A gem from William Higgins Shoe Box

William Higgins has decided to look into his shoebox and found this gem, a 1924 photo of his father's hockey team of wich he was the goaler and as you can see the team had just won a trophy. William says that the 500 Verdun Hockey team may have had a connection with the 500 Verdun Swim club wich was situated at the river between 3rd and 4th ave. John attended the Verdun Model School wich was on LaSalle Blvd at the foot of Gordon street where there is today a McDonalds. John was born in1913 in Pte St Charles at 348 Charron Street then moved to Verdun at 107 3rd ave. John's father, Alfred Dykes Higgins and his wife Mary came from Scotland and moved to Pte St Charles in 1911. Mary died in Verdun in 1925. John then moved to Cooksville Ont (now Mississauga) in 1931 when he was 18 and died in 2002. William was born in 1935 in Mississauga Ont. 

Isn't this a wonderfull story, and what about the photo, this has to be one of the earliest sports photos of Verdun that I have seen so far. Thanks William for the wonderfull photos. I have other projects in mind for this photo and I will keep everybody posted.

I have posted this photo in my album no. 13. Other of William's photos are posted in albums no. 5 and 54.

 

WWII Pinup Girl Dies @ 89

Jane Russell who was WWII pinup girl died today @ 89.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Bob Hope would have said "Thanks for the Mammories"

  I'm sure she 'lifted' the spirits of many of our Veterans

                                                                                         RIP  Jane

Continuation of the Random Photo Topic includes a link to an old topic with old photos too

                       Rather than post easch photo again I thought I'd post the link to one of our old posts  containing some good old shots around Verdun:

ps: Guy you might want to ad this Boardwalk Aerial to your Photo Album too !        Cheers !! HF&RV

                         

http://verdunconnections2.multiply.com/journal/item/3825/Remember_Verdun_Sure_You_Do_

Once you click on the link ,then scroll all the way down through  to the bottom ,there are photos in some of the comment windows,,,,,,,,

 

                           Cheers !!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,HF&RV.

Random Photos

John Higgins 1925

<a href="http://shgverdun.multiply.com/photos/album/73/73#1"><img border="0" src="http://multiply.com/mu/shgverdun/image/3/photos/73/500x500/1/John-Higgins-at-107-3rd-Av-March-1925-Photo-de-William-Higgins.jpg?et=nKUiKihoJKZD%2BStE8FHSRg&nmid=418896438"></a>

Photo of John Higgins 1925 entered in new album no. 54, miscellaneous Verdun photos. Click on photo for short biography.

Guy

 

 

 

Lightfoot guitarist Terry Clements dies

 Lightfoot guitarist, Terry Clements, dies

The Canadian Press
TORONTO - Terry Clements, a Detroit native who played guitar for Gordon Lightfoot since the early 1970s, has died. He was 63.

Clements died on Sunday, 10 days after suffering a stroke. The news was confirmed by Lightfoot's publicist.

Born in 1947, Clements began playing guitar when he was only five years old.

After graduating from high school, Clements spent two years in the Navy before joining a '60s outfit called Golden Sunflower, managed by Lou Adler, who also steered the careers of the Mamas & the Papas and Carole King.

In the early '70s, Lightfoot met Clements while working on an early Burt Reynolds movie and soon brought the guitarist up to Toronto to audition to join his band. A 40-plus-year collaboration was then born.

Clements contributed to nearly all of Lightfoot's most memorable tunes, including "Carefree Highway," "Sundown" and, of course, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," which features a haunting solo from the guitarist.

 

RIP   Terry,,,,,,,,,,,Cheers from Verdun Fans

Verdun Swim Club 1925

Here is a new photo of the Verdun Swim Club dated 1925 supplied by William Higgins. This club was situated at the foot of second ave. and it shows a diver about to plunge into the river. It is a wonderfull photo of one of the activities along the boardwalk in Verdun in the middle of the 20s. I have added the photo to my album no. 5.

Cure For Montreal's Heavy Bridge Traffic (two weeks like this & Bingo Problem Solved)

There would certainly be no traffic problems today,(not to mention an endless supply of Job Openings) if they left the brdge like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now onto (or off of) the Victoria , Champlain, & Mercier Traffic Problems .......remove the center spans for a week or two, & it might help to put up Free Beer Stands along the approaches to each bridge......Voila a city with far less luny's.................lol 

                                                       ........Cheers !! HF&RV..... ps:Click Pic

Another Eeerie NFB Film Depicting an Empty Montreal

         May as well add this film again, it's weird .....and we've posted it before,that being said,here it is again...

First Presbytarian Church

William,

Here are photos of 2 of the Presbytarian churches that exhisted in Verdun. Your grandmother probably attended one of these churches when she lived in Verdun in the 20s. One of the churches was at 503 - 5th ave. and another at the corner of Church and Ross streets. I have also included a map of Verdun. The address of 103 - third ave. where your grandmother lived in the 20s is between Wellington and LaSalle Blvd, on the east side (right).

