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Bill Zandbelt16 October 2003
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This is a model of the home Bill Zandbelt and his 10 siblings were raised in Holland. Typical of many structures in Holland it incorporated the family living area in one end and the barn in the other end of the building. It was built in 1895 and destroyed near the end of World War II in 1945.Q: I know that you are originally from Holland so can you describe landing in Canada?
A: Yeah, Well we first made our mind up to immigrate to Canada to have more room that's the main thing and the idea to go to Canada was because they were the soldiers who freed us from German migration because we had a hell of a time getting through that and therefore we didn't gain much, we lost everything in 45 so we said we want to start a new life in a different country.
Q: What were your first impressions when you got here? What did you think?
A: Very bad. Very bad because I came home by aeroplane in Montreal I think and from there, and that was normal in the aeroplane and that's the first time I made the aeroplane trip, so that was unusual. But when I came here from Montreal to Toronto in the train I saw all those big boulders in the middle of the fields and I couldn't believe that there were stones in the world that big. I thought "how the hell could I farm here?" It was a really big disappointment. The second thing was that there was no paint on the barns on any barn, we had the barns painted tip-top every year, here no, here you don't see that. No I realize that this is not necessary, because the weather conditions.
Q: You explained that you came here because you were looking to make a new start and you were looking for a place where you would have more room. Were there any other factors that made you choose Canada?
A: Yes, because I listened a lot to the radio when I was 16 and 17 and that was just after the war and there was a radio program on the radio Canada calls foreigners, to get Europeans to Canada because they lost so many soldiers and all the women were at the farms here trying to help. That's one of the big decisions I made at that time, to come here and because the Canadian soldiers freed us.
Q: So where did you come from?
A: From Holland.
Q: Where in Holland?
A: It's the province of ???and a lot of the town was crushed and defenceless.
Q: In what year did you come?
A: 1960. 31st of May, 1960.
Q: Did you become a citizen of Canada?
A: Oh yeah, As soon as we were able to vote. I think you have to be here 4 or 5 years before you can become a Canadian citizen, but I find a obligation to vote to for the country you live in therefore you have to have your Canadian citizenship and therefore we became Canadian citizens. I think it was in 66 or 67, somewhere in there, I forget the date now.
Q: How old were you when you came to Canada?
A: I was 30 years old.
Q: How old are you now?
A: 73.
Q: Where were you born?
A: At home in the barn.
Q: What is you birth date?
A: 13 April 1930.
Q: Did anything special happen to you during your courtship with your wife?
A: No. Ordinary, nothing special.
Q: Where did you get married?
A: In the wife's town, ??? is the province, same province. ??? is the province, ??? is the town.
Q: When did you get married?
A: In 1960, 3 weeks before we came here. That was all the usual thing to do, you go to get married and then you go to go over here and see what the country looks like.
Q: Did anything special or unusual happen on the day you got married?
A: No.
Q: Everything was okay? She showed up, she wasn't late. Your car didn't break down?
A: No. We didn't have a car.
Q: Did you have any children?
A: I have 5 children. 5 boys.
Q: All boys?
A: Yeap.
Q: What are their names?
A: Tony, George, Vincent, Frances, and Louise.
Q: When and where were they born?
A: They were all born here in Canada. Tony was born in ?? near North, South Ontario near Barrie. George was born here in Ottawa, Vincent to. Frances and Louise in Winchester.
Q: If they are baptized, when and where?
A: They were al baptized, when I don't know.
Q: Which church?
A: Midland, Tony was baptized in Midland Ontario, George in Metcalfe, Vincent in Metcalfe, Frances in Metcalfe, and Louise too, I think.
Q: Is that with the United Church?
A: Catholic Church.
Q: So, if there was one song that you could describe that brings back the most memories of your home life. Is there a favourite song?
A: None, not anything special.
Q: Do you know your mothers maiden name?
A: Yes. Cline Cucum. Clien means small and Cucum, this is a every old explanation, everybody had to have a name and they called them the names the of the farms they lived around. That farm was used by a choir, in the Catholic church in and it was, they collect money all the time so they could buy a farm right in the country and that's what's called choir.
Q: That's where she was born. Where was she born?
