Gravenhurst Has Lost A Fine Citizen, John Christensen

Lucky Elephant Popcorn – The Christmas Treat

 

Lucky Elephant Popcorn is a Canadian confection that has been on the snack food market since the 1950’s.   Not widely available in mainstream grocery stores or large convenience store chains, the treat has generally been more commonly found retailed at Mom and Pop grocery stores and neighbourhood food outlets, and more recently, online.

Growing up in a Country Store was a most exciting time during the Christmas season and the arrival of Lucky Elephant Popcorn in specially decorated Christmas bags complete with an attached toy was one of the highlights of the Christmas season at the Kilworthy General Store.  The bags of popcorn were carefully hung on a special Christmas display that was fashioned from some evergreen branches and red tissue paper.   It was a wonderful time of year in a Country General Store at Christmastime.

Fred Schulz Photo

To Connect With Today's Bracebridge Blog, Part of the Christmas Series Click Here

http://thenatureofmuskoka.blogspot.ca/

GRAVENHURST HAS LOST ONE OF ITS CHAMPIONS - A HOMETOWN HERO WHO LED BY EXAMPLE 

AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN CHRISTENSEN AND THE PAINTING BY PAUL RODRIK JOHNSTON

      JOHN CHRISTENSEN'S FUNERAL WAS HELD TODAY (SATURDAY) IN THE SMALL MUSKOKA TOWN HE WAS SO FAITHFULLY AND STALWARTLY ITS SERVANT; THE LAKESIDE COMMUNITY HE SUBTLY, CAPABLY, CHAMPIONED INTO THE PRESENT. HE LED BY EXAMPLE, AND DID SO, OFTEN BEHIND THE SCENES. HIS FLAG WAVING FOR OUR TOWN WAS DETERMINED BUT GENTLE. YET HE WAS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH, IF FOR EXAMPLE, YOU MADE THE MISTAKE OF LEVELLING A CRITICISM AT GRAVENHURST, WITHOUT FOUNDATION OR JUSTIFICATION.....OR AS ANECDOTE HE DIDN'T APPRECIATE. I KNEW THIS OF JOHN FIRST HAND. I KNEW NOT TO MAKE A MISTAKE OF GENERALIZING ANYTHING ABOUT THE TOWN IN HIS PRESENCE. HE WOULD JUST LOOK ME STRAIGHT IN THE EYES, PONDER A MOMENT, THINKING OF THE RIGHT WAY TO RETORT, AND THEN, IN ONLY A FEW WORDS, CORRECT WHAT I HAD OVER-STATED. SUCH THAT I WOULD HAVE TO AGREE WITH HIS CORRECTION. OF COURSE HE WAS RIGHT. HE KNEW MORE ABOUT TOWN HISTORY THAN I DID. THIS WAS OBVIOUS. SO HE BECAME MY IMMEDIATE MENTOR, AND WILLINGLY SO! 

      HIS MEMORIAL TRIBUTE CAME ON A COLD BUT BRIGHT DECEMBER DAY, JUST OVER A WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS, FOLLOWING SEVERAL DAYS OF HEAVY SNOW THAT SLOWED THE TOWN, AT TIMES, TO A CALM, YET PICTURESQUE STANDSTILL....THE BUNDLED-UP CITIZENRY, OUT AND ABOUT, AWAITING A MOMENT IN THE STORM, WHEN THE ROAD AHEAD WOULD SUDDENLY APPEAR CLEAR AGAIN. AS IF THE SHAKEN SNOW-GLOBE WAS PROMPTLY SET DOWN, THE SPIRALS OF WINDSWEPT SNOW, DRIFTING GENTLY DOWN OVER THE BUILDINGS WITHIN...MAKING THE REALITY OF THE SCENE ALMOST HURTFULLY NOSTALGIC; PULLING AT THE TENDER HEARTSTRINGS, ABOUT OLD TIMES AND OLD FRIENDS. SUCH THAT THE VOYEUR MIGHT BELIEVE, MOMENTARILY, TO HAVE BEEN TRANSPORTED BACK IN TIME. THE SCENE REVEALED A PLEASING GLIMPSE OF THE OLD HOMETOWN, THE WAY JOHN USED TO SEE IT, LOOKING OUT FROM HIS LAW OFFICE, ON MUSKOKA ROAD, OVER SO MANY YEARS, SO MANY WINTERS, SO MANY SEASONS OF HIS SERVICE TO THE CITIZENS OF THIS COMMUNITY AND BEYOND.

