Denis Landry was born in Azilda, Ontario, on May 16, 1919. He began his academic pursuits at the age of seven and matriculated from Azilda Public School #2 at fourteen with an eighth grade education. Landry was unable to continue formal academic pursuits due to economic reasons and began to work on the family farm where he pasteurized milk and took care of the animals. Landry married his wife Thérèse Paquette on January 6th, 1945 and they had seven children. In order to support his family Landry worked as a miner for Inco at the Levack Nickel Mine Deposit where he held many positions. Despite his work, Landry still found the time for his family, and his community.
Landry was a devote catholic and enjoyed religious music. Denis was a member of the “paroisse de Chelmsford” choir and when the “paroisse Sainte-Agnès” was formed in 1953, he became leader of orchestra and remained so for 20 years.
Landry was an important figure for the education sector in the Azilda - Chelmsford area. He played a significant role during the creation of the Roman Catholic Separate School Section No.1 in 1955. Landry was appointed trustee for the RCS.S No.1 from 1955 to 1956. Thanks to Landry and other trustees, the Roman Catholic schools in the No.1 and No.2 district merged in 1961 and two new Separate schools were created “l’école St-Patrick” and “l’école St-Dominique-Savio”. In 1965 Landry was appointed to serve as trustee for the Chelmsford Valley District High School Board to represent all the Separate Schools in the areas of Rayside Balfour, Chelmsford, Dowling, and Levack. He spent six years as a trustee with the Chelmsford Valley District High School Board, to ensure that Catholic children from the area have an opportunity to pursue their studies at the secondary level. In 1968, the Ministry of Education warned the school boards of its intention to establish larger administrative units. Landry was appointed by the Chelmsford High School Board to serve in the “ADD-Hoc” committee in order to prepare the documents needed to restructure the School Boards in Ontario. Denis was then elected to represent the Western Separate Schools in 1969. He was honored to serve as a representative for the Western Separate Schools for the following 12 years. Denis Landry’s 32 years of service as a trustee for Separate Schools, gave generations of French Catholic children in the Azilda, Rayside area the opportunity to learn and grow in a proper education system.
Landry retired from Inco after 43 years of service. After his retirement he went on to work as a Real Estate agent. He was a strong supporter of the French culture in the community. His passion for education, the town of Azilda and the French culture inspired him to write a book entitled “Azilda comme je l’ai connue”.
Landry was also a member of the “Coopérative funéraire” and the “Club d’âge d’or d’ Azilda” (one of the founding members). For the remainder of his retirement Landry continued to devote himself to his pastimes, his community and his family. Denis Landry passed away on May 6th 2008 at the age of 88.
The Walden Garden Club was first founded by Jean Narozanski in 1976. Narozanski was the municipal horticulturalist in Walden and also worked at the public library. She noticed a desire of residents to learn more about horticulture and founded the club to provide an outlet for various homeowners to discuss gardening. That same year, Narozanski also established Northern Perennials, a local gardening store. By 1980, Narozanski moved to Manitolan Island and the club discontinued around the mid 1980's.
Former Chairmen of the Walden Garden Club include;
Jean Narozanski 1976-1977
Evelyn Nelson 1977-1978
Myra Gauthier 1978-1979
Robert Baden-Powell's book, Scouting for Boys, was first published in England in 1908. Shortly after, Scouts began forming all over Canada. In 1910, a Dominion Council was established and Governor General Earl Grey accepted the position of Chief Scout for Canada. The Boy Scouts Association was incorporated in the United Kingdom two years later. In June 1914, a Canadian branch of that organization - The Canadian General Council of the Boy Scouts Association - was incorporated. In 1920, the International Conference, to which all recognized Boy Scout associations belonged, was formed.
The first recorded date for the Our Lady of Mercy Boy Scout Association in Coniston, Ontario was 1948. The first entry in their Minute Book begins with the last meeting of the year in 1948 so there most likely was another Minute Book created before this, possibly for years prior to this date, and lost. Prior to their formation, there was already a Coniston Boy Scout Association. The first troop was affiliated with the Anglican Church and this, the second troop, was formed to be affiliated with the Catholic Church (the french speaking boys attended Our Lady of Mercy Church while the english speaking boys attended St. Paul's Church). Both troops existed at the same time in Coniston during the entire life of the Our Lady of Mercy Boy Scout Association and frequently participated in events and fundraising together. The Our Lady of Mercy Boy Scout Association Board held their meetings in the basement of the Separate School in Coniston every month. Troop meetings tended to take place on Tuesday nights at 7pm but they would have events on other days. Activities of the troop included camping, hiking, first aid training, hockey, watching National Film Board movies, and father son banquets. They were funded with Apple Day sales, Christmas Card sales, and various other fundraising activities.
