The Sunday School Picnics of Bygone Years
FURTHER UPDATE: Pastor Beryl informs me that she is in the background in this photo! She is the little girl almost smack in the middle with the very blond hair. A smaller dark-haired child is right in front of her, and they’re next to the man holding his hand up to his face. Talk about living history!
UPDATE: After sharing this blog post to the Facebook group called Crawford Park Kids, we have a lot more information about the photo. It turns out that Liz Storey, who is a member of the group, is one of the children pictured, and her father Len Storey, was the photographer!
According to Liz, the girls in the foreground that she can recognize are: Left to right front - Joanne Barr -?- Liz Storey; Left to right back - Joyce Barr - Pam Adams -?-.
She thinks the picture was taken around 1954 in Queen Elizabeth Park*. Thank you to Liz Storey, as well as Liz Ludlow Collymore who manages that group, and all the “Kids”.
Original Post:
I love this photo. It obviously depicts a church picnic, but there is no date or other information given. Based on the women’s hairstyles and clothing, it appears to date from the late 1940s or early 50s. I don’t know for sure that this was a Crawford Park United picnic, but somehow it seems right to set it beside this reminiscence from the late Dru MacMillan which appeared in the memorial booklet: Crawford Park United Church 1947-1997: 50 Years of memories.
The Annual Sunday School Picnic is a happy memory of my childhood days at CPUC. In those days there were a large number of children at Sunday School and a good number of busses were needed to transport the children and adults to St. Helen’s Island for the picnic. My greatest wish at that time was to be on the same bus as Mr. Jim Crawford. he was such a jolly man and so well liked. He always kept us happy and singing to and from the Island. He made the picnic a joyous one.
*others think this was taken at St. Helen’s Island.