Category Archive: Things From My Travels

Tin soldiers and Nixon

May 2016 On 22 May 2016, I visited Kent State University, the site of the Kent State shootings where, on 4 May 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired upon unarmed students protesting President Nixon and the bombing campaign of Cambodia.  The campus has the May 4 Museum, a monument to the students who died …

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The Town That Was

May 2015 A ghost town is a once-populated area that is abandoned, or partially abandoned, because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural disasters, government actions, environmental or nuclear disasters or war. Centralia, Pennsylvania, is one such partially abandoned ghost town. Deep in Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region, the town once …

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Claresholm Industrial Airport has rich military past

Published in the Claresholm Local Press 2 December 2009 Longtime residents of the Claresholm area will probably remember a time when the air buzzed with the sound of RCAF aircraft from an aerodrome west of Claresholm. Early in the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Air Force entered into an ambitious project: the British Commonwealth …

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On one foggy day aboard the HMCS Porte St Loius

Published in Legion Magazine January/February 2010 On one foggy day in May 1989 when I was sailing aboard HMCS Porte St Loius, we were sailing in formation with the Porte St Jean about 500 yards behind us.  I was on lifebuoy sentry duty and heard the following transmission come across my Personal Radio Communicator (PRC): …

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Ghost Towns of Simcoe County – Edenvale

Published in the Barrie Advance   24 October 2004 Webster’s Dictionary defines a ghost town as, “a once flourishing town wholly or nearly deserted usually as a result of the exhaustion of some natural resource.” One such ghost town in Simcoe County is the former Village of Edenvale. Situated on Highway 26 in Springwater Township, …

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Is Borden Part of Canada’s Fading Military Heritage?

Published in the Barrie Advance   18 October 2004   Canadian Forces Base Borden has been an important part of Simcoe County since opening in 1916. In its 88 years of existence, the base has seen hundreds of thousands of military personnel pass through its many training schools. In some cases, several generations of families …

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Near Forgotten Airfield – Breathing new life into Aviation history

Published in the Barrie Advance   19 May 2003 Longtime residents of the Stayner area will probably remember a time when the air buzzed with the sound of RCAF aircraft from a small airfield off Hwy 26 between Stayner and the tiny hamlet of Edenvale. Early in the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Air …

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Abandoned Military Bases in Simcoe County

Published in the Barrie Advance 13 April 2003 Published in the Essa Times October 2007 Simcoe County has always had a proud military heritage. Canadian Forces Base Borden has been a fixture in the area since it opened as Camp Borden on July 11, 1916. Originally an infantry training centre for the Canadian Expeditionary Force …

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Ode to the Porte St Louis

Written by An Unknown Sailor The following poem was written by an unknown sailor on the Porte St Jean. If you are the writer, please e-mail me and I will give you proper credit.  It was originally titled Ode to the Porte St Jean, but since I was serving aboard her sister ship HMCS Porte …

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