Dad's Hometown Memories Podcast

Shepherd Family in Smithville

Ivan recounts the history of the Shepherd family in Smithville starting with William E. Shepherd who settled in Smithville in 1914 after operating a sawmill in Caistor for a number of years. If you follow the "Memories of Smithville" Facebook page, you'll see a number of pictures posted there that go along with this edition of the podcast. Enjoy!

Ivan's Chamber Speech

Welcome to the first live,(recorded), edition of Dad's Hometown Memories. Dad was asked to be the guest speaker at the AGM of the West Lincoln Chamber of Commerce on their 70th Anniversary. We were able to capture the speech and turn it into this edition of Dad's Hometown Memories Podcast. We hope you enjoy.

Hamlets and Crossroads

Dad has returned after a short absence from the microphone. He recently attended an event hosted by the Smithville Historical Society at the old Railway Station in town. Murray Lampman delivered a talk on some of the small hamlets in the area where he grew up and that was the inspiration for this podcast. Enjoy!

The Chamber, Citizens of the Year and Hot Air Balloons

In Dad's first episode of 2018 he gets a new microphone to step up the quality of his performance! He reminisces about the Board of Trade and the various incarnations of the Chamber of Commerce in Smithville and West Lincoln. In addition you will hear about the Chamber's Citizen of the Year program and a little history of Stan Sheldrake's hot air balloon. Please enjoy and share with others who might like to listen.

Carruthers' Printing and Smithville Review History

Welcome back to the seventh edition of Dad's Hometown Memories. Today Ivan shares his history with the Print Shop in Smithville, how he started in the business and the evolution of Carruthers' Printing and the Smithville Review. Dad also touches on some of the commercial businesses that came to set up shop in town as well as some interesting happenings that come along with being the editor of a small town weekly newspaper. We hope you enjoy this episode, please share it with others who might be interested. Thanks for listening.

Dad's Hometown Memories, Year 1 Episode 6

Welcome to episode 6 of Dad's Hometown Memories. In this episode Ivan recounts the people behind the book, Memories of Smithville- 1787 to 1950. In addition to honouring those folks, Ivan uses a recent phone conversation with Marjorie Chase as a jumping off point to outline the life of Marjorie's husband Jim. Listen in as Ivan provides a few stories about the railroad in Smithville and also some about how polio affected residents of the village. To end the episode, Ivan pays tribute to his good friend, Joe Belcot. Please enjoy and share.

Dad's Hometown Memories, Year 1 Episode 5

Ivan is back with Episode 5 in his Memories podcast. Ivan shares the thoughts of Mr. Frank Page who he interviewed regarding the history of Smithville and some of it's early inhabitants and the businesses that lined the streets of the village. There are a lot of names in this episode and we hope some will be familiar to you. A number of the buildings where these businesses operated from still exist today and hopefully in your next walk around town you will recognize some of them.

Dad's Hometown Memories, Year 1 Episode 4

In this week's episode Ivan begins by reminiscing about his family's arrival in Smithville and then spends the rest of the podcast telling stories and giving thanks to the many people who supported and mentored him as a young man growing up in Smithville.

Dad's Hometown Memories, Year 1 Episode 3

Episode three from the shop on St Catharines Street has Ivan talking about the beginings of the village, the arrival of electricity and the early years of the fire department. Ivan shares a very personal story about the near drowning of a family member while he was on the fire department. Thanks for tuning in!

Dad's Hometown Memories, Year 1 Episode 2

Ivan's second episode covers some of the stories of the Carruthers family arrival in Smithville. He covers schooling, cadet corps during the war years at Smithville High School, early jobs that he and Bill Shrum had and the terrifying topic of sinkholes in Smithville! Come on into the shop, sit down and let's have a chat.