I will be going to Verdun in a couple of weeks and can take a photo of that address and post it here if you wish.

 

 

Undercover Cops or Should it be Cops Under Covers ......hahahaha

.and these cops gave the guy a ticket.....you gotta love justice in Labelle Province,.lol

Quebec cops caught napping on video

Montreal GazetteFebruary 24, 2011 12:01 PM

An amateur videographer captured what appeared to be two Sûreté du Québec officers taking a snooze in the back of their patrol car on Thursday morning in the Mauricie.

Photograph by: Gazette, File Photo

MONTREAL - An amateur videographer captured what appeared to be two Sûreté du Québec officers taking a snooze in the back of their patrol car on Thursday morning in the Mauricie.

The 22-second YouTube video, sent in to Trois Rivières radio station NRJ 102.3 by a man identified only as "Max," was reportedly shot early Thursday along Highway 40 just outside Trois Rivières. The man reported that he noticed the patrol car parked on the side of the highway, but couldn't see anyone inside. Concerned there might be something amiss, the radio station reported that Max pulled over and walked up to the vehicle. When he saw the officers lying down inside, he quickly grabbed a camera.

One of the officers notices he's being filmed a few seconds into the video, and quickly exits the patrol car. The driver is asked for his licence, and was reportedly given a ticket for having parked his vehicle illegally.

SQ Sgt. Guy Lapointe said the force became aware of the incident at the same time as the media and the public, and immediately launched an investigation.

"We consider this kind of behavior unacceptable," Lapointe said. "I can tell you we're treating this very, very seriously."

The officers have been asked to submit a written report to their superiors explaining what happened, and investigators will be meeting with Max at some point today or in the next few days, he added.

Lapointe said that he had heard the report that the man who shot the video was given a ticket, but could not confirm what it was for or how much the motorist was fined. Once a ticket is issued, the SQ can't cancel it themselves, Lapointe explained, but it can be cancelled by a Crown Prosecutor.

"If the citizen did receive a ticket, the Crown Prosecutor will be informed of everything that happened … so he or she can make the right decision," he said.

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Social Network....Any Truth to this Graph ? You Decide:

I tend to agree with this graph...............hahahaha

           

                                                     Cheers !! HF&RV

More Montreal Old Footage From NFB

                I will post the viewer in the first comment box:

here is the embed code:

<embed src="http://media1.nfb.ca/medias/flash/ONFflvplayer-gama.swf" width="516" height="337" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"  flashvars="mID=IDOBJ12331&bufferTime=10&width=516&height=337&image=http://media1.nfb.ca/medias/nfb_tube/thumbs_large/2010/VTR-St-Jacques_Big.jpg&showWarningMessages=false&streamNotFoundDelay=15&lang=en&getPlaylistOnEnd=true&playlist_id=REL179&embeddedMode=true"></embed>

    

Montreal 3am Stories

Montreal, 3 a.m.

 

Click a location on the map below to take a closer look at what goes on at 3 a.m.

 

February 25, 2011

Click a location on the map below to take a closer look at what goes on at 3 a.m.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/story.html?id=4349505#ixzz1F5U7GV3v

Montreal 3am Stories

Montreal, 3 a.m.

 

Click a location on the map below to take a closer look at what goes on at 3 a.m.

 

February 25, 2011

Click a location on the map below to take a closer look at what goes on at 3 a.m.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/story.html?id=4349505#ixzz1F5U7GV3v

Inauguration New Willibrord Skatin Rink

The new refrigerated Willibrord skating rink financed by the Canadiens hockey club, now owned mainly by the Molson family, was inaugurated a couple of weeks ago and one of our members (SHGV) Gilbert, brought his camera and took these pictures. Many of the top brass of the Canadien hockey club including some Canadien hockey players attended the celebration as well as some special needs youngsters. As I previoulsly reported, three of these rinks where installed in various sections of Montreal and the Molsons deserve a big hand for their charitable donation. I will try to get a list of those VIPs present.Here are some of the photos Gilbert took:

Here are the names of the VIPs present:

Players:

No. 31, Normand Baron, former player and his father François and his son Sun. Normand is a personal friend of Gilbert, one of our members (SHGV) who took the photos.

No. 75 Hal Gill.

No. 45, Alexandre Picard.

No. 52, Mathieu Darche.

No. 57, Benoit Pouliot.

Administrators:

Geoff Molson, Owner of the Canadien.

Pierre Boivin, President of the Canadien.

Réjean Houle, President of the old Canadien players,

Verdun Mayor Trudel with all HIS city councillors.

Provincial Deputy Gautrin and his wife.

