Natatorium footage from 1963,........Have a look at the pool,it should spark some memories,for most of you & who knows there's a good chance some of us may have been there on this day,..........Just neat to see the old pool, in action.
Download this and other original video files with Multiply Premium.
Did you notice just how close the fence of the Nat & the Boardwalk are to the River....... Checkout Google Earth for that same location now & you will see the earth is at least 100 feet further out to the river nowadays................ "the times they are a changing"---Bob Dylan HF&RV
Boy do I ever remember those days. 25 cents to get in. Had the best bag of chips at the concession stand on the roof. 5cents.That was my second home. I remember the swimming and diving meets there that the parks put on. I swam for Brown Blvd. park. I used to swim in my age group and then move up to swim against the adults. I still have a couple of swimming medals. All the rest.....lost in the moves.
Boy do I ever remember those days. 25 cents to get in. Had the best bag of chips at the concession stand on the roof. 5cents.That was my second home. I remember the swimming and diving meets there that the parks put on. I swam for Brown Blvd. park. I used to swim in my age group and then move up to swim against the adults. I still have a couple of swimming medals. All the rest.....lost in the moves.
Hi Peter,.and don't forget the best 'Toasted Hot Dogs ' around No Steamies up there, it was always the way to wind up the day with a treat on the roof,.and Remember dropping a few chips to some hungry friends who were still in the pool area..........HF&RV
I noticed the river being very close too. Yea the old boardwalk ran up quite close to the back fence. Lots of landfill along the old Verdun waterfront compared to once upon a time. I do wonder what it would have been like back in the day with the extended waterfront we have now. I mean there were thousands of kids in Verdun in those days and the numbers almost certainly will never go that high again, unless there is another baby boom. There is now 3 times as much park for one third the kids.
I left Verdun in 1949 and came to California but remember swimming at the pool in the evenings after work during the summer. Great pool. J.B.California
Your right on,.it's a cool pool,.once the largest outdoor pool in La Belle Province, Did you bring any old photogrpahs of Verdun/ Montrea etc etc with you to California ,if so & if you feel like sharing them,we'd love to see them.......the era you lived there would be neat to see,we've compiled several Boardwalk pictures over the years,as the boardwalk, the Natatorium & of course the Auditorium were a big part of all Our lives........... HF&RV ps: We Appreciate your input....
I am amazed actually at how much traffic certain threads generate ,I certainly would never guess these amounts ,if it were not for the built in traffic counter. It seems we have an incredible amounf of traffic,to view the threads posted,but not always a lot of individual responses. Either way we do see the amount of people at least reading our input& we appreciate that. Oddly enough we have a lot of readers who just surf by or just read our post's & look at our pictures,Which (that's how ya spell it ,isn't it ?) We are happy to have all traffic,whether you read or post ,your welcome: If you feel like sharing some photos or stories,and if you need help to figure out "How To" anything ,..then just ask,we will be happy to try & help
sandywest wrote on Sep 10, '09, edited on Sep 11, '09
oh for the good ole days when you could read and enjoy a site without being stalked by your isp number - I personally stay away from places because of this - but that is the internet today - out of control - btw Les I loved the video of surfing in the ice - what a whacko that guy is! at least he had sense enough to wear a helmet - and yes, you spelled it correctly - it's which - unless you are talking about "witch" - the kind that ride on brooms - those are my personal favorites - favorites - spelled the American way - the nation of retards as one of the members referred to us.
Tomorrow is 9/11 - may all those people rest in peace - lest we forget!
Thanks Sandy I hope you continue to read & enjoy most sites,we didn't request the traffic count,but it comes automatically with each persons post (that is each persons thread ,so if you start a thread ,you will know who has at least looked at it,...... As for VerdunConncetions we absolutely Do Not collect ISP 's nor do we aspire to look into or collect any data,) We appreciate your input & readership,regardless of where it comes from. I just thought I'd mention how much this Naatatorium Video has generated,......pretty cool I think....... I agree with you though there are some sites that make people feel unwelcome,I assure you that is & was not my intent. .........I wonder also where there could possibly be a Nation of Retards,certainly if we are referring too our nations politics ,then perhaps I could cautiously assume that every Nation has their share ie: Cheney /Rove who probably ran the world into the ground, under the guise of the GW admin, but your correct in taking exception to being collectively thrown into the same basket,which I don't believe was the intent of the reply you were referring to.Thanks for your Input .always appreciated: HF&RV ps: we don't care if you read or post ,but we do appreciate your passing by (posting is better though......hahahaha ) where's those bolts when you need them.......................
I look at the video of the old swimming pool.Brings back a lot of memories.I still go to the pool to-day and the cost to ge at in is 2.00$.The only place you and go and spend the day.You can even bring your own chair to sit on.If any one knows Jimmy Gill to let you know Jimmy pasted away. I grew up in verdun and my dad was a policeman.I now live in the west island but am planning to sell my house this spring and move back to verdun.There is now a lot of great places to eat also.. Bill J
Hey Les and Bill J.!!! Just like you folks and the other postees, my brother and I and neighboring kids used to go from Gertrude St. and then 1st Ave. out to the Nat. almost every morn that was nice and sunny in the summers from June until late August during the 1940-1950 era. It was 10 cents to get in back then and wll worth it! We spent the morning there, carried our lunches in sacks, thenh spent the afternoon out by the Power House in Ville Lasalle. Plenty of hiking/bikeing but well worth the effort. Ahh, those were the days! I knew a Jimmy Gill on 1st Ave. and his brother Billy. (They'd be in their 70's now.) So many friends are slipping away. Les, thanks for the videos and pics. Victah
Hi Vic , the Nat was a big part of all the kids in Verdun & plenty of them from the Point too.. Walk , Bike Hike , like you say, Money Well Spent for sure, we generally had an annual pass,but if you went early in the morning prior to 10am (I think it was) they let you in free.....One of the albums I posted the other day had a bunch of Nat pics in them too, Also a big deal was the small bag of chips for a nickel & a soft drink/pop & they had the best Toasted Hotdogs, remember those with the special flat buns................Cheers !! HF&RV
Ah yes sitting up on the roof with a bag of Maple leaf chips or an ice cream cone. Just checking out the girls. Never a wasted summer. Or doing fancy dives off the high board to impress the girls, then a nice easy five minute walk home. What wonderful summers I spent there.
Ah yes sitting up on the roof with a bag of Maple leaf chips or an ice cream cone. Just checking out the girls. Never a wasted summer. Or doing fancy dives off the high board to impress the girls, then a nice easy five minute walk home. What wonderful summers I spent there.
Agreed........great summers for sure: Cheers !! HF&RV
And just a few yards from the pool was "the pit" a small depressed area in the grass with bushes. We use to hang out there . Or under one of the red tops on the benches. Verdun and the Point hold many good memories for me.
A great recollection story of growing up in Montreal by a fellow named 'saddlerider' an ex Montrealer now living somewhere in the prairies. but his retelling of his memory of times gone by are really well done, This story could quite easily be told by any one of us, & that being said is what links us all together with the common thread (denominator) of growing up in Verdun/Montreal.From sitting on the gallery or people watching from our windows ,to playing in the street when the 'water truck came rolling down the avenues'..always an adventure:Read his story if you like>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>HF&RV>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Memories Of montreal from the '50s & '60sHow many of us have similar memories of growing up in our towns and cities? When I was just a boy growing up in Montreal, I lived in some interesting areas of the city. This picture of a boy crossing the street could have been me, this is the exact way the flats and streets looked in my time growing up in Point St Charles. We used to play kick the can, street hockey, hide and seek, buck-buck how many fingers up, throwing a ball against the brick exteriors and bouncing it to see how high we could make it go. The girls would have colored chalk and they would draw hopscotch patterns and skip on the sidewalks.
Then there was the water truck that would come by spraying and using their huge circular electric brushes to clean the dirty streets. We would all run alongside the truck and try to jump over the spray without getting our feet and legs wet. But on hot summer days, that spray felt so good. We played street hockey all year round and the girls would join in as well. Many of us would ask our moms to sew a number 9 on the back of our sweaters so that we could pretend we were the late great Maurice 'the Rocket' Richard.
Another fun thing we did was in the winter, when we had a heavy snowfall, we would build tunnels through the banks and play inside them. It could be dangerous , if we heard the loud rolling noise of the snow truck coming down our street we would run for cover because we didn't want to be sucked into those snow shoots with the sharp blades that choped up the snow and dumped into the truck that was alongside. There were a few horrific stories of kids losing their lives to this monster.
