My good friend Glen Pilon posted a message on my behalf in October. The dicussion thread became "we need your help". This note is to bring you up to date but first to thank everyone who took the time to read my rather lengthy posting. Since then your responses and suggestions have reinforced the pride I have in having lived in Verdun and I am truly appreciative. Regretably' I can't report a successful conclusion at this point but my quest continues. I tried Lovell's Directory however Verdun is not one of the specific municipalities you can access, therefore one has to go to an alphabetical listing of all Montreal area streets and try and and identify which of these are in Verdun eg .Valiquette. Then as you scroll down the list of people on Valiquette by address,there is no reference to their occupations or any other info that might narrow down the search. You may recall from Glen's posting that I unfortunately have been unable to obtain the names of either my biological mother or father, therefore only names on a street are of little help. So, unless someone out there who uses Lovell's a lot knows a better way to identify carpenters ( my grandfather's occupation ) who lived in Verdun in 1948, this is probably a dead end. I should add that I contacted Lovell's directly with my dilemma, but they could only suggest what some of you had already suggested.
I also visited the web-site that was suggested. I'm already registered with a couple of the agencies and have been for several years without success. They work when both the adoptee and a mother are registered and they can find a match. There were a couple of private search firms on the site but thet only operated in the US. I have e-mailed them to see if they are aware of any Canadian firms which might provide a similar service. They've yet to respond.. My latest communication has been to Quebec's Minister of Health and Social Services, Phillippe Couillard who has overall responsibility for Adoption Services as part of his portfolio. Also as suggested , I'm thinking of putting a short notice in The Messenger, if it still exists or The Gazette.
Once again, thank you all for your help. Your interest and support only encourages me not to give up. I'll keep you posted. McGee5115
26 comments:
Good luck in your search, sir. Jack
Hi McGee5115,.........Good luck in that quest,.I'm glad to hear that your inspired to carry on,........Remember Never Give Up and with the 'Top of Mind awareness' of this subject ,I'm sure we will be able to at least 'try' to help where we can........We Never Give Up either...... Any one with any suggestions or 'contacts' ,please do not hesitate to contact us here at Verdun Connections (via email,if you prefer) and we will work at solving this :.........Again Good Luck ,with this,...
Hey McGee, I don't recall seeing your original posting. Give us something to go on or repost your original. I am in Verdun and have a good network of friends my age who were all in Verdun in '48. Perhaps we could track down housebuilders of that era that hired carpenters. I'll try to help. Ed
Also Ed ,to make it easier to find,it is posted on the front page of this VerdunConnection site ,with a direct link to the thread,........
Les. Thanks for your help in getting Ed to view my original post. As McGee says....the search continues. We might also try having something printed up for the Verdun Christmas Reunion on Friday evening, Dec. 1 at the Strathcona Hotel in Toronto. We've got to use all possible avenues as we forge ahead. Thanks again, bud. Glen
I feel for this poor guy. Here is an idea whereby, maybe, he could narrow down his search. Check all the obits from the Gazette from January 1st, 1999 thru December 31st, 1999 and try and pin point the deceased women from 1999, who came from Verdun in his biological mom's age group. I know it seems like searching for a needle in a haystack, but it is an idea nonetheless and possibly a new route for him.
I wish him the very best of luck in his search.
Warm regards,
Doug & Cynthia
________________________________
> From: gpilon@canoemail.com
> To: VerdunConnections@groups.msn.com
> Subject: Re: "we need your help"
> Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 10:00:23 -0800
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> [http://sc.groups.msn.com/themes/R9c/pby/img/mail/mlstar.gif] New Message on Verdun Connections
> "we need your help"
> Reply
> Reply to Sender [http://sc.groups.msn.com/themes/R9c/pby/img/mb/recommend.gif] Recommend Message 7 in Discussion
> From: [http://sc.groups.msn.com/themes/R9c/pby/img/cmd/cool_global_nick.gif] GPilon
> Les.
> Thanks for your help in getting Ed to view my original post. As McGee says....the search continues. We might also try having something printed up for the Verdun Christmas Reunion on Friday evening, Dec. 1 at the Strathcona Hotel in Toronto. We've got to use all possible avenues as we forge ahead. Thanks again, bud.
> Glen
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I checked with the Salvation Army who have a great network and are famous for finding people. They tell me that without a name to begin with it is useless. I will try some other ideas. Ed
OK here is an example of 1948 Lovells building contractors etc - in this section alone I found about 5 or 6 builders/contractors living in verdun - mostly with french names http://bibnum2.bnquebec.ca/bna/lovell/src/1948/9.Annuaire_montr%E9alais_d%27affaires_classifi%E9es/C/110773_1948_2656.pdf Yes it will be painstaking work but it is a start.
