THE CENTENNIAL END

It has been a wonderful year with lots of fun and terrific support from our community. Everyone should be proud that our community pulled together and made this last year a complete success. It truly was the party of the century. This last little episode should prove to be the climax of the year’s activities and help us remember the people that have gone before us and made the everyday things easier for us. Come out and join us, take a break from your busy schedule and meet us at one of the cemeteries and see just how togetherness can light up the lives of so many with something as simple as a flickering flame and remembrance.

The committee members are: Ken McKinnon, Freeda Carmody, Maxine Hayes, Liz Donaldson, Sheri Stamarski, Diana Mayes, Don McCulloch and Joyce Witherspoon.

Grandma's Apron

The principle use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath. But along with that, it served as a holder for removing hot pans from the oven; it was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasions was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometime half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids; and when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. Wishing you beautiful Christmas memories to warm your heart now and during the coming year. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees. When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds. When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that "old-time apron" that served so many purposes.

REMEMBER THIS! Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the windowsill to thaw.

A Stitch in Time.

I was at an auction yesterday
When something caught my eye,
I decided then and there to buy it,
Hoping the bidding would not be too high.
"Sold", said the man on the platform,
As he slammed his gavel down,
And the early Singer sewing machine
Was carefully set to the ground.
Somehow I managed to get it home
And cleaned off the dust and the grime
I stood back with a smile to admire
This fine tribute to its time.
The drawers were a little squeaky,
But imagine my surprise
When I opened them to discover
A Victorian lady's sewing supplies.
There was her silver thimble
In a box lined with faded satin,
A gift perhaps from her mother
Now tucked away, lost and forgotten.
There were needles and a pin cushion
Bits of lace and bright coloured ribbons,
Buttons of all shapes and sizes
And a pair of old-fashioned scissors.
And then I pictured her delight
When at first she received this machine
One less job to be done by hand,
A true luxury thereto unseen.
I thought of the time she spent sewing
For her family way back then
Creating gowns and shirts and aprons,
Or just mending a tattered hem.
And although I won't use it like she did,
I think she'd be happy to know,
That I'll treasure my old Singer sewer
The way she did, so long ago.

Grandma's Cures - Did you know that......

• drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately.
• Colgate toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns.
• Altoids peppermints will clear up your stuffed nose.
• Achy muscles from a bout of the flu? Mix 1 tablespoon horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 min. Then apply it as a massage oil, for instant relief for aching muscles.
• Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup vinegar with 1/4 cup honey and take 1 tablespoon six time a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria.
• Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly - even though the product was never advertised for this use.
• Honey remedy for skin blemishes.. Cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a band-aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile, and speeds healing. Works overnight.
• Listerine therapy for toe nail fungus..... Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in Listerine mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic leaves your toenails looking healthy again.
• Easy eyeglass protection.... To prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of clear nail polish to the threads of the screw before tightening them.
• Coca cola cure for rust....Just saturate an abrasive sponge with Coca-cola and scrub the rust stain. The phosphoric acid in the coke is what gets the job done.
• Cleaning liquid that doubles as a bug killer....If menacing bees, wasps, hornets or yellow jackets get in your home and you can't find the insecticide try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground instantly.
• Smart splinter remover....Just pour a drop of Elmer's Glue-All over the splinter, let dry and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.