Reminiscences of Pembroke Ontario, on the 180th Anniversary of our city. Pembroke Public Library, 180th partnership program.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Let's hear YOUR stories of our city!
Whether you're a long term resident, a new resident, or a visitor, leave your thoughts and reminescences of our City of Pembroke on the occasion of our 180th anniversary!
1 comment:
Anonymous
said...
I fervently wish Bill Higginson was still around, because he lived, ate and breathed Pembroke and was a walking library of the town's stories and legends. In his seven-plus decades of living in this Ottawa Valley town (like me, Bill had a hard time thinking of it as a "city"), Bill amassed a volume of knowledge that encompassed sports, politics and everything in between. I have only been a resident of Pembroke for a few months more than three decades, but I do have many memories already. My first memory was the construction on Pembroke Street in 1978, when parking was removed from the north side of the street and wider sidewalks were installed. To this day, that change creates much angst among long-time residents who long for the good old days with parking on both sides of the 'main drag.' The downtown core has changed a lot in the last 30 years as well. Stores have come and gone, as well as establishments like the Pembroke Hotel, the O'Brien and Centre theatres, J. Deacon Taylor Jewellers, the Club Grill, Crescent Gardens and Hager's Sports Mart were all going concerns when I first moved here. Now they are all memories. But not all change is bad. Pembroke has a beautiful Giant Tiger store and the Pembroke Mall has thrived since opening in the late 1970s. We have two busy call centres and the Pembroke Memorial Centre, home of the two-time defending CJHL champion Pembroke Lumber Kings. But of all the changes in the past 30 years, without doubt the most significant in terms of impact and appearance has been Pembroke's new waterfront, a dream of Fred Blackstein and a volunteer committee that created a scenic family park with a walking path, playground and amphitheatre that is the hub of recreational and social activities in the city. It has transformed a somewhat picturesque vista along the Ottawa River to a thing of beauty. I could go on, but you get the idea. We all have memories of Pembroke, why not add yours to this blog and create a living memory? - Peter
1 comment:
I fervently wish Bill Higginson was still around, because he lived, ate and breathed Pembroke and was a walking library of the town's stories and legends. In his seven-plus decades of living in this Ottawa Valley town (like me, Bill had a hard time thinking of it as a "city"), Bill amassed a volume of knowledge that encompassed sports, politics and everything in between.
I have only been a resident of Pembroke for a few months more than three decades, but I do have many memories already. My first memory was the construction on Pembroke Street in 1978, when parking was removed from the north side of the street and wider sidewalks were installed. To this day, that change creates much angst among long-time residents who long for the good old days with parking on both sides of the 'main drag.'
The downtown core has changed a lot in the last 30 years as well. Stores have come and gone, as well as establishments like the Pembroke Hotel, the O'Brien and Centre theatres, J. Deacon Taylor Jewellers, the Club Grill, Crescent Gardens and Hager's Sports Mart were all going concerns when I first moved here. Now they are all memories.
But not all change is bad. Pembroke has a beautiful Giant Tiger store and the Pembroke Mall has thrived since opening in the late 1970s. We have two busy call centres and the Pembroke Memorial Centre, home of the two-time defending CJHL champion Pembroke Lumber Kings. But of all the changes in the past 30 years, without doubt the most significant in terms of impact and appearance has been Pembroke's new waterfront, a dream of Fred Blackstein and a volunteer committee that created a scenic family park with a walking path, playground and amphitheatre that is the hub of recreational and social activities in the city. It has transformed a somewhat picturesque vista along the Ottawa River to a thing of beauty.
I could go on, but you get the idea. We all have memories of Pembroke, why not add yours to this blog and create a living memory?
- Peter
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