Roots Revisited

Table Of Contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: The Seeds, Scope, and Significance of This Study
• Part I: Evolution of a Hometown
• 1 Exile, Quest, and the Search for “Something Better”
• Expectation and Perception of Opportunity
• Westward Movement in North America
• Rural–Urban Issues
• Opposing the Tide
• Choices and Changes
• 2 Time Travel
• Unexpected Greeting
• Changes to a Familiar Landscape
• Connecting Present to Past
• Signs of a New Era
• 3 Bear Creek: Where It Began
• Amazing but Challenging Evolution
• Life on the River
• The Pincombes of Strathroy
• Railroads and the River
• Water of Life
• The Writer’s Perspective as an Archaeologist
• What Does It Matter Now?
• 4 Migrancy and Immigration: The Nomadic Modern “Ethnicity” of Strathroy
• Nomadism in the Modern Age
• Authors’ Perspective During Youth
• Transformed Ethnicity in the Twenty-First Century
• New People/New Ethnicities
• Digging Deeper
• Part II: Spirit of a Hometown
• 5 End of an Age: Lifespan of a True Local Press
• Strathroy’s Early Newspapers
• Birth and Growth of The Age Dispatch
• A New Trajectory
• Writing on the Wall
• Remnants of a Local Press
• 6 Institutions: The Hometown Public World
• Playing with the Public Institutional Space
• Parklands
• Bookish Strathroy: Libraries
• Schools
• Churches
• Roads and Other Public Spaces
• Finally … From Public to Publicity
• 7 Fun and Pleasure: Where and How
• The Neighborhood “Feel”
• Lure of the Beach
• Slapshots, Full Nelsons, and More
• The Fun Side of Eating … and Drinking
• Special Events and Lighting Up the Sky
• Keeping It Pleasurable
• 8 Soundtrack of a Small Town
• The Devil Chimes In
• Key Names, Venues, and Events
• The Recent Era
• Need for New Venues
• And Finally …
• Part III: Attention of a Hometown
• 9 Sports Through the Decades: The Highlight Reel
• Enter the Sports
• Hockey in a Class of Its Own
• A Nation’s Attention Tuned to Hockey
• Other Favorites
• Tennis Revival in Strathroy
• Then and Now
• Golf to the Fore
• Not Just for the Young
• 10 Agricultural Evolution
• Diversity on Display
• Slegers Living Organic Greens
• Slegers’ Ginseng Farms
• Mulberry Moon Farm
• Agritainment
• The Elly Boersema Story
• The Issue of “Bigger Is Better”
• Cuddy Farms
• Next Gen Farmers
• Innovation the Key
• Adding Pot to the Equation
• Other Side of the Coin
• 11 New Municipality for a New Millennium
• Partners in the Municipality
• Outlook and Vision
• Larger and Smaller Communities Alike
• Permanence in the Past
• 12 The Digital Town
• Into the Modern Era
• The Technological “Feel” of 1960s/1970s Strathroy: The Phone and Connection
• Technology at School
• Impact of Radio
• Strong Ties to London
• Transformation Continues
• Digital Normalcy in Our Hometown: The Contemporary Future?
• Pulling Together This Virtual and Digital “Connection” to Our Hometown
• Part IV: Metamorphosis of a Hometown
• 13 Seniority: Aging and “Rehoming”
• Facing the Inevitable
• The “Lodge”
• Nursing Homes: The Odd Solution
• Retirement Living: Senior Homes and Housing
• The New Lodges
• Death and Hometown Legacy
• 14 From “Refuge” to Microcosm
• No Place to Hide Now
• A Glimmer of Hope
• The Overriding Reality
• No Refuge from the Virus
• And Now … The Aftermath
• More Issues to Face
• 15 Local History—Stuck in the Past?
• Libraries in Strathroy
• Local History to the Fore
• Tales of Our Town
• Fingers Crossed
• Digital Solution for Existing History
• Potential of a Black Hole
• 16 Into the Future with Lessons from the Past
• Primal Connection
• Primal Needs
• Weighing In from Municipal Hall
• Authors’ Reflections
• Conclusion
• Epilogue
• Bibliography
• Index

Steven Verrier, P. David Marshall,
David Riddell

Roots Revisited

A Hometown Study

New York · Berlin · Bruxelles · Chennai · Lausanne · Oxford

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Control Number

Names: Verrier, Steven, author. | Marshall, P. David, author. | Riddell, David J., 1956- author.

Title: Roots revisited : a hometown study / Steven Verrier, P. David Marshall, David J. Riddell.

Description: New York : Peter Lang, [2025] | Series: Interdisciplinary studies in diasporas, 2378-0975 ; 14 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2024058969 | ISBN 9781636679532 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781636679549 (ebook) | ISBN 9781636679556 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Strathroy (Ont.)--Social life and customs. | Strathroy (Ont.)--Social conditions. | Strathroy (Ont.)--History.

Classification: LCC F1059.5.S785 V47 2025 | DDC 971.3/25--dc23/eng/20250210

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024058969

Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

© Cover image photos by David Riddell (roots of sycamore tree on bank of Sydenham River, 2017; overlay on road map of Southwestern Ontario, Map Art 1990/91 Edition, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada)

Cover design by Peter Lang Group AG

 

 

 

ISSN 2378-0975

ISBN 978-1-63667-953-2 (Print)

ISBN 978-1-63667-954-9 (E-PDF)

ISBN 978-1-63667-955-6 (E-PUB)

DOI 10.3726/b22663

© 2025 Peter Lang Group AG, Lausanne, Switzerland Published by Peter Lang Publishing Inc., New York, USA

info@peterlang.com - www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.

