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.
Team Canada jrs just won tonight's New Years Eve game in Ottawa.............
TEAM CANADA 7 -------- TEAM USA 4
...........and what a game this was ,a lot closer than the final score would indicate,they were both fantastic ................for those of you who like hockey ,it was a great game ............................................
This is John Tavares (& he'll be in the
NHL very soon,.he's great
Ok the new year is close now ( except for our friends on the other side of the globe) Happy New Year to you already.............but for Montreal & Canada & the USA east coast it's coming very soon,,,,,,,,,,,,your probably already watching a Dick Clark New Year Special,...........here on the Westcoast we have a ways to go yet ......
but in anycase Happy New Year to all of you, & I hope you all make the New Year the Best it can be for you.........Appreciate all your family & friends ,( cause things can change quick) .......
So Happy New Year ................................2009 HF&RV
Have Fun & Remember Verdun
Ad from Montreal Light, Heat and Power Company,
"Montreal - The Power City"
From Five Hundred Representative Public Utility Advertisements, 1928
Public Utilities Advertising Association
"Montreal is a great city because nature and man have combined to make it great. Since 1904 the industrial customers of Montreal Light, Heat and Power have increased from 2,645 to 4,777, in 1926; and the lighting customers from 36,029 to 200,992, while the power demanded to take care of Montreal has increased from 90,000 to 300,000 h.p. This achievement not only proves conclusively that Montreal Light, Heat and Power has provided for Montreal's tremendous expansion during the last fourteen years, but is an evidence of its intention as well as its ability to do so in the future. Another proof of which is to be found in the fact that it has actually available 200,000 h.p. more that the City requires at the present time, not to speak of additional reserve power available from the great group of power plants feeding its system and the additional 100,000 h.p. now under construction.
"Montreal Light, Heat and Power's gas resources also have always been far ahead of the demand for industrial gas heating -- a very necessary and important agent in manufacturing -- for which the demand increases proportionally to that for electricity.
"Montreal Light, Heat and Power will provide for Montreal's growth in the future as it has in the past no matter how great or how rapid the expansion may be.
"We are proud of Montreal, and are grateful for the part we have played in making its development possible."
"Montreal Light, Heat & Power had available, in reserve and now being developed, supplies of electricity far in excess of any possible requirements of Montreal's present and future industries, public services and homes.
"Never, in the forty years during which this company has been privileged to serve the City, has there been any demand for electric power which it has not been able to meet instantly.
"Linked together through inter-communication arrangements established by Montreal Light, Heat and Power, the resources of Quebec's major generating plants converge on Montreal and the adjacent territory, and no other similar area has such a gigantic reservoir of actual and potential electric energy at its command.
"Comprised in this system are the eleven most important plants in the Province, situated at Ile Maligne, Grand-Mère, Shawinigan Falls, La Gabelle, Cedars Rapids, Soulanges, Ste-Timothée, Lachine, Chambly, Ville Lasalle and the new plant now being built at Back River. Their vast network of transmission and distribution lines tap practically all of Quebec's economically available hydro-electric power and cover the entire industrial belt which centres in Montreal.
"This concentration of electric resources makes for aggressive initiative, combined with great economy, and gives this City and district unequaled opportunities for growth in the wonderful new electric era which the world has entered.
"The average rate for electricity in Montreal is substantially lower than in other similar industrial centres either in Canada or the United States"
Montreal Light, Heat & Power Company was one of the major components of today's Hydro-Québec. All of the plants named in the ad are hydro-power units. Though the company has placed diesel, nuclear, and gas-fueled plants in service over the years, it still relies heavily on hydro-power for generation.
The expectation and desirability of continuing growth, evident in this ad, reflects a common theme of the era -- that expansion of economic and technical systems were signs of beneficial progress. Today, the effects of expanding technical infrastructures generate debate over costs and benefits. The statement of how the company has "supplies of electricity far in excess of any possible requirements of Montreal's present and future [customers]," indicates the scale of thought at the time. The 447.6 mega-watts of power cited as available (1 horse-power = 746 watts) falls short of the 24,590 MW of installed capacity available to Hydro-Québec in 1988.
 1st John S. Hall (1875-1881) |  2nd Louis S. Lesage (1882-1883) |  3nd John Molson Crawford (1884-1892) |  4th S.S. Bain (1893-1895) |
 5th Henry Hadley (1896-1899) |  6th Joseph Allen (1900-1901) |  7th Edward May (1902-1903) |  8th Joseph Rielle (1904-1905) |
 9th P.-Z. Millette (1906-1907) | 10th Joseph Allen (1907-1915) |  11th Charles Manning (1915-1917) |  12th J.A.A Leclair (1917-1925) |
 13th J.-P. Dupuis (1925-1929) |  14th Ch. A. Allen (1929-1933) |  15th Hervé Ferland (1933-1939) |  16th Edward Wilson (1939-1960) |
 17th George O'Reilly (1960-1966) |  18th J. Albert Gariépy (1966-1977) |  19th Lucien Caron (1977-1985) |  20th Raymond Savard (1985-1993) |
 21th Georges Bossé (1993—2005) | |||
Steve
Les
A friend who is a non-member is unable to see my site. Can a non-member have access to the list of member so that he can see my site ? Is there another way to have access by a non-member ? I cannot check with my computer as I get automatically connected to my account.
