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"A Family Tradition for 132 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, September 22, 1998 - 7 LETTERS British woman seeks Canadian connection in Scugog To the Editor: Are you, or do you Know, people by the names Turner, Bennett, Cameron, McKinley, McGregor, Lakey ? If so, please read on. This is my story. I am British, as are all my ancestors. Levi Parish, my great- great-grandfa- ther, was a park keeper in London, England, in the 1870s. Levi Parish was born in north Devonshire, the youngest of nine chil- dren and the seventh son. His early life was quite eventful. From farming with his father in Devon, through soldiering in the territorial army, then a constable in the police force, then a London park keeper. He married. Had children. But in 1878 Levi just vanished. No more records. Nothing. I learned that Levi Parish died in 1910 and 1s buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, Prince Albert. He'd initially rented land to farm, but for the last 10 years of his life he'd been a gardener again, and owned his own five acre plot in the south-west corner of Lot 16, Concession 7, Reach Township. Levi had remarried in Ontario, to Frances Claretta Cragg, daughter of Isaac Cragg, one of the earliest Greenbank settlers. They had six daugh- ters - Hannah Claretta (known as Clara), Lucy, Mary Elizabeth, Lillie May, Cora, and Laura, from 1882 to 1901. My great-aunts. I now desperately want to find descendants of these six sisters, my Canadian cousins: uClara married William John Turner. They stayed in the Port Perry area and are buried in Pine Grove. William died in 1956. Clara in 1967. They left at least one daughter Mrs. Clare McNenly (Peggy). 0 Lucy married Robert James McGregor and had two sons Merle and Frank, before dying young in 1919. u Mary Elizabeth married Garnet Wolsely McKinley. She lived latterly in Sunderland, died in 1946 and is also buried in Pine Grove. a Lillie May married Charles Wilson Lakey. They ran a grocery store in Utica and Lillie died in 1967. Again buried in Pine Grove. 2Cora married Walter Orvel Bennett, an insurance agent in the Whitby, Oshawa, Pickering area. I think Cora died before her husband Orvel, in bout 1956/57. 2 Laura married Alexander J. Cameron. In 1924 when her mother died, Laura was living at 156 Colborne St. E., Oshawa. Then I lose her. My first attempt at locating descen- dants led me to a very dear old Lakey gentleman and his sister. They had known Lillie May Lakey as their aunt by marriage. They told me that Lillie and Charlie had no children of their own, but raised nephew Frank McGregor after sister Lucy's premature death. They also believe Merle and Frank McGregor didn't marry or have children either. They very kindly sent me a photo of Lillie May - which I now love and treasure. But what of the other girls - Clara Turner (her daughter Clare McNenly), Laura Cameron, Cora Bennett, Mary Elizabeth McKinley? Did they have children? I'm really hoping that the readers of The Port Perry Star may be able to help me. Does anyone remember these sisters? Are there any descendants out there? I'd be eternally grateful for any infor- mation or advice that anyone can give me. Any clues, however small. My address is: Valerie Swain, "The Gullerie," Flat 5, Cyprus Court, Cyprus Road, Faversham, Kent. ME13 8HH. England. My telephone number is 01144 - 1795 - 537508. I'm happy to refund postage and to call anyone straight back on the phone, so that I pay for the rest of any call. Valerie Swain, Kent, England yt - } i! Skateboarding's not a crime, yet To the Editor: Why does skating seem like a crime around here? I am trying to approach this in an adult manner, writing this to get your atten- tion and ask for your help. Why not set up a skate park somewhere for skaters to safely skate? : I know what you're probably thinking: a waste of time and money. But it won't be if you ask for volunteers and sponsors to help build and maintain it. We're not asking for much; just a safe place to skate that would be appropriate for us. Skateboards are sold at various stores in the town of Port Perry, but frowned upon when used in the town. Unfair? Dustin Bowes, Port Perry Letter portrayed naive view of teachers' jobs To the Editor: I feel compelled to reply to Jessica Stone's letter in the Sept. 15th edition of The Port Perry Star. First, let me say I am not a teacher. I am a concerned parent of four children. I have spent enough time in their schools to have some idea of what's going on. It amazes me that people such as Jessica still do not grasp the concept of PA Days. These are not "days off" as she implied. These days are used for teachers to get together with colleagues and others to have meetings. Business people do this on a far more regular basis. Remember, teachers work is isolated from their peers. Meetings are regularly held after school. Some meetings need to be longer - hence PA Days. Secondly, adults dealing with 25 adults per day is very different from someone dealing with over 100 teenagers every