All parts of this publication are protected by copyright.

Any utilization outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution.

This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems.

This publication has been peer reviewed.

www.peterlang.com

Contents

List of Figures

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Seeds, Scope, and Significance of This Study

Part I: Evolution of a Hometown

1 Exile, Quest, and the Search for “Something Better”

2 Time Travel

3 Bear Creek: Where It Began

4 Migrancy and Immigration: The Nomadic Modern “Ethnicity” of Strathroy

Part II: Spirit of a Hometown

5 End of an Age: Lifespan of a True Local Press

6 Institutions: The Hometown Public World

7 Fun and Pleasure: Where and How

8 Soundtrack of a Small Town

Part III: Attention of a Hometown

9 Sports Through the Decades: The Highlight Reel

10 Agricultural Evolution

11 New Municipality for a New Millennium

12 The Digital Town

Part IV: Metamorphosis of a Hometown

13 Seniority: Aging and “Rehoming”

14 From “Refuge” to Microcosm

15 Local History—Stuck in the Past?

16 Into the Future with Lessons from the Past

Conclusion

Epilogue

Bibliography

Index

List of Figures

Fig. Intro.1 Mural of Strathroy founder John Buchanan

Fig. 2.1 Clock Tower, Strathroy

Fig. 2.2 Public pool, Strathroy

Fig. 3.1 “Boating on the Sydenham”

Fig. 3.2 Ska-Nah-Doht, Mount Brydges, Ontario

Fig. 6.1 Strathroy Conservation Area

Fig. 7.1 Lake Huron

Fig. 8.1 Kiltie Band

Fig. 8.2 Strathroy Hometown Festival

Fig. 9.1 Rockets Nation

Fig. 9.2 Bluewater Hawks trophy case

Fig. 9.3 Vaughan MacPherson Memorial Basketball Court

Fig. 10.1 “Signs of the Times”

Fig. 10.2 “The Times Are a Changin’”

Fig. 10.3 Windmills

Fig. 12.1 Family phone, 1960s

Fig. 12.2 “Chart 1. Household penetration of various ICTs, Canada, 1990 to 2003.”

Fig. 13.1 Strathroy Municipal Cemetery

Fig. 13.2 Sprucedale Care Centre, Strathroy

Fig. 13.3 Strathroy District Collegiate Institute, 1970s

Fig. 14.1 Homeless exhibit, Strathroy Library

Fig. 14.2 House of Refuge, Strathroy

Fig. 15.1 Strathroy Library

Fig. 16.1 Strathroy-Caradoc Municipal Hall

Fig. Epilogue.1 Rotary Memorial Trail, Strathroy

Preface

The three authors were all engaged in all of the research, ideas, and writing for this book with great energy and debate. Nonetheless, chapters had their leading authors to give everyone a sense of their human and creative origins. This prefatory note identifies our contributions related to each of the chapters and other segments. The Introduction as well as the first two chapters were developed and written by Steven Verrier as the lead author of these first steps of the book. Steven Verrier is also the author of Chapters 5, 11, 15, and 16. P. David Marshall is the author of Chapters 4, 6, 7, 12, and 13 and the Conclusion. David Riddell is the author of Chapters 3 and 9 and the Epilogue, and Chapters 8, 10, and 14 were cowritten by David Riddell and Steven Verrier. The footnotes—each of which identifies the author directly—were a collaborative effort by each of the authors and connected to all the chapters.

Note that references in this book to “Dave” or “Dave R.” are to David Riddell; references to “David” or “David M.,” meanwhile, are to P. David Marshall.

Type Roots Revisited: A Hometown Study in the Facebook search box for further information. Please visit <youtube.com/@RootsRevisited>.

Contact the authors at <rootsrevisited2025@gmail.com>.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of sources and persons mentioned in the bibliography and elsewhere in this book for helping bring this project to fruition. We would also like to convey our gratitude to family members—both living and deceased—who helped develop our thinking and fascination that led to the development of this book.

S. V.: Special thanks go to Aileen Cnockaert, whose generous support for this project from the outset was invaluable; the Strathroy & District Historical Society; Crystal Loyst and Museum Strathroy-Caradoc; Jean Moir, Strathroy Library Branch Supervisor; and Strathroy-Caradoc’s two most recent mayors, Colin Grantham and Joanne Vanderheyden, who took the time to share valuable insights.

P. D. M.: My brothers, who were wonderful in engaging in conversations about our hometown over the years and pointing me in the right direction on many occasions, deserve my gratitude. In addition, the Strathroy Public Library and its staff were often helpful to us and deserve our praise. Finally, I would also like to thank Sally Totman and Elizabeth Saettler for their support throughout the years of this project and book.

D. R.: As archaeology plays heavily in parts of this book, I am grateful to Ron Williamson for giving me my start in archaeology at the Longwoods Road Conservation Area (and site of Ska-Nah-Doht), Mount Brydges, Ontario, in 1981. Ron instructed and supervised a large crew of students who accounted for the bulk of the excavations at Longwoods in 1981, ultimately contributing to his PhD thesis at McGill University.

Thanks to Deborah Graham, Michele Blais, and Brenda Brown for providing helpful insights regarding their experiences living in Strathroy.

Thanks also to Sandy Burkhart for sharing some of the frustrations in dealing with the compilation of this book. Finally, speaking of frustrations, despite some heated discussions via Zoom concerning the book, it appears the three authors will remain friends in the future.

Introduction: The Seeds, Scope, and Significance of This Study

This book is the brainchild and baby of three fellows who, like countless people around the globe, found themselves largely cloistered when Covid-19 started traveling the world in the winter and spring of early 2020.