EDITOR'S NOTE: Second of a two-part column. Part 1 dealt with Bill Redden's boyhood spent growing up in the gold-mining town of Timmins, Ont., in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Bill Redden celebrated his 13th birthday on Aug. 3, 1942.
But that date also stands out for another reason because it was the day he arrived in Upper Stewiacke after spending his boyhood years in the gold-mining town Timmins, Ont.
Arriving with him were his parents, William and Susan, who had bought a 250-acre farm, and younger brother Ronald.
"Coming from a gold-mining town, it was different in a nice kind of way," Redden said of his new surroundings. "At first, we knew few people, but A.L. Kennedy, our closet neighbour from quite away up the road, was right down here to welcome us.
"Ronald, who was eight, and I recognized right away that our parents loved it here."
Within weeks of their arrival the Reddens and everyone in the Stewiacke Valley faced a huge flood.
"We were just getting used to things and we woke up in the morning and the water was everywhere," said Redden. "As kids, we were pretty excited. It was an extended flood that lasted three days. There were wooden bridges floating down the river and the road was completely washed out."
He also spent his first winter in Nova Scotia attending Grade 8 classes at Upper Stewiacke School.
"There were 46 kids from Grade Primary to Grade 11 all in the same classroom."
From 1946 to 1948, Redden attended the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Bible Hill. By the 1950s, with his father away from home for long periods of time in the mining industry, he was pretty well running the farm along with his youngest brother Michael, who was born in 1944.
"Dad had bought four Herford cows when he started out," Redden said. "His father gave him three more and it had built up to about 100 head of beef cattle. Everyone had a large garden in those days and we also did some lumbering."
Redden also met Otter Brook resident Lydia Miller and a courtship soon followed.
"I asked her out in 1961," he recalled. "On our first date we went into Truro to a movie at the old Royal Theatre on Prince Street. It wasn't much of a movie but I guess we got along pretty good."
Lydia recalled as a young girl her grandfather driving her past the Redden's brick farmhouse on the south side of the river in a one-horse wagon.
"Someday I'm going to live in that house, is what I said," she said. "And do you know something, I did."
Bill and Lydia were married in Upper Stewiacke in 1962. They lived in the brick house until 1964 when they built a new home nearby.
Strawberry farming was part of the Upper Stewiacke farm from 1965 until 1998.
"We found it profitable," said Redden. "There was a time that 2,000 boxes of strawberries a day were picked. It allowed us to upgrade the property and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Lydia did an awful lot of the work."
Lydia laughed and noted that lots of company came to the farm at nights.
"Bill and I thought it was us but I think it was really to eat strawberries," she said.
In addition to running the family farm, Redden worked in the service industry, most notably at Ryan's IGA in Truro, until his retirement in 1990.
"I enjoyed working in stores," said Redden, now 81. "I have always enjoyed people. Some of my most enjoyable years were spent working for Ryan's IGA. I worked for Jack Ryan first when his son Roger would have been about 15. Frank Arseneau would have been produce manager. Rollie Stevens and a lot of other nice people worked there during those years."
These days Redden enjoys history and astronomy. He keeps up on local and world happenings and continues to enjoy people. Lydia, who taught school for 33 years, loves museums and archives.
"One of our highlights of living in this community so many years would be the bicentennial celebrations of 1980," said Lydia. "This really brought this community together."
The close couple have also enjoyed travelling throughout the Maritimes, to the United States and as far away as Ireland and Spain. They have two sons, Shawn and Bill Jr., a daughter, Corinne, and two grandchildren.
TAGLINE: Lyle Carter's column appears in the Truro Daily News every Tuesday. If you have a story idea, contact him at 673-2857.
