GILL NET LODGE, AUGUST, 2000
Monday, August 7, 2000 - 09:39:57 am:
Message from Mary Ellen at :Mary,
I have just returned from the family reunion and just had to check out the Gill Net Lodge to see the postings since the commencement of the event. It was a great time, however, throughout the weekend there was always someone saying what a shame it was that you were not with us.
This was the best reunion ever. My daughter, Rebecca, had a fabulous time and my husband, Ray, said he was surprised by how much of a great time he had. The highlights for me were, first of all, cooking breakfast with my siblings, parents and in-laws. We had a great time doing it and -- despite what you will hear -- we won the breakfast competition :) Another highlight was the singing of "Danny Boy" by all the children of Sam and Lillian or their representative. I cried my eyes out. It was very emotional especially since Aunt Bernadette gave us the story of how it became your mother's favorite. The whole weekend was fabulous, but those are the two things I will always cherish.
Speaking of music, Stan Rogers was from Cape Breton Island and was on his way to a promising singing career when he was killed in a plane accident. Being a graduate of St. F.X. University, I was immersed in Stan Rogers music. There is a Stan Rogers concert every year in Cape Breton and the crowds get bigger and bigger every year. He was a wonderful historian, poet and musician and I would encourage you to listen to some of his other stuff.
Well best be off, Katie- Rose is still napping and I SHOULD take this opportunity to unpack. Take Care. Wish you were there.....ME
p.s. I am the one in the second row behind the baby in the stroller.
Monday, August 7, 2000 - 04:46:59 pm:
Message from Mary Weissler at 110607.3647@compuserve.com:First of all, that salmon picture with John Byberg is some kind of computer photo-shop trick. No way! I am gullible but not THAT gullible. That salmon was cut and pasted from some professional fishing magazine and pasted right into John's paw.
ME, I could just feel how much you loved the reunion. I was tearing up over what you wrote about Danny Boy. It sure was my mom's favorite song, but if I ever knew why, I have forgotten...I just always knew it reminded her of all of you. Please tell me Aunt Bernie's story! Yes, I sure wish we could have been there too...it was such a stretch for both of us to take off work at this time of year and, although we both thought we could swing it, the airfare for a 2 day vacation was just over the top. We'd rather spend the money and the time when we can stay awhile and enjoy all of you. We're thinking of coming up in the first part of October and inviting Dad to come with. He can get himself to Milwaukee, no problem, and then I think if he were travelling with us he would not be so fearful of glitches arising. That's such a better time for us to come up there and I'm sure Dad would
love to see everyone and rise above the sad happenings of last week.I'm so glad you're familiar with Stan Rogers! His music (the few clips that they played on NPR) brought tears to both of our eyes. He's a great musical story teller and writer. He "shows" you, rather than "tells" you with his lyrics. I am definately going to get some of his CDs.
I see you on the left side of the picture and that must be Katie-Rose in the stroller. :-) She just looks so precious!
Mary W.
Monday, August 7, 2000 - 05:45:18 pm:
Message from Jack Kaestner at 110607.3647@compuserve:Hi all, I'm truly sorry we did not get up there for the reunion. We were so much looking forward to it. John you must send names with the pictures, Mary and I each have our guesses and of course my are all wrong ;-)) We'll see.
Hey thanks for not catching any fish, if you guys would have caught the mother load of fish during the week. There would not have been enough scotch in Milwaukee for me to drown the pain.
Take care Jack K
Tuesday, August 8, 2000 - 07:32:26 am:
Message from John Byberg at john.byberg@tauruscapital.com:Hello All,
Yes, Mary, the fish is truly not an Atlantic Salmon, it is a Pacific Spring Salmon.....hey George....I here they don't grow that big on the Miramichi. Just kidding!! My special thanks to Mary Leslie whose terrific cabin lodged my body after the many hours of singing and laughing. Monica,Carmel, and Bernie....you are gifts to us all....thank you for the time we shared...I can't wait for the next one.
Singing "Danny Boy" (or should I say trying to sing) was absolutely one of the most moving times of my life. And I'm sure many of yours. Thanks Theresa for dragging me up there....my tears were full of joy. I believe we have one of the most outstanding families on the face of this Earth. Our door is always open for any of you.Love you All!! John
Tuesday, August 8, 2000 - 09:08:23 am:
Message from MCHAEL KINGSTON at :Hi all, I made it back to the west coast. I had a great time. It was a little short. I will have to stay longer next time. Until we meet again all the best to everyone.