During the summer of 1953, the Our Lady of Mercy Boy Scout Association won the 'All Over' trophy at summer camp, signifying that they were the best cub pack from the Sudbury District attending the camp. In 1955, three Scouters resigned; one to attend school out of town and the other two, who were the Cub Masters Mr. & Mrs. Gobbo [Art Gobbo & Evelyn Gobbo]. In September 1956, the 1st Coniston Troop approached the 2nd Troop with the proposition of forming one group for Coniston. Bishop Dignan gave permission for boys from the 1st Troop to join, provided the 2nd Troop had control of the troop. During 1956 and 1957, the troop had difficulties recruiting Cub Masters who had the time to volunteer and the group folded by 1958 with the remainder of their bank balance being donated to the 1st Coniston Group Committee on November 12, 1962.
Presidents (Chairmen)
Edward J. Orendorff 1948 - 1952, May 1953 -after 1957 (also principal of Coniston Continuation School)
O. Paradis 1952 - 1953
G. Maher January - May 1953
Chaplains for Troop
Father Fortin 1948 - 1951
Father Lafontaine 1953
Father Proulx 1956 - 195?
Michael Dudowich was born January 31st, 1927 in Garson, Ontario. As a young student, Dudowich began working on the weekends for Mr. W.E. Mason at the Sudbury Star in 1943. In high school, Dudowich was the Director of Photography for the Sudbury High yearbook the Wolfhound as well as Assistant Editor for the Catholic Youth Organization Bulletins affiliated with St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church. In the 1946 Sudbury High yearbook, grade twelve student Dudowich stated his future goal for later in life was to photograph actress Lana Turner.
In 1947, the Dudowich family moved from Garson to Riverside Drive, Sudbury, Ontario. After graduating with honours from Sudbury High School, Dudowich worked for a short time as a locomotive fireman and then proceeded to work full time for the newspaper. Eventually, he became the photographic supervisor for the Sudbury Star and held the position of 'Chief Photographer' for decades prior to his retirement in May, 1976.
Dudowich was an active member of the Commercial and Press Photographers' Association of Canada (CPPAC) for many years. He frequently attended the short course in photography held annually at the University of Western Ontario by the group and won multiple awards for his photographs including the CPPAC Award of Merit and several of the Canadian Press Picture-of-the-Month awards. He was chosen Best Photographer of Canada, and his work appeared in the publication "America." In 1972, Dudowich received awards from the Canadian Government and the Canadian Press for his work in the Russian/Canadian Hockey Series of that year.
Dudowich was a charter member of the Idylwylde Golf and Country Club, a member of the Ukrainian Congress of Canada, the Laurentian Museum and Arts Centre and St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church.
Michael Dudowich passed away on May 4th, 1998 at the age of 71.
Eugene Kash (1912-2004) was a Canadian violinist, conductor and teacher. He was married to contralto Maureen Forrester from 1957 to 1974.
Alan Querney was born November 3, 1929 in Toronto, to parents Ernest & Marjorie Querney. After growing up in Sudbury, Querney graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1954 with an Honors degree in Business Administration. In 1957, he became a Chartered Accountant and in November of that same year, Querney began working in the lumber industry at WB Plaunt & Son Limited/Austin Lumber (Dalton) Limited. Querney married Shirley Richmond in London, Ontario in 1954. They had four children, Tom (b. 1958), John (b. 1960), Susan (b. 1964), and William [Bill] (b. 1967). In 1972, Bill Muirhead, a family friend, sold his family's business (Muirhead Stationers Limited) to Querney. After Alan Querney's sons graduated university, they became co-owners of the business as well.