Perhaps you could contact the Ombudsman for Verdun and see if they can offer any suggestions or help. Cheers.
A few questions for members at VC to ponder: Who do you know that would be in the same age group as McGee's biological mother? (DOB about 1924) Ask them if they knew any families with 4 boys and 4 girls? Were there any that went off on a trip for a few months? McGee's biological father would have been a sailor that "visited" in 1947. He may or may not have been from Verdun. His DOB would be about 1922. Sometimes members of families pass on "hushed" stories later in life. Have you heard any? A question for McGee: Where is/was Youville Orphanage? An internet search provides too many places.
That 's an interesting train of thought as well Maggie,.....I will be having a number of Octegebarians at my place today,(as were celbrating my Mom's 86th)birthday, so this puts her in the right age group,and who knows they may have known of or heard of a situation like this: I will ask her later today,and see what her thoughts are....... Hopefully we can solve this for McGee,.......... Again Good Thinking,and simple too, Asking people who lived around there in that era...........................I still think that perhaps through the church's of the surrounding area may turn up something too. Good Luck to everybody,.......
"OctegeBarians"...........................what the hell does that mean.........hahahahaha ( sorry I meant 80year olds........hahahahaha)
Hi McGee,....I'm sure you have checked out this possibility,but in case you haven't, You know that your Dad was in the Navy,and if he was from Verdun,.then I would imagine it wouldn't be to difficult to find a list of who joined the Navy from Verdun,in those years,...the number couldn't be that large ? Use the parameters of how old he was,and have a 5 year window,it may provide a shorter list,then persue it from there: Just a thought ,and I think it could be done,also school enrollement list,they are done for each year,you know the age of your birth Mom, and there could only be so many kids per classroom,and check with the following years to see who may have not come back the next year????? Attendance was always tracked, ( at least on my report cards............hahahahah) perhaps Attendance or some sort of Academic records can be found for the years in question? Again Just a Thought.......................................Good Luck
I wonder if there's merit in checking Verdun census records for around a certain period which would indicate families with 4 male and 4 female children plus father with specific occupation. These records can usually be found on geneology sites. Likely the people hired to find information would have thought of this. Dale
The detailed census records of 1911 are the latest to be released by the Canadian government.
Bringing this topic ,back to the forefront,.......any help or ideas would be appreciated:................................. also want to repost this generous offer by Doug: Don't know if McGee has seen it,so I thought I'd repost it: From: DopeyDoug2 Sent: 11/19/2006 7:21 AM
Hi there,
I don't want to give you any false hope or anything like that, however, I might know someone who could possibly get your mom's name for you, however, I would need more details.
Please email me at coleman_dougie@hotmail.com
with your name, and ALL the details they gave you about your biological parents.
I will try and call in a favor to get this info, but it is not a sure-fire outcome, however, I figure nothing ventured is truly nothing gained.
Keep me posted.
Warm regards,
Doug
............................................................................................................................. if anyone has any more ideas or contacts ,to try & solve this ,it can only help ......................Thanks for any Help ..............
This message has been deleted by the author.
Wow Gary ,that is an encouraging bit of information........ I'm sure Glen Pilon,..will see this (your message),..and let his friend Mcgee know about it,......... Great Stuff,.......and good to see such an immediate response to help: Proud to be a Verdun character,.....................I hope this mystery of Mcgee's does get solved,.............
Gents. Thanks for this help, and I will most certainly let McGee know of tis post. I will be seeing him this Friday evening at the annual Verdun Christmas Reunion in Toronto. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read, and to respond for our help with this search. We are hopeful it will come to a successful conclusion. Glen
I was wondering ,if any progress has been made,in helping McGee5115,..find the answers he's looking for ?? Haven't heard from either you or Glen for awhile,.....hope everything is moving forward & close to being resolved,.....Again Good Luck with this, From: McGee5115 (Original Message) Sent: 11/16/2006 5:15 PM My good friend Glen Pilon posted a message on my behalf in October. The dicussion thread became "we need your help". This note is to bring you up to date but first to thank everyone who took the time to read my rather lengthy posting. Since then your responses and suggestions have reinforced the pride I have in having lived in Verdun and I am truly appreciative. Regretably' I can't report a successful conclusion at this point but my quest continues. I tried Lovell's Directory however Verdun is not one of the specific municipalities you can access, therefore one has to go to an alphabetical listing of all Montreal area streets and try and and identify which of these are in Verdun eg .Valiquette. Then as you scroll down the list of people on Valiquette by address,there is no reference to their occupations or any other info that might narrow down the search. You may recall from Glen's posting that I unfortunately have been unable to obtain the names of either my biological mother or father, therefore only names on a street are of little help. So, unless someone out there who uses Lovell's a lot knows a better way to identify carpenters ( my grandfather's occupation ) who lived in Verdun in 1948, this is probably a dead end. I should add that I contacted Lovell's directly with my dilemma, but they could only suggest what some of you had already suggested. I also visited the web-site that was suggested. I'm already registered with a couple of the agencies and have been for several years without success. They work when both the adoptee and a mother are registered and they can find a match. There were a couple of private search firms on the site but thet only operated in the US. I have e-mailed them to see if they are aware of any Canadian firms which might provide a similar service. They've yet to respond.. My latest communication has been to Quebec's Minister of Health and Social Services, Phillippe Couillard who has overall responsibility for Adoption Services as part of his portfolio. Also as suggested , I'm thinking of putting a short notice in The Messenger, if it still exists or The Gazette. Once again, thank you all for your help. Your interest and support only encourages me not to give up. I'll keep you posted. McGee5115.........Remember Never Give Up..........
