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Places of Our Hearts

The farms, churches, schools and businesses are gone now, but the memories of what was left behind, and thoughts of a simpler time and place, continue to live on in the hearts of the hundreds who were forced to leave.

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Places of Our Hearts
15 November 2004
Places of Our Hearts

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Farewell to An Old Friend
Written by Lloyd Mullin, June 2003
Performed by Lloyd Mullin, Stirling Nickerson and Gail McConchie Carpenter
From the Queenston Trio CD: The Hills That We Call Home

It's a busy world we live in,
None will argue that.
With many thoughts to fill up our minds,
So, perhaps it's good sometimes to sit back and think of our past,
And trace the paths that have lead us here.
For each of us has an interesting history, full of stories.
My path was shared by many hundreds of people 50 years back.
It leads to a dusty country road,
And an old farm on the hill.
A patchwork of roads took you past fields, farms, churches, schools and stores.
These were not easy times, just after World War II and all,
But most got by all right.
There were lots of dances, church picnics, family gatherings and work parties
To help one another raise a barn or cut the winter's wood.
Then, all of a sudden,
A great tidal wave swept over the community,
A tidal wave of rumor and uncertainty.
Everyone held their breath,
Unsure of what to believe.
Unsure of what to do.
Finally we were told.
Over 700 families would have to move,
To make way for the new training area of Base Gagetown.
Well, it was a bitter pill to swallow,
To have to leave a place so familiar,
To settle among strangers and start over.
Two years later, it was all done,
And we could never go back.
Many of the old folks were broken hearted,
For they had helped to build the life we knew then,
And the heritage that was ours.
Oh, there were jobs created; life went on.
And, for good or bad,
We are left with the memories.
Our children many find this overgrown path someday,
And maybe they will want to know more.
Well, as luck would have it,
There are a thousand stories to be told.

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A thousand stories yet to tell . . . of a place so dear to our hearts.