“The Stonehouse
Home was Where Everyone Congregated”
writes
Paul Wilson ~ Special to The Hamilton Spectator.
Maxime
Stonehouse put her house up for sale ~ she had been there 50 years.
Her first home was a 2nd
floor appartment on the main street of Dundas. She was born there on
a hot day in June, 1931, early days of the Great Depression. Her
parents had 4 other children.
After High School, Maxine worked in accounting at the Robinson's
department store. Not for her, she headed to Calgary ~ her parents
were horrified. She came home on a holiday, and a girlfriend asked
her to the Alexandra roller rink on James South. Not knowing how to
skate, she crashed into a young man named Harvey Stonehouse. A
month later, in Feburary 1952, she married him. “It sounds like I
was a real nut,” Maxine says. “But I'm very stable. I just get
feelings about things.” And her feelings about Harvey were all
good. He worked at Dominion Glass and Maxine stayed home, because
that's what women did. They had a little 'starter house' in the east
end, Vansitmart near Woodward.
Son David arrived in 1954, Michael 2 years later.
In the summer of 1967, Maxine found them a new house at 67 Duncombe
Dr., costing $17,000 (to them a fortune). It had a great
backyard...a wide drive...three bedrooms. In 1968, Christopher was
born!
Much as she loved her house, Maxine had to get out of it!
She enrolled in the social services program at Mohawk (3 years full
time).
Part-time, it took Maxine 10 years.
“But I aced it,” she says, “and on the honour roll.”
Celebrating Three
Decades of Service
A colour photo of 4 proud immigrant women, who, introduced to ESL and
high school equivalency classes (and eventually employment
opportunities in Hamilton and beyond) graduated in early April
at Lincoln Alexander Theatre ~
celebrating the 30th
anniversary of the Immigrants Workers Centre.
As per custom, the full graduate class 'tossed their caps' following
the ceremony.
Introduction to the
Stage
“On
Easter Sunday evening, Jesus
Christ Superstar, from New York was
presented
live on TV.
The show was a collision of religion and theatre and pop culture that
could have been one holy mess.
“But
by the grace of God, or maybe a great cast and lots and lots of
expert staging, a
great musical became a great TV production,” wrote Lorraine Ali
(Los Angeles Times).
“The
pop star raised his hands, striking a messianic pose from the stage
as the adoring crowd strained to touch the edges of his flowing robe
~ a savour greeting his disciples.
Singer, John Legend didn't have the presence of a theatre performer,
but he did know how to command a venue full of fans, which is exactly
what NBC's
“Jesus
Christ Superstar Live in Concert called
for.
Legend (Jesus), pop crooner-turned-Broadway star Sara Bareilles (Mary
Magdalene), veteran rocker Alice Cooper (King Herod) and Hamilton's
Brandon Victor Dixon (Judas) artfully walked the line between
Broadway musical, pop concert and contemporary TV drama during the
two-hour-plus production broadcast live. Black leather jackets and
motorcylcle boots took the place of bell bottoms and bare feet in the
live television adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's
long-haired 1971 Broadway musical chronicling Christ's last days.
It was Legend, Bareilles and Dixon who carried most of the
production.
The multiple dancers and performers who shared the stage, brought the
songs to life for a modern audience without forsaking the original
charm of the numbers. It featured 40-plus cast members, a large
onstage orchestra and an interactive audience throughout the
production.
Invitation
to Readers
Have you seen and enjoyed an advertisement of great appeal to you ~
viewed in a magazine or seen on TV...seen a signboard or vehicle
quote?
To most advertisements, I pay little attention; if shown in a TV
program, I prefer to fill in that time gap, whether 2 or 3 or often
10 of them, to have a cup of coffee, read a few extra pages in a
novel...or return a telephone call to someone. However, two amuse me.
CBC's TV circular logo previously showed a majestic lion, within the
ring, roaring;
And now, a small orange and white tabby within the ring, softly
'meows'!
Hundreds of thousands of people watch the National Football League's
'Super Bowl' in January which for the past few years have been of
keen interest...especially for their commercials.
A good advertisement is one which sells the product without
drawing attention to itself.
Jerry Della Femina states, “There is a great deal of advertising
that is so much better than the product; the end result ~
it will put you out of business
faster.”
The
greatest thing to be achieved in advertising is believeability
and nothing is more believable than the product itself. (Leo
Burnett)
My
Favourite Advertisement/Commercial:
Several ducklings were rescued from an oil spill in lake water.
After being washed and cleaned, they happily and hurriedly waddled
back with tiny feet in the beach sand toward their lake waters,
singing I'm
home...I'm home...I'm home! Nearing
the water, a huge 4-lettered word appeared in the sky above them:
DAWN!
This one word remains in my memory bank!
Other
DAWN ads read: Tough
on Crude Oil ~ Soft on Ducklings
One I recently saw illustrated a small pale yellow & brown
duckling
lovingly
in a person's hand with caption:
Dawn Cleans More Than Dishes!
To you, my faithful readers, I extend an invitation to email to me
your favourite ad/commercial that impresses you. With a few or
several, I'll document them and post in a future writing. I can refer
to you as...a reader....your first name only...or both Christian and
Surname; please advise me.
Written by Merle Baird-Kerr...March 9, 2018
No comments:
Post a Comment