I wonder why they took down the black iron fence around the Douglas..looks better that way.Strange i live in Crawfordpark and i new only one person from crawford that actually worked at the hospital, a Mrs. Davies...never heard any gosspip about the hospital either, not like nuns island.
THANKS for stopping by, I do my best to acknowledge when someone leaves a comment,you do not have to be a member here & everyone is welcome. Ps: This site is monitored but not actively posting on a regular basis. Mostly these are stories & some photos saved from a defunct site known as Verdun Connections which was on MSN Groups initially then on a social network called Multiply.
Maybe there's not as many trying to get in like there use to be.............. Seems that's the only reason to have fence isn't it,.....to keep people out: unless of course you have a dog..........................
ReplyDeleteHi John Melvin. Edna Royston - the columnist for The Guardian lived on either Dunver Crescent or Truman which are off shoots of Crawford Bridge. Also for the church article - I went to All Saints Church - Joe Vokey was the minister at that time way back in the very early 60s. Very sweet, kind spoken gentleman a really old time family minister who would visit his parishioners. His wife was really sweet - Kind of like Aunt Bea on the Andy Griffith Show. They lived in tthe house to the left of the church, and to the right was the path to the QE Park. All the ministers of All Saints lived in that house Whereabouts in Crawford did you live ? I lived on Foch below Churchill. I lived in the first house past the lane. There was a Pharmacy across the street. Hope to hear from you.
ReplyDeleteHi John Melvin A long time ago the Douglas used to be called the Asylum with its fence which they chain locked at night. It was the big bad scary place. I think today with patient's rights being considered may that is why they would take it down to be less institutional. Alot of patients would walk around Crawford in their PJs and slippers in the midle of winter and get lost. The police would come and get them and bring them back "home". Kind of sad. I always remember being in the Girls Auxiliary at All Saints Anglican and went carolling there and walked through an underground passage to the Childrens ward near Champlain. I remember it was creepy, people banging on doors with little windows. I wonder if these could have been the "bad cases". Or Maybe Verdun doesn't have the money to keep paying for repairs on the fence HA HA.
ReplyDeleteHi John,
ReplyDeleteI remember hanging around the hole at nite and daring each other to go on the grounds of the Douglas.There was 2 vacant small houses that we'd run in and out of.I don't know what they were for.You could always guess the people from the Douglas wondering around and bumming cigs.My grandmother died there of Alzeimers after spending 10yrs there.
Wendy
ReplyDeletemy mom worked there for over 40 years
at the douglas hospital.
the reason for the fence was the goverment
said it cost to much to replace.
there isn't much land in verdun to build
condo's etc.
the land developers are fighting for years
to get the douglas hospital grounds
to build on.
the land is worth a fortune today
so close to downtown
for some reasons they will not sell the land?
some reasons that i heard of stuff buried in the ground
and they don't want to others to find out
all kinds of stories true or false?
just some info i heard on the douglas hospital stuff
Hi The houses on the Douglas grounds were for the doctors and families. p.s. What is The Hole. I have heard that mentionned a few times on VC but don't know anything about it. Laurie
ReplyDeleteMy brother in law lives on Stephens, backing onto the Douglas and he was told the fence was too expensive to repair or replace so it was removed. I grew up in Crawford Park and had several relatives who worked in the Douglas, and my husband's uncle used to be a janitor there. I remember patients walking around in Crawford Park sometimes. More than once my mom had to call the hospital to come get someone who had gotten lost. There were also numerous "halfway houses" (ie group homes) in the neighbourhood. I am also wondering what the Hole was because I've never heard of it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Edna Royston wrote for the Verdun Messenger. She & my grandmother were good friends. Also, my aunt worked & retired from the Douglas Hospital. She is now deceased, but she lived for years on Stephens & then on Rolland. My cousin & my brother both worked there briefly. Have a great Sunday everyone. Claroleca
ReplyDeleteAbout 1967, I used to hang around with Patty deVerti (sp) who lived in one of the houses on the property. Her father was a doctor at the hospital. The family went on vacation to a castle in Germany or France and her father got up to pee and fell down the stairs and broke his neck. I knew a Terry Fagan who worked at the hospital for many years. He also went the VCHS around that time.
ReplyDeletelaurie
ReplyDeletemy mom worked with mrs fagan
in the kitchen.
i knew katy fagan, real nice verduners
Laurie my husband and a group of his friends who belonged to CPYA back in the 60's were asked by Father McGlynn of St.Thomas Moore to go to a dance at the Douglas that McGlynn was having for the female teen residents. Paul said it was very sad to see the girls. He hoped that the dance cheered some of them but he said most were heavily sedated and didn't really know what was going on. Dianne
ReplyDeleteI think it was a Father McGlynn who performed the wedding of my brother & sister in law?? was he always at Stthomas More,.or did he do a stint in St Willibrords too??
ReplyDeleteLes...I am not sure if McGlynn was at St.Willibrords too, but I know for sure he was at Thomas Moore. Dianne
ReplyDeleteI also remember patients walking around Crawfordpark, they use to stop at the corner store called " given's" at the time. they use to buy pop and chips. quite often they had no money.Then the owner , Mr. Givens use to make them leave. We got to know the regulars..all in all they were harmless.