 

A Chip Off the Old Block !! or Champlain Bridge is Falling Down,Falling Down,Champla.......well you get it.

              Seems all of Quebec's infrastructure is becomming suspect.........as a motorist get's lucky (or unlucky) when a chunk of concrete air-conditions the roof of his car.....Yikes!!A motorist escaped injury Monday when a concrete chunk fall off the Champlain Bridge.

A St. Constant driver had the scare of his life earlier Monday when a 40-centimetre slab of concrete fell from an overpass on Highway 132 near the south side of the Champlain Bridge and smashed his windshield.

The accident happened around 12:30 p.m. as the driver was heading west near the access road to Highway 10, said Caroline Larose, a spokesperson for Transports Québec.

The concrete chunk ended up on the passenger seat, the driver did not lose control of the car, and he called police.

The concrete came from the section that holds the guardrails on the ramp, and was not part of the infrastructure that sustains the bridge, Larose said.

The bridge’s main load-bearing beams are made of steel, she reported.

However, two of three westbound lanes on the 132 were closed as two teams of departmental technicians were sent to inspect the structure to ensure it is safe, Larose said. One lane remains open.

“We’re grateful that nobody

Nun's Island

Here are three more photos of Nun's Island showing the nun's residence and farm area. We never ventured to that part of the island and stuck to the western wooded part so that part was a mystery to us when growing up in Verdun.

The residence and farm area was concentrated situated at the south eastern part of the island

Another aerial view of nun's island showing the farmed eastern area of the island.

This is the "La Rotonde" wich was a stable from 1920 to become a horse riding school in 1969. 

I have added these photos to my album no. 36.

Guy

Arlene Price

Arlene, Tina is trying to contact you. You wrote to her a while back. The email address she replied to is no longer valid. She would very much like to get in touch. She is on Facebook or contact me at mumagain@hotmail.com

New Nun's Island Residential Project

This is a new residential project wich started on the 13th of january called EVOLO condominiums situated on the north side of Nun's Island.

The cost of the units vary between $249,000 and $1.6 million consisting of 253 appartments in a 30 floor building, the highest ever built on the island, in case you are interested.

More details at www.evolo.ca

Guy

Murder in the Mansion-----Move Along Folks Nothing to See Here !

   when your Rich ,there's no need to investigate minor stuff,like murder-suicide I guess lol!!                       Cheers!! HF&RV                                      The other Redpath Mansion mystery

 

By Andy Riga Fri, Feb 4 2011 COMMENTS(0) Metropolitan News, Andy Riga's Montreal blog

 

Filed under: redpath mansion, canadian mysteries

What remains of the Redpath Mansion on du Musée Ave. has been saved for now, though the crumbling building's ultimate fate remains a mystery.

When I was researching the mansion, I stumbled upon another Redpath Mansion mystery.

This one involved a shocking murder in Montreal high society. It happened in a mansion on Sherbrooke St.

The Redpath Mansion Mystery was revived as part of an online series titled, Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History:

All that is certain is that two members of one of Canada's wealthiest families died from gunshot wounds on June 13, 1901. Ada Maria Mills Redpath, the 59-year old widow of industrialist John James Redpath, and her 24-year old son Jocelyn Clifford Redpath ("Cliff") were shot in Ada's bedroom in the Redpath mansion in Montreal's affluent Square Mile district. Beyond these facts it is difficult to know what happened.

We do know that the investigation was hasty. Apparently the police were not called. A coroner's investigation was opened, closed, and the bodies were buried within 48 hours of the shots being fired. By all accounts, the Redpath family never discussed the tragic events of 1901 among themselves or publicly.

Who shot whom and why? Why are there so many conflicting versions of the story? Why was the investigation perfunctory? In this whodunit you will encounter dead ends, closed doors, and intriguing mysteries as you search for the truth.

But the Redpath Mansion Mystery also opens doors. It reveals the lives of the super-wealthy in turn-of-the-century Montreal, as well as those of their servants. It shines a light on family loyalty and tensions, health and disease, and on the built world of mansions, hospitals, and monuments a century ago.

This is a story about a dramatic family tragedy and its setting.

This clipping from a Sept. 20, 1901 newspaper suggests the culprit was Clifford, who then committed suicide. 

You can take a crack at solving the mystery here.