It was fun to watch the street when the sun went down.The people would open their windows, stick a pillow out to rest their elbows on, smoke cigarettes and talk and yell to each other from their flats. Sometimes the conversations would go on for hours. We never locked our doors at night and had no fear of being vandalized. Everyone knew each other and watched each others' backs.
The picture of the back lanes of the Point today are still exactly the way they looked years ago - a mess of telephone and electrical wires crisscrossing the alleyway. Clothes out on the lines. Garbage piled up along the fences waiting for the garbage man to pick up. Apart from cats and dogs running loose, we also had rats the size of some cats darting here and there. Tenants put out poison mixed in strawberry jam on small squares of white bread, hoping to attract the rats and kill them. I had a few encounters with those ugly vermin when I was a boy but never got bitten, thank goodness.
We had to call in the local rat catcher sometimes because once in awhile, when I brought in an empty garbage can, there may have been one hiding at the bottom and would jump out in the flat and scare the daylights out of us. It didn't happen too often, thank goodness. My chores back then were to empty the ashes from our coal burning stove, take out the garbage, shovel the coal into our coal bin when it was poured down a chute by the coalman and to put the ice in our icebox when the iceman dropped it at the top of our stairs. Damn, it was cold! Many a time we would distract the iceman and run to the back of his icetruck and chip off some ice to suck on. I bet not too many of you ever broke off pieces of slightly hardened black tar and chewed on it? I did, they say it helped keep our teeth white.
This photo of Mount Royal was taken from an apartment on Guy Street. My friends and I used to hop on a bus from the Point and take it up Guy Street and get off at the corner of Sherbrooke and Cote des Neiges and walk the rest of the way to the mount. It may have been a half hour walk from the last bus stop. Once we were on Mount Royal, our play commenced. We would pretend to be explorers and mountain climbers. We would try to find a steep side of the mountain and work our way up to the top. The things I did back then I couldn't even imagine today. There were stables of riding horses available and we would pool our money to rent one horse for all of us to ride for half an hour. We would get a share of the ride for ten or 15 minutes each. Afterwards, we would scoot on over to Beaver Lake and walk barefoot in the shallow parts and chase the ducks. Being boys, we would find as much mischief to get into as we could so we could tempt the officials to scold us or chase us off the mount.
Montreal was a great city to grow up in. I had too many experiences and fun to write in one blog, I hope to share more of them with my readers as time goes by.
Read More about my journey's of growing up in Montreal:
I hope you enjoyed the adventures of my growing up in Montreal.The first 23 years of my life were definitely challenges that with help and guidance I managed to survive.and keep my spirit in tact
I was looking for a mention of the Ariwana bar on Bridge street as you see I don't know or ever knew how to spell it I just went there. I wonder if anybody would know the recipe for their famous Tom Collins.
I can't say I remember this fellow on CJAD, however I guess when I was younger we were listening to CKGM(CKGM-fm,then became CHOM) or we listened to CFCF when Dave Boxer was the DJ,or CFOX which played a lot of newish music,before swirching back to sports& talk radio.
Anyway Mr McKenty was 87. -Les HF&RV
MONTREAL - Neil McKenty, a former Jesuit priest whose reputation for integrity and incisive commentary made him a popular radio talk-show host in Montreal in the 1970s, died Saturday morning at Montreal General Hospital after a short illness. He was 87.
Many Montrealers can recall McKenty’s distinctive voice as host of Exchange, the city’s top-rated English-language phone-in show on CJAD radio in the 1970s.
McKenty began his broadcasting career at the age of 47. Two years earlier, he had left the Jesuit order after 26 years, not because he had lost his faith, he recalled, but because of the conviction that he could make a contribution to society in some other way.
And so he moved to Montreal from Toronto with his wife, Catherine McKenty. They fit in quickly in their adopted city, taking up cross-country skiiing, while McKenty developed a passion for hockey during the glory years of the Canadiens.
McKenty worked for 14 years at CJAD, eight as host of Exchange.
In 1985, McKenty quit his job at CJAD, which came with a $90,000 salary, to complete In the Stillness Dancing: The Journey of John Main, a biography of the monk who founded Montreal’s Benedictine Priory.
Two years later, however, McKenty returned to broadcasting, this time as host of McKenty Live, a daily 30-minute television program combining interviews and phone-in segments.
McKenty went on to write other books, including the best-selling novel, The Other Key, Skiing Legends and the Laurentian Lodge as well as his autobiography, The Inside Story: Journey of a Former Jesuit Priest and Talkshow Host Towards Self-Discovery.
The Gazette published a glowing review of his autobiography in 1997, describing it as wonderful book that raised “profoundly religious and spirtual themes.”
The Westmount resident was also a prolific letter writer to The Gazette, often writing with wit about religion and politics.
He continued to write in community newspapers, often discussing the Catholic Church or U.S. politics. He maintained a blog, Exchange with Neil McKenty, until early May when he posted that he was ill and “expected to be back with you soon.”
McKenty leaves his wife Catharine Fleming Turnbull.
Visitation will be held at the Côte des Neiges Funeral Home, 4525 Côte des Neiges Rd., on May 18, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. The service will be on May 19, at 3:30 p.m. with a reception following. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Desta, Benedict Labre House, or Nazareth House.
Maislin's was a fairly large trucking outfit ,for many years in Ville Lasalle on Newman Blvd,.......remember that end of Newman which seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere,......and across the street from Maislin's was a little house style bar,....and one of the guys from Verdun ran a motorcycle shop or body shop near there too,.I can't recall his name now,but I'm sure one of you do Remember it.
In anycase here's some old Maislin Photo's ,. checkout Hank's Truck Pictures for more trucks etc etc ,.or the Diesel Gypsy............. HF&RV
In 1945, four Canadian brothers borrowed a thousand dollars to make a down payment on a used truck. From these modest beginnings, operating from their mother's kitchen, they launched a local cartage service.
The original group was later joined by three more brothers and a brother-in-law. Together, they transformed the modest initial investment into one of the largest trucking companies in North America: Maislin Transport.
During the early years, Maislin operated from two locations: Montreal and New York. The primary commodities transported were fish from Canada to the United States and fruit from the United States to Canada.
During the next ten years, the company was incorporated and grew rapidly; opening offices in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Champlain, New York as well as in Toronto, Ontario with Montreal serving as the base of operations. In time, the company expanded its operations in Ontario, Quebec, New England, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
The Maislin name on trucks became synonymous with fast, safe and dependable service covering a wide area in the United States and Canada.
In late 1972, Maislin Transport became a public corporation trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Montreal Stock Exchange (now known as the Montreal Exchange) as part of the Maislin Industries Limited Group.
Although the economy was experiencing a downturn in the late 70s, a time when most trucking companies suffered losses, Maislin was running a profitable operation and so the decision was made to purchase Gateway and Quinn Motor Freight, two transport companies, for strategic purposes. During that same period the United States and Canadian governments deregulated the transport industry. The combined effects of deregulation and recession in North America, including stagflation, with 18% interest rates, forced Maislin to close its doors in 1982.
In 1984, Morrie Maislin, a veteran of the transport industry and his brother Alan, began Maisliner Transport. Maisliner operated a small terminal in LaSalle, Quebec and formed a strategic alliance with a company in New York. As sales increased, Maisliner formed another alliance with a company in New England with the goal of providing 24 to 48 hours service to existing clients. In time, Maisliner also opened a California to Canada direct service.
At present, Maisliner runs with its own equipment between Montreal and NY/NJ, New England, Los Angeles, the Carolinas, and Georgia. For all other points, we work in conjunction with our interline partners to offer complete North American coverage.
To complement our ground service, we have added a logistics division that offers worldwide ocean and airfreight services as well as a cross-border division that offers small parcel service, warehouse and distribution to and from the United States.
Did you know that Carol Shelby ,who always tweeked factory engines ,to make them run his way,.also wasn't running factory equipment in his own carcass........Nope he is one of the longest living heart transplant recpient on the planet,.running a differnet heart than the one he signed in with......(since 1990)....that's cool in itself. But he better known for his tweeking of Ford Shelby Cobra's & the Cobra itself,........a very cool , & very fast car.....RIP Mr. Shelby
When Shelby died Thursday night in a Dallas hospital, he also was one of the nation’s longest-living heart transplant recipients, having received a heart on June 7, 1990, from a 34-year-old man who died of an aneurysm. Shelby also received a kidney transplant in 1996 from his son, Michael.
