May 24th Holiday 1935

This weekend is the 24th of May holiday. Traditionally, this weekend marks the beginning of summer. When I was growing up in the 50's it stood for firecrackers, soapbox derbies, the first swim in the quarry and, if you were very unlucky, the weekend to plant potatoes. Today was rainy and cold and that type of weather reminded Lois of a Victoria Day picnic which she went on in 1935 when she was dating Gordon. They were both 20 years old. Lois was at home raising Vic and Roberta and running the home for her father and her four other brothers. Gordon was in his first year of teaching at Black Creek School near Sebringville. To mark the long weekend, they decided to go on a picnic with Gordon's friend Reg Hammond and his date Isobel Waldie. This must have been planned well in advance because -- and this is the part that was important to Lois -- her Aunt Minnie, who was an excellent seamstress and was a strong supporter after the death of Lois' mother --- made Lois a new dress. It was yellow with a yoke collar. A large decorative button was fastened to the left side near the collar. Unfortunately, when the day of the picnic arrived, the day was exceptionally cold, but the two couples decided to go on their picnic, in spite of the weather. They drove around and finally settled on having their picnic near Trafalgar bridge, a heavily braced steel bridge, a sight which was once common in rural Ontario. Trafalgar Bridge which was build in 1905 sits on the boundary of Banshard, Fullarton and Downie Townships and spans the Thames River as it heads toward St. Marys. Lois never said whether she was sensible and wore a coat or whether she was foolish and decided to forgo the coat so that the yellow dress would be shown to its best advantage. At the top is a picture of Trafalgar Bridge as it may have looked on the day of Gordon and Lois' picnic, and here also is a picture of the same bridge as it appears on a pleasant day in June 2009.