     IN THE SNOW-LADEN COMMUNITY, NOW BUSTLING ABOUT ITS DAILY BUSINESS, AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS OF THE BUSY CHRISTMAS SEASON, LONG TIME CITIZENS KNOW THAT IT IS A TOWN, JOHN CHRISTENSEN HELPED BUILD THIS WAY. A SMALL TOWN IN SIZE, BUT AN ENORMOUS COMMUNITY IN AMBITION. TO FAMILY, FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, AND THOSE CITIZENS WHO HE MENTORED, AND ASSISTED, IN ABOUT THOUSAND DIFFERENT WAYS, HIS UNYIELDING LOYALTY TO HIS HOMETOWN WAS NEVER IN DOUBT. HIS LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS, INCLUDING HIS YEARS OF SERVICE WITH COMMUNITY GROUPS, INCLUDING SOUTH MUSKOKA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, IS WELL APPRECIATED BY THOSE OF US WHO EITHER WORKED ALONGSIDE, OR BENEFITTED, IN SO MANY WAYS, FROM HIS BENEVOLENCE. HE WAS, IN MY OPINION, A MODEST MAN WHO DIDN'T INVOLVE HIMSELF IN COMMUNITY AFFAIRS, IN A BID TO BECOME POPULAR OR NOTABLE. HIS AMBITION WAS TO ACHIEVE POSITIVE OUTCOMES. HE DID WHAT HE FELT WOULD ASSIST THE TOWN IMPROVE ITS FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES. HELPING TO BUILD A MODERN TOWN THAT COULD COMPETE WITH ANY OTHER COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY THOSE IN THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. HE WAS ONE OF THE COMMUNITY BUILDERS, WHO GAVE US OUR PRESENT IDENTITY, OF WHICH WE BENEFIT IN WAYS MANY CAN'T IMAGINE. WE HAVE A REPUTATION AS A RESILIENT COMMUNITY, DESPITE OUR ACKNOWLEDGED SHORTFALLS, BUT IT WAS JOHN CHRISTENSEN, WHO HELD THAT "NEVER SAY NEVER" ATTITUDE, THAT HAS BECOME A RECOGNIZABLE HALLMARK, OF A COMMUNITY DESTINED TO ACHIEVE GREATER THINGS. 

     IT MIGHT READ, THUS FAR, THAT I'D KNOWN JOHN ANDREAS CHRISTENSEN FOR YEARS. FACT IS, I'M SORRY OUR RELATIONSHIP HADN'T BEEN MORE SUBSTANTIAL; TRUTH IS, WE HAD ONLY BEEN FACE TO FACE, FOR THE SUM TOTAL OF TWO HOURS. IT WAS AN INTENSE TWO HOURS. IN THOSE TWO HOURS, I DON'T REMEMBER HIM SMILING DURING OUR CONVERSATION. HE GREETED ME WITH A SMILE, AND SHOOK MY HAND AT THE END OF OUR MEETING, WITH A CONTENTING GRIN, BUT WHEN WE CHATTED, HE SHOWED VERY LITTLE EMOTION ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. ME, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF HIS DESK, WELL SIR, HE HAD ME LAUGHING FOR MOST OF THOSE TWO HOURS. HERE'S WHY.

     JOHN KNEW ALL ABOUT ME. I KNEW ALL ABOUT JOHN. YET WHEN WE GOT TOGETHER FOR THAT MORNING INTERVIEW, IN HIS OFFICE, WE HAD NEVER ACTUALLY MET FACE TO FACE. JOHN KNEW THAT I HAD WORKED AS AN EDITOR OF THE HERALD-GAZETTE, IN BRACEBRIDGE, AND I KNEW HIS NAME AND WORK, FROM HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE GRAVENHURST NEWS. I'D HEARD A LOT ABOUT HIM FROM MY ASSOCIATE EDITOR, ROBERT BOYER, AND OF COURSE, FROM MY OLD FRIEND HUGH CLAIRMONT, WHO HAD WRITTEN A COLUMN FOR THE NEWS IN PAST YEARS. I ONLY TALKED TO HIM ON THE PHONE ONCE, AND THAT WAS TO SET UP THE MEETING. THE PURPOSE OF THAT GET-TOGETHER, WAS THAT I HAD BEEN WORKING ON THE HISTORY OF SOUTH MUSKOKA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, ON BEHALF OF THE HOSPITAL FOUNDATION. AND MY BOSS AT THE TIME WAS GORD DURNAN, WHO HAD HEADED-UP THE CHARITABLE OPERATION FOR MANY YEARS; AND HE WANTED TO MAKE SURE I SCHEDULED AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN, WHO KNEW A GREAT DEAL ABOUT THE EARLY YEARS OF THE HOSPITAL CONSTRUCTION, AND ITS EXPANSION IN THE 1960'S. THE HISTORY WAS TO COINCIDE WITH A HOSPITAL ANNIVERSARY, EARLIER THIS CENTURY, AND JOHN WAS ONE OF A DOZEN OR MORE INTERVIEWS I WAS TO CONDUCT, IN THIS FACT FINDING MISSION, THAT HAD PROVEN ENORMOUSLY INTERESTING TO THAT POINT.

