Farm-Fresh Ferry Tales

                                      

Some recent posts on this blog have been all about connections, but here's one that just about knocked me over! Researching some of my wife's mother's father's* history, we found an interesting connection. It all started with a photo posted to the Vintage Kingston Facebook group, discussing Kingston Transit's 1972-1982 Dial-A-Bus service. This on-call bus service used RekVee fibreglas-bodied converted recreational vehicles with Dodge 440 engines and 17-passenger capacity. This Whig-Standard clipping showed them upon arrival on August 13, 1974 (top photo). Some suggested that my wife's mother's brother Lloyd Snider was in the photo. Lloyd was a bus driver and became a part-time supervisor. Then, Wolfe Island ferry captain Brian Johnson said, "Lloyd was also a driver at my dad's car lot - Johnson Motors - for years. Bringing cars back from Toronto area auctions. I knew his dad Mervil as well. And I know Lloyd's son Ed too. Just GREAT guys!"

*Mervil was a farmer and ended up operating farms for Brian's family. Brian was his 'apprentice' at the tender age of 11. 'Merv' taught him all about farming: cutting, raking, haying, and Brian said he looked up to him!  Brian's dad Jack operated Johnson Motors, then at Princess and Regent Streets:

(Photo from Brian's story in Thousand Islands Life)

Brian's dad then became involved with the Kingston tour boats and Brian followed. The rest is water under the bridge! Back to the story, when my wife got involved and things got even more interesting.

We asked if Brian remembered the pastureland where the Cataraqui Town Centre currently sits, because my wife remembered it. Of course he did! That's where Brian's dad kept his herd of Hereford beef cattle and Brian was constantly there with Merv. Jack rented the pasture; it would have been too expensive to buy. I can recall coming to the T-intersection of Highways 38 and 2 and seeing an old stone house there with a sign, "Vote J. Earl McEwen" in the middle of the former farm, soon to become home only to mall-rats! When I showed her one of Brian's posted photos of Jack, she remembered him. It's very possible that my wife's dad did cattle trucking or car delivery and would have known Brian!

The great thing about all this is: in my second book, there are several mentions of Brian in the harbour section. He has a ton of old tales of the harbour, the lake and the ferry, and those that sailed them. He's also a local historian and story-teller and our paths cross occasionally in that realm. But we never would have suspected this connection between our families. And if it wasn't for a decades-old bus photo, we never would have made it!