Alan Querney was very active in the community. Querney was a member of the Laurentian University Board (Chairman, 1987-1990), the Board of Regents at Huntington College (Chairman), the Sudbury and District Chamber of Commerce, the Sudbury and District Chartered Accountants Association, the Sudbury Algoma Sanitarium (Secretary-Treasurer), the Sudbury and District Hospital Council (Chairman), Idylwylde Golf and Country Club (President), the Ontario Lumber Manufacturer's Association, St. Andrew's United Church Council and Finance Committee, and a member of the Board and Treasurer of St. Andrew's Place Inc. Querney received numerous awards in the community including becoming an Honourary Fellow of Huntington University (1977), receiving an Honourary degree of Doctor of Sacred Letters from Huntington University (1982), elected a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (FCA, 1985), awarded the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada (circa 1992), receiving an Honourary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration from Laurentian University (1996), received the President's Award from the Sudbury and District Chamber of Commerce (along with his sons, 1998), and elected a Life Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (1999). He was also recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Club of Sudbury in 2000 for charitable contributions. Alan Querney retired around 2002 and Tom Querney became President of Muirheads.
The Heit family first moved to the Garson, Ontario area shortly after Jacob "Jack" Heit (1914-1999) married Katherine "Kay" Kraft (1918-2009) on February 5, 1940 at Christ the King Church in Sudbury, Ontario. Prior to this time, both Jacob Heit and Katherine Kraft lived in Saskatchewan. The Heit's raised their family of five daughters, Diana, Janet, Marilyn, Kathy, and Susan in Garson, Ontario.
Diana Joyce Heit was born January 3, 1941 in Sudbury, Ontario. The eldest of Jacob and Katherine Heit's five children, Diana was raised in Garson, Ontario. She attended St. John's Separate School in Garson and often went to Falcona Camp, run by Falconbridge Mine in the summer. Diana Heit married Lawrence Thomas Mulcahey on September 5, 1964 at St. John's Church in Garson. She later became the Assistant Programme Director for the Recreation Department of the City of Sudbury. With this position, Mulcahey assisted with the creation of the game ringette. She designed the crests for the local team tournaments and organized the first games.
Robert Thomas Stevens [Roberto Tomaso Stefanizzi] was born in Cellara, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy on February 23, 1896 to Gaetano Stefanizzi and Gaetana Caliguiri. At the age of 6, he immigrated to Canada with his uncle Francesco Steffanzzi (aka Frank Stevens d. 1941 age 70) in 1902 while the rest of his family remained in Italy.
As a teenager during the first world war, Stevens operated a commissary at Nobel for the explosives plant employees. Stevens enjoyed being an entrepreneur and in 1918, he decided to venture into the film industry by opening his first theatre in Sudbury on Elm Street East. His theatre business thrived and over the years, Stevens expanded his business with the acquisition of additional theatres in Sturgeon Falls, Creighton Mine and Sault Ste. Marie. For a few years, Stevens also owned a theatre in Espanola. In August 1939, Stevens opened the large Regent Theatre on Elm Street in Sudbury. This theatre was well known for its size in Northeastern Ontario.
On December 4, 1923, Robert Stevens married Florence Boucher, a nurse originally from Whitefish, Ontario. The ceremony was held in Little Current, Ontario. They had six children; Joseph 'Robert' Guy (1924-1968), 'William' Alfred (1926-1988), 'Thomas' Joseph (1928-), Anne Marie (1930-2004, married name Ripley), John (1931?-), and Margaret Theressa (1934-).
During the second world war, Robert Stevens, along with many other Italian-born Canadians, was closely monitored by authorities. On August 24, 1940, Stevens was a patient at St. Joseph’s Hospital, suffering from a slight ailment. At 10 a.m. he was arrested on charges, under the Defence of Canada Regulations, for during August 14 to 20, 1940 “making statements intended to, or likely to, prejudice recruiting, training, discipline and administration of His Majesty’s forces,” and “making statements intended to, or likely to, cause disaffection to His Majesty.” He was escorted from his hospital room to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police headquarters for questioning. Afterwards, he was taken to the courthouse. Stevens was denied bail by the Magistrate and placed in a prison cell at the Sudbury District Jail until his trial three days later. Stevens plead guilty to the first charge and was fined $25. The second charge was dropped.
Robert Thomas Stevens became ill in January 1943 and passed away at St. Joseph's Hospital in Sudbury on February 13, 1943 at the age of 46.