A: She was born in not to far away from ??? other place called Olst, that's where she was born and her parents lived there to. Her parents originally came from our territory but they moved out to farm. She was born in 1902.
Q: And you knew your grandparents, your mothers mother and your mothers dad?
A: Yes, my mothers father and mother I know them both and they died in, right after the war between 45 and 50, they both died. From my fathers side, my dad was born right beside our place. Right beside and that was why we rented this farm that we had, because the landlord couldn't make things go anymore, so he asked my dad if he could run it and he did. So we did it for him that time. He was born in 1894 and his father died and he was only 8 years old, so he had to come home from school to do the farm work, when he was 8 years old. He was the oldest one, four boys and one girl. I never knew my grandfather on my fathers side, my grandmother I do know. When I was about 3 or 4 years old she died. I remember being at the funeral.
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A Model of The Zandbelt Home in Holland . . built by Bill Zandbelt1895
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In the model you can see the various parts of the living area along with the barn area.Q: What special remembrance do you have of your parents?
A: I know them very well of course and I know they had a very hard time because they got married in 1929, that's just a year my father and mother saved so many times and the bank collapsed in 29, then you got the dirty 30's same thing that we did and they have a family of 11 and went through the depression in the 30's. Till the war broke out in 1940 and I remember that perfectly yet when I was 10 years old when they came through Holland that time. And then you had the war time, they were very hard times and by that time they had about 9 children already. 2 were born during the war and one after the war. In 45 we lost everything, allied troops but the soldiers in it and moved everything down in order to get the Germans out. So we did have a table or chair, we didn't have nothing to sit on, nothing, just a couple of old benches in the grass where we would sit and eat and that time.
Q: Besides being a farmer, did your dad do any work off the farm?
A: No, he was a full time farmer. He had only a modest farm, up here its only 50 acres its not very big, its what you call a Three Horse Farm. 2 horses couldn't do it, 3 at most and the hired help and they had to sell them during the war we had 2 or 3 people hidden in our barn too. For 1 or 2 of them had to go to Germany and work in the factories there or get in the army or something, they probably wouldn't have turned back because they were hidden in our barn during the war, they had to rescue my dad always cause he I saw twice that he had ?? on his body, one on his head and one on his chest I seen both they give a funny impression.
Q: Certainly gives you a good impression of what kind of a man your dad was though. He certainly believe that if he believed something was right….
A: Oh, yeah, yeah, he did it.
Q: He did it.
A: He had no say in it, you have to do what you have to do.
Q: How would you describe your father? What was he like? A big man, a small man?
A: Medium build man. Strong will power and well…
Q: Personality? Was he a little teddy bear or was he a grouch?
A: No he was pretty grouchy. He had to because he had to give a good example to the children who were following him so he kept things in line pretty strictly. My mother was more easy to get along with, but my father was very strict.
Q: And what did she look like?
A: Mother was a medium build person to, very good hearted, did a lot of work for.. She was a midwife for a long time in the 30's and pretty near all the time when she got married. It was not till the 1950's that people started to go to the hospitals.
Q: What skills do you think you learned from your mother?
A: Be good to one another. She was always good to everybody, didn't put anybody ahead of the other, always be even and stand for others. I don't know what else I can describe.
Q: Did she practised any crafts, did she make the clothing at home?
A: She made all clothing herself, everything, never bought anything. If mom had to go to the store for buying clothes I was mostly the one that got all the new stuff, never get any extra.
Q: You're the oldest?
A: I was the oldest. Oldest of 11.
Q: What was the favourite thing she cooked for you?
A: I don't know. There were no favourites. You eat whatever was there. Many times that was not much. Well I remember during the war there was nothing like that so you would get a glass of milk, there would be a big pot in the middle of the table and all the bread that was collected from yesterday was thrown into it, all leftovers all in there stirred up, everybody got one spoon and you eat there.
Q: Did she sweeten it a little?
A: No.
Q: So was it like a desert for you guys?
A: That's all you got to eat. Well, you had a lot of beans and mom cooked them and put them in porridge too, with buttermilk. Buttermilk we had a lot of the times because we got it from the factory but in there it was beans and bread crumbs and anything that was left over that was eatable, thrown in together and nobody got sick or anything of it. The spoons by the way were all from lead. If you bite in it you could form in a whole spoon. All lead. Never anybody died, never anybody got sick, so many it's it was overdone.