“What made him so unusual is he developed, literally, hundreds of cars,” said Craig Jackson, chairman and CEO of Barrett-Jackson Auction Company. “This guy was 89 years old and he was still developing cars.”
Shelby first made his name behind the wheel of a car, winning France’s grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race with teammate Ray Salvadori in 1959. He had turned to the race-car circuit in the 1950s after his chicken ranch failed. He won dozens of races in various classes throughout the 1950s and was twice named Sports Illustrated’s Driver of the Year.
He already was suffering serious heart problems when he won Le Mans and ran the race “with nitroglycerin pills under his tongue,” his longtime friend, Dick Messer, executive director of Los Angeles’ Petersen Automotive Museum, once noted. Soon after his win at Le Mans, he gave up racing and turned his attention to designing high-powered “muscle cars” that eventually became the Shelby Cobra and the Mustang Shelby GT500.
“He’s an icon in the medical world and an icon in the automotive world,” Messer said.
“His legacy is the diversity of his life,” he added. “He’s incredibly innovative. His life has always been the reinvention of Carroll Shelby.”
The Cobra, which used Ford engines and a British sport car chassis, was the fastest production model ever made when it was displayed at the New York Auto Show in 1962.
A year later, Cobras were winning races over Corvettes, and in 1964 the Rip Chords had a Top 5 hit on the Billboard pop chart with “Hey, Little Cobra.” (”Spring, little Cobra, getting ready to strike, spring, little Cobra, with all of your might. Hey, little Cobra, don’t you know you’re gonna shut ‘em down?”)
In 2007, an 800-horsepower model of the Cobra made in 1966, once Shelby’s personal car, sold for $5.5 million at auction, a record for an American car.
“It’s a special car. It would do just over three seconds to 60 (mph), 40 years ago,” Shelby told the crowd before the sale, held in Scottsdale, Ariz.
It was Lee Iacocca, then head of Ford Motor Co., who assigned Shelby the task of designing a model of Ford’s Mustang that could compete against the Corvette for young male buyers. Iacocca often joked that Shelby was so persistent he gave him the money and Ford V-8 engines to build the Cobra just to get him out of his office.
If you ever drove one ,then you know it was fun,....I have driven,both types & had a ball......thank you Mr Shelby. -Les , HF&RV , Cheers !
There were quite a few reply's in this column,from old members from the old MSN version of Verdun Connections,......some interesting people replied here: Scott if your reading this post, then you may recognize some names ,but I will still try to get better info,on the old members real names not just online ones.
I'm a new member, just wanting to know if anyone remembers the
above club,believe it was around the 1947-50s.
I lived on Rushbrooke St. next to Rene's resturant.
Most of the members also were part of the ball club that Rene sponsored. Some of the names are Chubby Thompson, Cliff Moron, Vern Roberts, and many others.
I remember the Jolly Rogers club, I used to ride in Verdun and surrounding area's, I had a 1955 Triumph, a Tiger 110, never did ride with any of the Jolly Roger members.
I used to ride with George Elkin, Vern Provost, Kenny Coby and Roger Brossard and a few others that I can't remember, also rode with several bikers from NDG Bob Richard, Pete Gilespie, Pete Peterson.
Paid $600.00 for that motorcycle, a far cry from what they want for a new harley now-a-days.
Hope Ya all had a Happy Thanksgiving up there in the cold counrtry, ours is just around the corner.
here in sunny California, oooops, we finally got some rain and too much of it.
margo,martys last was lacey,sonny stark was on the back of martys bike when he was killed,sonny walked with a cane for a long time.sonny lived down the street from me on osborne.
WELL THE JOLLY ROGER M.C WASNT A VERY BIG MEMBERSHIP CLUB.MY FATHER WAS AN ORIGINAL MEMBER THAT CREST THAT IS POSTED IN THE PICS IS THE ORIGINAL OFF HIS LEATHER JACKET.I ALSO HAVE AN ORIGINAL MEMBERSHIP CARD.BY THE WAY MY DAD WALTER "WALLY" LIDDELL IS STILL ALIVE AND LIVING IN VERDUN.COULD NEVER GET THE HARD HEADED OLD BUGGER TO MOVE.IF YOU KNOW HIM HE IS STILL IN THE VERDUN TELEPHONE BOOK GIVE HIM A CALL HE BE HAPPY TO HEAR FROM HIS PAST.
Bill Butler is still doing well, maintaining residences in Chateauguay and Florida. His son now runs his cheque writing maching company located on Verdun and Hickson.
His younger brother Gary lives on Oakville and I'll be visiting him next week.
My Uncle use to mention to me as child the Jolly Rodgers Club he was a member his name Robert Buck. I also knew Roger Brassard, if i'm not mistaken he use to own a motocycle shop for Hondas named Newman Motors on Newman Blvd. in Lasalle. He had two employees Gino the mechanic and Victor Dupuis. Roger has two sons Raymond and Roger also known as Sonny also had a daughter named Darlene. Last I heard he sold the shop.
Your right, Roger had a shop on Newman, he sold it several years ago.
He and Victor built a 1956 600cc Tiger 110 Triumph for yours truly, it was a unique work of art.
When he started he had a shop in Verdun in one of the alley ways, then moved to a shop at the corner of Monk and St. Patrick. The shop is still standing and located just west of the new bridge at the foot of Monk Blvd.(Welding Shop Now)
Victor's last name was Dechaines and not Dupuis, Victor and I rode together many times, when he was young and reckless he lived at the corner of Rielle and Wellington at the South East Corner, 2nd floor just next to the Prince George.
The last time I saw Victor was at the Champlain Bar on Church, he was working in a Harley Shop. The last time I heard from him, he was in BC.
I believe there is a Sonny Brossard that is in this group, I just wonder if he and Roger are related?
I remember Newman Motors all to well. During the mid seventies I use to frequent the shop often. At that time Roger lived above the shop. It was during this time that a Victor Dupuis worked for him as I was married to Victor at that time. One of Rogers friends who I only knew as Tarazan would visit. Maybe you know this person. Last I knew of Roger was that he sold the shop and relocated to property he had purchased by a lake. Do not recall the area as I only visited him twice out there. Both his sons went out West and Darlene went East.
Bought my first (and only in Canada anyway) motor cycle from these guys in May 1965. It was a Honda 90. It was one of the first few imported I believe. Cost $329.00 plus tax & lic. My dad was not happy about motor cycles so it had to be the scooter variety CM90.
Anyway it was real fun to have and only fell of twice. Once on that great S turn leading from Wellington onto the Champlain Bridge approach. Slid about a hundred feet. Burned a hole in my jacket, suffed a nice pair of shoes and only bent the foot peg. Now have a old Kawa KZ750 Twin. Better not fall off that one here. Too much traffic would mean a large squish sound and unhappy pets.....
-Lost plate sometime Friday before long weekend (Labour Day I think).
-Had a date in RAwdon so my Dad suggested a "substitute" plate (cardboard.
-Returned Monday Afternoonto go to Bar-B-Q at brother's house in Verdun. All is well
- Stopped by Verdun cop on Joseph near Bannatyne. Asks about cardbaord plate????
- I explain... He says follow me to station.. (on Lasalle and Galt). He disusses with desk sgt. They recognize my name and proceed to start arrest proceedings. I am now a prisoner with bail required but NOT put in cell. Biggest bust of the week I guess.
- They seem to be having a good time about it.Since they have Al Capone's associate they think.
- I get my one phone call. All my Dad tell him need bail about 50 bucks-cash ONLY.
- It is between pay checks at Northern Electric so neither he or my brother has the money. He is also major pissed at the cops. Family persues other options.
- Twenty minutes latter the desk sgt gets a call. He is no longer laughing. It is MAYOR O'REILLY a good friend of my father for many years.
- Cops now are in a panic. They acknowledge to Mayor George O' who they have and appear to be getting an ear full.
- Mayor says HE will post bail and it arrives in the hands of my angry father.
-The cops huddle and decide that I will be charges with making "counterfeit license plates" plural a possible FELONY in Quebec --- go figure.
- My dad and Archie Wilcox (Queen' Consul lawyer) have a meeting on Wednesday with police chief.
- All is resolved after Wilcox and O'Rielly laughing at the cops antics. \
- My Father says he is glad he has moved to Greenfield Park and out of Verdun. (I doubt he means it).
