interests which included curling, hockey, baseball, fastball and majorettes. She was a former member of the Carleton Curling Club. Her volunteerism included the Lancaster Little League, Lancaster Minor Hockey Association in New Brunswick, and the Cole Harbour Bel-Ayr Minor Hockey Association in N.S., and the Canadian Diabetes Association. She was also a great fan of the Halifax Mooseheads Major Junior Hockey Club. Nancy was an out-going person, with a keen sense of humour, and enjoyed entertaining her many friends and family. She never missed a summer vacation in Murray River, P.E.I.
She is survived by her husband, Wayne D. McLellan; a daughter, Nicolle L. Halverson (Chris), Collingwood, Ont.; a son, Ryan J. McLellan, Cole Harbour; a brother, David Nicolle (Lisa), Quispamsis, N.B.; sisters, Elaine Campbell (Ken), Saint John, N.B.; Barbara Hutton (Ron), Saint John, N.B.; a granddaughter, Kailen Nicolle Halverson, Collingwood, Ont.; and several nieces and nephews. The funeral service was held in St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Dartmouth with interment in Greenwood Cemetery in N.B.
MACPHEE, Gladys Isobel (nee Brown) died at the the Dr. John Gillis Memorial Lodge in Eldon on April 13, 2002. She was 84, and the widow of Leon MacPhee (1.4.4,7,4.) of Hopefield, P.E.I. She is survived by a daughter, Roberta (Alan) Hubley of Montague, and son, Bill (Norma) MacPhee of Cross Roads, as well as four grandchildren: Tracey, Tamara, Rebecca Jean and Robyn; and three great grandchildren, Nichelle, Makayla and Kassandra. The funeral was held from the chapel of Ferguson's Montague Funeral Home with interment in the Little Sands Cemetery.
SULIS, Hazel Anne (Beck) (1.4.2.3.8,) died in a nursing home in Saint John, New Brunswick, on April 12, in her 86th year. She was the widow of Gordon J. Sulis Jr. Hazel was born in Murray River, P.E.I., daughter of the late John J. and Anne (Campbell) Beck. She was the last of her immediate family, predeceased by her seven sisters and three brothers. She is survived by her son, James and his wife, Judith; a grandson, Adam (Robyn); a granddaughter, Katharine; as well as many nieces and nephews. At Hazel's request there was no visitation at the funeral home. Following cremation, a private service was held in the Fernhill Cemetery in Saint John.
CALEDONIA RESIDENTS OPPOSE COMMUNICATIONS TOWER
In the April issue we announced the birth of Berry Genge, daughter of Geoff Genge and Michele Harris of Caledonia. Now at the age of six months she's already getting involved in community affairs. In late May Berry was out at a public meeting helping her neighbours protest plans by Rogers Communications to erect a microwave tower in Caledonia. The residents packed a local church basement to hear Dr. Magda Havas of Trent University present studies from many European countries linking microwave and radio wave transmission systems with harmful health effects to those living near them.
Geoff Genge (1.4.6.5,3.5.2,) with Berry on his lap was seated in the front row. Their home abuts the seven-acre lot on which Rogers intends to erect its newest microwave transmission tower on Prince Edward Island. Geoff and Michele and all their neighbours are totally opposed to the plan.
"There is no way we can accept this. Once you learn this information, you can't unlearn it," he told The Guardian.
Geoff said they moved to Caledonia because they wanted to raise a family in this secure, rural environment.
"It's all I work for," he said.
Now, Rogers wants to build a 35-storey tower next to his two-storey home.
"We would be in its shadow forever," he said.
Rachael Cassidey represented Rogers Communication at the meeting. She said the new tower was necessary to complete the Island grid. The company hopes to organize a public meeting soon to present its side of the story.
FASTING FOR INSIGHT
The Allied Youth Group of Montague skipped meals for 30 hours in mid-April in an attempt to experience the hunger that millions of the world's children live with daily. They invited other AY groups from PEI to join them and had representatives from a number of branches. But in the opinion of Katie Beck of Alliston it wasn't a true test.
"We'll never really know what real hunger, starvation, feels like," Katie (1.4.3A.3.4.4.1) told The Eastern Graphic. "We had a big meal before we started our 30 hour fast and we know that we will have food in a few hours. Children in other parts of the world are starving and ... we can go to the refrigerator any time of the day or night and get a snack."
Cynthia Bell (1.4.6.7,6,3.1) of Beach Point also is a member of the Montague AY group.
The Fast raised $550 for World Vision. Allied Youth is an International young people's organization which promotes education, involvement and personal growth.
A REMINDER
Sarah Jackson (1.4.6.8.3,) is still looking for recipes for the cookbook she hopes to have ready for our reunion next year. This one, her third, will feature Beck Family recipes so send along some of your favourites. The older the better! She hopes to have it ready to send to the printers in August so get them in as soon as possible. Sarah lives at Beach Point and you can reach her by email at hsnjackson@pei.sympatico.ca
GROWING BIG AND FAST
Expect to see a lot of giant pumpkins in Kings County P.E.I. next fall.
Bill VanIderstine (1.4.6.5,3.2,) of Montague, the pumpkin king of the Island, has donated 80 pumpkin seeds for distribution to people interested in trying their luck. They are from four large pumpkins that he grew himself and that weighed from 696 to 862 lbs. Bill has been the Island champion for the past two years, and has his hopes set on the Atlantic championship.
Interviewed by Beverley Roach of The Eastern Graphic, Bill said growing giant pumpkins requires a lot of time and attention, but it's a lot of fun. He said you meet a lot of great people who are doing the same thing.
"You share ideas and methods and tell a few fibs. It's all in good fun."
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