The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

: PWnc Marri h Te { Ppc | Nine Colborneâ€"area 2593 ~~â€"â€"meacar <â€"â€"â€"_â€"____ > â€" es couples have been â€" e o esn ue +o ~â€"â€"â€"__, We siers 4 , 2 x: "Nvâ€"‘v,‘_”_""w ; "e a en '-‘,.a.‘ wed 439 years _ c ams: . ~ _ ~â€"~â€"â€"â€" . ie es "r~ q s > oo nnediig ... ~~ â€"â€" Spgieee By GEoRGE GAMESTER n fraist. P Rgttreâ€" ho epaa 7..". * couumnNist . .¢ .. ial â€" i se s P e & "1 p>=4 * ... ® Ahh, togetherness. hss . ,;5*2 s 5.. h «t _ We & ’é; | ’( aP in et Thet _ wondetul, secre fecling ~(" sAey CSR Co) csloce G y s C# _ ues y@ c we‘ve all experienced with sweet on W"‘ h eaiy ~@ (#e. ;,‘5,11‘ BE % ;: ‘?z zyA S L +3 [A hearts, family and friends. ho t mss a 8. .. i 3999 d t Gf 17 “g‘*&;fi_‘, ‘ s Ned tm S hâ€"# \ So warm. So precious. So ... . foat" g‘ c s 1 s l ol & > i ‘\.' ;.’;,_r in :\ S temporary. i t m s 3.A M .â€" $i2 Aue. bs utm‘ g#A2l Unless, of course, you‘re a Honey [ .. o l "‘“3‘ es "éj)’; 81 #* $ sc l C 3 Mss3 oi ) 3 from the Big Apple. Lo 7 Fprtiponeinl | Mc 2290 ~[B. o.A oe j» S aeciv en No, not New York. We‘re talking b’fi [ m T e . 0 t 7 WY :3 P 1 Jn ci4 Eff-ff”’) ig» Colborne, Ont., here â€" the town with _ [sW# | ~~ / the §X â€" wass" Yiogee ...‘ 1e s the 10â€"metre concreteâ€"andâ€"plaster F i V $ i . # ~ it‘ Li d ,>_’§~I Niq ){‘{"3 * l f afal ""world‘s biggest apple" towering over . [WMA Ti By ; it P ’fié / ssm _ f,.&'-'*{j-' i g tR a popular diner at exit 497 on Highâ€" "ae g’ ‘ al > _,Q&.{; Qfié $ ., ctns, ;v'*'rrg cce o * l | At the core of this apple country, 90 _ | e e "?i E. fii 4. B [ EJ B wl |;>): ) es ‘g es l minutes east of Toronto, are the Honâ€" _ | _ «w ; 78 *" uM . N â€" OWE â€" Uinimaeizaniitie c 1396 “"i J eys, the Pooles and the Hutchinsons | /// & m# Mas [ * m\ a S | -xg 0o 4& °.L. 4 ‘we h s â€" a magic circle of nine couples .‘ e .. Ofi & L" £ iE â€" #" [ e on P who‘ve been pals since childhood. e‘ Wd' B 2 «o +. ‘%‘ Enitiw rilesttntn. ... umt 1 7 Amill How strong are the ties that bind | e on ce anetit fo O aio t ihigla‘ t ce t Tt wl . .. these steadfast people? "@m:rfif”#ewmm&.%*“memfiflm%fi e i en med ] Add it all up, and they‘ve been marâ€" ried 439 years. An unbroken line from exty: aag pci. B M se + N. L 3 _ the Fightin‘ ‘40s to the Nervous ‘90s. . o e sc S Be STLLTOGETHER: Nine couples, Lofs ofkids. Lois of fun. No booze. No e i. ~Tau e t o8 U"] shown in 1988, left, and last deaths. And no splits. Py ” * S * 4 year, became fast friends as How did they do it? * °W .9 , > *J se ie emidven in thek PRelmree It began with good ol‘ country hardâ€" + ? } ts Twhe \» l( « ' fi‘llllln(!r] (‘nrut] 1‘1‘1‘(, l( t)‘ff)()llltl lllu' Il'. R ball. Seventyâ€"five years ago, when See f { .. Hooee l hol fo . â€" Cl *o We C ey ge ({g(_h(l annually for Babe Ruth was the toast of that other & f M.s 9 hn A lng & B 'fl a potluck dinner and euchre. Big Apple, two Northumberland | | 3¢o gilekl s ce s im l4 | j County farmers became friendly while Lagnte "Tim..: / 4 e .L FiK «Bs 6 l } 1 . O â€" "They couldn‘t believe the punch was . playing Saturday baseball in Colâ€" ""} d# T t i Â¥{i 9 ‘ § / M \| _ nonâ€"alcoholic." $ borne. 5/. Te ts NC . oE i CAtp OR Eh “fi x‘ & | _ Since then, that potluck dinner and Before long, Gordon Honey, Lorne e tE Â¥ (| . $ 162 /. e i _ wl | fiveâ€"table euchre session has become Hutchinson and another pal named || _| Ob P Es &t Bol (BB . \\___| an annual event, with a different couâ€" Arnold Poole were getting their famiâ€" _ | " 3 a> m i *E ds i M \| ple hosting each year and all the wives lies together to socialize. While the || B N Bromielicsâ€"pr I ? oo _ | bringing their most delectable dishes. parents talked crops and played cards, 14* »€ E 5 BB t 3] P WO [ . This year‘s bash is scheduled for their children forged friendships. ‘% 4 l S A 3 4 _ | Lois and John White‘s place in Ottawa These relationships were only xC Tess & e ‘ behce :\ â€"1 on Aug. 15. where the gang will share strengthened by the Great Depresâ€" ; a few belly laughs over early days on sion. While the