NO Court Date and No further episodes. I get NEW plate next day ...early.
QUESTION: Steve how the hell did you know about this. Only used in past as a good drinking buddy story??????
Almost the first of the group to end up in Bordeau... But history would show that I wouldn't have been the last ...get my drift..
Re minor car-Honda confrontation Woodland andLAurendeau or Hadley
MAn that damn car jumped right out at corner and bit Frank on the knee. ONe of the most vicious and premeditated attacks ever witnessed
Frank was never the same riding on the bike after that day. He used to close his eyes aloy mumble prayers and always said his knee hurt after every ride....and we hadn't even had a beer that day...
We were both in the Lasalle court. you were with your dad and you told me thats the reason you were in court. I was there for loirtering picked up outside the resturant"Fish and Chips" on sixth and Eduard in Ville Lasalle.
Yes I was a member of the Jolly Rodgers, and have many pictures of same, lived on Woodland, still in touch with several others. Now living in Chateauguay. Still driving, both in Quebec & Winter in Florida
Hi touchy826,.......Those old pictures would be great to see,....and any other Verdun/Montreal type photo's you may have saved over the years,.....Hope you get a chance to post some of them ,..here onthe site,.or even start your own Photo Album................. HF&RV One of our other Verdun Connections members was or knew a lot of the JR MC guys,.....and we spoke of it on the site here a year or so ago,.....I can't Remember who it was,...but I think it may have been USNAVYBob,......I haven't seen him on here for awhile,............but you never know he may read the messgages,.and join in......Good Luck on finding all those old pictures HF&RV
Hi cessnakid3,............. Welcome to the VerdunConnections site,.
there are quite a few pictures available in the phtot albums ....under the 'pictures' link on the left hand side here,........ Sounds like your memory is working good,..we love to hear any Verdun story's or maybe you've got some pictures of life in Verdun/Montreal ?? We'd like to see those if you have some you'd like to share ....................Enjoy the site,I'm sure you'll meet a few old friends,....
These are only a few of the pictures,posted by one of our members 'nostop514' Nick Ostopkevich,
this last one was postd by 'touchy826' Ron Larman..........
I'm not sure but I think I babysat for you once when I was about 12 so that would have been around 1953???? My name back then was Judy Grayburn....then again, maybe you're not the same Stan....just thought I'd ask.
Neat photo......I recognize a few faces from way back in my "motorcycle mamma" days. Some really good times!!! Wouldn't it be interesting to know where all these guys ended up???? This old girl is still a 'HOG wannabe' and the sound of bikes going down the road still gives me goosebumps up and down my arms. With the price of bikes, maybe I can afford a 'scooter'......haha.
Small world, isn't it? Harry was my dad. He passed away in 2003(see In Memoriam page). Gibby passed away 1-2 years before him, I think. Sorry, I don't remember what street you lived on way back then. I think I lived on Valiquette at that time. So you're in "Bud the Spud" land........lovely over there. We have friends in Montague.....are you near there? By the way, did you know that you're in one of the photos in the "Pictures" section? I think it's on Page 2 of the albums under 'Motorcycles Verdun' and you're on the 3rd page. Great to hear back from you - take care.
Yes it really is a small world,and getting smaller all the time. So sorry to hear about
your dad and Gibby. While I knew them both I was much closer to your dad. he was such a great help to me when I was building runabouts. Your dad was building
B-hydroplanes whenever I wasn't bothering him for advice on how to build runabouts. He was a superb craftsman and very dedicated to the task at hand. I also
assisted your dad at quite a few regattas.Like Ste Jerome,Alexandria Ont. and of
course the Verdun Yacht Club,among others. I remember one day your dad mentioned that he had a sander that he wasn't using. I traded him my Hawian guitar
for it.Maybe you've seen it around the house.It was black with silver palm trees
printed on top.I have a farm in Goose River P.E.I. I'm about 15 miles north of
Montague.as a matter of fact I do alot of my shopping there .Goose River is located
on the north shore app.6 miles east of St.Peters Bay.A few other photos at the web site.Guys Canada hotel back row left of guy with a tie.Lachine outing, on Ron Larmans right wearing cap with white peak,2nd motorcycle guys left side with cap
Have attached another photo, Ron Stan & girls, I belive you have to click on my name & photo appears in another area.. At least this is what happened last time I sent one.
If you want to put your pictures in a Msg post,.and not added as an attachment (you can do that as well) However ,to ad to the Msg itself,
hit 'reply' to any Msg ,.....then when your reply window opens up,.you
will see a strip across the top of the reply area,with many selections,..
there is a little yellow box with some Mtns. & the sun in it,....
if you click on that little box,.it will open another window to allow you to select wheere you want to get your picture from,
it will say 'My Computer' or 'one will be 'clipart gallery'
under them You will see 'Add photo' etc etc .
First Click on the 'My Computer ' button
.then you will see another selection Open Up saying 'Browse'
Click on 'Browse' ,........now you can go to where you keep your pictures (the folder usually says 'My Pictures'
Select a photo, then click 'open' this will return you to the first window
where you saw the 'My Computer' button ,.and the 'Add Photo' button,...
Click 'Add Photo' ,.then you will be returned to your message post and you can then just hit the 'Send Message' .......just like you would if you were post any message...................
It's rreally easy,....just take one step at a time,.and you will be fine,
Good Luck,...........and if you need futher help,.No problem ,.we'l;l figure it out......................
Just thought that I would add this to the subject at hand. My Uncle Robert Buck was active with the Jolly Rogers and later on married a women by the name of Audrey Rankin. Should you wish additional information please feel free to reply.
I think I maybe able to solve the Verdun Pavillion mystery for those that are interested. I have a photo taken from the boardwalk side. It covers the complete south side of the restaurant. It also shows the length of the counter facing south on the boardwalk side. It is a picture of the Pavillion Restaurant Football team. It includes the owner of the restaurant his counterman and waitress. As it was described it was a large wooden building with an interior partition that split it into two sections.An eastern section and a western section. .Its location is as described. It was aligned with the top of Woodland Ave. on the south side of Lasalle Blvd. It abutted the side of the boardwalk. It was aligned with one of the sets of stairs that serviced the Verdun Yacht Club. The west side of the building housed the Dance Hall where Rolland David’s Orchestra played on weekends. Maynard Ferguson was his lead trumpet. That is until he left to join Stan Kentons group in New York. As I’m sure you all know he returned to Montreal to open the Olympic stadium and the 1976 summer games. We had sweet and free music on a warm summers evening..And,if you had a mind to you could dance away the evening with your girl , some dim light,sweet music and a zillion shad flies. The Verdun Yacht Club held it’s general meeting in mid-week in that same dance hall. The band stand was just a little east of the Pav. And a little closer to Lasalle Blvd. I spent a lot of nights in there in winter playing the skaters waltz for the rink,but,that’s another story. For someother time.
cessna kid ,....Now that's a Verdun post,........i hoe you do have some of those pics ,....the shad flies .ah yes I Remember them well,....the boating cllub,...all Great Stuff
That was supposed to say I'm glad you have that picture,......I got all excited thjere for a minute,....good recall ................ Super picture
(now you don't happen to have one of those Big Cowheads upat the old Elmhurst Dairy do you........hahahahah We've been searching for those for years too.........
This is as good a time as any to insert this recent photo in my album. About 35 years ago I was responsible for maintanance at CNR. Bob Leggat was a sales rep at McRobert Spring.He would call on me from time to time.On one visit I was telling him about a large sailboat I had built and needed a trailer to haul it. Now.Bob was one of the original members of the Jolly Rogers Club along with Ron Larman and many others. About 3 wks. later he called me up to tell me my trailer was ready & could I arrange to pick it up.Now, I didn’t ask Bob to build it,nor did I expect him to. When I went to see it wow! It sure was big and strong. I asked him what I owed him and he said,”nevermind we’ll make it up another time. I don’t know if we ever made it up but I do know that I never paid him anything.I used it for a lot of years until I got away from sailing. My son Sean bought a farm in P.E.I about 5 miles from my place,mentioned to me he needed a trailer so I gave it to him.Sean came for a visit to Pointe Claire on Christmas 2005. On his return to P.E.I.he was to pick up 2 ATV’s we had purchased in Maine. On arriving back home he sent me this photo to confirm his safe arrival.Bob passed away about fifteen years ago.For my sake this is not a photo of 2 ATV’s but,a photo of Bob’s gift to me of 35 years ago.How can anyone ever forget Verdun or the Jolly Rogers for that matter when there in my sons yard sits Bob Leggat....saying Hi !
