Boxing Day 2012 and so on

Well I hope you had a great Christmas,good food,family,friends etc. 
I will try to start working on this blog a little more often in the next few months.However after closing down the Verdun Connections site on Multiply network,I really have appreciated the free time,not searching for montreal or Verdun stuff to post & share.It really frees up time.It gets difficult after a while (or dead boring) posting all the traditional stuff,like Hey Remember these (fill in ) hotdogs ,pizza,boardwalk,natatorium etc etc ...really we covered all that stuff & posted plenty of photos which I do like ,I still see plenty of the stuff we posted years ago being emailed to me from other social networks as if they just stumbled across it...lol 
perhaps a little later on I may have a renewed inspiration to start a new (old) group,but only if I can find a decent venue( I am not a FB fan at all,so that's out;they seem to invasive) that would provide us features like photo/video storage,running blogs which update or bumped to the top whenever a new reply is posted to a that  topic/thread.
In the meantime I have saved as much of the old posts,and pics we shared here on this blog.
I do not actively seek a membership type of blog,but I do see the stats on passers-by,so it is nice that people do still want to read some of the old stuff.
 Ok that's it for now,I really just wanted to update the blog,so I remember it is still here...lol
                                                 Cheers ~  and Have Fun & Remember Verdun
Also have a good New Year and all the best in 2013:

Minor Update

Nothing to see here folks,move along.......hahahah  I have been too busy to post anything new,but I want to stay somewhat current ,so when I am ready to promote this site or a new venue ,it should be an easier transfer or continuation. Somewhee down the road I will have a new group possibly,something that affords interaction such as FB but with much more user friendly features and options. I will try not to make it just a re-hash of the typical stuff. Time will tell..................  

More Montreal

More Montreal photo set to video from youtube...................



 ps: I am still transferring some of the videos we shared on our old Verdun Connections site,we had a lot of stories,photos ,videos.
As time goes by I will share as much of the old content as I can,Right now you can search this site by year or use the search window,& maybe you will come across some old memory boosters....  Cheers ! LesF

Hockey

What Montrealer doesn't know & like Hockey,.especially us older characters tyhat remember when Montreal teams used to WIN with great regularity.....ahhh ! for the good old days..



                    ......enjoy the vid,.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,- LesF

Belmont Park Sights & Sounds

Sights & sounds from Belmont Park,.the only thing missing is the smell of popcorn & cotton candy & all the food cooking (of yea,and trying not to step in gum or puke near the rides--------hahahaha)



..as kids we would walk to Belmont Park (following the known bus route #17 cartierville) we would walk so we could save the çarfare to spend at the park...........yikes ! From Verdun that is a fair jaunt,but just an adventure to us kids,who probably weren't supposed to actually leave Verdun by ourselves.....lol
                                                               ............Cheers ! HF&RV  -------------LesF

Belmont Park 1923-1983

A cool old video put together really well and using a great song to listen to while watching the video.Guaranteed to spark your old memory banks...............hope you like the trip back in time.








   this is another video posted on youtube by the same person as the above film,.......many thanks to him/her for sharing these memories.
                                          


  .........Cheers ! Have  Fun & Remember Verdun --------LesF

Montreal in 24hrs.

We all have our favourite foods from Montreal,but as we know from the old Mom & Pop restaurants to fine dining Montreal has it all......and to do a quick 24hrs drinking & stuffing your face,is something we all can realte too when having a visit in our old stomping grounds.Making the plane out with minutes to spare & all that stuff ,is also something I bet most of ex-pats of Montreal have done (several times) Watch this guy have a ball in Montreal (albeit he's doing it on someone elses dime ...which btw: is great if you can do it.lol)  
 The Layover : 24 hrs in Montreal


               ...ahhh the old hangover on the plane...cheers ! HF&RV - LesF

Luc Bourdon did an excellent job utilizing a lot of old NFB film made available to him for this project, If you are from Montreal or ever lived there,then I would have to bet money that you will no doubt be stimulated in that old knoggan of yours of days gone by in Montreal. This is not a short vignette,so grab a coffee (or a real Montrealer would grab a beer....lol) and sit back put the monitor on Full Screen & think back to when you roamed the streets of Montreal.........