Here's a photo of that other Redpath Mansion, which was demolished in the 1950s:

- Andy Riga

Ron Piché, Verdun Baseball Player dies

Ron Picher who was born in Verdun and became a professional baseball player, born on the 22nd of may 1935 and died yesterday the 3rd of february 2011. I confess not being a baseball fan but since he was born in Verdun, I posted his photo from today's "La Presse" and baseball record in my album no. 13 wich is my sports section wich I am posting in a slideshow in the comment section

Guy

Trains Had a lot to do with Montreal's History

There were several train company's that helped build Montreal into a huge boom for the city,  Grand Trunk, CPR,.and of course the CNR,...Here is one of the photo's that I always thought was pretty cool:

and this one is good too:

the Roundhouse shots are great as well:  HF&RV

It's not whether you Win or Lose,..it's whether you Come in Third: hahahaha

            Projet Montréal leader decries 'transition allowance' for election losers

 

 

By Jan Ravensbergen, Montreal Gazette February 3, 2011 6:01 PM

 

 

MONTREAL – There’s something “fundamentally inequitable” about a civic system that’s paid some losing Union Montreal electoral candidates significantly more than the office-seekers who defeated them in the fall 2009 election, Richard Bergeron of the opposition Projet Montréal party declared Thursday afternoon.

If he becomes mayor in 2013, Bergeron added, he would eliminate a soft-landing system by which electoral losers who are “friends of the regime” pocket a so-called “transition allowance” even when they are instantly placed on another municipal or related payroll.

“With Gérald Tremblay as mayor,” he declared, this double-dipping ensures some “can do better placing third in an election than by being voted in.”

Bergeron offered specific examples – the most notable of which was that of André Lavallée.

Lavallée, who placed third in the race for mayor of the Rosemont borough, pocketed an $89,169 “transition allowance” even though Tremblay quickly hired him as the top non-elected official in the downtown Ville-Marie borough, of which Tremblay is also borough mayor.

The figures are included in a spreadsheet handed out at a Bergeron news conference detailing amounts paid for 2010 to “the top 20 friends of the (Tremblay) regime,” pulled from a mass of data that Bergeron said was obtained through an access-to-information request.

         Lavallée’s 2010 salary was $112,200, according to the spreadsheet – but with the transition allowance and another $19,018 of “departure allowance,” his total civic income for the year amounted to $220,387.

Michel Labrecque, who placed third in a run for mayor of the Plateau Mont-Royal borough, also made a remarkably well-cushioned financial landing, Bergeron said.

Labrecque got a “transition allowance” of $57,025 – bringing his annual municipal income for 2010 to $186,660, including a salary of $122,196 – even though he was almost simultaneously appointed the first non-elected board chairman of the Société de Transport de Montréal.

In an initial response, Bernard Larin of Tremblay’s office issued a statement suggesting that Projet Montréal “is leading the population into error, because it gives the impression that the people targeted in their denunciation didn’t work.”

The statement added that the figures cited by Bergeron “have been known since last year.”

janr@montrealgazette.com

.Now Remember ,Always Ask if there is a "Transition Allowance" if you Lose Your Job

                   hahahahahahaha,......Let me kNow how that works out for you ?

                                     Cheers !! HF&RV

Winter Pays a Visit to Montreal

The Modern Day Cavalry to the Rescue:                                     Here is a link to the traffic cams around Montreal & surrounding area: Lot's of snow,but so far it doesn't look too bad. However I'm not there so........???

http://www.quebec511.gouv.qc.ca/en/cameras/montreal/

                                                              .........................................Cheers !! HF&RV

Verdun Stadium (may as well plagerize Ken;s complete title too) lol

                             Verdun Stadium

January 5, 2011 by neath

Was built in the late 60′s. In the 1930′s Mayor Wilson vowed that there would never be private development on the Verdun Waterfront. People used to swim in the river and there were two main boat clubs, but the Polio scare of the late 50′s sent people away from the river.The Auditorium and Natatorium were built as public works projects that were heavily used and loved by the Verdun citizenry. The Stadium was a place for track and field and minor football leagues among other events. When I was growing up it was a field with perhaps 30 rows of wooden bleachers for fans. Verdun in the 50′s and 60′s was a sports crazy city with numerous leagues in all sports – it was common this time of year to see kids in hockey uniforms walking to outdoor rinks where leagues were busy and the general rinks were always packed. The new stadium seemed like a logical idea and it was home to the Montreal Beavers of the Continental Football League in 1966-67 – American football played in Montreal! In ’67 Alouettes placekicker, Gino Berretta, joined the Beavers as it’s well known local star. The League folded after that season and the Stadium remained as an open venue until it was demolished in the ’90′s and one section was sold for a dollar to Concordia where it now stands on the Loyola campus. This paved the way for the condo projects that now stand there, themselves a tale of greed and rule bending discussed elsewhere on this blog.
Here are a couple of black and white infrared shots taken in the mid 80′s.

Posted in Photography, Verdun | Tagged Photography, Verdun | 2 Comments »

David Fannario

Les,

Here is a photo of David Fannario who is promoting his book "Sans Parachute" wich is a french translation of his 1972 book "Without a Parachute" with Pointe St Charles as a backdrop. It is on the "Messager" site at http://www.messagerverdun.com/

Whiel you are there, check ouit my articles in section: Society/Souvenir de Verdun.

Guy 

His story is posted on the Messager site