You're right on. My first one was a Cessna 177 Cardinal which I sold about five years ago. I presently have a Cessna 172 skyhawk. My flying hours in the last few years have scaled way back.
When I left Verdun to work in Ottawa for two years Bob Buck was one of the riders who was to continue running the club,among others. I had been chief cook and bottle washer for some time but had to leave.I guess they did a good job,because the Club continued on for some time after that.
Where do you see a profile listing that shows cancelled membership? Can you copy and paste the page URL and send it to me? Usually if a membership is cancelled, the member ID does not show on the list that I see.
I remember Ken Hill a little. He became a stunt rider in a motorcycle act in the late 40's. He did an act where he rode a motorcycle inside a wire cage. I knew Alec Budd a little as he imported a lot of Harley 45's from War Assets, a lot of which ended up with the Jolly Rogers boys.The only 2 Vincent's I remember around in my time were owned by Cliff Moren and Bruce Hickey.
The last I saw of Ken, he was racing go Carts, This was many years ago, I had gone to the race with another friend Ted Dixon and suprised to see Ken. there.
Just a coincidence but I almost ran over your uncle yesterday , in the local (Chateauguay) I G A parking lot, but he still gave me a big smile
The Gazette ran a very nice story about your Uncles & Aunt, with there WW 2 activity
I always use to kid Ken about the war years, your grandfather was a radio ham & had an ariel that was 3 storys high, and we use to pass the word around, this was a German spy operation, Woodland Street.
I have E-Mailed to you from my yahoo site, copy of my profile, hope this is what your interested in. will try to attache a photo in my next mail to Verdun connections. but when I tried yesterday all went well until the final sending, when the message turned into front page of Verdun Connections
Thank you for the information. I know so little about my Dad's early years.
I had heard about the story in The Gazette, but never saw it. I am trying to get a copy.
Which uncle was that? Harold or Jimmy?
I do remember my Granpa's radio. It took up all the space in the dining room. The walls were floor to ceiling with radio bits and pieces. I remember when the antenna had to come down. It was a very sad day for him.
Cannot ever remember names sorry. Ken your Father & I are close in age and we did some things together, Uncles were older and only knew on a less familuar basis.
Stan; You photo of Your Mom you & 1937 Ford, you mention year being 1956, I thought it was much around 1951/52.
I gave you a hand putting in new block when your Dad passed it along to you, if I rember we went to Lachonia N.H. in same, either that year of new block or next..
This was my first time at a major motorcycle race. Went many times after
Also latter on Bob Legget bought an identical car, Did you remember when he had it , But I was in 2 accidents with him, one on Atwater Ave. the other on Noter Dame St. when he bumbed into a street car, Passenger got out and starting bad mouthing us. ended up in a brawl. Bob had to go to court over same.
I just checked the date on my photo it says 1950. Must be a misprint somewhere. I remember that trip very well. First off we were only allowed 3 people on the front and only seat in the car. If you remember Joyce had to sit on the floor all covered up and hidden when we went through customs. When we arrived in Laconia there were no rooms available in the hotels and motels.. We ended up sleeping in an old battered trailer in someones yard. You don't forget a once in a lifetime trip like that. I would do it again in a heart beat. I know it was 1950 because my Dad bought a new car in 1951 and also a new house in Dorval.
I think I know where the 1956 year confusion comes from. It was my Dad's new 1951 Pontiac that became mine in 1956. That was after he kept it for 5 years. Dad bought another new one in 1956 that became mine in 1961. Hope this clears it up.
What a revelation! While I wasn't in your recently displayed wedding picture, my car was. If you look over Rickey Longtin's right shoulder, you will see a rear-end view of my 37 Ford coupe parked at the curb. I'd know it anywhere. Stan.
I don't know if you are still active or not but, I noticed a photo of someone you may
know. He comes from your area of Verdun.In the back row of the More Motorcycles Verdun Photo is a shot of Melvyn Bell .He lived near Chubby Thompson on May Avenue.He is in the last row, on the left of Coach Baker in suit and tie. Also a photo of Vernon Roberts in center of middle row.
I beleive that Melvyn Bell is my first cousin whom I have not heard or seen from since the late 50's. He used to live on May avenue and his sister was Carolyn. Parents were Fred and Emma Bell. (both now deceased) I cannot place the fellow 2nd from the left, but the fellow next to him looks a lot like Mel.
Last time I saw him he was recovering from an auto accident when he was almots killed. Last time I heard he was in Halifax or somewhere in the maritimes. His sister Carolyn passed away many years ago in California and was married to a fellow called Pat Seymour.
Does the above ring a bell with anyone. If Mel is my uncle, I would be greatful for any memories of him and his family as I am the only one left.
We had another Victor ( Vic) Buck in the Jolly Rodgers, drove A Single Panther, and did a bit of racing. he was a pretty good rider.
He was a cousin to my wife, we last had a vist from him approx. 1964, he had moved to an Island in the West Indies, and enjoyed the lifestyle there, worked as a electrician, lower wages, but no burn outs, he had some great pictures to show us..
I don't know a lot about Melvyn Bell, but here's what I do know. I played football on the same Verdun Pavillion Football team as Mel in 1947. In the summer of 1948 we spent quite some time at my aunt's cottage in Cantic ,Que. He didn't own a motorcycle,but,rode on the back of mine.We spent most of that summer hangiing around the Riverview Hotel in Cantic,sowing our wild oats,as they say. One evening his sister was buggjng me for a ride,and I consented. We were riding along Wellington Street in front of Tassee's when I was cut off by a Nap Leduc ice truck. Rather than hit the truck I threw the bike down. I ended up with a broken elbow and Carolyn broke one of her fingers.Mel and I met a couple of girls that summer and sort of went different ways.I only saw him once in a blue moon after that.
I remember you going around with your arm in a sling, and being talked into getting on back of your Harley, with only one arm to drive with, I Had to Shift gears, while you did the rest.
Just wondering.Do you remember the time you bought your 22 cal. colt woodsman? We hung targets up in the basement of your Mom's store and blasted away. I often wondered how many of your Mom's customers we chased away.
While I don't recall Bob Thompson by name,I surely remember the Antecol's football team. I barely remember the names of one third of my own team.I do remember that most of the players on the Antecol's team lived in Ville Emard. The one name that I 'll never forget from that team was Salty. He was a big burly linesman. I bounced off him more times than I care to remember. Antecol's was a good team that did Ville Emarde proud.
Remember the day well, Jack Murray there as well. But it was a High Standard Auto. I had bought, my turn came up, and I stood next to wall & fired off 10 rounds rapid fire. same resulted in a concusion to my left ear, that has left that ear deaf.. Not to saftery minded then.
Latter Years I heard Jack Murray had been murdered in Vancouver.. He left the restaurant Woodland & Wellington to his Sister.. Did you stay in touch with him ??
Salty (Ville Emard) His last name was Murrano, and lived on Dumas Street, Played Middle, , He got me to take a bus to Leary, and pick up a Harley he had bought.
He I and Tommy Savagau, took a trip, Salty on back of Tommy's bike, we went through Tobbaco country, picking, untill tornado came through, ending season. moved on to Sarnia.
We left Salty there, he took a job with Imperial oil, pipe fitter, and played middle for there football team.
Tommy & I went to Michigan after. this was a lot of travling on a 45 Harley Year 1950
Years latter he married, and I heard he got involved with dope dealing, and he & his wife were shot in bed
his Brother has a tailor shop on Springland St, Ville Emard
The year before Jack Merie [or Murray] moved to Vancouver, we went on a moose hunting trip to La Macaza. On that trip was Donnie Halverston, Red Eden the Verdun Cop. Jack Merie and myself. Red Eden is Jack Eden's brother,as I'm sure you know. Donnie Halverston became a conductor on a C.N.R. freight train and was rear-ended and killed near the east end refinery. And I later heard about the murder of Jack Merie. Didn't Jack's other sister run a haberdashery next door to the restaurant? Something else to think about. The day we swapped my runabout for your MG,for a day. You splashed around the river and I left a little rubber on the 2 and 20.
Few Years back I met Don Halvertson's widow on St Lawrenec St. She was shopping, and wife & I passed her, we all stoped. She came running back & gave me a hugh hug, Got quite a look from the wife, we talked over old times.