Q: So how and when did your mother die?
A: She died in 1986, yeah my mother died in 86 of a heart attack. Cooking meals for my brother at home, he was the only one at home the others were all flown out and she had a heart attack right when she turned on the stove, the gas stove was still on and she just fell backwards on the ground floor and her head banged up a bit.
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The Zandbelt Family Home and Barn1895
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Q: Do you have any special stories that stands to your mind about your dad? Certainly what you were just telling me about how he had guns held to him. That's a very memorable story that you were telling me about.A: My dad was a horse lover, he loved horses, he did a lot of horses and helped train them. I wasn't interested in that at all. None of the kids were all that interested in horses but he was certainly and he knew all about horses. He loved that. That's about all, he got sick in about 46 or 47 right after the war, I don't know if the war had anything to do with it, he started to get Alzheimer's and from there on he couldn't, we had to take charge and that was pretty tough to because he had to give up and he wouldn't give up and he had a big struggle with Alzheimer's and he died in 64. Finally we had him in hospital because we couldn't handle him at home anymore so we got him in the hospital and then he died. We were here that time and we couldn't go back because we had no money, no nothing, we were just here, all the money we had saved up for the trip here that was it. We had to start from scratch and even if you wanted to crawl back you couldn't. But that was hard for any immigrant to come here if you don't know the language. That's the hardest thing to do because you don't understand a single word of what they tell you, even if you were English before. I had several courses in English but you don't know nothin'. You have to start going through a book and go to every word and go to a dictionary, what's that mean? what's that mean? So you cant read the paper. Any immigrant has that problem.
Q: What was it like growing up with your brothers and sisters? You were the oldest of 11.
A: I was the oldest of 11 of course I got all the stick up my neck because I had to give a good example for the other ones. If hey let me go the other ones would follow worse. So that my father was pretty strict. And parents were a lot more strict, a lot more strict than nowadays. Because you have to be in command.
Q: What are the names of all of your brothers and sisters?
A: Sarige, Antonie, Benard, Young, Nice, Grey, Anne, Howie, Harry, and Vincent. Four of us went here to Canada. My brother Bernard went in 56 by himself, and I followed in 1960 with my brother John, he got married a week before I went. He lived in Metcalfe Ontario, and Bernard lives in Midland Ontario and Al is in Ledbridge, Alberta farming there.
Q: Was there anyone else in your family besides your parents, your brothers and sisters that was special to you when you grew up? A favourite uncle or ..
A: No. Nobody special.
Q: To busy.
A: To busy. Working all the time.
Q: What's the earliest thing you remember?
A: The earliest thing I remember. Oh yeah, the first play toy that I got, we never got toys from our parents there was none, it was a 4 cart from a plow, from a walking plow, there's a cart on the front and dad didn't use it anymore and that's what I could play with, I remember that as today yet, I can even make the thing if I wanted.
Q: What was the neighbourhood like that you grew up in? It was a farming community?
A: Farms, farming community. We very seldom came into town, only my mom and dad went into town on Friday morning with eggs to sell, milk to sell in the market and get some groceries from town, but most of the grocery store came from home.
Q: So would say you were close to your brothers and sisters? Was it that you had to help look after each other?
A: We were all pretty well close and we knew each other very well, and you had to you had no choice. It's as simple as that.
Q: What were your favorite places to go when you were growing up? If you got to go anywhere. Did you get to go to town?
A: The odd time yeah.
Q: Did you like that?
A: Well no, not very well. Sometimes we had to go there for something but not special. I want to go ahead in my time and so therefore, if you want to go ahead you have to work. Since I was interested in immigration in Canada in late 40's I tried to learn English at night, I had 7 english courses, and another thing is that to go away from home, leave home and I started working somewhere else away from home. I came back every Saturday to help my mom and dad out at the farm. All week I went down as far from here to Brockville. I was always on my own. That was when I was 19 or 20 when I went away from home because I wanted to be away from home because when never go anywhere and you immigrate it's an awful big step. So then I went and this was very hard work in the polders(?). That's where I worked. That was the ocean that was pumped dry and that was all irrigation of farms in thousands and thousands of acres. All pumped dry and the farms are all there and that's where I worked and it was very, very, very hard work, especially the towns drainage it was all done by hand. People would stand in line and dig a ditch all day. Never stopped. All the land was hard and that's where I worked for a long time.
