Search billions of records on Ancestry.com
   
CHARLES DOBIE : LOCAL HISTORY
KEARNS & VIRGINIATOWN, ONTARIO

Kearns & Virginiatown, Ont.
Mostly Photographs

Updated October 31, 2009.

Do you view this website often?
Hit the "Reload" button on your browser to make sure you see the latest updates.
Items updated in 2008 are marked by
NEW and those updated in 2009 are marked by NEW

Virginatown-Kearns welcome sign. Photo by Bob White
1988 & 2006 REUNION PHOTOGRAPHS
I hope everyone enjoyed the Kearns-V'Town reunion, and I also hope you took lots of photos. The reunion photo page is going well, with almost 100 photos posted, but there is room for lots more, so please send me your best (or worst, for that matter). Also see the 1988 KLCVI reunion page, with 18 photos so far. or you can snail-mail them to me as well. My postal address is at the bottom of the main history menu page.
Search this site
powered by FreeFind
See Kearns & Virginiaown
on Google Maps.
LOST PEOPLE
As of Oct. 31, 2009
Are you in this list?

Other photos of Kearns and Virginiatown are on my genealogy website.

KIRKLAND LAKE : KLCVI YEARBOOKS & REUNION
  • klcvi 1973 klcvi 1964 klcvi 1962 klcvi 1955 In this collection of yearbooks I've scanned all of the text and photo pages (not including advertising pages). All names have been transcribed as published, but I'll gladly correct errors if you tell me about them. In response to my email to regular website users, I've been offered yearbooks for the following years: 1957 through 1959, and 1966. I also have 1960, '61 and '63 waiting to be transcribed but it will be some time before they are done. Evidently the 1965 yearbook wasn't published because someone stole the money collected for the books. Does anyone know the details of this?
  • NEW  1955 KLCVI Yearbook. Many thanks to Ron Ross for sending me this book to scan. (Revised May 4, 2009)
  • NEW  1962 KLCVI Yearbook. Many thanks to Peter Jovic for sending me this book to scan. (Revised May 5, 2009)
  • NEW  1964 KLCVI Yearbook. Many thanks to Peter Jovic for sending me this book to scan. (Added May 1, 2009)
  • NEW  1973 KLCVI Yearbook. Many thanks to Mike Molotkin for sending me this book to scan. (Revised May 13, 2009)
  •  
  • NEW  Some former V-Town students at the KLCVI reunion in 1988. Most photos were taken at the dance in the V-Town arena and others at a private residence. Eighteen photos so far. (Revised February 23, 2009)
  • NEW  Helen Wattie, former teacher at KLCVI, died Oct. 22, 2009. Obituary, two photos and details of the celebration of her life on Nov. 7, 2009. (Added October 26, 2009)
2006 VIRGINIATOWN REUNION :
  • 2006 Reunion Photo Collection. Ninety-five photos posted so far, and counting -- mostly taken at the Kiwanis BBQ. Better check because you may be there with your face hanging out.
CHEMINIS & CHEMINIS MOUNTAIN :
EDDIE DUKE POST CARDS :
KEARNS :
Joe Nickerson JOE NICKERSON,
FOLK ARTIST
Joe Nickerson has lived all his life on the same street in Kearns. Formerly a railway worker, he is retired and took up sculpture about 10 years ago. His medium is white PVC tubing. . . .
See photos of Joe's art and a short description by Peter Bikaunieks.
NEW  Eight photos by Andy Ross added to this page. (Eighth photo added March 2, 2009)
On the evening of August 21, 2007, Joe Nickerson's house was destoyed by an arsonist and he barely escaped with his life. I'll let Peter Bikaunieks tell it . . .

" . . . we visited Kirkland Lake Aug. 20/07 and stopped at Joe's place in Kearns Aug. 21. . . . Stayed an hour and had a good chin wag. Interestingly, Joe loves tropical birds and lets a number of them fly free around the house. He also has a large aquarium where he keeps several large, green turtles. After leaving Joe's we climbed Mount Cheminis and drove home next day. That evening we learned Joe's house had been torched while he slept. He had, it seems, barely escaped alive. According to an on-line news item, police were, and still are, investigating the fire. Ironically, the day before, Joe had remarked how well some of his neighbours treat him. I noted that because Joe is a bit of an eccentric, as you well know. Both the house that was burned and his studio across the street, which was not burned, were extensively decorated with his PVC art objects. Though every one in Kearns seems friendly, I always sensed, and likely Joe also sensed, that some folks might be irked by his eccentricity. Our immediate difficulty was that there was no way to contact Joe. We finally called the McGarry municipal office in Virginiatown. While Joe had survived the fire all right, he had simply vanished. . . . .

Finally, early in October, Joe called us. . . . We learned he was staying with friends in Quebec. He said that on the night of the fire he was awakened by a loud explosion near his head and quickly learned the house was on fire. He had just enough time to save himself and a couple of his birds. The rest and the turtles perished in the fire. He got out with the clothes on his back, a bird cage, and a suitcase of his important documents which he kept packed for an emergency. Otherwise everything was lost in the fire, which also engulfed the abandoned house next door. . . . He's thinking of returning to Kearns after the winter with the view of rebuilding his place. I asked if he had any suspicions about how the fire was started. He said many suspicions but no proof. Still, he plans to come home to Kearns where he has lived for 60 years. "


VIRGINIATOWN
and KEARNS
STUDENT LIST
1936-1986.
This list of about 3,800 names was transcribed from the McGarry Township 40th Anniversary booklet. The students listed are from Virginiatown Public School starting in 1936, Kearns Public School (see school photo) starting in 1950 (although this is an error, as Kearns classes started in February, 1955), and Ecole St-Louis starting in 1956. Names are listed alphabetically with all three schools combined. Click on a letter below to find a surname.
A BC DE FG H I  JK LM NO PQ RS TV WY Z

KERR-ADDISON GOLD MINES :
VIRGINIATOWN :

Please see the Larder Lake website for more historic photos.

Other photos of Kearns and Virginiatown are on my genealogy website.

Also see the Welcome to Virginiatown website.

Do you have photos of the Kearns & Virginiatown area?
I would like to put them on this website.

Website format is © Copyright 1999- by Charles Dobie.
All photographs are © Copyright by their contributors.




Click here to see a collection of my photos on the Flickr website.



Counter started June 2, 2008.

BACK TO MAIN HISTORY MENU