Jack Eden & I worked Dosco , he drove a truck, when he passed away several Years ago, Red was at funeral, he had been working as a guard in Penitary. Jack's widow Slyvia , has moved to Chateauguay. They had been living in Verdun, and country home in Cantic
Ron ,.great old Verdun picture,..love the old MG (it's a TD right??)
My Uncle & Aunt bought a new MGA in 57 ish,....... always thought it was a fun little car............(no heat though) so Summer was the only time you should drive it,...hahahahaha
Great Verdun pics ,.I love the B&W stuff,..........
How are you scanning your pics Ron? maybe we can think of a way to help get you more room,to post these old pics,.....so it will allow you more space,...?/
Can't promise anything but we can certainly try to help:
Sure glad you decided to show that torn photo of Salty. It shows Salty just the way I remember him.It's amazing, how the right photo can so perfectly refresh ones memory. Is that your Dad in the MG photo? The build seems right but can't make out the features.
1: 1951 MG TD 1-1/4 Liter morris motor 55 HP. top speed 75/80 M.P.H.
2: 1955 TR 2 2 Liter Standard Motor motor 90 H.P. top speed 105 M.P.H. Had wire wheels, adjustable steering,7 speeds, fiber glass hard top, tonneau cover, covertable top, windows slid open.
Further to older cars, pictures of my parents ,, 1927, & cars. one has knock off wire wheels, Went for motor bike ride last Wednsay, but its still a bit cool
thank you for sharing your pictures i'm enjoying them very much. looks like the bonnie and clyde days in the fashion business maybe one day they will have the style of clothing and hat wear they had back then. lots of class back then
It is so nice that you remember my Dad and his love of building racing boats. I was probably too young to remember you.
But do you remember when he built the *Angry Bee** in our garage on valiquette in a record 6 days. I do , I was the only one small enough to fit in the nose of the boat to mark everything he had to glue and screw. He had a friend of ours paint a picture of a Bee with boxing gloves. He use to box in his younger years also. So the combination worked out well for the picture. He use to race Akli Hydro with stacks that were about 3 feet long. Boy - did that thing SCREAM. Such a small world. I saw that you had been talking to my sister (Newfy dog9) Thanks for bringing back a great memory. Just to let you know that he continued to build racing boats till he was about60 yrs old. His last one was *GRAMPS* after my son. His sight got quite bad after his 63 yr and allthough he couldn't build anymore he was always drawing plans for boats. He had even drew up plans to build me a double Kayak that was impossible to tip( he knew I was not very brave when it came to the water). My son even got into racing and bought a 2.5 Litre Hydro back in 1991. Raced for 7 yrs before moving to the states. He still has the hydro and has rebuilt it over the years, and every time I see what he has done I swear it is the work of my father. Jim is very fussy about what he does, the same as my father was when building boats. Sorry I can go on forever sometimes .
Good to hear from you. Not surprised to hear that boat bulding runs in the family.Your Dad had a lot of it in his genes. Thank God he was very generous with his knowledge of it. While not familiar with his six day record, it could easily have happened between my visits. If aanyone could do it, he could. I moved from Rolland Ave. to Dorval in 1955, but continued building boats for a long time after that. Anytime my work took me anywhere near the CNR backshops I always took the time to drop in on your Dad to chew the fat. I used many of the tricks he taught me for a long time after leaving Verdun. For one, he showed me how to wrap burlap bags around stubborn lengths of oak and pour kettles of boiling water over it's length until flexible enough to curve without cracking or splitting. He also showed me how to draw the design I wanted and then enlarge it to full size. Then measure the frame dimensions from the full size drawings.I could easilygo on and on with the tricks he showed me, but I wont. I have very vivid images of him,especially with his glasses all covered with sawdust pushed up on his forehead leaning over the bottom of one of his boats.One of the great memories that I cherish.
Hi Cessna, You really did use alot of his tricks for bending the wood.
He built a boat for Expo 67 ( BU 100) - did all the plans and jig in 66 in the basement and waited for the Spring to put all in the garage on Moffat. Helped with all the gluing, and got thrown out of the garage as I was getting high on the super glue he was using. Then started with the staining and varnishing. Seven coats of stain and then varnish , water sand - I did this with him for eleven coats of varnish. One thing about my father he never stopped me from helping when I showed interest. Definitely not a male chauvenist!!! Even had me take apart motors, of course putting them back together was HIS job. I was at the Pav when he tried the boat and motor for the first time. Usually on weekends I was at Napierville working but they were closed for those 2 weeks.
That day I met my future husband. That day I also got to take the boat out - to my surprise. When he came in he threw me the life jacket and helmut and said you earned it. I couldn't start the motor as there was so much compression so he stayed on the wharf and pulled the cord. I just kept the pistol grip full open and hoped for the best . What a feeling when it started. I was out for about 10 minutes , but told Dad it doesn't go fast enough for me. I am a speed freak. Boats, Cars, almost anything. God forbid if we ever got together to talk we would go on forever.
Hello everyone. I know this thread is old, but I just googled Jolly Roger Motorcycle Club and this thread came up. My dad, Art Williams, spoke occasionally about being part of the Jolly Rogers. He had an Indian, then later a Harley, and was friends with Frank Meikle and Phil Barzdenis. He was born in Verdun in 1930 and lived there until our family moved to California around 1968. Unfortunately he passed away in 1995 and my mom, Jean Cameron (Williams), passed away back in 1985. Did any of you know my parents?
Have you seen so many Transport Quebec trucks in one place in your life?
Infrastructure is one of those things - nobody pays it any attention to it until it fails. People have better things to worry about, so they don't think about their water pipes, their electricity lines, their building foundations or their roads or bridges, so long as they're working properly. But when something goes wrong, any of these can suddenly become a top priority.
For this same reason, those who are in charge of infrastructure tend not to prioritize it. If the people don't care, why should the government? Making a working thing still work is not going to win you as many votes as making a brand new thing. And that's a logic that's not reserved for inept governments. Given the choice between paying a professional engineer to do an inspection on that seemingly innocuous crack in a home's foundation and spending that money on a new big-screen TV, which do you think is going to be the more common choice?
MONTREAL - Montreal will experiment with a new type of intersection in a bid to reduce conflicts between cyclists and turning motorists.
Known as a “zone d’entrecroisment,” it will involve cyclist-only green boxes painted in the middle of a street, with cars on either side in turning lanes.
The city will set up one such intersection as a pilot project in July or August. It will be on southbound Square-Victoria St. at St. Jacques St. Currently, cyclists there ride next to the sidewalk and must contend with turning cars.
“It causes frustration for both motorists and cyclists,” said Serge Lefebvre, head of the city’s active-transportation department. Under the new set-up, both cyclists and motorists will be able “see one another and adjust their speed and proceed safely.”
It’s a first for Montreal, but such intersections are in use in Chicago, Portland, Ore., and in Europe cities, he said.
The city will evaluate how cyclists and motorists react to the changes before deciding whether to use the design on other Montreal streets.
The new intersection is part of a $10-million city effort announced this week to improve cycling infrastructure via 46 projects.
In 2012, the city will expand the bike-path network by 35 kilometres. The network currently stretches across 560 kilometres. The city now says it may not reach its goal of 800 kilometres by 2015.
Other projects include:
More “bike boxes” – painted areas at intersections that give cyclists precedence over cars. One was installed at Milton and University Sts. last year. At least two more will be added: Villeneuve and St. Urbain Sts.; and Laurier Ave and St. Laurent Blvd. Three others may also be installed.
Connecting the de Maisonneuve Blvd. bike path and the Jacques Cartier Bridge’s bike path. The de Maisonneuve path will be extended east from Berri St. to Alexandre de Sève St. Work will start late this year and is to be completed in 2013. The city had promised this stretch in 2011.
Installing a bike counter on Laurier Ave., near Laurier métro station. The counter will display the number of cyclists who have passed that day and over the course of the past year. Such counters are used in other cities to encourage cyclists to use paths.
In Ottawa, the city installed a bike counter on new paths it opened last year on Laurier Ave. W., with the data posted online. It’s unclear if Montreal’s count will be online.
View the updated Montreal bike-path map and share your city cycling wish list at montrealgazette.com/metnews
I think it is a good idea to start saving some of these old buildings,too many have been allowed to be wrecked or left to deteriorate on their own (eg: the Seville for one)
so maybe this is a return to thinking about the future by preserving some of our past.