Michael Kingston
Tuesday, August 8, 2000 - 10:42:16 am:
Message from Brenda MacKinnon at brenda.mackinnon2@ns.sympatico.ca:Hi all:
Your postings are bringing tears. I have to agree with John Byberg that singing Danny Boy was a very moving experience. Bronwyn commented after returning from N.B. that it really is a shame
people are having such small families now and how reunions such as these will be rare in the future, everyone having their one, two, three children (except for you, Patricia Boyle...you are one
brave woman!). Bronwyn also commented on what a fine lot we were and would agree with you, John Byberg, that we are one of the finest families on the face of the Earth.And yes, Mary W., Stan Rogers is one of the very finest songwriters. He was actually born in Ontario but spent his summer on the shores of the Chedabucto Bay, having relatives there. Three years ago a small town nearby, Canso, (on that Bay) started a musical festival in his honor. It is a town of about 2000, but during the last weekend in June it bursts with people from everywhere as they celebrate his music. He was a prolific songwriter and one of his very best (but he has many very best)
is "Northwest Passage". I think your brother George would love him and I am surprised if he hasn't heard of him already.Cheers and love to all,
Brenda
Tuesday, August 8, 2000 - 12:51:29 am:
Message from John Vickers at jvickers@home.com:Hi John Byberg,
My mother asked me to forward you the recipe for home made mayo. She added some instruction which I hadn't had prior and you can find it by clicking here and going through the Kingston Recipe Book.
John V
Thursday, August 10, 2000 - 05:23:54 pm:
Message from Patty Kelly at seanchai@acncanada.net:Remember the song by the Irish Rovers, title "Wasn"t that a party!" Could be said for the reunion. Good food , good weather, and best of all GREAT people.
Love PATTY.
Sunday, August 13, 2000 - 06:27:57 pm:
Message from John Vickers at :Hi Again,
I couldn't agree with you more Patty. Now that life has settled back into Victoria, I have been meaning to post a note on how wonderful the reunion was. WOW! The tire tube trek down the river was great. BUTTTTS UP!! (only fellow trekees can really appreciate that statement..:) Cathy Byberg you are a fabulous musician who knows some really great songs. (She also anchored the variety show guitar ensemble as well as during Father Coreless's mass on Sunday.) The Lumberjack song was very cooool Cathy!
I did my best to try and encourage some mass hysteria by self nominating myself as official judge of the breakfast competition and announcing that there would be a breakfast champion between Alley and George's family who cook breakfasts on different mornings. For those who missed it, due to influence pedding on both sides to the judge (offers of cash, liquor, etc.) it had to be declared a draw..:) Bethy - you had me laughing till my chest hurt..:)
Anyhow, just to say it was wonderful to meet so many great people.
(Ahhh! On comes the suit at 6am)
John V
Monday, August 14, 2000 - 06:39:20 am:
Message from Steve Kingston at stevek@watchfire.com:All,
What a wonderful time. From enjoying the conversations with aunts, uncles and cousins I had not seen in years to watching my kids play in the river at Mary Leslie's beautiful shoreline and make friends with their cousins, we all enjoyed our time there and sorry we did not spend more time onsite. To the Leslie clan, the only way I can begin to think of repaying you and all others who worked on the meals and reunion is to welcome you to my home in Ottawa should you ever come this way. The door is always open.
We returned to Ottawa late Saturday night (12th) and had a very good trip (parents with small children heed my words and BUY a TV/VCR combination for long journeys in a vehicle). JV it would be great to have an email list of relatives if it would be possible to create one. Again my thanks for maintaining the website. Will drop a quick line once I start at Bitflash next week with my add.
SK
Friday, August 18, 2000 - 06:42:29 am:
Message from Mary Weissler at 110607.3647@compuserve.com:Hi all,
It's great reading all your posts about the reunion! I can tell everyone was profoundly moved by the experience. I sure am and I wasn't even there! :-)
I cannot wait for the pictures to start rolling in! Come on everyone...get that film developed!
Mary W.
Friday, August 18, 2000 - 06:43:42 am:
Message from Mary W. at 110607.3647@compuserve.com:John, I can only guess at what "BUTTS UP" means. :-)
Saturday, August 19, 2000 - 10:06:05 am:
Message from Tom Kingston at tk@tomkingston.com:Hi all.... I had a great time too!! The reunion photo at the top of this page looks really bad, everybody's face is washed out. For those of you that are scanning in pictures, try saving in .gif format instead of .jpg format. The results should be a lot better.
Tom
(Hi ya Tom! I inserted the original larger picture and it does look alot better...jv)
Saturday, August 19, 2000 - 06:52:14 pm:
Message from John Kingston at john.kingston@home.com:Finally made it home yesterday from a great trip back east. Thanks to all who put the reunion together. My family and I will never forget it. The singing of Danny Boy was the highlight for me. I was crying like a baby. Bernadette, your very moving introduction to the song about how you missed your sister will forever be in my memory. I have lots of pictures that I plan to scan over the next few days.
In summary, all I can say is "Butts Up!!"
Monday, August 21, 2000 - 07:13:25 pm:
Message from will vickers at will@internorth.com:Hi Kingstons,
First of all I like to thank all the Miramichiers who organized the great event - so much prep work was done behind the scenes.
