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The last two days have been
involved in meetings with various folks that hopefully will help to
provide some interesting historical accounts on island life and the people
themselves.
On Monday I had lunch with
Norma Jean MacDonald who kindly provided me with a list of folk that might
help along with their email addresses. She is also going to speak to some
folk personally to try and persuade them to send us historical articles.
I also popped in to see
Kate Westphal of GraphicDetail who is going to attempt a re-design of the
Electric Scotland logo. I really need it much sharper so we can
produce good quality merchandise. So am looking forward to seeing the
results.
Also took a few more
pictures of Charlottetown...
A tank!
And this is Norma.. she was waving and not
trying to hide from the camera <grin>
After lunch I went through
to Summerside to see Fred as I just couldn't get hold of him. Mind
you it turned out I had his fax number <sheesh>.
Anyway we had a good talk
and Fred is going to organise me getting a regular source of biographies
of Scots settlers and other historical articles.
I also found a barber so
managed to get my hair cut which was long overdue :-)
On Tuesday I went over to
see Waldron Leard at Kingsboro which is on the east of the Island so that
gave me more opportunities for a few new pictures!
This is me on my way on Route 2 towards
Kinsboro which is around 1 hours drive
You can see on the left how the snow drifts
over the road
And I arrived in Kinsboro and the home of
Waldron Leard and that's his house and office on the left and his goodself
on the right :-) I
think I stayed for around 2 hours with Waldron as he had a whole host of
tales to tell. He obviously loves his work and it is a real
community and family effort. His research on the MacDonald and other
families in the area is just huge. You can see two of his sites at...
http://www.isn.net/susankin and
http://www.islandregister.com/leard.html
Once again I heard that
60-70% of the island has Scottish blood in them and certainly Waldron can
point to his in depth research to back this up. He went on to tell
me of the many thousands of people that wind their way to his wee office
to touch base with their roots and he obviously gets a great kick out of
helping people. I must say that he has a lovely spot to work looking
out the window to the bird feeder where squirrels also were to be seen,
across the woods down to the beach and sea. I think many people
would kill for that view and he tells me in the Summer it's amazing.
Waldron also helps the local school children
and many turn up to do some research in all his history files and he's
keen that they do so they are brought up with their heritage and culture
so they too can pass it on to the next generation.
He tells me they get many
donations from people all over the world which helps them to continue the
work they do but let him tell you more himself...
Waldron also kindly provided two list of
interest to researchers...
Listing of early area surnames and the
communities in which they may be found
[Co-ordinates relate to the P.E.I. Highway Map]
You will find other useful lists in the
History Room all prepared by Waldron, his family and volunteers so it is
well worth a visit any time you get to Prince Edward Island.
Just some of the things you can see in the
History room and the great views you get outside.
And as Waldrom knew that
Electric Scotland visitors liked stories he gave me this one for you to
read...
He also provided me with a CD of some stories
about PEI and here they are for you to listen to here... (coming shortly)
And then it was time to head off and so many
thanks for giving so freely of your time Waldron, if I return I shall be
sure to pay you another visit :-)
And this last picture is really one I've kept
meaning to take. It's the school bus and you should note that when it
stops to let off the children lights flash and a stop sign comes out from
the side of the bus meaning all motorists must stop until the stop sign
retracts back into the bus. This actually caught me a wee bit unawares
when I first got behind one so just thought I'd mention it incase you
don't have this system in your neck of the woods :-)
And here is a picture of myself that Waldron
took while I was visiting with him :-) |