Here is the Gazette article from today:
MONTREAL – The Empress Theatre would be reborn as a venue for Montreal’s vibrant music scene, an institute for analog film heritage and a gathering place where Montrealers can drink, dine and enjoy a breathtaking view from a green rooftop terrace, under a proposal from a Notre Dame de Grâce community organization.
“We’re pretty excited about the proposal,” said Jason Hughes, treasurer and board member of the Empress Cultural Centre.
On Wednesday evening, the centre will unveil a $6-million plan to revive the theatre at 5560 Sherbrooke St. W. as a self-financing cultural complex.
The group is submitting the scheme to the Côte des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grâce borough, which has called for proposals for redeveloping the heritage theatre facing Girouard Park.
Several unnamed investors are behind the proposed redevelopment, which must be self-financing under rules set by the borough, Hughes said.
The proposal reflects broad input from local residents, he said.
“It’s been interesting to hear people’s hopes for that place, and to say, yeah, we should have that kind of live performance space, that we can support that kind of thing,” Hughes said.
Last year, the C.D.N.-N.D.G. borough took back the Egyptian-style theatre, built in 1927, from the Empress Cultural Centre, saying the centre had failed to come up with a viable plan to redevelop the building in the 12 years it had been in charge of the aging landmark.
But organizers protested that the centre’s new board, elected in September 2010, had not had time to bring the project to fruition.
In January, the borough called for proposals for the building. Proposals must focus on a cultural vocation and be financially self-supporting, Borough Mayor Michal Applebaum said.
The heritage theatre offers exciting possibilities for tapping into Montreal’s cultural effervescence, said award-winning architect Talia Dorsey, who conceived the Empress Cultural Centre’s proposal.
Dorsey, a Montreal native who trained at Princeton and MIT, worked under famed architect and urban theorist Rem Koolhaas in the Netherlands on projects including modernization of the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg.
She noted N.D.G. is one of Canada’s most artistic districts, after the Plateau, Outremont and Old Montreal, according to a 2005 study by Hill Strategies Research Inc. N.D.G. has five times as many people working in the arts as the national average, she noted.
The study found Montreal is Canada’s most creative city, with five of the country’s 10 most creative neighbourhoods.
The Empress, the only surviving Egyptian-style theatre in Canada, is the ideal setting for a cultural venue serving the entire west end of the city, Dorsey said.
“On a cultural level, there’s real appreciation for that kind of aura and authenticity,” she said.
Under the centre’s proposal, the revitalized theatre would house both live performance and film screenings, serve the city’s thriving recording industry as a venue for live recordings and commemorate the age of the silver screen as a showcase for and research institute on analog (celluloid) film.
An in-house restaurant and café would promote urban agriculture projects by featuring local products.
A rooftop garden would include a terrace for small weddings and other events. Musicians and other visitors could rent short-term accommodation on upper floors of the renovated theatre.
Remembered by many as the Cinema V repertory theatre, the long-vacant art deco building was bought by the city in 1999.
In February, Héritage Montréal listed the Empress as one of the city’s 10 most important endangered heritage sites.
François Puchin, a borough communications officer, said officials will not comment on any of the proposals before the winning design is selected. The deadline for submitting proposals is Friday.
An evaluation committee will choose the winning proposal on June 1 and the borough council will approve the choice on June 26.
The Empress Cultural Centre will unveil its proposal at a meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Coop La Maison Verte, 5785 Sherbrooke St
Cheers ! HF&RV..................................................................................................................................... - Les
Seeing the above photo of the boardwalk which Les has posted reminded me of the velodrome that was situated in this general area in 1899 to host the World's Meet.
I am still doing research on the Queen's Park velodrome that was constructed in 1898 in Verdun to host the 1899 World's Meet International Bicycle races. I have recently discovered a plan showing that the velodrome was situated as follows:
South: Chermin de Lachine (LaSalle Boulevard)
East: Rielle Avenue
North Wellington Street
West: Dike (between Willibrod and 1st avenue)
Willibrod street ended at Wellington in 1899.
I have some photos of this international sporting event but I am convinced that other photos must be around somewhere since this was an international sporting event and surely dozens of reporters where at this important event and since it was the beginning of the moving pictures, there surely must be some 8mm or 16 mm films hidden somwhere in some old shoe boxes or museum yet to be discovered.
Can you imagine Verdun with only an app. 2000 population hosting such an international sporting event, with a 12,000 cap.velodromeon the boardwalk,its mind boggling. .
I have brought up this subject before but i'm at it again as this subject just fascinates me and I am appealing to MVC members to help me in this research. Finding some films wouild be like finding the holy grail, but who knows, you never know.
Gazette request for info on the repair estimate for the Mercier Bridge gets turned down by the Govt' ..........perhaps with the recent (very recent) & ongoing look in to construction corruption,maybe some embarassing details would arise ( as to who is still getting contracts) or maybe the bridge is worse than they care to admit,...or maybe it's just a little recomnditioning needed ( we will never know I guess) Cheers ! HF&RV - Les
.Here's the Gazette story:
MONTREAL - Transport Quebec has rejected a Gazette access-to-information request for a report that led the province to cancel a $45-million contract for Mercier Bridge repairs.
In March, Quebec said the contract was cancelled because the report in question showed the plans submitted by the construction consortium would have significantly inflated the costs.
But a news report has suggested the contract was cancelled because of new deterioration on the bridge, which was partially closed last year over safety concerns.
Quebec Transport Minister Pierre Moreau has promised a new era of openness at Transport Quebec, which has been accused of operating in a culture of secrecy.
In March, Moreau told The Gazette that he would like to release the report, but was concerned its release could compromise the government’s position if any legal action was taken by the construction consortium.
In another recent case, however, the prospect of a court case did not deter Transport Quebec from releasing a report. After last year’s Ville Marie Expressway collapse, Quebec made public a report into the cause despite the fact that it intended to sue engineering companies involved.
On April 18, The Gazette filed a request for the Mercier Bridge report under Quebec’s access-to-information law.
In a letter dated May 3, Transport Quebec lawyer Fernande Rousseau said the request was refused.
“This report is part of an ongoing decision-making process in that it includes advice or recommendations that will contribute to making a final decision by the ministry about the Honoré-Mercier Bridge,” she wrote.
She cited articles 14, 22, 32, 37 and 39 of Quebec’s access-to-information law.
Those articles allow the government to refuse to reveal information in some cases – for example, if the disclosure would “likely hamper negotiations” or “might well affect the outcome of judicial proceedings.”
The Gazette request was sparked by Quebec’s decision to cancel a $45-million contract to develop plans for a new concrete deck for the Mercier Bridge and then carry out the replacement work. The contract had been given to a consortium: Pomerleau/Demathieu & Bard S.E.N.C.
Moreau said it based the cancellation on a report prepared by engineering firm Dessau, which Quebec had hired to review the Pomerleau-led consortium’s plans.
The Gazette is seeking that Dessau report.
Moreau has said the Dessau report found Pomerleau’s plans “were not optimal for the bridge” and would have required extra work, adding up to $24 million to the price tag. The deck proposed was too heavy and “could not be supported by the bridge as it is now,” Moreau said.
The Gazette is appealing Transport Quebec’s refusal.
These articles, from Quebec’s Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies, were cited by Transport Quebec in rejecting The Gazette’s request for the Dessau report on the Mercier Bridge:
14: No public body may deny access to a document for the sole reason that it contains certain information that, according to this Act, it must or may refuse to release.
Where a request pertains to a document containing such information, the public body may deny access thereto where the information forms the substance of the document. In other cases, the public body must give access to the requested document after deleting only the information to which access is not authorized.
22. A public body may refuse to release an industrial secret that it owns.
It may also refuse to release other industrial, financial, commercial, scientific or technical information that it owns if its disclosure would likely hamper negotiations in view of a contract, or result in losses for the body or in considerable profit for another person.
A public body established for industrial, commercial or financial management purposes may also refuse to release such information if its disclosure would likely substantially reduce its competitive margin or reveal a loan, investment, debt management or fund management proposal or a loan, investment, debt management or fund management strategy.
32. A public body may refuse to disclose a study if its disclosure might well affect the outcome of judicial proceedings.
37. A public body may refuse to disclose a recommendation or opinion presented less than 10 years earlier, and obtained from one of its members, a member of its personnel, a member of another public body or a member of the personnel of the other public body, in the discharge of his duties.