I'm back in Yellowknife, NWT. getting ready for another school year. Believe it or not, our leaves are turning yellow. Our summers are long and warm but they're sadly short. Life as it is North of 60!
Butts up to all!
Will
Wednesday, August 23, 2000 - 01:47:06 pm:
Message from Theresa Sullivan at tsulliv@cc.umanitoba.ca:Hi Everyone-
First of all a great big thank you to Mary Leslie and all of the other people who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to create such a wonderful reunion. It truly was worth every one of the 8500 kilometres we drove to be there. We survived our trip back to Winnipeg aside from a broken spring on the trailer (they don't call it the Plaster Rock highway for nothin').
John Byberg - thank you for your moving comments about singing Danny Boy. I just can't sing that song without thinking about your amazing mother (Rita) and all of the wonderful times we had at your cottage at Lake Simcoe. Although we shed a lot of tears, I was priviledged to have the opportunity to be up there, and to remember and celebrate what family really means.
I was thinking that we should try and create an electronic file of everyone's addresses, phone numbers and e-mail. Then we could all download it. Is there a place we could do that on this site John V?
BTW for anyone that wasn't in attendance - not everyone is in the family picture. Some of us were "tubing" at the time - with our "butts down" - well at least most of the time!
Take care all.
Theresa
(Great idea Theresa! John K. I believe has a program to arrange this....I'll see what we can put together...:) I recently received a very cool picture of my brother Will when he was visiting further north beyond Yellowknife...people can view it by clicking here...(I was thinking the surface looks more like MARS way up there).. jv
Thursday, August 24, 2000 - 10:28:51 am:
Message from Anne Marie at amking@spots.ab.ca:Hi All,
The reunion was an awesome experience which will live in my memory for years to come. Thank you to the Organzing Committee for putting on the best darn reunion. Meeting ,chatting , drinking and singing creating connections with everyone in the Irish Tradition. This is a photo (click here) of me and my boys- Sam and Jayson-taken last year. They are very sorry they missed all the fun.
Friday, August 25, 2000 - 04:19:09 pm:
Message from Cathy Byberg at cap_dave@greynet.net:Hey All!
We returned safely to Ontario, but not all in one piece. The Great White Minivan's transmission finally let go (I'm urging a family boycott of Chrysler minivans!!!) along the 401. We BARELY crawled off the highway, and into Cobourg, Ont where we traded that barrel of bolts in on a Honda CRV. After camping in Nova Scotia for 2 weeks, it was like trying to move from a 4-bedroom house into a 2 bedroom condo!!! Squeezing sardines into a tin can 'twould be an apt metaphor.
For those of you interested in obtaining Stan Rogers CD's, and are unable to find them, I can try to arrange this (not to name drop, but I spent all of last week in a music camp in northern Ontario with Stan's mandolin accompanist Grit Laskin who also is a premier guitar builder).
Thanks a billion to all the folks 'down east' who put so much effort into the reunion. Dave, Amanda, James and I had a great time - tubing, talking, more tubing, eating, more talking... I'm also happy to report that after saying 400 Hail Mary's and 400 Our Father's, my penance is completed for singing Catholic hymns to the tune of 'She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain' during mass. Mind you, I still search the sky for thunderbolts to strike me...
Thanks again! And if you're ever bound to Ontario, please look us up - you're all always welcome.
Hugs, Cathy (Byberg)
Hi again! I received some pictures taken by George W. and they are inside the album at the very top...jv
Monday, August 28, 2000 - 01:19:45 pm:
Message from Brenda MacKinnon at brenda.mackinnon2@ns.sympatico.ca:Hi:
The photos from George are great! Little Joe will be so glad to have photos of his great aunts and uncles. What a thoughtful Dad and Mom! He will thank you in the future.
Love to all,
Brenda
The Gill Net Lodge is still in need of more reunion pictures! In the event you do not have a scanner, you can pop your pics in the mail and they will be promptly mailed back to you. Mail to: YES I HAVE PICTURES, 140 Bushby Street, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8S 1B4. If you can forward scanned pics, simply click here to email the Gill Net Post Office...:)
Thursday, August 31, 2000 - 08:32:52 am:
Message from Mary Ellen at :Hi everyone,
I am having a hard time adjusting to the idea that the reunion is over and a new school year is about to begin. Rebecca is packed and chewing at the bit to get to Grade1. Since the reunion she has been a little bored at home. We have a lady coming in to look after her and Katie-Rose, so, without other children to play with, school is looking really good (hee-hee-hee! :)
Cathy, so sorry to hear about your vehicle problems. We have a Chrysler van and I can't wait until the next two years are up and we can get something else. I just don't trust it as much as I did our Hondas and Toyotas.
Well, I hope this Lodge does not die out and that people continue to post messages. Each time I write something, I thing about what significance it will have in 20 years and thus, feel the need to write every once in a while. Plus, I am really interested in how everyone is doing.
Take Care, everyone....ME