                                      Cheers ! HF&RV -LesF

Verdun Piston Poppers Car Club Reunion 1998

Have a look at the familiar scenery while listening to these old Verdun characters have some fun.



    ..Cheers !!! HaveFun& RememberVerdun     - LesF

Verdun Piston Poppers pt:4

Fourth installment of the Verdun Car Club from the late 50's early 60's Part Four.




                            .Thank you again Piston Poppers for adding to Verdun's history & we here are trying to preserve it................                                 HF&RV - LesF

Verdun Piston Poppers pt:3

without further ado, here is the video that follows number 2.



                                                            ..................................HF&RV - LesF

Verdun Piston Poppers pt:2

part two from the Piston Poppers:

Verdun Piston Poppers pt1

First of several youtube videos titled pt:1-through pt:4

                 All thanks to the Piston poppers for sharing their history & driving us down memory lane.............................................cheers! HF&RV

Piston Poppers a Verdun Car Club

Verdun had it's çool'group too....btwn: motor cycle clubs & of course car clubs,one of those car clubs was called the 'Piston Poppers' and to their credit,they still know each other and have the odd get together.We had a bunch of their youtube videos on our old Verdun connections site,.so I saw no reason why we shouldn't share their Verdunhistory again......


                                                

..........................................................Cheers ! Have Fun & Remember Verdun ---LesF

1957 Montreal

If you grew up in this era,then you will no doubt be able to relate to the street scenes.
No ipods here ,no video games (maybe the odd pinball machine,but that's it) or you got a turn watching the TV (the only TV in the house) on a Saturday morning,



........and here is pt:2 of 1957 Montreal.


                                                                              -Cheers ! HF&RV - LesF

A collage of Montreal Streetcars Trams ........goofy music but if you remember streetcars,you will certainly have a memory prompt transpoting you back to Montreal many moons ago....



                 For a while you will see a lot of the videos that we had saved on our old Verdun Connections site, so bare with me,while I bore some of you with these old vids...
                                                             -------------------HF&RV  - LesF

    and here is an old 8mm homemade movie of the parade of trams at the end of their era circa: 1959 Montreal  "the day the street car died.....replaced by a bevy of chevy (bus's) the day the streetcar died........hahahaha

delete reply shgverdun wrote on Mar 7, '09 Les, Too bad there are no commentaries to describee the scenes on the photos. In the 40s I used to work at the corner of St François Xavier and Notre Dame and used the Notre DAme Streetcar to Place D'Armes. On the night shift I would go to the Craig Street terminal where the streetcar would enter the building to turn around and practically touch the building as it turned. Guy

delete reply jumper01 wrote on Mar 7, '09 I was just a kid in the fifties but the Craig street terminal always staid in my mind. If my young memory serves me well there was a tobacco shop or sandwich shop or something like that inside. I guess it was the fact that it was inside that struck me instead of the other places when we transferred outside.

delete reply shgverdun wrote on Mar 8, '09 Robert, You are right, there was a restaurant inside the Craig terminus wich I also remember quite well. Guy

edit delete reply lesf wrote on Mar 8, '09, edited on Mar 8, '09 I've added a few more shots of the Craig Street Terminus & relative pics,they can be seen in the 1st album on my site: http://lesf.multiply.com/ Look in the photo albums ,1st one..... Also if you use the 'Zoom In' feature while looking at the photo's individually rather than 'slide show' you will be able to really have a better look at the 'floorplan photo ' of the Craig ST Terminus: HF&RV

delete reply shgverdun wrote on Mar 8, '09 Les, Thanks Les, I especially like the photo with the streetcar coming out of the building wich is the picture of the Craig Street Terminus wich I have in my mind. Guy

                                                   

NHL Lockout

Here is a guy having some fun with the NHL lockout, and he is quite creative in getting the message across that the fans are sick of Millionaire players & Billionaire owners,whining over who gets what...............now regardless of what side you support in this matter,you have to get a laugh out of this song & its message.



