Returning to the days of my youth

Most of us have great memories of our early days, but seldom if ever can we return to them.

Good memories of my childhood are of going to the Annapolis Valley with my parents and two brothers and staying at the “White Spot” motels in New Minas. This was in the very early 1950s when the pace was slow and easy and gasoline at 45 cents a gallon. Just recently, I had the great pleasure of returning to those days, although not in the Valley this time.

Some weeks ago I visited the Memory Lane Heritage Village, dating to the 1940s and situated at Lake Charlotte along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia on Highway 7. It is a one-hour drive beyond Halifax going in the direction of Sherbrook Village.

This “living memory” village is definitely worth the effort of getting there and will take you to a time that no longer exists.

When you enter Memory Lane Village, it is through the Hosking’s general store. This reminded me very much of the William B. country store from my neighborhood where I grew up. Later, in the little one room schoolhouse, I had fun reading what was written on the blackboard and studying a Canadian map dating to the 1940s. It was as if time had stood still for 60 years.

Model A Ford sedan parked beside the homestead

A Model A Ford sedan was parked next to the Webber homestead and this interested me to no end. The other vehicles onsite were a 1949 International pick-up truck, just like our Co-op store had, and a 1948 Cub tractor…all in working order.

The church (United), barn and homestead, were exactly as I remember them from half a century ago. Except for language and religion, the Acadians survived the very same meager existence as Memory Lane was depicting, right down to the “two-seater” outhouse.

The village garage had two Esso pumps displaying gasoline at about 29 cents a gallon for “regular” or 34 cents a gallon for “high test”. Inside on the workbench I saw inner tubes ready to be patched…something I had done hundreds of times at my uncle’s service station in the days before tubeless tires as we have today. The barn, chicken coop and workshop had all the sounds and smells I remembered so well.

At noon, I enjoyed a home-cooked meal in the cookhouse with the staff that had invited me to share their company. Baked beans, the old-fashioned way, with brown bread, white biscuits, rhubarb desert, black tea and all you could eat was included with the ticket I had purchased at the door.

I tried not to overdo it on the grub, but it was a tough temptation to resist. By now the staff had recognized my voice as “the guy who speaks on CBC Radio”, so before I left I told a few jokes to the ladies who excelled so well with their cooking. I almost felt as if my grandmother was in the kitchen with them.

Had never seen a ‘shingle mill’

After lunch I visited the boat shop, just like I remembered it, with a wooden boat going up one rib at a time. I would have guessed that the boat dated to the 1930s, much smaller than the Cape Island type from Yarmouth or Shelburne County.

Next I took in a display on how shingles were made at the “shingle mill”. I had never seen this before.

The icehouse was something I had never seen before either - this was before my time - although it was exactly like my grandfather used to describe.

The way Memory Lane village differed from the Acadian villages, and likely the Annapolis Valley villages as well, is the fact that gold mining is represented there. The other difference would have been the “clam factory”. We had lobster canneries in my area, but processing of clams was never big as an industry.

Needless to say, what really made the village come alive were the people working there, all dressed in period costumes. They were enjoying their role of living in the 1940s. I felt so much at home that I hated to leave.

I am sure I spoke with everyone working there and, of course, I extended an invitation to visit the Historical Acadian Village of Nova Scotia situated in Lower West Pubnico. You can be sure that I will revisit the days of my youth someday.

laudent@hotmail.com