Published Dec. 18 2018

To the Editor

Re: “The life and times of Haliburton” Haliburton Echo Dec. 11

“Young” Ed’s letter evokes good memories of the nature of the village in my younger years.

In the late 1940s I lived on the main street of the village and was witness to the flavour of town activity described in Ed’s letter.

There was community in those times and the activity he describes on the Saturday afternoon and evening brings back to me some of the activities town kids participated in towards the “out back” kids.

Yes families did come to town on wagons and buggies and there would be three or more teams holding on the main street and usually close to the cenotaph area where there was a water trough.

The town kids would often taunt the outback kids and it was a “we and they” line up. It was never physical however as you generally knew they could easily overcome a “townie.”

Those town days were exciting because they brought a vitality to the village with people exchanging news and stories.

There was always playing on the main street in the form of hide and seek or tag followed by lying on the grass area in front of the post office and hearing the nighthawks swooping down on mosquitoes and then as darkness started the sound of the whippoorwill call.

The revery was finally interrupted by the ringing of the town bell which meant that all children had to be off the streets and return home. We had a town policeman and if you were caught out after 9 o’clock you were written up in his book and maybe reported to your parents.

Life and times in Haliburton have changed but my memories of that era are ones with a smile. Thanks Ed.

David M. Bishop

Haliburton