Q: You must have been very strong.
A: Oh, it was very heavy job.
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1957 IH Farmall 450 Tractor2002
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Q: If you did get anytime off as a child, what kind of games did you like to play?A: I never had much of a play, I never played any games. I always had to work.
Q: No games?
A: Never, never. The only place we could play as little kids was in the barn. In the lower level between the cows. We played between the cows when we were little kids and how dangerous that was but that's the way it was. No games at all. Half the school when I came back at 3:30 and my dad knew I was coming back from school and he would harness the horses and I would plough till dark and then you had to do your homework. I had no time to play.
Q: Well, if you were bad and they punished you, what did punishment mean at your house?
A: Pretty harsh.
Q: Physical Waking?
A: Yeap, oh yeah, many times. That was the norm. That's what's lacking nowadays I find. But you cant do nothing anymore because of the law.
Q: And now the kids know the law.
A: No the kids know the law. That's a big drawback.
Q: So the house you grew up in, I know I've seen a model of it but can you describe it?
A: It's just a barn. The rooms are portioned off between the cows, that's about it.
Q: For the family to live in.
A: Yeah. There are still some barns left as open for the people.
Q: Did you have any favourite subjects in school? Did you like going? What was school like for you?
A: No, I didn't like going to school and I wasn't very good at it either. That's pretty well all the kids, I was no specialty. I always liked nature. Nature and technology. How to heat steel up and when you heat steel up it gets bigger all this, this is science. I liked that very much. I clearly was the only one in our class that was interested in that. I remember that. We never had high school, there was no high school, only elementary school. After the elementary school I tried to follow courses in technical courses but it was impossible for me to do it because I couldn't be missed at the farm because dad farmed alone in 45 and I was 15 and barns were all burned down cause nobody could do it and my dad to do it all by himself I wouldn't allow that so my brother, my 2 oldest brothers helped dad out till he retired. So it was no use of me going to school or even think about it just I would have liked to go to technical high school for machines or anything like that, there was no time for it so you have to do what ever you have to do. Therefore I left the farm when the other brothers grew up a little but and they could manage the farm because dad was a little bit work yet. I wanted to get out of the house and get away before I went away. Trying to spread away from the family and be on your own. That was in 48 or 49, and in 54 I came back again at home and I worked at home a little bit but I was working at another machine shop dealer and did a lot of custom working, threshing, grain, and threshing mills all year long from August till the first week of March pretty near everyday threshing indoors because outside there was snow and it was all indoors, and there was a hell of a lot of dust in there but I liked machinery I was always good at it and I kept the machinery always in good shape.
Q: Did you have any specific chores when you were growing up that were your responsibility?
A: No. Share, share, share all the time.
Q: What were your favourite holidays as a child?
A: What holidays?
Q: Okay.
A: There were none.
Q: What did you do on Sunday afternoons?
A: We were not allowed to work that was one thing on Sunday my dad was very strict on that. Never any work on Sunday because we weren't allowed. We went to church twice in the morning and in the afternoon at 3 o-clock in the afternoon again.
Q: 3 times in one day?
A: Yeap, well mostly 2 times but there were masses at 8 and then all the milking had to be done already by 8 and you had to have yourself ready and go by bicycle to church before 7:30. That means you have to get up at 4:30 in order to get that done and if you do that only on Sunday it wont be any good for the cows because you have to do it the other days too. So you have to do it around the same time. Therefore you always got up early in the morning and late to bed at night. Everything was always hand work, pitching the hay, mowing the hay.
Q: What were you allowed to do with the rest of the day?
A: On Sunday afternoon we'd play soccer. I wasn't interested in that but that was the only thing you could do. There was nothing out. Work was out. At that time they were very strict.
Q: So as a teenager, did you have any favourite things you liked to do?
A: Well I liked music and I played the accordion a bit and an organ a little bit and that was about it.
Q: What was your very first job?
A: Well is was town draining. Town draining in the polders. You would dig a ditch and work beside it all day long. You had to get the water out of the fields.
