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To mark Canada’s sesquicentennial, the Citizen’s Bruce Deachman met and photographed 150 people in the Ottawa area, encouraging them to tell their stories that, combined, painted an intimate portrait of the region and the people who live, work and play here. The series, which was published daily leading up to Canada Day, was called Capital Voices. It continues, today and beyond, on a somewhat less rigorously defined schedule.
“My husband, John, and I were married on June 30, 1957. The next day we went up on Parliament Hill for Canada Day. And then the next day we both went back to work. And on the way home from work, John met one of his friends, who told him there was a plane parked at the Montreal airport that was going to Paris for two weeks, and it wasn’t fully booked yet. A few seats were still available. We decided that evening to go on this trip so we could meet each other’s families, who we had never met before.
“I was 27 and John was 30. We met at the High School of Commerce, to learn English when we came here. I was born in Germany but my family was in Austria. John’s family was from Italy.
“So John had to go to some church to pay for the trip. It was organized through a church in Montreal and meant for people who were immigrants at one time and wanted to visit their homeland again. It was leaving on July 3.
“When we saw the plane at the airport, it was our first experience with an airplane and global travel through flying. There were stairs to board the plane, and a man, an Austrian, was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He was the guy organizing the trip. He said, ‘When you get up to the plane, there will be a cigar box, and anyone interested in having life insurance has to put five dollars in.’ So we all did that, then picked a seat — there were 30 or 35 of us — and then somebody came along with a little bag with a lunch — a sandwich, an apple and a soft drink. I think it was a Coke.
“When we arrived in Paris, we were told specifically what day and time to be at the same airport for the return flight home. A Tuesday morning in two weeks, at 10 o’clock. Then everybody said goodbye and we left.
“We went to the railroad station and bought tickets to go to Vienna, then we changed trains a couple of times to get to Kematen, the town where I was from. My folks owned a restaurant, and my dad told the whole village that I was coming with a husband. So a lot of people came, and the next day we visited friends, and then the day after that, my mother said ‘Come here, you two. We have a little bit of money for you, because we didn’t buy you a wedding gift. You go to Vienna tomorrow, you and John, and buy yourself all the pots and pans and dishes and cutlery you need for your new home. If not, buy yourself something you want.’
“We walked around Vienna all day, sightseeing, and John said ‘Buy something. Your mother wants you to buy something.’ I couldn’t think of anything, but I eventually got a red fox fur jacket. And when I got home I discovered that it was Canadian. It was a Hudson Bay jacket!
“Anyway, the next day we went to Italy to visit John’s family, in Friuli, in Northern Italy, not far from Venice. So we went around and met all the relatives, and soon the time came that we had to leave. We went to Paris, and on the Tuesday, at 10, we were all at the airport again, in the waiting room. And one of the men in the group went to check with the people at the airport to see when our plane was arriving, and they said bad news. There was no plane. It turned out that the man who arranged the trip had taken all the money and gone to Mexico. He was eventually charged and went to jail.
“So what could we do? Most of the passengers were younger people, including quite a few mothers with little children. Thanks to Canada we all had to use what English we had learned in order to communicate with each other as everyone seemed to be from somewhere else in Europe — Poland, France, Slovakia, Russia, Switzerland, etc. The only place we knew to phone was Parliament Hill. We had no clue about any other Canadian than Prime Minister Diefenbaker. So we tried to reach him. An aide answered for him and told us that they would take care if us, but that we had to stay at the airport and not move until we heard from them again. The hours passed very slowly with the bustle of a busy international airport going on all around us, but we couldn’t go anywhere.
“Then around 11 o’clock that night, two men came looking for our group and said they were from the Canadian embassy on the Champs d’Elysee. They informed us that a bus would be arriving soon to pick us up and take us to a hotel. Each family got one room. They asked if people had enough money for food for one day. Many hands went up with a resounding ‘No!’ We were told we were to go to the Canadian embassy the next morning to get some money for food. The assistants said they would return to the hotel at two in the afternoon the next day to tell us what would be happening.
“When they arrived at our hotel the next day, they said that a plane would soon arrive to take us back to Canada. The next day came and we got the same message. So we continued to wait. John and I started to go sightseeing each morning in Paris and we did this for 10 days until we were told by the ticket counter agent at the airport, who we visited every day to see about getting a plane home, that there were two seats available on a plane bound for Montreal. So we jumped at the chance to go home. The rest of the group waited two more days before the government sent a plane to pick them up.
“Unfortunately, they still encountered problems with the plane. It had mechanical difficulties and had to land on a small island in the Atlantic. The Canadian government then sent a military plane with the part that was needed to fix the plane, after which everyone finally arrived safely.
“But thanks to Canada, even new immigrants who were just trying to establish themselves as contributing Canadians to our wonderful society, the government stood up for them and helped them when they needed it the most. Would any other country do that? I don’t know.
