by Dick Eason I remember the ball game that was always held in the field adjacent to the railway tracks. I do definitely remember carrying the tables and benches downhill and storing them above the equipment shed. We usually did not arrive in time for lunch, but stayed late. My dad (pictured below) used to […]
Author: chamberlain100
Manhunt
by Dean Dzoja The aim of the game was hide and seek – But with the added touch that once you’re caught, you had to help find the remainder of the players. The rules were simple, don’t get caught, and don’t leave the boundary area. Other than that, if it wasn’t locked up or out […]
Great Memories Come to Mind
by Mel Chamberlain I recall the year I turned six (1945), several people asked me if I was going to school tomorrow; I had the feeling they already knew and I hadn’t told anyone. For many years a few senior ladies were in charge of making tea; they set up in the summer kitchen with […]
Dry Ice
by Bill Chamberlain Ice cream cones were served at 4 p.m., each and every picnic. However, there was a period between using blocks of ice and getting refrigerator-freezers as cooling devices at the farm. During this time, ice cream came packed in dry ice. As young teenagers (I don’t remember my accomplices), we got playing […]
Tug of War Grand Finale
“contestants laid down an old one-inch sisal rope”
Chamberlain Reunion and Picnic, 1985
by Bill Chamberlain Percy Chamberlain and his cousin Ethel Reynolds had the responsibility of welcoming folks to every Chamberlain Picnic since 1956. In 1985, Percy hadn’t been well since early spring. That year, there was a record attendance of 145. Percy had surgery a few days after the picnic, but he didn’t have the strength […]
A Loooong Way
by Bev Lundahl As a child I first learned of the Chamberlain picnic from my grandmother, Alice Jane (Jennie Dixon) McGregor, the daughter of Emmaline Chamberlain-Dixon. She was only too happy to share with me memories of her childhood and youth spent near Peterborough. Her move with her husband Bill McGregor and four children to […]
From Near to Far
by Bill Chamberlain At one time, all relatives lived within Peterborough County. Now our range is much greater, extending to southwestern Ontario, Ottawa, Kingston, the Prairies, British Columbia and elsewhere. Bev Lundahl from Saskatchewan teamed us up with Western relatives who came to our 90th picnic in 2010. It was an honour to meet them. […]