ReplyDeletedid your mom know a Mrs. Davies..she work there to for years and years.Lived on one of the cresents i think.
ReplyDeleteThere were 2 Father McGlynn's. They were brothers. Father Gerald McGlynn was a fixture at St. Thomas More for years, and was later joined by Father Peter McGlynn in the 1970s. I don't know where Father Peter was before coming to St. Thomas More, perhaps he was at St. Willibrord?
ReplyDeleteHi Laurie I lived on clemenceau, and few doors away from the store ( givens)..My parent lived there for years..at one time they allowed dancing to the juke box but stop it when it got out of hand..
ReplyDeletei also never heard of the hole
ReplyDeleteThe hole was the grounds next to the Natatorium and there was a section that kind of sloped a little, hence the hole.I knew Terry Fagan and Richard Mullins worked at the Douglas.
ReplyDeleteWendy
Just down past the Natatorium,...............towards Lasalle,....in the park (greenspace) across from the Douglas was a fairly large indent in the park,.a sort of 'sunken oasis' in the middle of the park,............many kids would go & meet there,......There would always be quite a few people meet there,.and yet , it was easy to not have met everyone,.............it was a Hangout,........and becuase of it's layout,.....it was a Hole in the middle of the park,.btwn ,the Boardwalk,.and Lasalle Blvd. I Remember it coming about in the later 60's,.......not sure if it was frequented before that,(at least as a teen hangout) Hope that helps somewhat...........................................
ReplyDeleteHi Wendythepool,..........you beat me to it,.........hahahahaha I just posted the same info ,.....but your post was already there..............hahaha
ReplyDeleteyes..now i know the area..I never heard it called the hole tho..
ReplyDeleteOk, I also know where you mean now - heck, I've been there! But didn't hear of it being called the Hole before. But I didn't hang around there until probably the mid-late 70s.
ReplyDeleteYou didn't find any safety pins with ends burnt Did You?,,,,,,,,,,,,,hahahaha
ReplyDeleteHey Les, so you used saftey pins for your missing buttons also. Ha Ha.
ReplyDeletehi John-you are 10 yrs older than I am -and I knew MANY people who got jobs at the "Dougie" upon graduating in 1971 and 1972...geez I could list their names but would that be OK to do here? Thanks, Cathy...I wasn't one of them but some old buddies were...I used to meet them for lunch sometimes and I remember being kind of scared...the underground tunnels were called the Allens? And you never knew who would appear around the bend...
ReplyDeleteIs Richard Mullins the guy we used to call Moon Mullins? If so-that's the only name I knew him by!
ReplyDeleteHi John Melvin So you lived on Clemenceau. I remember that restaurant Givens, but I liked Don's or Bud's as it was called back in the early sixties. Bud's had a restaurant in the back. A gal called Alice used to be the cook. I think she had the hots for my brother Ha ha. The business sold or whatever and old man Schuman took over - miserable old suspicious character.
ReplyDeleteSo you lived on Clemenceau. Did you know Morrisseys, Strikes, Bowes Lyons, Hodgson, Bottomleys or old Mrs. Kelly who lived with her son on the upper flat nearest the lane near Churchill Therewas also the Adams. I remember being in Junior Auxiliary at All Saints and we all went down to a house and visited a girl who was in an iron lung. She must have had polio. This was 1960ish. She had a brother Russell Adams who would be around my age 52 (shhhhhh) Wow this brings back memories. Laurie Etienne
Laurie. Would you be talking about Fred Strike? My mother did volunteer work at the Douglas for probably 20 years or so, and I also spent a lot of time at the Dougie helping out, playing basketball, etc. And you are right Laurie...this does bring back many a memory. Glen
ReplyDeleteHi len, The Fred Strike that I knew lived on 4th Ave. I hung around with his brother Rodney. I beleive that Fred hung out with your brother and played basketball. I think a fellow whose last name was Greeley was also one of that group. tc, Mike
ReplyDeleteHey Mike. You are right about Fred hanging around with my brother. I saw both Fred and Rodney at the Verdun Chritmas Reunion 3-4 years ago. I go every year, and have not seen either of them since. Think they ended up moving to Beurling (at Rolland), if memory serves me right. Thanks for the info. If you are ever in Toronto the first Friday night in December, remember the annual Verdun Xmas Reunion is always that evening at the Strathcona Hotel on York Street. Glen
ReplyDeleteYES: Richard Mullins was / is "Moon Mullins" I ran into him the last time i was in Verdun two years ago. He was just getting ready to take an early retirement from the Duggie. As for the Hole: My first recollection of it!!!!!!!! Are you ready for this? When I went to the Nursey School that used to be over Lowneys Corner store on the corner of Rolland and Banyantyne. That was somewhere around 1953/ 55 eara. Anyone else remember that Nursery School. Did the hole thing a bit in the late 60s early 70's but was more into the Nat at that time. Particularly the high board. I used to also hang some with Terry Fagan. I am curious to know who is Wendy the Pool seeing that she knows Fagan and Moon.
ReplyDeleteOh forgot to mention about the hole. From the Nursery School we would walk to the Hole sometimes. Seemed like it was miles away from there.
ReplyDeleteHere's a great phot posted originally by JohnnyO ..........Nice to see the members still reading and posting,.........and Thanks Btw for this old photograph.......................................
ReplyDelete