A gem of a photo surfaces!

Feb 29

Feb 29 A gem of a photo surfaces!

During one of my many memorable research interviews, I heard about a tug-of-war competition that took place on the Colonial Lumber Mill’s yard each pay-day. The reason my interviewee told me about this loud and boisterous activity during the difficult depression years was because she lived across the street, on Nelson Avenue and as a little girl, she would watch the competition with interest. My Great Grandfather (and Mary’s Father), Joseph Flynn, was the mill’s superintendent so he would have had to authorize this pay-day activity, I imagine.

My 98 year-old interviewee recalled Joseph as ‘grumpy old Mr. Flynn’. In 2018, to have interviewed a person who knew my Great Grandfather (1864-1939) was a thrill, but what happened next was even more amazing.

Many months after this interview, I contacted Bruce Pappin, a Pembroke historian and lecturer, to learn about Pembroke during the First World War, The Great Depression and the Second World War. I told him all I knew about Mary and her family during those years, including the tug-of-war competitions.

“I happen to have a photo of a tug-of-war team. My grandfather is in the photo and I found it crammed into a drawer after he died,” he said. “Perhaps your great grandfather is in it too. I’ll send it to you.”

Indeed, Jospeh Flynn is the man in the centre of this photo having presented the cup to the winners!”