May 31, 1985

Twenty-five years have past since that fateful day -- Friday, May 31, 1985. Some details are now vague.  I thought I'd never forget each little detail. I am sure for those who lived through that day, they still have vivid memories.

According to my calendar, Friday  had been a regular work day for me at the library. As was our routine, when my parents and I had nothing on in the evening, we were sitting in the family room of our 10th Street West home watching a television program. I don't remember what we were watching when the program was interrupted to say that there had been a devastating tornado in Barrie and in other parts of southern Ontario.

My mother became very anxious. Trying to be optimistic, I said that perhaps, my sister and her family might have been lucky to have escaped and we shouldn't panic until we knew more.

Then the phone rang. Who was calling? Would it be my sister?

It was a friend of my sister's calling to say that Nancy and the children were okay. (A was 8 1/2 and H was 6.) My brother-in-law had been at work when the tornado hit. Yes, Nancy and the children had been in the house at the time. Yes, the house was badly  damaged and unlivable, but the main thing was they were fine.

When we finally talked to my sister, we learned more about what happened. It was about quarter to 5 on Friday after a normal day at school.  A. was to be spending the weekend at cub camp and my sister had already packed the car with his stuff.  She didn't want to head out in the storm so they were just putting in time without power when the tornado hit.  The sky was an eerie colour and when the winds picked up she decided to shut the front door, but she couldn't close it; something told her to get the kids down to the basement, even though she had never heard of a tornado in Ontario.  She grabbed H; they had been sitting in front of the living room window.  They ran for the basement and she yelled for A. who was playing in the dining room to run too but he didn't make it as far as they did.  She described the sound like an airplane perhaps crashing close by.

There wasn't enough time to get to the basement. A. was still  on the main level of the split level and he ended up  under the dining room table saving him from being hit by a shelving unit. Nancy and H. were on the lower level. It was into that room a tree came through the window.  They too escaped being badly hurt.

It was over in a matter of seconds.  The roof was gone. The car had been lifted up. Furniture and appliances were shifted. The lawn furniture was swept away.

When their house was in the Toronto Star, we hardly recognized it.

They got back into their house in mid-September.

Here are photos taken when my parents and I visited them on Father's Day - June 16.

A view of the front of the house three weeks later.

The kitchen on the main level

A's bedroom on the top level.

 Information on the Barrie F4 tornado can be found on many different websites. It was only one of several tornadoes that hit Ontario and parts of the United States that day.

It is quite eerie to watch the videos. Today, the television station will have extras about it on the news and the Barrie newspaper will likely have more articles on it too.

The CBC archives has a video of one of the news reports on June 3, 1985
CKVR (Barrie station)  video report
Barrie Examiner May 27, 2010

Thanks to my sister for clarifying some of the points for me.

© 2010 Janet Iles

Wordless Wednesday - Oral History Display

 Janet Iles at Ontario Genealogical Society - Ontario Library Association -- Genealogy and Libraries -- Oral History Display --  May 13, 2010

© 2010 Janet Iles

Oral histories

Does your library, museum or archives have oral histories? Have you ever checked them to see what they have?

I have been working on a project with the local library so I have taken a closer look at the oral histories at the library. Something, I had really hadn't taken the time to do during my years working at the library.

In 1976 and 1977, the library had grants to undertake oral histories. Staff was hired for these projects. In 1976, the focus was on Leith a small community near Owen Sound, Ontario. At one time, in the early days, the dream was that Leith would become a large community. This did not happen but it is a beautiful place to live and visit as you explore the countryside. The 1977 project expanded the interviews to Owen Sound and surrounding communities. The second project covers a wide variety of topics: organizations, general history, businesses and industries. The interviewee also talks a little about their own life and their connection to the topic that is the focus of the interview.

In the first project, the two staff interviewed over a dozen people, including several who were summer residents. In the second, the project staff interviewed over 120 people.

When the interviews were initially done, they were recorded on audio-cassette. Now, the library is in the process of having them transferred to compact discs.

The supporting material for the audio recordings varies. For the Leith project, the questions for each interview are given with the responses in point form. For the Owen Sound project, most interviews provide a list of the topics discussed. With some, supporting material was added. There is where I found some information about the IOOF cenotaph at Greenwood Cemetery Owen Sound. I wrote about the cenotaph on my Graveyard Rabbit of Grey County, Ontario blog.

If you have local oral histories of interest, check to see if there is supporting material. You may find some information not covered in the interviews.


© 2010 Janet Iles

Treasure Chest Thursday - Grade Eight Graduation

Amongst my keepsakes is the program booklet from my grade eight graduation. Although it is not June yet, I decided to share this now because I went to a mini-grade eight reunion last night.

Several months ago, three of us who have kept in contact decided that it would be fun to have a get together of those with whom we had attended public school, specifically grade eight. We wondered how many we could locate and how many would be able to come. The other two got in touch with different ones that they had kept in touch with. I said I would look for photographs.

We did really well. Ten of us got together last night. We gathered at a local restaurant and fortunately, we had a private area to ourselves. Did we ever talk! We went around the table and said a little bit about what we had done in the last 40 years or so. I am the only unmarried one in the bunch. All had children and all but one had grand-kids.

When we went to high school - West Hill Secondary School, we were divided up amongst several home rooms depending on whether we were in the four or five year stream and what we chose as options.  This year is our High School's 50th anniversary reunion. Last night was a good warm up to that.

We have already set a date in October when we will get together again. There are few more that we need to contact.

It was good to see Cathy, Donna, Wendy, Cheryl, Sarilee, Jayne, Linda, Donna and Bonnie.
© 2010 Janet Iles

Wordless Wednesday - Double Daffodils

photo taken in my backyard 4 May 2010

© 2010 Janet Iles