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RCMP Canine Track
RCMP Musical Ride Windsor, NS
August 9, 2007
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Blast From The Past - Ronald Mizon |
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Written by Ronald Mizon
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We are backtracking a little as we did get ahead of ourselves with Ronald’s story. We do apologize for any confusion.
PASTURES NEW (PART 24A)
It was quite a shock, I’ll tell you! Here we were settling down in Mount Uniacke, as we called home, and at the drop of a hat, without any warning, we were up and away to a new destination. As far as I could make out, Aunt Allie was not as well as she could be and having three children to look after was probably putting too much strain on her. Though I have heard in recent months that she had passed away at the grand old age of 104! Uncle George, so I have been informed, passed away due to cancer, though I do not know exactly when. I shall never forget the Cole’s kindness who opened their home to us in our time of need. My heart was heavy and sad at having to leave our Uniacke home.
At first I thought we were going to return to England but Mr. McKinnon informed us that we were going to a new billet. We seemed to travel for miles and during this journey it was transpired that Bessie and I were to be parted and live in separate homes. My new home was to be in a small village by the name of Milford Station, still in Hants, whereas Bessie was to go to Thorburn in Pictou County, until we could be brought together again at an undisclosed date. Bessie was to stay with a Mr. and Mrs. McKay and originally I was to stay with a Mr. and Mrs. McKie, but they had a change of heart and I ended up with Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Wallace and Annie Wallace in Milford Station. So, it was the first stop for me at Milford Station. Mr and Mrs Wallace greeted me with Mr. McKinnon who had a few brief words with them and then with a few words to each of us, Bessie and I bade each other a tearful farewell for the time being. For how long we had no idea. The Wallaces
showed me around the house and what was to be my bedroom. They were early risers and so I had to be too.
It was quite a shock to find that my bedroom had no electric light and the only illumination was to be a kerosene lamp! What a come down from life at Uniacke!
Forms of address were a little on the formal side. I was to address them as Mr. and Mrs. Wallace but later mister said to me, “Just call me Ernie”. Ernie was a supervisor at a feed mill which stood alongside the railroad from Antigonish to Halifax. The mill prepared animal foods and a small section was set aside for the preparation of a breakfast cereal called Sun-Ray Cereal. Naturally, my breakfast became the same as the Wallaces’. It was quite good with fruit mixed in with it.
As it was still summer school holidays, Ernie, in his spare time, took me around the feed mill and gave me an outline as to how it worked. He then took me on a tour of the village, the school and a very small ice-cream parlour (no such thing in Uniacke). He treated me to my first Milford milkshake. We went on then to the Railroad Station where I was introduced to the Station Master – a Mr. Barter. He in turn introduced me to his son, Sonny and his daughter, Florence and they became my first friends in Milford, the village of my new abode.
Mr. Wallace (Ernie) was a gentle, easy-going man and I think he was pleased to have a young lad to talk to about men and boy things. Uncle George was very kind to me and thoughtful but I understand him now better. He did not always have enough time to “parlee” with me, having a tough business to run and quite a lot of employees to keep his eyes on.
I am just trying to make a comparison between him and Ernie.
Whereas Uncle George was a busy, bustling man, Ernie had a slower gaite. George B Cole will always be my Uncle George, even today. If I refer to him, he is still my Uncle George, even though he is not with us anymore.Now, Mrs. Wallace was quite different from her husband. She was, apparently, an ex-school teacher and I sometimes thought that she had the idea that she was still one, except she was “sans cane”. She gave me instructions as to how I was to live my life with them. One of the first things I had to do was to wash my socks every morning and put on a clean pair for the day. I had to carry water into the house and keep the wood box full daily. When I was to start school after the holidays I was to do my homework and memory lessons every morning before I went to school. Her philosophy was that if I did it before I went to school I would still have it fresh in my head for the day, especially the memory lessons. So I used to get up with the birds around six o’clock, wash and have my breakfast with the Wallaces and help with the breakfast dishes then get straight on with my homework. Memory lessons are reciting back to her verses from history or poems of about three or four verses long. It was completely different from my life at Mount Uniacke. Looking back now, I am sure if I had Annie Wallace behind me when I was at Uniacke and attending Windsor Academy, I would have shown much improvement.It wasn’t all work though. Play time was after school until bedtime, which came early to cope with the early risings of the whole family. I came on very well with the Wallaces. I was beginning to grow up from a little boy to a youth.During the summer I made friends with local boys and girls whom I would attend school with later and an elderly lady who Annie introduced me to. She was a widow and needed someone to pop in daily to help with the water and the woodbox and chop some kindling. At times I would run errands from the local shop. She would reward me by making milk junkets and cookies for me. She was a dear soul. At the top of our road was a big farm house and the owners had two orphan boys living and helping them with the farm work. The eldest boy was called Herb Marr and the small one was Jackie . Herb or Bert became my pal and later we would go to school together.
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Ronald Mizon 1940 -1944 
