BOB LOVE

Robert Love was a great-uncle to my husband John (a brother to Grandpa Bill). He grew up on the farm next to ours and farmed with his brothers in our area for a short while. Nola told me that Robert attracted the girls like "bees to honey" so when a new schoolteacher came all the way from Exeter to teach at nearby Shipka it didn't take him long to get her attention. He married Edna and they were very happy together.

Robert and Edna purchased property in Thedford (across from where Widder Station Golf Course is in 2009) in 1937 and proceeded to go into the onion growing business. Their first building for onion storage was a horse stable from Mt. Carmel which Bob dismantled and brought back to be reconstructed on his farm. Over the years, Bob and Edna's business prospered and they grew red, yellow, white, Spanish and multiplier onions.

Another well-known onion grower in the area was Harvey Dafore, and rather than compete with each other, these two men worked together and supplied seed to all of Canada.

Robert sponsored several families (mainly from Holland) to immigrate to the Thedford area to work in the onion fields - with names such as Smeekens, Cornelius, Van Loonen and Vandervelden. John Vandervelden mentions that they landed in Halifax in 1953 and then, after a two day train ride, arrived at the station in Thedford. Bob picked them up (parents with seven children) and took them to a house he had arranged, complete with furniture. There was a hot meal on the table with food they hadn't seen since before the war. Bob loaded them all up in his car on Sundays and drove them to Forest to go to a Roman Catholic Church and took them on Sunday afternoons to visit other Dutch families. He also arranged for a half a beef and pork at the local freezer locker. Edna, being a teacher, gave them English lessons.

The sponsor was required to provide work for one year. After that year, Bob helped the immigrants purchase small farms (approximately 20 acres) and acquire a share in the Thedford Co-op. A share gave its holder the right to a certain amount of space at the cold storage for onions and carrots. Storage was very important to the growers because they didn't have storage buildings on their own farms.

The Love family has been very involved in many aspects of the development of Grand Bend. Their story is representative of many other family stories in the Grand Bend area. It gives an example of life in the farming community.

LOVE HERITAGE

In 1843 two cousins, both named Hugh Love immigrated to Canada. "Big Hugh" Love was only 13 years old when he left Beith, Scotland. "Little Hugh" Love was about the same age. The two cousins first settled in the Twp of Blenheim, County of Oxford, and then later moved to the Huron Tract near Hills Green. One family story indicates that the two boys came by themselves.

"Little Hugh" married Christina Forrest in 1860 at Rogerville near Exeter, Huron County. She had sailed from Scotland on the same boat as Hugh but they didn't know each other then. She was born in 1840 so would have only been three years old when she immigrated. They lived the first 14 years of their married life at Hills Green and parented six children. In 1874 they moved to the Grand Bend area and settled on Lot 12, Concession 20, where the Grand Bend Motorplex now exists. There, their family continued to grow with six more children.

The land at Grand Bend was purchased from the Canada Company by "Big Hugh" in 1849. In later years his eighth child, Thomas Love, took over the farm with his family. In 1938, it was purchased by Thomas' son, Ross Love and Ross's wife Nola (Hodgins). The "family farm" lost the Love name in 1942 when it was take over by the Dominion Government to be an Auxiliary Airport for the Centralia Training School and Airport during World War II.

John Love was the third child of "Little Hugh" and Christina. He and his wife Alice (Turnbull), settled on neighbouring land (Lot 11, Conc. 20), where they raised their family of four, one being William Hugh Love. In 1919, William purchased the next farm down the road, which is the farm we (John & Joan Love) now live on (Lot 10, Conc. 20) from John Sherritt. William married Florence (Gill) in 1920 and their four children -- Ruth, Helen, Jim, and Alex -- were born on this farm. From 1952 until 1984 this farm was owned and operated by Jim & Marg (Cann). In 1984, it became our home (John & Joan (Lagerwerf) Love).

NOLA MAE (HODGINS) LOVE

Nola Mae Hodgins' grandparents (James B. and Catherine Hodgins) moved their family to Concession 20 from Clandeboye after their house and carriage shop were destroyed by fire at the height of the Donnelly feud in 1877. James B. and Catherine raised their family there, including Nola's father Mansel. Mansel married Mae Carruthers; they lived on the farm located on the northwest corner of Highway 81 and the Crediton Road (kitty corner from the John Love farm). Nola was the eldest of the four daughters of Mansel and Mae.

James B. died in September of 1918. Plans were made for Mansel and his family to take over the home farm. Later that year tragedy struck when the Spanish flu took the lives of Mae and the youngest daughter. Catherine and her daughter Maud were in the process of gathering their possessions to move to Toronto, but upon the death of Mae, Mansel's mother and sister unpacked and stayed on the farm to aid Mansel in the raising of his three remaining daughters -- Nola, Ila and Beulah. Maud was ill with polio at a young age and suffered with problems with her leg for the rest of her life.

Mansel continued to live on the home farm until his death in 1971. Then it became the home of his daughter Ila and her husband Stan Kayes. In 2006, the farm was purchased by the John and Joan Love family and is now the home of their son Tom.

Nola Hodgins met Ross Love at #10 Stephen School. Ross was a first cousin to John Love's grandfather Bill Love. At 18 years of age Nola married Ross and they lived on the Love home farm (where the Grand Bend Motorplex exists in 2009). They remained there until the Government of Canada claimed it as an Auxiliary Airport for the Centralia Air Commonwealth Flight Training School and Airport in 1941; handed them a cheque for $9,000. and ordered them to vacate. They relocated to Shipka and later to Dashwood.

Nola and Ross were curators of the Eisenbach Museum located near Grand Bend Cemetery.

When the Lambton Heritage Museum was built south of Grand Bend, Nola played the organ on Sundays and for weddings, in the small Mary Ellen Chapel located on the grounds. Nola also played the organ at St. John's Anglican Church in Grand Bend for over 20 years.

We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend time with Nola. We will always remember our visits with her, and hearing her recollections of events in years gone by, sharing her knowledge of family history, enjoying her jokes and stories, and viewing some of the many beautiful handcrafted quilts she has made for her friends and family. She was a great lady!