day. Remember, not all the students at school have the same abilities or interest in being there. Put the blame for this crisis where it belongs - the Harris government. Johnson's been fanning the flames of discord since he took over from Mr. Create - a - Crisis Snobelen. I hope people are smart enough to see through the Harris posse. Their agenda was, and still is, slash and burn - divide and conquer. I for one will not forget the Veronica Lacy performance bonus for successful cuts to education funding. Darlene Bonser, Sunderland To the Editor: The Board of Education has cut an unprecedented 118 high school teaching positions. Under status quo, increasing enrollment would require the board to hire 12 additional teachers. Our high schools are therefore short 130 teachers this fall. What does cutting so many teachers from our fewer teachers teaching more students are: less indi- vidual attention; less teacher marking per student; students who are learning disabled; reduced extracur- classrooms mean? Some of the obvious impacts of fewer program modifications for the 10 per cent of What's the price of cutting teachers? ricular activities in sports, drama and music because of shortages of teachers available to cover classes, and reduced hall supervision. The teacher is the most important resource your student's school has. How does such a mammoth cut improve our stu- dents educational experience? How does increasing the number of students each teacher teaches improve the quality of education? B Almack, Blackstock Parents, students at Prince Albert say thank you To the Editor: On behalf of the students of Prince Albert Public School, we would like to thank the Playground Committee of our School Community Council for providing the hard work and dedication required to construct our won- derful new play- ground. Our students and the children in our community will bene- fit from your efforts. We feel fortunate to have such an extraordinary group of parents who are willing to work so hard for the benefit of the students and the community. The Prince Albert P.S. Staff Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten SCUGOG - YOURS TO DISCOVER AND ENJOY Talk about a busy weekend. Scanning the pages of the Star this past week, there were so many events taking place, it would be hard to fit them all in. But that's just what makes this area such a great place in which to live and visit. There's always some- thing going on. For example, last weekend residents had a choice of a large variety of interesting events in which to view or participate. » Haugen's BBQ held its 'western weekend" featur- ing the true story of the Houghtons, who travelled 3,200 miles across Canada in a covered wagon. » The BIA featured "Treasures '98", an art show and sale showcasing the talents of area artists and artisans, at the old lawn bowling green on Queen St. * Durham Countryside Adventure provided more than 40 sites throughout Durham to visit over the weekend. These included farms, wineries, water powered sawmills, orchards and many other interest- ing adventures. » The Terry Fox Run took place starting at the lakefront Sunday morning, with hundreds of area residents participating on foot, roller blades, bicycles and other modes of transportation. * The season's final bass derby used Palmer Park as its home base and dozens of professional bass fisherman tested their talents against the lake, with weigh-ins both Saturday and Sunday afternoon. There were a few other smaller events as well, but you can see by this partial list, Scugog was indeed a busy place over the weekend. One of the events our family took part in was the Durham Countryside Adventure, picking half a dozen sites to visit Saturday afternoon. Having visited many of the attractions right here in Scugog, we opted to visit some sites we've never visited before in a neighboring township. Our afternoon trip included visits to the Wilsona Holstein Farm, the Woodley Sawmill, Tyrone Mill and Archibald Winery and Orchard. For me, the most intriguing of these was the Woodley Sawmill, which was established in 1875 and is still operated today by members of the family. For anyone who enjoys a piece of history, this is an amazing place to visit. The mill stands today much as it did 120 years ago, and is still operated by water power. There is absolutely no electricity in the mill, which is constructed of 16" hand hewn beams and boards cut from trees right on the property. Water powers a huge steel turbine which, through a series of pulleys and belts, drives a saw blade about three feet in diameter at more than 200 rpms. Although the rpms are low, it's amazing how easily the blade cuts through the large logs. Anyone who is intrigued by the ingenuity of our ancestors owes it to themselves to visit the Woodley Sawmill. IN CLOSING: Spoke with our former long-time employee Annabell Harrison last week, who is recov- ering after extensive heart surgery in Toronto. Although still a little weak, she's back home recu- perating after the ordeal. All the staff here at the Star wish her a speedy recovery.