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Model of Transport Tractor, Flatbed Trailer and Hi Hoe built by Bill Zandbelt2003
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Q: What was your saddest moment growing up?A: The war. It was always my fear. You try not to show it but you couldn't do nothing and there was always a bunch of people who sabotaged the Germans of course our own people and the was called the "underground army" they assisted Canadian powers that came down to get safety on the farms somewhere and hidden in the farm. You could never kill a pig or a cow for your own farm but they could kill people and every cow on paper. Dad couldn't get away with anything. Dad had some little pigs hidden away behind straw and feed them there and then killed them to have some food for the family. Most people have no clue what I mean and I'm not the only one that has gone through it. I had a lot of fear for that and the German soldiers, not so much of the German soldiers as the sabotage from the country. The Dutchman that were from Germany could speak the language and now how to talk to people and that was bad.
Q: Was your father in the military at all?
A: No. My grandfathers brother was in the army in the 1870's because there was only 2 Zandbelt's left because my grandfather and his brother, they were the only ones that were left. One had to go to France because we were overruled by France so we learned quite a few French words but I cant speak the language, but I know some things. My grandfather was called up to go to the army and he never came back. So we figured he died. He never, never anybody heard of him coming back again. My grandfather was the only one left of the Zandbelt's. In 1893 he was the only one, he got married and had 4 boys and 1 girl, and my father was the oldest one of them he was born in 1894 so then there was 4 boys then. All four boys got married again and then in 1946. They were all spread out then, there are some sitting in Africa, 5 or 6 in Canada, 1 in Germany and the others stayed home in Holland.
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Working Model of a Hi Hoe built by Bill Zandbelt2003
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Q: What does name Zandbelt mean?A: Zandbelt this was two words joined in one, and because my grandfathers farm was all Sand and that's all he had and that's how the name Zandbelt came. It also has something to do with France. And one of our neighbours was a pitman so his last name was pitman.
Q: In the dutch culture, people would not have had last names?
A: Not before 1400 or 1500. Well there were big landlords that had last names, but ordinary people didn't have none.
Q: Would you be known as a son of someone?
A: Yeah, oh yeah. Well have our family tree back to 1500. In 1500 the first time the name Zandbelt came up and that was due to the French Revolution. In the 1600's the Zandbelt's disappeared.
Q: What was your philosophy behind raising the kids?
A: No, they can learn whatever they like. First boy didn't know what he wanted to be, but that's a hard decision for any young boy or girl. I remember some of them asked me, 'what do you think of becoming a welder?' it's a good job, Tony became a welder he has a certificate for welding and he went out West for building pipelines. After a few years he understood how much smoke is involved in that and he was concerned about his health and he moved to another job, he seems to like it pretty good now to. He can make anything.
Q: So if they showed an interest in something you encouraged them to try it out?
A: Yeah, oh yeah, try it out any way.
Q: Did anything, would you say, that after raising your first child Tony, that you changed things for the rest of them?
A: No. I always tried to keep it that nobody had an advantage over the other. Never.
Q: Which one of the kids was a little rebel? Did you have one?
A: No, not too much.
Q: Should we ask Wilma?
A: No. Any boys do that but nothing special.
Q: So are all your children now married?
A: Yes.
Q: Who did they marry and where are they now?
A: Tony is married in Ottawa to Laura McCowan. George is married to Tammy Patinchky. Vincient is married to Charline Shaffers. Frances is married to Tania McNeely, and Louise is married to a Fraser from Metcalfe.
Q: And their all in the area?
A: All in the area.
Q: Which ones of them have had children of their own?
A: Tony has three children, Vincient has 2 children, Frances has 2 and Louise has 1.
Q: So there is only 1 child that has not had children.
A: Yeap.
Q: What are the grand children's names?
A: Oh boy. Tony has Tyler, Reith, and Rinana. Vincient has Will and Jessie. Frances has Kiarra and Kitty. Louise has one Jacob.
Q: What do think is going to be the hardest thing for those kids to face as they grow up?
A: I say the bilingual thing a lot. It's hard to learn but most of them are, but its not easy. I know how hard it is to learn 2 languages, if you become over 40 its almost impossible to learn another language. I think I have a bit of advantage because in school I didn't take French but I heard them speak it and I ask 'what is that word? What is that word' so I know quite a bit of them, but I cant make out a sentence. I may be hard to get a job. I'm not in favour of mandatory French. I lost my job because I couldn't speak French in Holland. I had examination papers that were tip top and I didn't get the job.