                                                 Cheers ! Have Fun & Rememmber Verdun  - LesF

Rinks Around Montreal

Remember the old wooden boards,& the outdoor rinks where on any given night the winter wind would start to blow & when you looked up at that lonely light bulb swinging over center ice,with blowing snow all around it, and you were having a ball,skating around dodging pucks that the older kids were aiming at your head.......hahahahah Freezing the whole time most likely ,but would never admit it,then you walked home over the snowbanks wearing your skates of course because that served two purposes,1: no one could steal your boots while you skated & 2: you didn't waste anytime at all getting on to the ice ...sometimes if it had snowed you would gladly joing with a few others & pick up a shovel (the plow kind) and skate around clearing the ice surface,doing your best imitation of a zamboni......just so you could get out there and play.
 Enjoy the old film of some of Montreal's old rinks........cheers ! - LesF

More Memories from Montreal ala Verdun Connections

This is one of the videos that cannot help but hit home for all Montrealer's nevr mind Verdun & of course LaBelle Province in itself...........we all thought we were Maurice Richard, or Jean Beliveau,lateron Lemaire,Lafleur,Robinson,Savard,or any number of goalies,from the Gumper,throughto Dryden.....
Anyway I hope you get a kick out of watching "The Sweater"



                                ...........Cheers ! Have Fun and Remember Verdun    - LesF

Verdun photo from the 1960's

Pete Seeger sings along with this montage of Verdun photos from the 1960's
---great pics we've all seen before,& I doubt Pete could pick out Verdun on a map,but if he had a hammer he could make a real mess of the map.........!

This is a youtube video (stating the obvious,always adds to content)-lol
However someone has placed a lot of photos together on video making it simpler to view. We have seen all of these before,having posted literally 100's if not thousands of like pictures here on our site over the past 10 years or so......... you most likely will still like to see these again....Have a look & enjoy your trip in time back to Verdun.
Cheers ! Have Fun & Remember Verdun -Les

Old Photos from around Montreal- Enjoy

Another youtube video,with some neat old B&W photos from around Montreal,someone took the time to post these and add some music to it,...although to me it sounds like Shindler's list music,perhaps not as lively as I associate with Montreal in my era.....however we thank them for taking the time to share their work.

Verdun Natatorium

I will start to bring over ,some of the 144 videos we had posted on our Multiply Social Media Network,hopefully this will suffice as a new home (perhaps temporarily) but at least a spot to view some of the old videos we saved. Many (most) available on youtube or NFB etc etc
 This first one is some neat footage from the pool in Verdun affectionatly known as 'the Nat'



  The following are some of the comments that appeared a few years back under this video topic.

edit delete reply lesf wrote on Jan 30, '09 Did you notice just how close the fence of the Nat & the Boardwalk are to the River....... Checkout Google Earth for that same location now & you will see the earth is at least 100 feet further out to the river nowadays................ "the times they are a changing"---Bob Dylan HF&RV

delete reply petermeyers wrote on Jan 30, '09 Boy do I ever remember those days. 25 cents to get in. Had the best bag of chips at the concession stand on the roof. 5cents.That was my second home. I remember the swimming and diving meets there that the parks put on. I swam for Brown Blvd. park. I used to swim in my age group and then move up to swim against the adults. I still have a couple of swimming medals. All the rest.....lost in the moves.

edit delete reply lesf wrote on Jan 30, '09, edited on Jan 30, '09 petermeyers said Boy do I ever remember those days. 25 cents to get in. Had the best bag of chips at the concession stand on the roof. 5cents.That was my second home. I remember the swimming and diving meets there that the parks put on. I swam for Brown Blvd. park. I used to swim in my age group and then move up to swim against the adults. I still have a couple of swimming medals. All the rest.....lost in the moves.  Hi Peter,.and don't forget the best 'Toasted Hot Dogs ' around No Steamies up there, it was always the way to wind up the day with a treat on the roof,.and Remember dropping a few chips to some hungry friends who were still in the pool area..........HF&RV

delete reply kenmcl wrote on Jan 30, '09 I noticed the river being very close too. Yea the old boardwalk ran up quite close to the back fence. Lots of landfill along the old Verdun waterfront compared to once upon a time. I do wonder what it would have been like back in the day with the extended waterfront we have now. I mean there were thousands of kids in Verdun in those days and the numbers almost certainly will never go that high again, unless there is another baby boom. There is now 3 times as much park for one third the kids. Ken McLaughlin

delete reply sandywest wrote on Jan 31, '09 very cool !

