Out and About

Oysters not as scarce as it might seem in Lanark 100 years ago

It seems oysters weren’t as scarce 100 years ago as we might think.
Joy Miller, who has a subscription all the way out in British Columbia, sent a letter to the Era last week, wondering where Mrs. A.D. McDonald would have found oysters for her “excellent little oyster supper” in McDonald’s Corners. She said she and her extended family wondered how she had found oysters, when she was so far away from any ocean and oysters are perishable.
It took a little digging from Karen (our office manager) to find an ad for the Central Grocery run by Jos. A. Watt in the pages of the Era from 100 years ago. Watt, in addition to fresh cakes and biscuits, oranges, apples and grapes, had “oysters by the quart always on hand.”
He also had flour, mixed feed, bran and shorts (which I think is a type of feed, not an article of clothing!), along with “Roman meal, the early Roman’s food.” I had to search that, and came across “the original whole grain bread company” based in Tacoma, Washington that began in 1912 and is still going today.
So the Central Grocery sounds like it was a happening place, the spot to go for everything from oysters to fruit to baking. The question of how Mr. Watt kept the oysters fresh on their travels to Lanark, I don’t know – he didn’t mention that in his ad!

Museum events and happy places
The Lanark and District Museum has been making plans for the summer.
The museum submitted its report to Lanark Highlands Township council on May 26, outlining its activities – including a First World War exhibition starting this month with veterans from Lanark Highlands and the former Drummond and Bathurst townships. The museum is still looking for items, especially photographs of local veterans, to highlight in the exhibit.
The museum board also plans to host the popular cemetery tour again this year, including a candlelight tour to highlight unique residents and settlers, as well as cemetery superstitions, traditions and symbols, and a geocaching event.
I’ve never geoached before, but I have read a bit about it, and you might be surprised to learn the locations of different caches, even in Lanark County.
The county mentions it on its website, explaining that geocaching uses GPS technology to discover unique areas that you may otherwise miss. Learn more at www.geocaching.com.
When I was searching “geocaching in Lanark Highlands” (thank you, Google!), I came across a recommendation for the Lanark Landing on www.tripadvisor.com, that mentioned a group that grew to 43 people for a Halloween geocaching event in Lanark last year. See? It’s popular!
The museum is also working on a strategic plan for the next five years, which will include the 40th anniversary of the museum itself and the 150th anniversary of Canada in 2017. Volunteers have also finished transcribing the Irquhart diaries, written mostly in the 1940s and offering information on local families in Lanark village and the former townships of Lanark and Dalhousie.
The seven diaries are going to be turned into a booklet as a small fundraiser for the museum.
The museum has also just hired two summer students to help volunteers and assist with day-to-day research, visitors and special events, as well as cataloguing, new exhibits and marketing. Lots going on, to say the museum just opened in mid-May!
And don’t forget the Middleville and District Museum, which I hear through the grapevine is hosting a Family History Day this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Oh yeah, and speaking of museums, I walked through the garden of the Perth Museum on Saturday afternoon, after taking pictures at the Pride parade, and every time I take that walk, I want to sit on the bench for a while.
I don’t, because I’m always on my way somewhere, but it’s a really nice spot on Perth’s main street to suddenly get away from the town. Sure, you can still hear the traffic, but with the big maple tree, and the familiar flowers, and the bench that I never sit on, it makes me feel good even just walking through.
Same with the towpath. I took a long walk through town during the dress rehearsal for my daughter’s dance recital last Thursday and, as usual, ended up on the towpath along the Tay River. I have good/bad memories of jogging the towpath with slave driver /trainer Kris Plant and my former coworker Krista Johnson, but I take a more leisurely pace now – and enjoy it much more.

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It seems oysters weren’t as scarce 100 years ago as we might think.
Joy Miller, who has a subscription all the way out in British Columbia, sent a letter to the Era last week, wondering where Mrs. A.D. McDonald would have found oysters for her “excellent little oyster supper” in McDonald’s Corners. She said she and her extended family wondered how she had found oysters, when she was so far away from any ocean and oysters are perishable.
It took a little digging from Karen (our office manager) to find an ad for the Central Grocery run by Jos. A. Watt in the pages of the Era from 100 years ago. Watt, in addition to fresh cakes and biscuits, oranges, apples and grapes, had “oysters by the quart always on hand.”
He also had flour, mixed feed, bran and shorts (which I think is a type of feed, not an article of clothing!), along with “Roman meal, the early Roman’s food.” I had to search that, and came across “the original whole grain bread company” based in Tacoma, Washington that began in 1912 and is still going today.
So the Central Grocery sounds like it was a happening place, the spot to go for everything from oysters to fruit to baking. The question of how Mr. Watt kept the oysters fresh on their travels to Lanark, I don’t know – he didn’t mention that in his ad!

Museum events and happy places
The Lanark and District Museum has been making plans for the summer.
The museum submitted its report to Lanark Highlands Township council on May 26, outlining its activities – including a First World War exhibition starting this month with veterans from Lanark Highlands and the former Drummond and Bathurst townships. The museum is still looking for items, especially photographs of local veterans, to highlight in the exhibit.
The museum board also plans to host the popular cemetery tour again this year, including a candlelight tour to highlight unique residents and settlers, as well as cemetery superstitions, traditions and symbols, and a geocaching event.
I’ve never geoached before, but I have read a bit about it, and you might be surprised to learn the locations of different caches, even in Lanark County.
The county mentions it on its website, explaining that geocaching uses GPS technology to discover unique areas that you may otherwise miss. Learn more at www.geocaching.com.
When I was searching “geocaching in Lanark Highlands” (thank you, Google!), I came across a recommendation for the Lanark Landing on www.tripadvisor.com, that mentioned a group that grew to 43 people for a Halloween geocaching event in Lanark last year. See? It’s popular!
The museum is also working on a strategic plan for the next five years, which will include the 40th anniversary of the museum itself and the 150th anniversary of Canada in 2017. Volunteers have also finished transcribing the Irquhart diaries, written mostly in the 1940s and offering information on local families in Lanark village and the former townships of Lanark and Dalhousie.
The seven diaries are going to be turned into a booklet as a small fundraiser for the museum.
The museum has also just hired two summer students to help volunteers and assist with day-to-day research, visitors and special events, as well as cataloguing, new exhibits and marketing. Lots going on, to say the museum just opened in mid-May!
And don’t forget the Middleville and District Museum, which I hear through the grapevine is hosting a Family History Day this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Oh yeah, and speaking of museums, I walked through the garden of the Perth Museum on Saturday afternoon, after taking pictures at the Pride parade, and every time I take that walk, I want to sit on the bench for a while.
I don’t, because I’m always on my way somewhere, but it’s a really nice spot on Perth’s main street to suddenly get away from the town. Sure, you can still hear the traffic, but with the big maple tree, and the familiar flowers, and the bench that I never sit on, it makes me feel good even just walking through.
Same with the towpath. I took a long walk through town during the dress rehearsal for my daughter’s dance recital last Thursday and, as usual, ended up on the towpath along the Tay River. I have good/bad memories of jogging the towpath with slave driver /trainer Kris Plant and my former coworker Krista Johnson, but I take a more leisurely pace now – and enjoy it much more.