Weekend Edition, Saturday, January 1, 2000 s > MILLENNILMâ€"â€"â€"â€"â€" _ ~â€" Resident has seen three centuries of life on Planet Earth E EuTY way children behave. byv"lsir,;:i:]\/g(l:;;r’:ee hop P08 B es "I wouldn‘t want to teach ez _ WeE es a te. is © today," she said. "Then, you had When Christmas day dawned | EW 3/ SV W B U tere ol P control of the children. Today, you 100 years ago, Hilda Brunton‘s | 4| | / AB / paanald s $ c f don‘t. T mother was welcoming the gift of W \/ W Wl ® nuw:vw " > e § 33 "I think the biggest change is a new baby <girl born late on â€" [@@st@tiaeaaoe t _ _ _ e d 1 the attitude that the young people Christmas Eve, 1899. %‘ M :}& ~a ‘E ;r“w / d 4 have towards their parents. I think "A quarter to 12, Mother said â€" [ ’7â€"‘ mes toes. [ < e TB that‘s because the parents are Santa Claus brought me," laughs Ej""g’?f?;’?}%w *??;:;3&; “3%55 ze working and leave their children Mrs. Brunton. Botn in the 19th '\ f [ 3P * ;“3»‘1,;‘.553}5, with babysitters." century, and having spent her life || W «/5 U »ï¬\ ";-j y * ’ She said a lack of respect for in the 20th, she now looks forâ€" '#“%&\} f@% K 8 y3 g\ ~ Sâ€"apa h others is a problem in today‘s ward to what the 21st will bring §;~QM§ §§\§ (..xj‘ & . 4. »a%;“ Cns â€" society. She is also concerned that her. M Sooath ain d t A : rmewas. Tt V oae t " children are not being allowed to The retired schoolteacher has . kasw M&»E};\Még@' es e *? -i C im $ create their own fun. seen her whole world change | _ _ _ * _~ . x us hie j «kv,%} "We used to arrange our own Y around her in those 100 years. L tC °t & ‘;“‘"fl m 4 w l 00| _ activities," she said. "We read stoâ€" NS From the coming of the automoâ€" â€"| _ _ _ No oncad xo. d \_ _\ | â€"ries, played games. We played bile and the airplane to the arrival }!{,’1‘;33 C o s '«\& LA e hopscotch and jacks and skipping. i of television and manned space ;‘.1 Nes (\\\\x‘fï¬\"l" You don‘t see that anymore. We flights, her life and her memories _| _ \ & g,‘fif’\'iv; 1y s played hide and seek, Jacob and of a changing world have become _|___ *> ({\‘»ï¬w ul ®}3 Rachel, Farmer in the Dell, Fox aâ€"part of the history she once $ * § and Goose. But now it‘s all orgaâ€" taught. 4 A $ 2 nized. The parents plan what the Mrs. Brunton came into the |_â€" & yA de "h * 4 children are supposed to do in world in a little town of about 400. [« _ :+ # . [/| _ their spare time today." residents near Ottawa. Like most |/ $ f P 4 Transportation, central heating, babies of that time, she was born _| & * &*/ . _ indoor plumbing, instant commuâ€" at home, a middle child in a famiâ€" Â¥i f f’j W*al nication and medical advances ly of five. 1 # & WX l have changed the world during "I was the fourth one, the seeâ€" i inb 1 * w __.] _ Mrs. Brunton‘s lifetime. ond girl, so I wasn‘t important," mc } \ 3 . oc o 4 f "The airplane has brought the she said. But that didn‘t hold her o. /\ ynt _ / / e h . lns â€"Af" world closer together," she said. back, as she was determined to get o * ‘\‘i’; & Lig # /7v "We never knew what went on in an education and make something [ * s se China and Japan then. Today, we of her life. Mrs. Hilda Brunton is one of the few people in Lincoln who has lived in the _ know it the day it happens. Shortly after she started school, _ 19th, 20th and now the 21st century. She turned 100 years old on Christmas _ "Medical science has done a lot. her _ family _ moved _ to _ St. _ Eve. They‘ve made a big change in Catharines, where she grew up. ; : ; imi. _ people‘s lives." She has lived in Vinetand since _ ""Yyu woung" "o0" 19 â€" Port â€" cd he was too old to 20 to war! _ Mis: Brunton altributes her long 1959. 