Guy
Someone posted a site showing some old photos of the Tobogan slide that was situated near the Auditorium. I meant to make some copies for my photo album but I failed to note it down. Whoever posted it, can you re-post it please.
Guy
This a photo of an wonderfull old house taken 11/10/2007 on LaSalle Boulevard near Galt, Gordon, Rielle avenues. I wonder how long it will stay there before some developer decides to tear it down to build a large residential building as has happened to other such treasures in the area. The properties along LaSalle with the back to the river are worth a gold mine and very tempting for owners to sell.
Guy
Guy
I am sure were all familiar with Google Earth by now,.but are you aware of this site
World Wide Telescope,...it allows you to use your computer as a telescope,check it out
http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/Home.aspx
Some of you may find it interesting,.........cruising through space ,from the comfort of your own PC ..........................Isn't it crazy the stuff we have available to us nowadays.....................................................................................................................HF&RV
We have a link to one of our other sites that we started experimenting with ,when searching for replacement venues for this Group.
My question is this ,since I haven't spent much time on the linked yuku site,There is a chat feature,that Guy asked me about a few weeks back ? Anyone can use it ,if that's something they like to do, there is only a few members in there,as we weren't sure which site we were going to use,...I check it periodically & have only opened 1 topic thread, I am only keeping it alive ,in case any of you want to use it. Anyone care ( I don't ) hahahahahaha We now have potential groups idling on most major search groups ,...as well as a blog out there in cyber space too,.... Any thoughts ???
I will maintain the site,but I may not get to responding to the people that are members there now ,but I don't want them to think they are being ignored,I believe most of them are members here too,.So let me know if there are some of you that want to use the chat.. HF&RV
Here is another view of the Pavillon House. The photo was taken prior to it's demolition in 1954. I am also including a photo I took near the Auditorium at the corner of De LÉglise and LaSalle Blvd on 11/10/2007. There is a car wash to the left of the garage where the Pavillon was wich you cannot see on the photo.
Members may recall our discussion on MSN V.C on William Shatner and if he ever went to school in Verdun. I just viewed an interview on Youtube where he is interviewed about his beginnings in Montreal. He mentioned that he lived at 4419 Girard St. then on Marcil street but no mention of his schooling. However, members may want to to view this interview as it describes his growing up in Montreal.
Guy
On an early morning in Montreal in 1838, major Henry Warde of the Royals Regiment, one of the most distinguished of the Montreal garrison was killed in a duel. The reason for the duel was that major Warde sent a bouquet of flowers supposedly to the wrong address and the lady showed it to her husband a named Robert Sweeney who was from a most respected Montreal family but known to be tempermental. Sweeney then challenged Warde to a duel who accepted. The duel was held in the early hours of the morning at the new race track situated nearby just west of de l'Église in Verdun. Warde was mortally wounded and this was the last fatal duel held in Canada.The duel was held in front of 50 witnesses. James Macdonald, labourer, a witness at the trial, helped carry the body to the "Pavillon", an hotel near the race track. M.H. Loverock, who lived in the "Pavillon", opened the door to let the men bring in the body. Robert Sweeney fled to Burlington Vermont where he died on the 15th of December 1840.
The "Pavillon" is a house where the city of Verdun was founded in 1876 and was situated near the corner of LaSalle and de L'Église (Church). Another interesting fact is that the same year (1838) a race track was founded in that area as I have previously related wich was then converted to a velodrome in 1899. Also, on a period map, de l'Église st. (Church) is named Pavillon, no doubt after this renowned house.
Guy
ARCHIVES SHGV (Translated, condensed version)
This house was demolished in 1954 and replaced by a garage. The Knights of Colombus also lodged there, you can see their Insignia on top of the door.
