Brooklin Reunion 2018 - Snap'd | Brooklin Heritage Society

See the photos posted to the Snap’d Durham website, profiling our annual homecoming at the Royal Canadian Legion 152, Brooklin.

http://snapd.at/eew7b22

Next homecoming will be held Saturday June 1, 2019, 2:00 – 5:00
Royal Canadian Legion 152, 54 Baldwin St North, Whitby, Ontario
Admission free.

Author: Brian Wick

Born and rasied in Brooklin View all posts by Brian Wick

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Brooklin's Flour Mill, now a Montessori School. ... See MoreSee Less

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**An Unexpected Connection To Jerseys**At The Royal, there are many competitions or shows where the different breeds of dairy and beef cattle are exhibited for prizes and prestige. The prestige of winning a class or being in the top part of a class brings notoriety to the farm, the breeder and exhibitor of the animal.Dad knew the Jersey show was being held and wanted to watch it. I know, we raised pure-bred Holsteins on our farm, but it was customary for him to watch whatever dairy breed was showing.To our surprise, Dad recognized a name who you might not realize who had pure-bred Jerseys. Most people not familiar with The Royal might not know that cattle from across Canada, the United States and possibly the world can exhibit their cattle if the cattle meet the standards to be exhibited.Being in Toronto, it seemed funny to see one farm owner’s name. You see, the person was more known by sports fans as the General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens. Dad spotted him in the crowd watching as his animal entered the ring. Sam Pollock was in the building.Imagine Mr. Pollock’s excitement when his Jersey animal won Junior Grand Champion. Dad would always go through the barns where the cattle being shown were kept to see the herds and what they had won. Dad enjoyed seeing a herd of cattle, no matter what the breed and The Royal was the place to see the best of the best.Those not familiar with exhibiting cattle might not know that it’s tradition for the exhibitors, especially those whose animals placed in the top three of their class. Those who won their class are the best of the best at the fair. Prestige and notoriety bring attention to the animal, its sire and dam, to the herd and farm, its owner and exhibitor.This usually draws prospective buyers to their farm to see the rest of their herd, to maybe buy the prize animal, or one of its offspring or calves, or perhaps semen from its sire.It is customary for the winners of a class to celebrate with toasts to the prize-winning animal.Dad remembered where he saw Sam Pollock’s herd of Jerseys and off, we went. The people seemed to be milling around as we approached the place where the herd was tied up. In the middle of crowd, we saw the man beaming with pride. It was Sam Pollock.Now, it’s normal for visitors to the herd, us in this case, to be offered drinks by the herd owner. This wasn’t the normal for Mr. Pollock. Dad and I stood in awe as we were offered Molson Canadian beers on polished silver platters by men and women in black pants, black vests and long-sleeved white shirts. Quite a spectacle to see. Dad usually drank Old Vienna, but he graciously accepted the other kind. Other servers carried the same type of platters laden with Scheidners cold cuts in sandwiches. I had my fair share of sandwiches.We went over to see if we could speak with Mr. Pollock and congratulate him on his prize animal. I couldn’t believe it when he actually shook our hands and talked with us for a few minutes about the animal.A few Monreal Canadiens fans interrupted our conversation to see what Mr. Pollock thought of the hockey team’s chance of winning the Stanley Cup that year. With deep respect to the Montreal Canadiens organization and the late Mr. Pollock, he told the fans that that day was his day and his Jersey herd’s day in the spotlight, not the hockey team.Let’s just say, he found out there were many farmers in that crowd who cheered what he had said. ... See MoreSee Less

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Looking for a unique Christmas gift? We have “BROOKLIN REMEMBERED” books available, filled with interesting stories about the men and women who helped to make the community of Brooklin a memorable place to live. ... See MoreSee Less

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