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18 The Independent, Canadian Statesman Weekender, Bowmanville, Saturday, April 2,1994 The Lighter Side of Pioneer Life Pioneer life was not all toil and hardships. Once there were a few neighbours with whom to socialize, events were devised to brighten an otherwise dreary life. Bees were one of the means used - bam raising bees, harvest bees, com husking bees were just a few. Later, the women started quilting bees. In some communities, winter dances were held, and a local citizen would host it in his home. This was in the days when the local church was simply a place for worship, with no adjoining parish hall for community community events. In those days the snow was sometimes so deep that those going going to the dance could simply drive the horse and cutter right across the fields - over the fences, tree stumps and all! Besides organized events, most communities had everday 'fun' occurrences occurrences as well as pranksters who kept things stirred up. Once, in Bowmanville, while one of the citizens was out fishing, a group of merry-makers stole his turkey. turkey. They roasted it and prepared all the trimmings, the invited him to take part in the feast. It wasn't until he had eaten his fill and thanked his friends heartily for the meal that he found out he had been the generous donor! School children, too, found fun in those days. In his remembrance of early Darlington, printed. in the Statesman in 1917, the Reverend Dr. Williamson, of Enfield, tells about one such happening. He says... Bowmanville Pranksters Invited Unsuspecting Citizen to Feast Which Featured His Own Turkey "An amusing scene occurred at the close of one spelling match in our schoolhouse. We had been the victors for several times over the Çhateau- guay school and they were feeling sore. Our boys dared them to a wrestling wrestling match at the end of the day, which was declined. In a tantalizing way, we proposed to match one of our girls against their best wrestler. The challenge was finally accepted when a strongly-built and beautifullooking beautifullooking girl stepped out and, in a minute, had their male champion on his back. The shouts and the laughter were deafening, and the defeated party party went home very much crestfallen." Today, fighting in the schoolyard would not be permitted, not even an innocent wrestling match such as this. Then there was another kind of fun, that of the local village prankster, prankster, such as the 'infamous* Solina prankster, Kit Mitchell. In her book, A Place Called Solina, Solina, Marguerite Fraser captures many of Kit's pranks, as told to her by the 'old folks' of the village. Here's one of this best pranks that I know you'll enjoy, as told by Marguerite. Marguerite. (as you read it, keep in mind that within Kit's mischievous soul there seemed to be a need to poke holes in the rituals of organized religion). religion). "The tent meeting was in full swing that evening, the place jam- packed and the Revivalist at the peak of his frenzy-shouting of hellfire, and exhorting the lost souls gathered there to repent for the Judgement Day was at hand. The congregation, half hypnotized with religious fear and fever, joined him in calling upon the Lord to 'Give us a sign!' And, from somewhere 'up above', came a sign indeed...a horrendous catcrwalling, as of souls in torment. Some people screamed. Others fainted. fainted. A few quaking sinners, sitting near the door, rushed outside to meet their Maker. What they met, of course, was none other than Kit Mitchell, aided and abetted by his young fellow conspirator, conspirator, James Hughes (later, the illustrious illustrious Dr. James Hughes, of the Dept, of Education), armed with a frightful 'bagpipe' fashioned from a goose quill and a pig's bladder. The outcome of the adventure is not clear, though Kit Mitchell apparently escaped escaped undaunted, for he lived to perform perform many other outrageous stunts." Mrs. Fraser went to say..."How his laughter would have echoed through Eldad in those years following following the 1884 Methodist Union, when the Wesleyans grouped themselves righteously on the right side of the centre aisle and the Episcopalians held strictly to the left! But his laughter laughter had been gone then for several years...buried quietly in the new cemetery cemetery at Hampton. 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