I continue to receive interesting responses from equally interesting people who feel moved to comment on our Memories of Dresden web site. It is encouraging to realize that we may have struck a chord of sorts with this reflective piece of work.
Brian Tricker of Barrie was referred to the site by his cousin who still lives in Dresden. In an email Brian expressed amazement with my reference to taking trumpet lessons from his father Gordon in 1949-50. He was ony a tyke at the time but he shared with me some memories of his own from that period. He said that his father Gordon passed away in 2005 and that his mother is currently in a nursing home in Barrie. In a reply email I mentioned his grandfather, Walter Ticker, who was the resident paint and wallpaper merchant in Dresden for years and Brian kindly forwarded a wonderful photo of his grandfather (circa 1945) standing in front of his shop. Needless to say, I have added the photo and a special reference to Walter on the Dresden site.
My close relationship to the Sharpe family of Dresden resulted in a fruitful exchange with Rev. Ryk Brown of Hamilton, himself a family historian and genealogist. Ryk, minister of the Aldershot Presbyterian Church, is married to the former Heather Sharp. He was so interested in my references to taking singing lessons from Heather's great grandmother May Sharpe and buying Orange Crush and playing the pinball machine at her great grandfather Ern Sharpe's gas station, that he has added them with credits to his data base and web site forum. He too, sent me some excellent photos of Ern and May's family from the 1920s and I was able to provide in exchange a photo of my uncle Harold Sharpe (Ern's brother) as well as a photo of Alex Cuthbert (May's brother) taken from a baseball team picture, circa 1910.
Ted Misslebrook was also referred to the Memories of Dresden site by a neighbor friend and was thoughtful enough to email some complimentary comments after spending his entire afternoon perusing the contents. Ted and his partner Gordon Claws (both now retired) started up the Dresden Leader newspaper in the 1960s and he and his wife are now in the process of establishing their own web site reflecting on the early days of establishing a small town weekly.
I am so relieved to know that I am not the only one inflicted with the nostalgia bug. It's a small, small world afterall. Kind of makes you feel good inside!
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