7 ? Dalhousie for a nickel on the After high school, she became a and healthy life to wholesome When she was growing up in St. streetcar," she said. "It was a big teacher. food and good parental care. Clm!]aâ€.ï¬:‘ it was a much s@allcg treat to go down to Port Dalhousie "When I wanted to teach, my My gmlh?r i. w(‘)ndprf\{l pMCe DCtE were bo Cars,! aBSe cpark. but T dronit often=have a "mother said 1 had to teach five Woman," she said. "She didn‘t transportation was on foot or by nickel to go on the merryâ€"goâ€" â€" years before I paid off the cost of have an easy life, but she made round." my schooling. I thought that was (he best of it. She was always She _ still _ an awfully long time, but I taught interested m.lhc church and poliâ€" remembers 15 years before I got married." ties. She was very keen on Nellic her first ride _ When the prosperity caused by _ McClung. : in an autoâ€" . the war came to a halt, it brought "Mother was 8 “‘“‘}’9? sUnit mobile _ in _ the Great Depression. Times were _ Of course, |I didn‘t realize it until 1912. tough for everyone. muc_l»1 1:}11(3‘1: I had to grow up to "My uncle _ "We never did have too much _ Caliz¢ it." ____ . f._r o m _ money floating around, so it didâ€" _ Later in life, Mrs. Brunton Chicago was _ n‘t affect me as much as some of _ SPCnt a lot of time travelling, seeâ€" the first _ my friends," she recalled. "I was !"E places she had once taught her member _ of _ teaching then, so I got a salary." _ Students about, In 1984, she even the family to _ When _ she married Clyde_ 190K 2 trip around the world. _ have _ one," Roland and moved to a farm in ... |YC had a good life," she said. she said. "He Rockway in 1935, she had to quit _ I think God arranged it very drove it up her job, which disappointed her _ WC!â€" [ have oodles of real good here." _ She because she loved teaching. friends. Even when the old ones had to wait _ "At that time, you couldn‘t died off, I had new ones. Today, until 1920 teach after you got married â€" you _ they‘re a lot younger than I am! before _ her _ weren‘t allowed," she said. But they‘re good to me. ip p a re not s In the early 1950s, she was able . "I‘m very thankful for the life ac q uire d _ to return as a supply teacher, and TV had. I‘ve got a wonderful C * their first car. _ that led to a permanent teaching _ 4mily. I‘m very proud of them. 8. In the sumâ€" _ job. In all, she taught for 29 years, _ These days, Mrs. Brunton * mer of World first at. Maywood, Vineland, _ °NJOYS playing bridge to keep her War I, she Mountview and Consolidated NJ @lert, but failing eyesight worked _ at between 1921 and 1935, then, _ MSans she can no longer read, and McKinnon‘s after having four children; at Shf misses it terribly. on Ontario _ Mountview, Rockway and Jordan. A perfect Sunday afternoon Street in St. _ She retired in 1962. was a good book, an apple and Catharines. "I was very fortunate in the Candy. There was nothing I liked "We were schools I taught," she said. "The, Detter than that. inspecting staff were nice and the children As the new century dawns and a bullets," she â€" were nice." new millennium arrives, . Mrs. said. _ "We _ Her first husband died in 1953, _ Brunton has some advice for were in high and she married an old friend, th9se looking towards the next school at that _ Harry Brunton, in 1959. Puuune . time. My dad _ Since she retired, Mrs. Brunton Don‘t worry! Things work out. worked _ in has seen a lot of changes in the L think your life is planned for the _ muniâ€" way children are treated and the Y9Uâ€" Don‘t interfere too much. |