Q: I'd like to move on to a couple areas of interest that you have that you are familiar with. The first is your hobby of wood carving, and I call it a hobby because I don't think, you ever did make a living from wood carving did you?
A: No. I still don't.
Q: So it's a hobby.
A: It's a hobby.
Q: When did you first start to do that?
A: Well, as soon as I had some time left, after retiring. When I was working to make a living for the family there never was no time for hobbies.
Q: So really this a new …
A: After 65 I started it. I was interested in that but I had never any free time ever. I was 65 but I had the idea in the early 80's, I went to a show because I was interested in these shows and I went and saw a chain carved, a wooden chain carved out of a piece of wood and I got interested in that. I asked how he did that and he said it was a big challenge and that he was the only one who did that, he was a blacksmith from Lanark County. He showed me, and I said if I have time after I'm 65 I'll do that to. So when I was 65 the first thing I did was put a logging machine right across the table and I measured it all up and measure the piece of wood to be carved out and I never had any lessons for it, but I made one piece 6 feet long. Then I got interested in that even more. I did may be 10 or 15 different things always different. I'm not interested in do things the same, its got to be different.
Q: When you carve your chains, what's the biggest scale you've ever carved?
A: The links were 5 and a ˝ inch long by 4.
Q: And the tiniest?
A: 12 inches by 4 inch. That's the test I chose how small can I make it. I still try to make smaller if I have the time but I'm getting into to many hobbies.
Q: Out of the items in your collection, is there one that stands out in particular that is special?
A: Nope. All the same.
Q: There's one photo that I was thinking of using in this project and that's of a truck that you completed of a flat back truck that is followed by a crane. If I use that as an example, what is that made out of?
A: Any kind of wood. The main frame is maple the roof top is mahogany and I made different types of wood so that it's not all the same colour. Different types of woods. Its made to perfection as close as you can but its not imperfect its just a carving.
Q: What kind of tools does it take to make a truck and a crane?
A: For the crane you have to have a thickness blade, a band saw, a wrench, sanders, a jig saw, pieces of glass, pencils, straws.
Q: And your chains?
A: Mostly table saw and carving knife. That's the main. I always use the same carving knife, Number 8.
Q: Using the truck and crane as an example, how long does it take to make a piece like that?
A: I never kept track of my hours but I imagine 3 weeks. In spare time, I know it took me 2 days to make all the tracks. 60 long pieces of track, they have to be cut and shaped.
Q: So you have another piece that I've always liked and that's the tree that has the chain carved right out of the trunk while it still has the branched and the roots. How long would it have taken to carve that piece?
A: About a week.
Q: What do you do with the things that you carve?
A: Put then in the garage.
Q: Do your grand kids play with them?
A: I don't let them play with it because its not a play toy. They destruct everything in a day, so why should I work for 3 weeks and little kids can break it in 5 minutes. If they are grown up and they liked it I would give it to them. Its for exhibits and people appreciate the craft man ship. I specialize in chain carving. I try not to do the things that other people do I try to do something different.
Q: I've seen them on display at various places and I know they attract a lot of attention.
A: Yeah, I know at fairs they ask me to lend them, and in exceptional cases I will let them borrow them but not usually.
Q: What was the very first restoration piece that you ever worked on?
A: Yes. I remember that quite well. That was 1946, since we were burned out in 45 we didn't have any machinery, nothing left, at the farm so we borrowed a hay mow from my neighbours to do the job. My dad always hated borrowing things from somebody else and he couldn't get a new one right way I said to dad 'why don't we fix up the old mower again' dad says 'you cant do that it wont work.' I asked 'can I have it' and he said 'yeah you can have it' so when I had spare time I would put new pieces on it and it worked again 7 or 8 years. That was my first restoration job I ever did and I did it on my own and it worked. I never got paid or nothing but everyone could see that it worked and still worked to 53.
Q: What is it about restoration that makes a piece important to you?
A: It's a challenge to do that because most people say 'that thing is no good anymore' nobody wants to do it. It's important to do. A lot of people who are technical say they appreciate it because a lot of them don't. It's not to make money; it's to show people what you can do.
