Dad's Hometown Memories Podcast

Joanne McLaren and West Lincoln Veterans of World War One

In this episode, Dad talks with Joanne McLaren who has done some exhaustive and detailed work in her book, "Veterans Of West Lincoln WW1". In this book, Joanne has provided amazing details into the lives of 185 veterans from the area, many who returned home after The Great War, some who did not. The book has now been published and is available for $28.00 by contacting Joanne at 905-957-7845 or email her at wlveterans@gmail.com

Listen in as Joanne describes the work that went into putting this information together and as she reads the history of 3 local veterans that are detailed in the book.

 

Memories from Bill Shrum-Poultry Breeders in the area and beyond

This episode is Dad reading a column that was written by Bill Shrum of Smithville and submitted to and published in the Bird's Eye Review. Bill gives a wonderful recitation of his memories and knowledge of the poultry fanciers and breeders in Smithville, in Niagara and in North America. It's an amazing recollection of a once-thriving and very close knit community that few people have reason to consider until you walk into a show at one of the local fall fairs, the Canadian National Exhibition or the Royal Winter Fair. Enjoy!

History of the Buildings on Smithville's Downtown Mural

Welcome back to the Print Shop and another episode of Dad's Hometown Memories. In this, the 21st episode, Dad takes the time to outline the history of all of the buildings in the beautiful mural that was installed on the wall of the Murgatroyd building at the stoplight in town. Some of the information comes from the history books published about Smithville and other stories come from Dad's own memory! We've included a picture of the mural on the Facebook posting for this episode so that you can look at the picture and follow along as Dad narrates the history of each building. We hope you enjoy and if you do, please share this episode with others.

The Boulter Family and Business History

In this last episode before Christmas 2018, Ivan first pays tribute to Harry Smith from Belleville Ontario who passed away recently. Harry was podcasting into his 90's and gave Dad some of the motivation and inspiration to start this podcast. The rest of the episode is dedicated to the Boulter family of Smithville. The Boulter family was involved in the meat and grocery business in the Smithville area for many years and through many generations. We hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane.

In Remembrance 2-Buck Edwards

Dad wanted to publish another episode before Remembrance Day 2018 to honour the memory of another Smithville veteran, Buck Edwards. I think the episode speaks for itself so I won't describe the content, please enjoy. Dad and his sister Janet Shrum will be laying a wreath this Sunday at the Smithville Legion in Remembrance of their brother William who was killed in action in Holland in 1945, and their mother Mildred Leona Carruthers. Hopefully you get a chance to join everyone for the ceremony and if you do, Dad would love to say hi.

In Remembrance, Harry MacDonald and Roy Swick

This episode marks the second year of recording Dad's memories in podcast form. Being near to Remembrance Day Dad wanted to pay tribute to a couple of men from Smithville who left home for Europe in the late 30's and early 40's and came back to continue their lives in Smithville. There are many more stories of folks from Smithville who went off to war and you can hopefully find those stories in some of the very good local history books or perhaps in your own family scrapbooks. Dad chose these two men because of the personal relationships that he had with both. 

One part that stood out for me from these recollections is that many residents not only lived in town but they worked in town and they wore multiple hats around the village. Things needed to be done and everyone had a hand in making sure everything ran smoothly. We hope you enjoy these stories.

Surveying the Town, Letter from a Listener and a Shout Out to Brad Smith.

Yup, it's been awhile but what a wonderful summer it has been. In this new episode Ivan provides the history of how West Lincoln was first surveyed. In addition he is looking for some help finding family history for Brad Smith. Brad, a local author, contacted Dad and asked if he had any information on his family tree. Have a listen and maybe you can help Brad. The episode ends with a letter from Rick Frith about his childhood in Smithville and his memories of his dad and life on the TH&B railway. We hope you enjoy this walk down memory lane.

Here's a link for you to have a look at Brad's fantastic reads: http://www.bradsmithbooks.com/index.php

The Shrum Family History

Hi, and welcome to Ivan’s 15^th podcast. Dad had been doing these podcasts since last November and I can tell you that he loves the response that he gets from each of you who listen and from those of you who contact him or comment on each episode. Almost 1500 of you have downloaded and listened. Please share these episodes with anyone you think might be interested. It’s been shared in many countries around the world but for some reason, in the United States, South Carolina and New Jersey lead the way so thank you to whoever has shared it to friends or family in those states. Outside of Canada and the U.S., the Bahamas leads the way in downloads. 

This might be my favourite episode so far. In this episode he talks about his brother-in-law Bill Shrum and the Shrum family. Bill Shrum is my uncle and there are memories in this episode that I haven’t heard before. The Shrum family has a long history not just in Smithville but, as you’ll hear in this episode, in the Ontario agricultural community.

In addition to this wonderful family history you’ll hear a bit about a quarry in Smithville that turned into a landfill that turned into a soccer pitch that some of you, or your children, or your grandchildren, may have played on. On top of that you’ll hear a bit about Caistorville baseball. So much packed into one episode, I hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much for listening, sharing and commenting.

A little Smithville Sports History and the Women's Institutes in the area

Dad is back with some memories about sports in Smithville. Sports history is a topic that is requested quite often when people talk to dad about his podcast. In addition he spends some time detailing the history of the numerous Women's Institutes in and around Smithville. 

Waterways, Wellandport and Middleport

It's been awhile but Ivan is back with a new episode,(the delay was totally Greg's fault!). This one covers some of the history of how the waterways contributed to the settlement of some of the areas south of Smithville. You will hear a lot of information about a village you probably know, Wellandport, and a little bit about a village that many of you drive through but may not know of it's history--Middleport. We hope you enjoy!