Here's a Montreal artist they just featured on CTVNewsnet, she does Montreal related paintings & scenes , that we would all be familiar with the old rinks , kids in the street playing ball hockey,bagel shops ,.Schwartz's Smoked Meat shop,.the Montreal Pool Room......etc etc also Wilensky's, the small corner store that was used extensively in the movie 'The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz............ the artist's name is
Carole Spandau ,.and here is a sample of her work:
http://carolespandau.com/carolespandau_003.htm ..the works are worth a look,even if only for Nostalgia sake,. You will Remember a lot of these ,you will certainly be able to relate to the scenes ,regardless of your age now,..........You might even buy one ,who knows: Have Fun & Remember Verdun
I am including a 1899 map of area of the old post office. Since Wellington street would have to be the road on the right as we can see the tramway tracks, the road on the left would be Lower Lachine Rd. now called LaSalle Blvd. The continuation of the road was called Mullarky. I have put an X where the photo would have been taken. However, the description of the area in the text has me confused since they mention five streets, Wellington, La----?, Mullarky, Regina and Pacific ?. Wellington , Mullarky and Regina are shown but not the other 2. This was a project and it is not mentioned that the Post Office was actually built there. I will do some checking at the society. I will also take a photo of that corner.
I will need you help as I am unable to read some of the text. Here is my interpretation:
The Flat Iron Building on the Site of Verdun's New Post Office.
The site of Verdun's proposed new Post Office has been selected and will come as a complete surprise to the residents. At last night's meeting of the council a letter was read from the Hon. P.D. Monk, Minister of Public Works stating that the Government would be much more interested in the cclass of building thay put up if the town would code the site. The council decided to offer? a lot comprising 7600? square feet bordering on five streets, Wellington, La---? Mullarky, Regina and Pacific? avenues? wich th e minister had already offered would be suitable for the section oa a building that would be a credit to the town. The site of the new Post Office is at present occupied be a brick rection? foreign? to Verdun people as the flat iron building from its supposed resemblance in miniature to the famous New York structure.
Some of the words I put in don't make sence so maybe you will be able to find the correct words. I also want to translate this text for our society. Also, do you know what newspaper this article appeared in.
Guy
1924: Service extended to Douglas Hospital via Lower Lachine Road and to Côte St Paul via de l'Église.
Guy
Here is an 1899 map of Verdun and as you can see, the streets where subdivided to Rockland wich is now Willibrord. Beyond Rockland the land was subdivided and numbered into lots stretching towards LaSalle wich would have been farmland. So basically, the population would have lived between Church and Ursula wich was the extention of Atwater and now Henri Duhamel. Queen's Park was situated between Galt, Bannantyne, Willibrord and Wellington or Lachine Road (LaSalle Boul.) One source says the southern part of the Park went to Wellington another says LaSalle. I am still doing research on this. One study mentions that the Clubhouse was situated at the corner of Rielle and Wellington wich may be the building at the end of the Velodrome shown on the photo but needs to be confirmed in wich case the stands would have been facing east but this is only speculation at this point. There seems to be another building on the extreme left of the photo. I also want to find out what the population was at that period. More to come on the subject.
Guy
Merry Christmas to all of you, & of course have a Happy New Year.
Take Care of your family & friends.....that's what really counts ,Appreciate them all ,while you still have the chance,...
Looks like Victoria outdid Canada's major city's for accumulated snowfall in the last 10 days,......but the good news I awoke to an overnight of rainfall,while all the surrounding areas got a whack of snow again,......albeit they are calling for more snow tonight ,.and apparently it will be the first time in 37 years that all across this Nation we will all have a White Christmas.( Hope yours is Merry & Bright) ..hahahahaha
It's been my 2nd day of not having to shovel any snow for over a week....hahahahaha
The Good News ,.I can get any 'tee' time I want ............. HF&RV
If any one is interest in some Closed Canadian Parks here is a link:
http://cec.chebucto.org/ClosPark/CCPIndex.html
There is some good reading in there also
Steve
I meant to mention that the area was situated between LaSalle, Galt, Bannantyne and Willibrord.
guy
I wonder how many Verdunites are aware that there existed a large sporting complex in Verdun at the beginning of the 20th century called Queen's Park. I know I did'nt until I joined the SHGV. These photos will give you an idea of this large park wich contained a Velodrome wich held international bicycle competitions and was the most beautifull and modern of its time. The race track was 28 feet wide on the corners and had an 8 feet inclination. The cost was $35,000 to $50,000. The mile was held in 1.45 minutes in June 1899. The most important promoter of this project was U.H. Dandurand, an important Montreal businessman of the time. He was the first Montrealer to own an automobile as shown on the photo. The stadium could seat 8000 persons. The Ontario and Wellington tramways stopped right in from of the sporting complex. The first race was held on August 7th to the 29th of August 1899 and the prizes were $3000.00. The 9th of August held 12,000 persons. The parish priest Richard held his first mass in the Queen's Park hall where 600 persons attended. The ceremony was bilingual. One anecdote mentioned in the SHGV article in the Les Argoulets journal is that a small train was installed at one time in the park and passengers would sit sideways and enjoy the ride. Guy
just some of the original shots of the Acky's construction............HF&RV