delete reply jumper01 wrote on Jan 31, '09, edited on Jan 31, '09 I'm pretty sure that the guy putting his comb in his bathing suit on the low board is Dickie Dickson

delete reply k2fighter wrote on Feb 9, '09 Les, how the heck do you find this stuff!!!! Fantastic find. Earl.

delete reply 1947navion wrote on Sep 6, '09 I left Verdun in 1949 and came to California but remember swimming at the pool in the evenings after work during the summer. Great pool. J.B.California

edit delete reply lesf wrote on Sep 6, '09, edited on Sep 6, '09 Your right on,.it's a cool pool,.once the largest outdoor pool in La Belle Province, Did you bring any old photogrpahs of Verdun/ Montrea etc etc with you to California ,if so & if you feel like sharing them,we'd love to see them.......the era you lived there would be neat to see,we've compiled several Boardwalk pictures over the years,as the boardwalk, the Natatorium & of course the Auditorium were a big part of all Our lives........... HF&RV ps: We Appreciate your input....

delete reply 1947navion wrote on Sep 8, '09 Sorry don't think I have any pictures of the pool. I will check my old albums and if there are any will send them. J.B California

edit delete reply lesf wrote on Sep 8, '09, edited on Nov 15, '11 I am amazed actually at how much traffic certain threads generate ,I certainly would never guess these amounts ,if it were not for the built in traffic counter. It seems we have an incredible amounf of traffic,to view the threads posted,but not always a lot of individual responses. Either way we do see the amount of people at least reading our input& we appreciate that. Oddly enough we have a lot of readers who just surf by or just read our post's & look at our pictures,Which (that's how ya spell it ,isn't it ?) We are happy to have all traffic,whether you read or post ,your welcome: If you feel like sharing some photos or stories,and if you need help to figure out "How To" anything ,..then just ask,we will be happy to try & help

delete reply sandywest wrote on Sep 10, '09, edited on Sep 11, '09 oh for the good ole days when you could read and enjoy a site without being stalked by your isp number - I personally stay away from places because of this - but that is the internet today - out of control - btw Les I loved the video of surfing in the ice - what a whacko that guy is! at least he had sense enough to wear a helmet - and yes, you spelled it correctly - it's which - unless you are talking about "witch" - the kind that ride on brooms - those are my personal favorites - favorites - spelled the American way - the nation of retards as one of the members referred to us. Tomorrow is 9/11 - may all those people rest in peace - lest we forget!

edit delete reply lesf wrote on Sep 10, '09 Thanks Sandy I hope you continue to read & enjoy most sites,we didn't request the traffic count,but it comes automatically with each persons post (that is each persons thread ,so if you start a thread ,you will know who has at least looked at it,...... As for VerdunConncetions we absolutely Do Not collect ISP 's nor do we aspire to look into or collect any data,) We appreciate your input & readership,regardless of where it comes from. I just thought I'd mention how much this Naatatorium Video has generated,......pretty cool I think....... I agree with you though there are some sites that make people feel unwelcome,I assure you that is & was not my intent. .........I wonder also where there could possibly be a Nation of Retards,certainly if we are referring too our nations politics ,then perhaps I could cautiously assume that every Nation has their share ie: Cheney /Rove who probably ran the world into the ground, under the guise of the GW admin, but your correct in taking exception to being collectively thrown into the same basket,which I don't believe was the intent of the reply you were referring to.Thanks for your Input .always appreciated: HF&RV ps: we don't care if you read or post ,but we do appreciate your passing by (posting is better though......hahahaha ) where's those bolts when you need them.......................