Q: In terms of the restoration work that you have done, is there any one particular piece that you point to and say that's my very best?
A: I always liked the first engine I got that I started on. It was a big job. The more effort you put in you get it done right the better you make it for the hobbyist. To other people it doesn't mean nothing. The first engine I got was from 1910, it was used in world war to get the electric light bulbs for the generator. The farmer used it as a light plant and as a water pump. In 1921 he got electricity and he put it outside the house and put an electric motor on it and it's been sitting there since 1921 and I bought it in the early 70's. I got it going again, and it was sitting outside the house for all those years. That was the first engine and I did a lot of work on it.
Q: Do you still own it?
A: Yeap. It's in the museum there.
Q: Was that one the most challenging?
A: No every one of them is challenging.
Q: What are the different types of things that you work on when you do restorations? I know you work a lot on …
A: Mostly agricultural machinery because that's what I grew up doing. My dad never had any technical machinery. He only had 3 tools, a hammer, a pair of pliers, and a old rusty pail (?). I had to pick everything else up some how. I was always interested in mechanical things, that's what I like. Should have gone to a technical high school but I never had the chance to go.
Q: Do you ever restore any wood, ceramic, or glass?
A: No. Wood I do. I made that clock there, that gingerbread clock behind ya. I had all the parts and just put them together.
Q: You carved that?
A: Yeah.
Q: It looks identical. That's amazing.
A: The boys helped with that one.
Q: They're interested in that too.
A: Some yeah. Some of them make cabinets for somebody else. They make money at it. It takes them a little while but…
Q: George does restoration in machinery as well?
A: George is mostly machinery, not as interested in cabinetry as the others.
Q: Your also a volunteer with the Osgoode Township Museum, so one of the things of course is how did a man that came to Canada from Holland al those years ago, settled eventually in a small town of Vernon, raised a family, how did you ever become involved in a Historical Society?
A: Well, because I'm interested in the history of it. That's why I'm interested. I wasn't a member of the Historical Society at first when it started but Lorne Craig took me in, he had an interest in engines same as I had and he has the same philosophy as I had, old things need to be restored and see what can be done with it. And if he had a challenge he asked me and we helped each other out to get things done. We tried to do any possible thing to get that thing going again, we had both same interest in it.
Q: About how long have you been a director for the Historical Society?
A: Oh, I don't even know it could be 10 or even more.
Q: You saw the agricultural building come to be.
A: Yeah. That's just about the time I joined. Lorne Craig of course couldn't come anymore so I did.
Q: They all call you the curator of the agricultural building.
A: Yeah, that comes with it. I don't do the paper work I'm no good for that. I do al the work and I know how the machines are supposed to be because I have a hay mower in the basement that I'm restoring now.
Q: Did you have any final comments that you would like to make?
A: No. I don't have anything.
Q: I think sometime when I have you out in the Ag building I would like to take some pictures of the engines in the barn.
A: I took my display to the Metcalfe Fair and it filled with water.
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Unique Chains Each Carved From a Single Piece of Wood by Bill Zandbelt1995
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Q: I'd like to move on to a couple areas of interest that you have that you are familiar with. The first is your hobby of wood carving, and I call it a hobby because I don't think, you ever did make a living from wood carving did you?A: No. I still don't.
Q: So it's a hobby.
A: It's a hobby.
Q: When did you first start to do that?
A: Well, as soon as I had some time left, after retiring. When I was working to make a living for the family there never was no time for hobbies.
Q: So really this a new …
A: After 65 I started it. I was interested in that but I had never any free time ever. I was 65 but I had the idea in the early 80's, I went to a show because I was interested in these shows and I went and saw a chain carved, a wooden chain carved out of a piece of wood and I got interested in that. I asked how he did that and he said it was a big challenge and that he was the only one who did that, he was a blacksmith from Lanark County. He showed me, and I said if I have time after I'm 65 I'll do that to. So when I was 65 the first thing I did was put a logging machine right across the table and I measured it all up and measure the piece of wood to be carved out and I never had any lessons for it, but I made one piece 6 feet long. Then I got interested in that even more. I did may be 10 or 15 different things always different. I'm not interested in do things the same, its got to be different.
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