Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Memories of summer evenings in Verdun

6 comments:

pauline garneau said...

The Gazette March 26, 2011 Re: "Seniors help write history of working-class life" (Gazette, March 24) and your followup invitation to share memories of old Verdun.

Having lived in Verdun in the 1950s and '60s on both 2nd Ave. and Allard St., my fondest memories are of the summer evenings when, after the regular workday and supper, the majority of residents would gravitate to their balconies or stairs and share the events of the day with their neighbours. There was no Facebook or Twitter, and yes, we actually knew the majority of our neighbours by name, and our social interaction was done face to face. This camaraderie meant we didn't have to worry about our property or our cars; everyone looked out for each other and graffiti was a rare occurrence indeed.

When someone was lucky enough to buy a new car, the whole street came to admire it and offer congratulations. Friendships were many, and it was a simple way of life where time seemed to expire more slowly. Progress changes many things, and not always necessarily for the better.

Philippe Lavigne

Kirkland

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Memories+summer+evenings+Verdun/4507235/story.html#ixzz1IF13pHKg








Could this be our neighbour from Verdun young Philippe and they are calling him a seniour citizen ? The family who lived about 5 doors down from us on Allard. He had two brothers Ernie and the other one I don’t remember his name.
I wonder if Brian winnipeg1 would know if it is the same family he knew from his school days . Philippe was friends with my brother Bob and Donny, Earl Vito Joey Gordie and Brian

pauline garneau said...

I guess we
were the typical family he was talking about . Here is a picture of my family just hanging out on the gallery after supper on Allard……. Pauline.








My Mom Grandmother Sister Irene and her three boys and my youngest brother Alfred. I must have taken the picture......Pauline

Les F said...

This fellow is referring back to the Verdun memories story about Kathryn Harvey & the Dawson boys Club Project which Guy was also involved with. In the comments on under the story we invited anyone to visiti this site too,posting the site link. good to see people reading & participating..
As for sitting on the front gallery's / balcony's ,was a right of passage I guess,with TV probably taking over in later years. Escaping the heat,or watching the rainstorms or just people watching was something that all Verdun & Montreal people did I guess. A new car certainly would draw lots' of attention from everyone ,as those were rare too.
Cheers !! HF&RV>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
the old story link can be read here. http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Seniors+fresh+take+Verdun/4492984/story.html

pauline garneau said...

Thanks Les Googled through the Gazette and can’t find any more replies to the Kathryn Harvey site. Did the usual, started off looking for one thing and wandered off to something else..Oh well.....Pauline

Guy Billard said...

Pauline,
Thanks for posting that old family photo with your interesting comments. May I suggest that more MVC members post their old photos specifyng the date and anecdotes.
Guy

Diane Roberts said...

Les, I'm trying to post a few family photos from 3rd Ave. Those gallerys/balconys
sure were the social platform for many Verdunites....happy times and memories!
Oops! Forgot how to post them...should I do it on my site or under photos? Diane