delete reply quok wrote on Nov 8, '09 I look at the video of the old swimming pool.Brings back a lot of memories.I still go to the pool to-day and the cost to ge at in is 2.00$.The only place you and go and spend the day.You can even bring your own chair to sit on.If any one knows Jimmy Gill to let you know Jimmy pasted away. I grew up in verdun and my dad was a policeman.I now live in the west island but am planning to sell my house this spring and move back to verdun.There is now a lot of great places to eat also.. Bill J

delete reply vicsailin wrote on Jun 11, '10 Hey Les and Bill J.!!! Just like you folks and the other postees, my brother and I and neighboring kids used to go from Gertrude St. and then 1st Ave. out to the Nat. almost every morn that was nice and sunny in the summers from June until late August during the 1940-1950 era. It was 10 cents to get in back then and wll worth it! We spent the morning there, carried our lunches in sacks, thenh spent the afternoon out by the Power House in Ville Lasalle. Plenty of hiking/bikeing but well worth the effort. Ahh, those were the days! I knew a Jimmy Gill on 1st Ave. and his brother Billy. (They'd be in their 70's now.) So many friends are slipping away. Les, thanks for the videos and pics. Victah

edit delete reply  wrote on Jun 11, '10, edited on Jun 11, '10 Hi Vic , the Nat was a big part of all the kids in Verdun & plenty of them from the Point too.. Walk , Bike Hike , like you say, Money Well Spent for sure, we generally had an annual pass,but if you went early in the morning prior to 10am (I think it was) they let you in free.....One of the albums I posted the other day had a bunch of Nat pics in them too, Also a big deal was the small bag of chips for a nickel & a soft drink/pop & they had the best Toasted Hotdogs, remember those with the special flat buns................Cheers !! HF&RV

delete reply  wrote on Mar 4, '11 Ah yes sitting up on the roof with a bag of Maple leaf chips or an ice cream cone. Just checking out the girls. Never a wasted summer. Or doing fancy dives off the high board to impress the girls, then a nice easy five minute walk home. What wonderful summers I spent there.

edit delete reply  wrote on Mar 4, '11  said Ah yes sitting up on the roof with a bag of Maple leaf chips or an ice cream cone. Just checking out the girls. Never a wasted summer. Or doing fancy dives off the high board to impress the girls, then a nice easy five minute walk home. What wonderful summers I spent there.  Agreed........great summers for sure: Cheers !! HF&RV

delete reply wrote on Mar 4, '11 And just a few yards from the pool was "the pit" a small depressed area in the grass with bushes. We use to hang out there . Or under one of the red tops on the benches. Verdun and the Point hold many good memories for me.

edit delete reply  wrote on Mar 5, '11  said just a few yards from the pool was "the pit" a small depressed area in the grass  I also remember that Verdun gendarmes seem to know where it was at times.........hahahaha when a hasty departure was a wise move,,,,,,, Cheers ! HF&RV

delete reply wrote on Aug 9, '11 Holy Cow! Best memories ever. Grew up in Verdun, lived at the Nat...ate those hotdogs.....

Verdun Connections @ Multiply & Previously MSN Groups Says Salute

Over 10 years has passed with Verdun Connections,in both MSN groups,& then here on Multiply.The features offered now photo albums video,blog stories,will cease to be supported by Multiply. I for one am not that unhappy,we have had a great run,told some tales relayed Verdun information historical & sometimes hysterical..lol Great photos have been shared as well as videos.

I would thank Maggie for having the insight to start Verdun Connections back on MSN groups (along with her friend Lucina) I was asked to help along the way & was happy to do so.

We had to endure many growing pains & glitches & mysterious stuff,to which of course the management must have been out to get us....hahahahah

We have spawned many groups,to which new admin will find out that glitches still occur & messages sometimes fly off into space,& some members will try to overun the site with there ideas of how things should be. Perhaps they know now,that just happens,just not as much these days as in the beginning of social media,but it still happens.

We also learned that a lot of people like to just read the stories or look at the photos and some choose to comment periodically.Usually it is a small percentage of any group that actually joins in on a regular type basis. Keeping to topic is difficult to do as well.

    We welcomed them all whether just to read the topics,look at the photos,watch the videos ,we enjoyed all of you,Maybe our paths will cross again in the future (via the internet a new group somewhere down the road,or maybe not) Time will tell.

 I have closed off membership ,as I see Multiply has it's own tech problems these days,so I have also closed the comment ability,(actually it appears as 'moderation' but it is to just allow us to Say Goodbye to you all, & we hope you always ........................................Have Fun & Remember Verdun........Cheers !  - LesF