parents struggled to â€" Horse Guards and saw action from Not that everyone stayed all that â€" thefarms. survive, the kids breezed though the â€" Normandy to the Rhine. close through the ‘50s, Those were the "Remember when Frances and 1930s; Swimming in Mill Creek on the After the war? Hey, time to pair off _ jobâ€"seeking, mortgageâ€"paying, childâ€" Tom first got the indoor plumbing? Hutchinson Farm, romping through â€" and get hitched. When the last wedâ€" rearing years when some couples _ We‘d all sneak out the doors and winâ€" hayrides on the Honey‘s back forty . ding bells pealed in 1958, this was the â€" moved away from the family farms. dows rather than walk down the hall and square dancing nights away at the _ lineup: Mind you, they didn‘t move that far. _ â€"because everyone knew where you Pooles®‘. As Frances McDonald of Colborne exâ€" _ were going!" "We‘d never let a birthday or any _ OLDFRIENDS plains: "I could never handle those And, somewhere between Saturday family occasion go by without some Myrtle (Poole) and Don Ducie. Now _ highrise apartments in Toronto. After night euchre and Sunday morning kind. of. celebration," recalls Ruth â€" married 55 years. two days, I‘d.â€" be jumping off the church, they‘ll shake their heads over (Poole) Harren of Warkworth, "beâ€" Tom and Frances (Honey) McDoâ€" balcony." the ways of the younger generation: cause we felt the more we got togethâ€" â€" nald: 53 years. Yessir, country life suited them fine _ "We‘ve had a number of divorces and er, the happier we‘d be. Lois (Honey) and John White: 53. â€" even if Ruth and Earl didn‘t get hyâ€" breakâ€"ups among our own children. It "Sure, it was tough times, but we Clarnece . (Hutchinson) and Esli_ dro on their Warkworthâ€"area farm unâ€" hurts." kids didn‘t know it. Everyone was in Herrington: 52. til 1952. "We heated baby bottles on But they won‘t bother speculating the same boat." Bessie and Lorne Honey: 50. _ the Colemanlamp." over the reasons for their own amazâ€" And many were in the same oneâ€" Ruth (Poole) and Earl Harren: 50. Anyway, the whole gang just kept _ ing 439â€"year matrimonial streak. room school: Cramahe Township $.5. . Marie (Honey) and Ken McGill: 43. boppin‘ along, right through the ‘60s _ "Explain? Who can explain?" No. 9, where a noâ€"nonsense teacher Connie and Leslie Poole: 43. and ‘70s until most of the kids were _ laughs Frances. "I guess we just like named Doris McLaughlin (still fit and Amy and Lyle Honey: 40. grown and married off and things eachother. feisty at age 85 in Applefest Lodge _ Whew! How‘s that for ‘tilâ€"deathâ€"doâ€" seemed pretty secure. That‘s when _ "Or maybe it‘s all the apples we neari’}liinfi%nm) ruled eight grades and _ usâ€"part solidarity? As Ruth Harren reâ€" _ Frances had this idea . . j eat." ta%g B_J et?meik"dsmefif% Rs. _ mindsus: "In our day, apromisewas a _ "Hey," she thought. "Why not get â€"â€" > o o oo . y ime ime the war came along, promise." % the whole gang together for a euchre _ [gyg TALK: Do you have a story to share about an some of the girls were off to teaching Right. Ruth. And there are no _ party? Just like the old days." le person or incident that has and nursing schools. Several of the â€" friendslike your old friends. It happened 12 years ago, right o uid or enriched your life? it t § â€" ow touched, changed o guys wanted to join up, but the recruitâ€"" _ (Now don‘t get the wrong idea here. _ there in the old house on Alfred St. wmfi 8694874 any time. Or write to me at ing office said they were needed on Though one partner in each couple And a good time was had by all. (" ter‘s People, George Gamester, Toronto the farms. An exception was Lorne came from the original threeâ€"family "Some of our grown children wonâ€" / G"m;m Yonge St., Toronto, Ont., MSE 126. Fax: Honey, who became a tank crew gunâ€" â€" circle, their spouses are all "outsidâ€" dered what all the hootin‘ and holleâ€" $ 22. Email: ggamest@thestar.ca ner with the Governorâ€"General‘s ers" with noblood connections). rin‘ was about," recalls Frances. 86943 s @‘