I had a very pleasant lunch this past Tuesday with a group of old King friends, which included Bert Archibald (pictured at right). Bert and I go back about almost 65 years in King. He was in Grade 13 at Aurora District High School and I was in Grade 9 at the same school. At lunch, Bert and I sat across from each other and reminisced about the old times in King City during the 1950s. We talked about school and teachers and swimming and skating on the East Humber River, which was right behind the King City Public School (now the Presbyterian church) on Keele Street North in King City. At one point, Bert told me that he and his family and friends used to ice skate in the winter behind the school. He amazed me by saying that he and the other lads would occasionally skate from King City to Lake Wilcox and back again. It was a distance of over eight miles in total. If the Humber wasn't completely frozen over in spots where the water tumbled over rocks and fallen trees, the boys would climb out onto the snowy banks of the river and walk around those spots, with their skates on, and continue the cold icy trek. Bert's recollection reminded me of swimming in the Humber River, as a kid, and I distinctly remember the water being well over our heads, which allowed us to run and dive off a big embankment. The water in that same spot today is about 12 inches deep! Oh, how the times have changed.
Please comment if you wish.
Barry Wallace
Wow. It shows how the environment has changed.
ReplyDeleteI remember the Achibalds , Carl was closer to my age. If my fading memory is correct , they owned a hardware store at Oak Ridges where my first CCM two wheeler was purchased.
ReplyDeleteThe Humber was a great learning environment for a lot of us kids. Skating , fishing , swimming , hunting , camp fires , netting Suckers, building dams and rafts . Where were these children's parents!