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My parents, John and Marie Dick, along with my
brother Henry and I docked in Quebec in August of 1924. I was 2 1/2
years old and remember the following incident: Our family had a
little stool which they took with them to Canada. Whenever my
parents were not nearby I needed to sit quietly on that stool and
wait for them. With all the commotion of disembarking I temporarily
lost sight of Mom and Dad. Two English ladies came by and wanted to
take me to Lost and Found, but I protested loudly and stayed on my
stool until my parents returned.
Our first weekend in Canada went as follows: On
Saturday, August 15, 1924, we took a train to Kitchener where Mr.
Dan Eby met us. He took us to his home in Petersburg in his touring
car. When we turned into the their yard, Mr. Eby honked the car horn
making the dogs bark, the ducks quack and the chickens cackle; this
was a big thrill for me. They had two sons Edwin and Gordon and one
daughter, Ellen. The next morning we all headed for the Mannheim
Mennonite Church and attended the service there. That afternoon, Mr.
Eby asked a man from town to open his store so he could buy a pair
of boots for my father, who needed to begin work on Monday. Early
next morning, Mr. Eby took my Dad to work where he became part of
the paving crew on the #8 highway from Kitchener to New Hamburg. We
lived with the Ebys for seven months where we were treated like
family members.
When Spring came we rented a house in Petersburg.
During the summer months Dad continued to work on the highway; in
winter he cut trees in the bush. By this time, some of our relatives
who had headed West when they came from Russia were returning to
Ontario to find work.
During the winter of 1926, our family, along with
the Mathies, Thiessen and Berg families, rented a house near
Tavistock; here brother Bill was born. We children had wonderful
times there playing together
In the meantime, Reverend Jacob W. and Mrs.
Lohrenz had come to Essex County to act as liason for immigrant
families coming to the Essex-Kent area. In spring of 1926, my Father
came to take a look around. First he went to see Cornelius Neufeld
who was already working in the fishery at Port Crewe. Then Dad
walked and hitch-hiked to Kingsville's brick yard and got work
there. He found a white frame house owned by Everett Cowan to which
he brought his family; rent was $6 monthly. It was here that I had
my first drink of chocolate milk which was an absolutely delightful
experience!
Because the Cowan house was large, a number of
immigrant families lived with us until they found places of their
own. Among them was the Cornelius Enns family and the Peter
Warkentin family. In fact, it was Susie Warkentin who took me by the
hand and got me started at the Inman School in 1927. Mennonite
services took place in our house; Henry Thielman and Daniel Boschman
led the Sunday School. I remember that one Sunday morning John
Dresser's barn burnt down. I also recall our first Canadian funeral
when three year old Rudy Berg, son of David Berg, died.
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In 1929, our family moved to the Zachary Wigle
farm, located where Cashway Lumber is in 2008. Wigle's had a son
Arnold; they farmed 100 acres. We worked there and lived in a little
house on their yard. The Reverend Janzen family and the Henry Willms
family lived there later. The Wigle's had a little pond, about four
feet deep; I wasn't allowed to go near it. One winter day I tested
the pond's ice with an axe and fell through. After sitting outside
for a while, I decided to go indoors to face my punishment. When we
had lived there for two years, Dad was paid $30 monthly, no rental
fee and free milk. In March of 1930, our wages needed to be reduced
so we moved to a farm on Concession 5, Mersea Township owned by
Howard Rymal which we worked on shares. The Rymals owned three
farms. Most sharecropped 50-50. They grew early tomatoes and
tobacco. I went to school at Mount Carmel and remember coming down
with whooping cough. The crops sold well in those years. We
delivered the tobacco to the Imperial Tobacco Company; part of our
cheque went to the Agricultural Development Board in Toronto. We got
a flu tobacco acreage to grow on shares. First we planted partly
sprouted tobacco seeds in tobacco beds.
In spring of 1940 my parents purchased the 20
acre Dawson farm near Ruthven. It had a neglected stone house which
still stands in 2008; we needed to re-plaster the house and install
a bathroom. We planted peach trees and tobacco. We boys knew that it
was important to work and use our money wisely. Henry and I worked
in Hodges tobacco factory in Kingsville and gave $10 each week to
our parents, the remainder was ours. We boys helped finance the gas
heater. We worked on neighbouring farms in the summer where we
earned $4 to $5 per day.
I celebrated my 21 birthday in 1942 and applied
for alternate service exemption status. I was baptized in spring of
that year and left for Montreal River on January 2, 1943. There we
worked with picks and shovels building a right of way for Highway
17. After 4 1/2 months I began working on a Chatham dairy farm,
owned by Harold Smyth, for two years. He had a herd of 80 Jersey
cows. I was allowed to go home every other Saturday afternoon but
needed to be back in Chatham early Monday morning.
In November of 1944, Helen Bergen and I were
engaged; our wedding took place on April 7, 1945. We raised five
healthy children and have 10 grandchildren. In our retirement we
keep busy with many activities including voluntary work at the Et
Cetera Shoppe, golfing, visits to family and relatives and travel.
AK 2008
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