     I CAN'T REVEAL ANYTHING ABOUT THE MEETING, INVOLVING THE HOSPITAL, AS IT WAS CONFIDENTIAL AT THIS TIME; INFORMATION TO BE USED FOR THE ARCHIVES COLLECTION, AND FOR A POSSIBLE PUBLICATION THAT UNFORTUNATELY WAS NEVER FINALIZED. SO I WAS HOPING JOHN COULD SET ME STRAIGHT, REGARDING A FEW PROBLEM AREAS, I WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY INTERPRETING, THAT DEFINITELY REQUIRED A GRAVENHURST PERSPECTIVE. HE DID THAT IN THE FIRST TEN MINUTES OF OUR INTERVIEW. I FILLED HALF A NOTE BOOK. THEN HE STARTED TO HAVE SOME FUN WITH ME. I HAD BEEN WARNED ABOUT JOHN'S DRY SENSE OF HUMOR, AND HOW MUCH HE LIKED TO SPIN STORIES. NOT THAT IT WAS ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, OTHER THAN TO BE AWARE, THAT HE HAD A WAY OF LIGHTENING THE MOOD, IF THINGS GOT TOO INTENSE. I JUST NEEDED TO BE AWARE HOW FAST THE INTERVIEW COULD CHANGE. AND IT DID. IT'S WHAT MADE THE MEETING SO MEMORABLE. WE TALKED ABOUT WHAT HE WANTED TO TALK ABOUT, AND I WOULDN'T HAVE WANTED IT ANY OTHER WAY. IT WASN'T PARTICULARLY FRUITFUL AS FAR AS THE HOSPITAL RESEARCH WENT, BEYOND THE KEY DETAILS HE WAS ABLE TO PROVIDE, BUT I GOT TO MEET A LOCAL LEGEND....AND THAT WAS ALL POSITIVE.

      SO HERE'S HOW I FOUND THE REAL JOHN CHRISTENSEN.....THE ONE HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY KNEW, BUT I DIDN'T. UNTIL THAT IS, THE MOMENT I TOLD HIM I REALLY LIKED THE PAINTING HANGING ON THE WALL, ABOVE HIS LEFT SHOULDER. WELL SIR, IT WAS THE END OF THE HOSPITAL INTERVIEW. JUST LIKE THE HOSPITAL DETAILS HE PROVIDED, CONFIDENTIALLY, I WON'T REVEAL THE INTIMATE DETAILS ABOUT THE PAINTING, EXCEPT TO SAY, HE HAD ME LAUGHING SO HARD I BEGAN TO CHOKE; HE MAY HAVE THOUGHT MOMENTARILY, THAT HE WAS GOING TO HAVE TO RESUSCITATE ME. ALL OVER A NEAT PAINTING HUNG BY HIS DESK.....ABOVE A MANTLE IF MEMORY SERVES; FAMILY WILL KNOW THIS STORY WELL, AND I WON'T BETRAY JOHN'S TRUST IN ME, BY REVEALING TOO MUCH. THE PAINTING YOU SEE, INTERESTED ME INITIALLY, BECAUSE I FOUND IT UNIQUE AND CURIOUS BY ITS CONTENT. I TOLD HIM IT WAS AN EXCEPTIONAL WORK, AND HE GAVE ME A KINDLY GLANCE, LEANED BACK IN HIS OFFICE CHAIR, AND ASKED ME IF I'D EVER HEARD OF AN ARTIST BY THE NAME OF PAUL RODRIK. I WAS SURPRISED BY THIS, BECAUSE I DID KNOW THEN, QUITE A BIT ABOUT THE ARTIST. ESPECIALLY THAT RODRIK WAS THE SON OF CANADIAN GROUP OF SEVEN ARTIST, FRANZ JOHNSTON. WHEN WE MOVED TO BRACEBRIDGE, IN THE MID 1960'S, I WOULD OFTEN SEE A RATHER STRANGE LOOKING CHAP, WEARING A BLACK CAPE AND TAM, WALKING UP MANITOBA STREET. WHEN I ASKED SOMEONE WHO THE GENTLEMAN WAS, A FRIEND'S MOTHER TOLD ME THE MAN WAS A WELL KNOWN ARTIST. PAUL RODRIK. I DIDN'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT CANADIAN ART, AT MY YOUNG AGE, BUT I NEVER FORGOT THE IMAGE OF HIM, OR HIS NAME. THE ONLY OTHER PAUL RODRIK ORIGINAL, I HAD EVER SEEN, WAS THE ONE THAT HUNG IN THE FORMER BRACEBRIDGE CENTENNIAL CENTRE, ON WELLINGTON STREET. THE FRAME OF THIS ONE, HAD BEEN PAINTED TO MATCH THE OFFICE WALLS, AND WHOEVER DID THE WORK, ALSO ALLOWED THE BRUSH TO STRAY ONTO THE ART SURFACE....WHICH CERTAINLY DEVALUED A SIGNIFICANT WORK OF ART. I LIKED IT, BUT NOT AS MUCH AS THE ONE JOHN WAS SO PROUD OF, THERE IN HIS OFFICE.