A public body may also refuse to disclose a recommendation or opinion presented, at its request, by a consultant or an adviser less than ten years earlier on a matter within its jurisdiction.
39. A public body may refuse to disclose a study prepared in connection with a recommendation made within a decision making process until a decision is made on the recommendation or, if no decision is made, until five years have elapsed from the date the study was made.
The Gazette is awaiting Access to Information Commission hearings of appeals of two other access refusals related to Transport Quebec:
In July 2011, the department refused a Gazette request for a list of the major repair work carried out on the Mercier Bridge between 2006 and 2011.
In its response, Transport Quebec said it would be too time-consuming to provide the information to The Gazette.
Federal documents obtained by the paper via access requests show that five years before Quebec closed part of the Mercier due to dangerously deteriorating steel plates on the span’s provincial side, an inspection found plates on the federal side were corroding and had to be replaced.
The warning about the federal gusset plates was passed on to Quebec but the province did not follow Ottawa’s lead and repair the plates on the bridge’s provincial side.
In November 2011, the Agence métropolitaine de transport, an arm of Transport Quebec, refused a Gazette request for a study it commissioned on the electrification of commuter trains in the Montreal area.
The $1.1-million study was completed in 2010.
The AMT said releasing the study would “hamper negotiations in progress with another public body” and would “have a serious adverse effect on (the AMT’s) economic interests.”
At a public meeting in November, former AMT chief executive Joël Gauthier gave a different reason. He said he could not release the study because he had yet to present the findings to Moreau.
The study shows the cost of electrification, touted by the AMT as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs. It also details the challenges the AMT would face if it decided to electrify its network
After last week’s announcement that Leonard Cohen would perform at the Bell Centre Nov. 28, the ticket details have now been announced by Evenko, the promoter of the concert.
Tickets, priced between $40 and a punishing $267.25, go on sale Saturday, May 12 at 10 a.m. There is a limit of eight tickets per person. If they sell out as quickly as many are anticipating, the only salvation for disappointed Cohen fans will be the hope of a second show.
Cohen’s last Montreal appearance was a three-night stand at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts in 2008, at the outset of what is looking more and more like his answer to Bob Dylan’s never-ending tour. Since then, Cohen has released the live albums Live In London and Songs From the Road, as well as this year’s studio album Old Ideas. All have been critically-acclaimed, with Old Ideas also becoming Cohen’s highest-charting album in the United States, reaching No. 3. In Canada, the disc hit the top position and was certified platinum
The Maison Nivard-de Saint-Dizier or commonly known as the "Old Stone House" will officially be opening on the19th of may as a museum. This historical house situated at the foot of the Lachine rapids was built in 1710 and is one of the oldest houses in Montreal. At last the governments have decided to do something usefull with this historical house which was renovated at a cost of app. one and a half million dollars. Our society (SHGV) was instrumental in alerting the authorities to the value of this property. It's collection will permit us to better undersand the Amérindiens (Amerindians) and the first inhabitants of Nouvelle France (New France).
There was a fire in the Point overnight that killed two people, I hope it's not some of our friends or family. Here is the article form this morning's Gazette.
MONTREAL – A double-fatality fire in Point St. Charles reported just before 11 p.m. Sunday "possibly started with something cooking on the stove," Constable Raphaël Bergeron said Monday.
A 51-year-old man and an 80-year-old woman were found unconscious inside the residence, on Favard St. south of Congregation St., east of Wellington St.
Both "were declared dead as soon as they arrived in hospital," Bergeron added.
A third person suffered smoke inhalation, but "this was not life-threatening," he said.
Other possible causes haven't been completely ruled out, Bergeron said. The police arson squad is investigating.
Looks like Montreal is next inline to get the 'City TV' channel.......they are all over the place, Rogers bought these station for next to nothing & it looks like they are going to use them for their own expansion..I hope it good for Montreal maybe more of a local content type of station ?
I still think of Montreal' s News Channel as being 'CFCF Pulse' remember that,.now it's all just CTV , I think more of a local stamp is what is neaded for any city......here's the Gazette story on this................................Cheers! HF&RV - Les
MONTREAL - Citytv could be coming to Montreal soon.
Rogers Media announced on Thursday that it had reached a deal to purchase Montreal multicultural television station Metro 14 (CJNT) from Toronto-based Channel Zero Inc.
Rogers plans to turn CJNT into a Citytv station, expanding the national network’s presence. Citytv has stations in Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. The company also announced that it will sign long-term affiliation agreements with three stations owned by the Jim Pattison Group: CHAT-TV in Medicine Hat, Alta., CJFC-TV in Kamloops, B.C., and CKPG-TV in Prince George, B.C. All three have been Citytv affiliates since 2009, and are, like CJNT, former members of the Canwest CH/E! network. Rogers also announced in January it would purchase educational regional cable channel Saskatchewan Communications Network from Bluepoint Investment Corp. and rebrand it as Citytv Saskatchewan.
"Citytv up until recently has only been available in 7.2 million homes, and when we buy and produce programming, the cost of that is similar to what other networks pay when they buy national footprint rights," Rogers Media President of Broadcast Scott Moore told The Gazette. "It's essential for us to expand our footprint."
Though the new deals give Citytv good coverage west of Montreal, there are no stations east of the city. Moore said there are no specific plans for expansion into Atlantic Canada, but said it represented a gap in the network and "we'll continue to work on that in the next 6-12 months."
The deal must be approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission before Rogers Media can take over. In the meantime, Rogers and Channel Zero have signed an affiliation agreement that will see Citytv programming on CJNT as of June 4. Citytv programs include American shows like New Girl, Modern Family and How I Met Your Mother, as well as original Canadian productions like Canada’s Got Talent and the upcoming The Bachelor Canada. Channel Zero President Cal Millar told The Gazette the station would also air some programming from Rogers's OMNI network of ethnic stations.
Channel Zero also owns CHCH television in Hamilton, Ont. It purchased CHCH and CJNT from Canwest in 2009 after the struggling company (which also owned The Gazette) decided to shut down its secondary network of conventional television stations. The purchase price for both stations was $12.
Moore said he would not comment about the purchase price, but joked that it was "more than double" the $12 Channel Zero paid for it.
CJNT's license from the CRTC requires it to broadcast 14 hours of local ethnic programming each week. But after the sale from Canwest to Channel Zero, the station stopped producing its ethnic programming. It has since been airing reruns - some of them three years old - of its local ethnic shows. The rest of its schedule is made up of music videos, foreign films and some low-rated U.S. programming whose Canadian rights haven't been scooped up by CTV, Global or Citytv.
Moore did not comment on any changes Rogers might propose for CJNT's license, or whether it would continue to be a multiethnic station. "We'll be spending the next couple of months in Montreal speaking with stakeholders in the community," he said.
As far as local programming, Moore said it was still too early to tell, but it was unlikely the station would produce a daily newscast. "I don't know that Montreal needs another English-language supper-hour newscast," he said. Citytv stations outside of Toronto meet local programming requirements with morning shows. Moore said it was "a good bet" that a similar strategy would be used in Montreal.
Millar said the sale was bittersweet for Channel Zero, which he said had been making progress building its audience with a new morning show that's heavy on music videos. He said Rogers has been trying to buy the station since "shortly after we acquired it" and made multiple offers. But this time, "Rogers was more determined than ever to expand their national reach," MIllar said. "It was far more valuable to them at that point than to us."
Channel Zero had been in talks with a local producer to bring back some local ethnic programming this fall. Millar said he doesn't know if those plans will continue as the company waits for a decision on the acquisition.
Rogers said it would expect a decision by the CRTC in the fall.
..Cheers ! Have Fun & Remember Verdun........................................................ - Les
Boy do I ever remember those days. 25 cents to get in. Had the best bag of chips at the concession stand on the roof. 5cents.That was my second home. I remember the swimming and diving meets there that the parks put on. I swam for Brown Blvd. park. I used to swim in my age group and then move up to swim against the adults. I still have a couple of swimming medals. All the rest.....lost in the moves. 
Maislin's was a fairly large trucking outfit ,for many years in Ville Lasalle on Newman Blvd,.......remember that end of Newman which seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere,......and across the street from Maislin's was a little house style bar,....and one of the guys from Verdun ran a motorcycle shop or body shop near there too,.I can't recall his name now,but I'm sure one of you do Remember it.
