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May I introduce myself. Though my name is now Veeto, and I now live in the great dividing range of eastern Australia, I am Audrey Keyes, the grand daughter of Richard Keyes and Sara Purcell.
I spent my early summers at the house with the red roof near the covered wooden bridge over the north river. As children, we combed the hills on the other side of the river for berries, as my auntie Orian was a truly legendary pie maker.
Her brother was my dad: Richard Keyes. He was friends with Gerald and Jessie Phalen and as a very young child I spent a deal of time checking out Gerald's shoes. I could slip them on WITH my own shoes still on. When I was a child, he was easily the tallest man I'd ever seen! He used to religiously wave as he passed the house on the way to St Canute to get the mail, and then back again. Remember ?
He was the mailman and ran the post office. My brother Bob (Bobby in those days) and I
would never miss a wave, always making sure we played near the front gate till he had returned
to St Colomban.
I have very fond memories of corn roast evenings at the hall (great music), and bingo with the hall filled with smoke and adults, laughing and listening to the numbers, us kids outside playing in those long
Canadian evenings. on some rare occasions movies in black and white it seemed.. "The hanging tree" I remember... westerns.
My cousins lived on Chemen (gee that must be spelt wrong) Keyes on the way to Colford's lodge. Sometimes we swam at Colfords. I loved it at auntie Mary's (Andrew Keyes(died 1954) and Mary Rosen). Jerry, and Andrea were older, but Tony and Michael were my brother's age and Rosemary was
exactly my age and it was great to have some one to cruise the hot summer day's with.
My parents met at a barn dance at the Black's in Gordenville, just near chemen Keyes. (Bide-a-Wee is a tiny green and white reminder of busier times. or maybe it is no longer there now..?)
Pete Casey lived across the river and he would flash his lights on and off (a la Anne of Green Gables)on a friday night, after we had arrived from the city,to get my dad to go over for a visit, or just by way of a welcome. Pete didn't have a car at that point. and nobody had a phone.
Your Dad (n.b. from Fergus - Audrey is referring to my father - Victor Keyes) visited our place in Montreal several times, on New Years Day, when I was in grade school, but I'm sure we've never met. A pity.
I hope the event you just held was a success. and the grave yard gets fixed up.
I had a patonque game in the village in the late 80's with my Auntie
Madelaine(Hurl's wife),who lived past Bonnie Brook on that road that "grandpa Keyes" was born
on, in that little shack.. I was fascinated and it must have made its mark, 'cause I have lived in several little shacks in the bush myself, and birthed my son in one back in the 70's. I digress.. I wandered across to the cemetery and couldn't find even one Keyes plot. but they were there when I was a kid...my dad took us there to find them one Sunday after mass..it must have been on purpose to show us as we always went to church in St Canute. (Ice cream afterwards at Belisle's) anyway, enough rabbiting on...
yours veets
(audrey keyes)
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