     I REALIZE THAT IT WILL BE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO ENHANCE THIS STORY TO ITS FULL POTENTIAL, WITHOUT REVEALING THE INNERMOST DETAILS, BUT SUFFICE TO SAY, THERE WAS A TRULY ENTHRALLING TALE TO BE SPUN.....AND IN THE TRUE ART OF THE STORY TELLER, I WAS SPELLBOUND WHEN I WASNT'T LAUGHING, ABOUT THE WAY HE WOUND-UP OWNING THIS WONDERFUL ORIGINAL WORK OF CANADIAN ART. IT DIDN'T END AFTER THE PAUL RODRIK STORY EITHER. FOR MOST OF OUR TWO HOUR INTERVIEW, HE REGALED ME WITH SO MANY STORIES ABOUT THE TOWN OF GRAVENHURST, AND THE FOLKS HE CALLED HIS FRIENDS. I GOT A HISTORY LESSON I NEVER EXPECTED. HE JUST DIDN'T OFFER IT UP, AS AN ENTIRELY SERIOUS MATTER. HE PAINTED IT, BY DESCRIPTION, IN A HALF LEACOCKIAN WAY, HALF AS A FORMER NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER; WHERE ANECDOTE MIXED BEAUTIFULLY WITH ACTUALITY, JUST LIKE THAT SNOW-GLOBE I REFERRED TO EARLIER. JOHN DIDN'T REALLY CONSIDER HIMSELF AN HISTORIAN, BUT HE WAS ALL THE HISTORIAN I NEEDED AT THAT TIME....AT THAT MOMENT, TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE TOWN, IN WHICH I HAD COME TO RESIDE. I OFTEN THINK ABOUT OUR MEETING, WHEN I'M WRITING BLOGS ON LIFE AND TIMES ISSUES IN GRAVENHURST. I THOUGHT ABOUT HIM THIS WEEK, WHEN I WAS WRITING A COLUMN REGARDING COMMUNITY PRIDE, AND THE LEADERSHIP I SENSE IS WAINING THESE DAYS; BUT THEN, I DO THIS AS AN HISTORIAN, WITH A BIAS ABOUT THE GOOD OLD DAYS. I OFTEN HAVE BOTH FEET ANCHORED IN THE PAST, WHEN I'M WRITING ABOUT THE PRESENT, AND I FEAR IT DOES COMPROMISE SOME OF MY OBJECTIVITY. I STILL LAND IN MY TUMBLE OF GENERALIZATIONS, AT THE FEET OF CITIZENS LIKE JOHN CHRISTENSEN, WHO UNDERSTOOD THAT THERE ARE NO SIMPLE FIXES, OR QUICK REMEDIES, WHEN A COMMUNITY OCCASIONALLY, APPEARS HELL BENT TO BE SOMETHING OTHER THAN WHAT IT HAS BEEN, FOR LONG AND LONG. HE MIGHT SAY TO A CRITIC LIKE ME, THAT EVERY GENERATION THINKS IT CAN DO BETTER....AND EVERY OLDTIMER, FEELS THE OBLIGATION TO OUTSTRETCH AN OAR, OF OPINION AND COUNTERPOINT, IN THE PERPETUAL STRUGGLE TO MOVE FORWARD, WITHOUT THE CONSEQUENCE, OR THE COLLATERAL DAMAGE OF FALLING BEHIND THE DEMAND OF THE TIMES. MAYBE HE PLAYED IT SAFE AS A PUBLISHER. SOME OF US THOUGHT SO. BUT WE WERE HIS COMPETITORS. WE STILL RESPECTED HIS POSITION.

     IT'S TRUE, I DIDN'T KNOW JOHN VERY WELL. THAT'S MY LOSS. BUT I KNOW HE WILL BE MISSED BY OUR COMMUNITY. WE HAVE BENEFITTED FROM HIS CONTRIBUTIONS, THAT'S FOR CERTAIN.  OUR FAMILY EXTENDS HEARTFELT SYMPATHY TO THE CHRISTENSEN FAMILY, AT THIS TIME OF LOSS.