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Archiver > WARBRIDES > 2005-04 > 1112576725


From: Bev Tosh <>
Subject: Re: [WarBrides] McAdam Train Station
Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2005 19:05:25 -0600
In-Reply-To: <BAY103-F21738AD6A37CF833B39E3BA3A0@phx.gbl>


Hello Melynda,

Thank you! I'm sure others enjoyed reading of Mrs. Hunter's help to war
brides as well. Your research is a valuable resource for all of us.

If you, or other readers, can recall other stations and sidings in their
areas I would appreciate having them. I am hand-hammering each letter of
each destination into metal for my exhibition (which is fast approaching). I
have some names but need about 100 more and I need to finish them this week.

I have very few from some provinces and from the north.

Bev

> From: Melynda Jarratt <>
> Reply-To:
> Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2005 17:36:29 -0300
> To:
> Subject: [WarBrides] McAdam Train Station
> Resent-From:
> Resent-Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2005 14:36:35 -0600
>
> Hi Bev, I have the original Train Meeting diary of Mrs. Valreia Hunter, who
> volunteered with the Canadian Red Cross as a member of the War Bride Train
> Meeting Committee for McAdam Train Station in New Brunswick. McAdam was the
> train station for women going to live on farms in New Brunswick's potato
> belt. It is presently a provincial historic site and there is a move on in
> the heritage community to restore the building to its full glory.
>
> Here is the citation from my thesis in which I talk about Mrs. Hunter's role
> in meeting War Brides:
>
> In McAdam, Mrs. Valreia Hunter kept a detailed record of her train-meeting
> duties, which she carried out with great enthusiasm on behalf of the McAdam
> Branch of the New Brunswick Division of the Canadian Red Cross Society.
> Although Mrs. Hunter is now deceased, her daughter, Anne Garret of McAdam,
> recalls that her mother "volunteered to meet these ladies when they had to
> change trains at McAdam in order to travel on to Woodstock and up ...the
> river." Mrs. Garret explains:
>
> [I]t was all organized through the Red Cross. Information was sent from
> Saint John to the C.P.R. Telegraph office here and the operator then
> contacted Mother. Mother was a very outgoing person and enjoyed meeting
> these ladies and often had them in our home while waiting for a connecting
> train or until family members arrived.
>
> Time spent waiting for connections or for family members to show often meant
> that Mrs. Hunter and the war bride could get to know each other. Mrs.
> Garret recalls one particular Irish bride who had to stay at their home
> overnight: wanting to make the woman feel welcome in New Brunswick, Mrs.
> Hunter introduced her to an elderly Irish woman who lived in McAdam and they
> spent the "evening telling stories about leprechauns, little people and
> superstitions until close to midnight. By this time Mother said she was
> almost afraid to walk home." The train-meeting soon became a family
> affair, Mrs. Garret says, with her father often called in to help his wife.
> "My father was also involved in that he was very supportive of the
> operation. Some of these calls from Saint John came just minutes before the
> train was due in McAdam and he was always there to carry baggage, etc."
> Last minute dashes to the platform were made easier, Mrs. Garrett says, by
> the fact that they lived directly across the street from the train station.
>
>
>
>
>
> Melynda
>
>
>
> Melynda Jarratt, BA, MA (History)
> Diploma in Digital Media and Design
> Webmaster: http://www.canadianwarbrides.com and http://www.project-roots.com
> Voices of the Left Behind: Project Roots and the Canadian War Children of
> World War Two is available in English at
> http://www.project-roots.com/books.html and in Dutch at
> http://www.uitgeverijpica.nl/index.html?page=achterbleven
>
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: Bev Tosh <>
> Reply-To:
> To:
> Subject: [WarBrides] station/siding/arrival
> Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2005 11:48:31 -0600
>
> Dear War brides,
> What was the name of your station of arrival, or nearest settlement for
> those going to live on farms? I need as many destinations as possible. Can
> you recall the names of sidings/stations that other war brides went to?
> Thank you for your help.
> Bev
> (a daughter)
>
>
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