A friend loaned me Joan Levy Earle’ s book, ‘ The Legacy of C.W. Kyte’. It is a great read. It brought back a lot of memories of days gone by for me as a youngster and teen growing up in Cornwall. Joan and her husband bought the store from Reg Kyte in 1988 and called their new store the ‘Sanctuary’. The book is also about the years in their store. Joan and her husband Jack, after operating the store for many years, decided to retire in 2004 and closed the Sanctuary.
We called it ,’Kytes’, when we were young and had to go there to get our textbooks for school. Sometimes a whole bunch of us would go in at the same time to purchase them. It didn’t seem overwhelm Reg. He just handled us one by one at his own pace. Sometimes if he couldn’t find something, he would ‘disappear’, we called it, and then, he would return with whatever it was we had asked for.
The word on the street was that ‘Kytes’ and Snetzinger’s Hardware ‘ ‘probably had it’..whatever it was we were looking for. They were both well stocked and both could find ‘it’ sooner or later in their stores.
There is a chapter on Kathy McBain who worked for Reg from 1973 to 1988 until the store closed. I have known Kathy for the past few years and she is a very nice lady. She must have been a very pleasant and helpful sales lady in the Kyte’s store. Nice to see her picture and a write up about her memories when working there.
I loved the Sanctuary. It had, among other supplies, books, artist’s supplies, cards, stationery, pens and the most beautiful selection of the large paper dinner napkins which was a big treat for me. Since the store closed I have a hard time getting any gorgeous napkins like they carried.
There are many photos and accounts of days gone by in Cornwall in this wonderful book. It is going to be a nice Christmas present to give to some folks I know. Thanks, Joan, for bringing back so many great memories.
Child Haven International is hosting a 30th. year anniversary celebration dinner on Saturday October 24 at the Glengarry sports Palace in Alexandria. They will serve Authentic Thai food. Tickets are $40 each or a table of 8, $280. Buy online at www.childhaven.ca or call Susan Joiner at 613-525-5177 or email: joinergilsdorf@hotmail.com. doors open at 6pm.
CHL have worked all these years to help thousands of destitute children in India, Nepal, Tibet and Bangladesh. They have provided a safe home, shelter, food, education and lots of nurturing and love for these little ones. Go to www.childhaven.ca for more information on this international organization and their work.
Here is a photo of one of the cute little children in Nepal:
The beautiful 2016 Calenders from the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists are out. What an inspiration this organization is to all of us. They have for sale christmas cards and wrap, puzzles, birthday books and other articles. Email at mfpa@mfpacanada.com or their website for more information .
The Family Corner Restaurant at Ninth and Pitt Streets has now become the ‘Living Dead Restaurant’, taken over by zombies and other creepy eerie beings, I guess ..for now, anyway. In the entrance sits a jean clad skeleton strumming a guitar and singing. He has a nice voice, actually. There are creepy looking beings with him/it. The menu for this restaurant is posted near the singing skeleton. For your dining pleasure it lists : Creepy Cuisine, Beastly Beverages, Alarming Appetizers, Eerie Entrees and ..oh my gosh!!..Deadly Desserts!! Inside the resataurant are ghouls and goblins and zombies on the walls among pumpkin covered tablecloths. Witches are dressed in black and hang from the ceiling. Not for the faint hearted. Watch out for those zombies!!!
Henry and his staff have once more decorated the restaurant for fun and celebration. Thanks Henry to you and all your staff.
As I am typing this and concentrating, all of a sudden there was a harsh high pitched shrill of a cry in my left hearing aid. I almost levitated off my chair. It was Tiger, of course, wanting something. I checked his food..lots there. I discovered that he wanted me to know he had used his litter. Is it such a big deal to scare the hair off my head??
His latest trick now is to lick my big toe about 5am. to let me know his food dish is empty and he is hungry. That rough little tongue rub wakes me up very fast. My Editor Jamie tells me that he puts food out for his cat before bed because if he didn’t when Sam, his old cat comes to say hello around 6am , the dogs wake up to protect him from the cat by serenading him ..lol.. ..must be lovely!! {Editor’s note: Urg! Darn cats!}
But all is not lost. I met a lady at the Vet’s one day who told me that her cat was waking up her husband at a very early hour which was not going over very well with her mate. It was getting to the point where her husband was going to say, ‘It is the cat or me.’ She didn’t want to have to see her husband walk out the door..(lol) so she shopped around and found a gadget/machine that is a feeder, which drops food into a bowl at intervals. It saved their marriage. She said it cost $60 but at 5am, it was worth every penny and the husband, wife cat are all happy. Think I am going to get one. Maybe Jamie should also.
Here is a cute little joke:
Harry was sick and tired of being constantly badgered by his wife Barbara for spending so much time at the bar. Hoping it would help matters, Harry invited Barbara to go along with him.
“So what would you like to drink?”, Harry cordially asked, as she took a seat next to him. “Oh, I don’t know”, Barbara answered. ” I guess I will take the same thing as you.”
“Ok,” said Harry to the bartender, ‘we will take two Johnny Walker’s on the rocks.
Barbara took a sip of the drink and immediately started gagging. “Oh my gosh! Get me some water! This stuff is horrible! How do you drink this garbage?
“See? said Harry “and you think I come here just to have a good time?”
Have a good week ,Dawn
Dawn: Good articles.
I got such a kick out of reading your column. Great to know that there will be a fundraiser dinner for the orphanages (Child Haven International).
I sure liked Kytes book store as well as Snetzingers Hardware and both stores were wonderful places to shop. My parents always purchased at Snetzingers hardware and the staff were tops. Reg Kyte was a wonderful person as well and I too purchased my text books along with other books from him. Today we have to go to places like Chapters and other book stores here in Ottawa to get what we want and the staff is no where like the good service that Mr. Kyte provided as well as the Snetzingers Hardware – I miss those stores a lot when we go down to Cornwall. My husband and I were talking yesterday about how we miss the good old days and it is mighty sad to see them all gone.
Thanks , Dawn for the nice article about our upcoming Glengarry dinner.
I enjoyed your latest write-up about Kyte’s Book Store. I remember it well and Reg and his wife Linda who lived on York Street.