“And it was a most memorable honeymoon.”
— Emma Del Rizzo in her Woodpark-area home, Aug. 10, 2017.
bdeachman@postmedia.com
查看原文...
“My husband, John, and I were married on June 30, 1957. The next day we went up on Parliament Hill for Canada Day. And then the next day we both went back to work. And on the way home from work, John met one of his friends, who told him there was a plane parked at the Montreal airport that was going to Paris for two weeks, and it wasn’t fully booked yet. A few seats were still available. We decided that evening to go on this trip so we could meet each other’s families, who we had never met before.
“I was 27 and John was 30. We met at the High School of Commerce, to learn English when we came here. I was born in Germany but my family was in Austria. John’s family was from Italy.
“So John had to go to some church to pay for the trip. It was organized through a church in Montreal and meant for people who were immigrants at one time and wanted to visit their homeland again. It was leaving on July 3.
“When we saw the plane at the airport, it was our first experience with an airplane and global travel through flying. There were stairs to board the plane, and a man, an Austrian, was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He was the guy organizing the trip. He said, ‘When you get up to the plane, there will be a cigar box, and anyone interested in having life insurance has to put five dollars in.’ So we all did that, then picked a seat — there were 30 or 35 of us — and then somebody came along with a little bag with a lunch — a sandwich, an apple and a soft drink. I think it was a Coke.
“When we arrived in Paris, we were told specifically what day and time to be at the same airport for the return flight home. A Tuesday morning in two weeks, at 10 o’clock. Then everybody said goodbye and we left.
“We went to the railroad station and bought tickets to go to Vienna, then we changed trains a couple of times to get to Kematen, the town where I was from. My folks owned a restaurant, and my dad told the whole village that I was coming with a husband. So a lot of people came, and the next day we visited friends, and then the day after that, my mother said ‘Come here, you two. We have a little bit of money for you, because we didn’t buy you a wedding gift. You go to Vienna tomorrow, you and John, and buy yourself all the pots and pans and dishes and cutlery you need for your new home. If not, buy yourself something you want.’
“We walked around Vienna all day, sightseeing, and John said ‘Buy something. Your mother wants you to buy something.’ I couldn’t think of anything, but I eventually got a red fox fur jacket. And when I got home I discovered that it was Canadian. It was a Hudson Bay jacket!
“Anyway, the next day we went to Italy to visit John’s family, in Friuli, in Northern Italy, not far from Venice. So we went around and met all the relatives, and soon the time came that we had to leave. We went to Paris, and on the Tuesday, at 10, we were all at the airport again, in the waiting room. And one of the men in the group went to check with the people at the airport to see when our plane was arriving, and they said bad news. There was no plane. It turned out that the man who arranged the trip had taken all the money and gone to Mexico. He was eventually charged and went to jail.
“So what could we do? Most of the passengers were younger people, including quite a few mothers with little children. Thanks to Canada we all had to use what English we had learned in order to communicate with each other as everyone seemed to be from somewhere else in Europe — Poland, France, Slovakia, Russia, Switzerland, etc. The only place we knew to phone was Parliament Hill. We had no clue about any other Canadian than Prime Minister Diefenbaker. So we tried to reach him. An aide answered for him and told us that they would take care if us, but that we had to stay at the airport and not move until we heard from them again. The hours passed very slowly with the bustle of a busy international airport going on all around us, but we couldn’t go anywhere.
“Then around 11 o’clock that night, two men came looking for our group and said they were from the Canadian embassy on the Champs d’Elysee. They informed us that a bus would be arriving soon to pick us up and take us to a hotel. Each family got one room. They asked if people had enough money for food for one day. Many hands went up with a resounding ‘No!’ We were told we were to go to the Canadian embassy the next morning to get some money for food. The assistants said they would return to the hotel at two in the afternoon the next day to tell us what would be happening.
“When they arrived at our hotel the next day, they said that a plane would soon arrive to take us back to Canada. The next day came and we got the same message. So we continued to wait. John and I started to go sightseeing each morning in Paris and we did this for 10 days until we were told by the ticket counter agent at the airport, who we visited every day to see about getting a plane home, that there were two seats available on a plane bound for Montreal. So we jumped at the chance to go home. The rest of the group waited two more days before the government sent a plane to pick them up.
“Unfortunately, they still encountered problems with the plane. It had mechanical difficulties and had to land on a small island in the Atlantic. The Canadian government then sent a military plane with the part that was needed to fix the plane, after which everyone finally arrived safely.
“But thanks to Canada, even new immigrants who were just trying to establish themselves as contributing Canadians to our wonderful society, the government stood up for them and helped them when they needed it the most. Would any other country do that? I don’t know.
“And it was a most memorable honeymoon.”
— Emma Del Rizzo in her Woodpark-area home, Aug. 10, 2017.
bdeachman@postmedia.com
查看原文...