This message has been deleted by the author.
Yes that is a little strange,.isn't it ? Interesting ,maybe some progress has been made,.or maybe not? but a response to your email offer would be almost a gimme: I have sometimes not rec'vd an email ,when my anti virus ,would think it's spam,???
Perhaps this is just a hard time of the year when dealing with these issues. Maybe we should give him the benefit of doubt for not responding right now, but I agree, Gary does deserve a response. Cheers.
I can assure everyone that McGee is very thankful for all the help/suggestions people in this forum have offered to him, and Gary, we have looked into your past suggestion and I apologize for not responding before this. We were together at the annual Verdun Christmas Reunion and I can honestly say that McGee has been very much touched by the support he has received from all those who have taken the time to post messages, and suggestions, at Verdun Connections. I know that I have been "out of touch" here recently, as I believe McGee has. But please understand that our "quietness" does not translate into non-gratitude. We continue the search, and are following up on every suggestion that has been posted here. Hopefully, we will have something positive and definitive to announce in the near future. But as of this date, all leads have been exhausted, and the Quebec Government continues to throw obstacles up which makes this search even more difficult. We truly do thank everyone here, not only for their help and suggestions, but just for the fact they might have taken the time to read through the original post. I'm sure I speak for McGee when I say that I apologize for the recent silence. But again, please know that the input here at Verdun Connections has been extremely appreciated, and we have indeed followed up every lead/suggestion people have offered up. The search continues......and I wish a very happy and safe Holiday Season to everyone here at VC. Glen
Further to G. Pilon's recent update, I wanted to add my appreciation to all who've continued to make suggestions and provide a little add'l info. Some of the agencies suggested I've come accross during my search over the years but some are new potential sources of info. I continue to check them all regularly in case someone from my biological family registers with them.Alas to date, no success. With Doug Coleman's help we've re-initiated a search for my biological father through the Montreal agency that has my birth records. They tell me it will take about 8 months before I hear anything. Ironically, it's the same group who in June of 2001 conducted the search for my biological mother only to tell me in March 2002 that she had passed away in 1999 and therefore could do no more for me. Why they wouldn't have suggested a search for my father at that time ( over 5 years ago )boggles the mind but reflects how difficult and frustrating it can be trying to get anywhere with the Quebec Adoptions Bureaucracy. Based on the info Glen Pilon posted originally re my father he would be 85 years old at this point and so I don't hold out much hope that this search will be any more successful than the search for my mother.Having said that one never knows. Also in my last poting on November 19th, I mentioned that I had written to the Quebec Minister responsible for adoption info disclosure ( Phillippe Couillard ). I'm pleased to report that I received a response from his office earlier this week indicating that they have appointed a task force chaired by an Associate Professor of Law from Sherbrooke University. The task force mandate will be to: investigate to what extent today's laws don't reflect today's needs; review legislation in different parts of the world and in the provinces; review the appropriateness of the confidentialityof adoption information and how it should be managed today and finally to make recommendations re changes, if necessary to the Civil Code and other relevant laws in the Province of Quebec. This report is to be sent to the Minister March 31, 2007 for his consideration and next steps.At the risk of sounding like a pessimist however, with an election likely in the near term and who knows possibly a change in power, I don't really think much will come of this, at least not in the near term but if it leads to changes to make it easier for adoptees in the future, that would be great Having said all that, to quote Les, "Remember never give up "and so I won't. Thanks again everyone.
Thanks for those updates, McGhee & GP,.......much appreciated,. at least it sounds like your still travelling inthe right direction...... Family's important,...I hope you can find some more to add to yours soon, Insude sources sound like the way to go,.......even if it involves some rule S--------t------r-------e--------t--------chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-----------------g hahahahaha or the Good Old Fashion Way of Getting things done in La Belle Province...................................Bribes,......hahahahaha
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