Bruce's Page

A Day in the Sugar Bush

by Bruce Walsh

My farm is in Clarendon Township near Shawville, Quebec. In our maple bush we have nearly 300 trees. Every year my father and I tap the trees to make maple syrup. My sister helps us to gather the sap. Sometimes my niece and nephews help.

We tap the trees at the end of March. The temperature needs to be below freezing during the night and warm during the day. We need some snow for the sap to run. The snow makes it colder at night. To make the holes in the trees we use a battery powered drill. You have to put taps into the holes. We hang cans on the taps for the sap to run into.

We collect the sap with the tractor and the trailer. On the trailer the sap goes into a 200 gallon holding tank. The sap goes in the evaporator pan from the holding tank. We use fire wood to boil the sap down into maple syrup.

The colour of maple syrup can be light or dark. We use a filter to strain the hot maple syrup. We store and sell the maple syrup in cans. We eat pancakes with maple syrup. I like to eat maple spread. I like making maple syrup. It is hard work but it is fun.

 

My Visit to the Wild Wild West

by Bruce Walsh

I took a two week vacation last spring with my brother, Les and our friend Darlene. We drove out to Calgary. Our trip started Saturday, April 23, 2005. The first day we stopped in Wawa, Ontario and later visited the Terry Fox monument in Thunderbay. That night we stayed in Ignace, Ontario. We had supper and a good night's sleep.

The next day we drove past Winnipeg and headed straight for Calgary. There we met Darlene's son, Darcy. We went to Edmonton to visit the West Edmonton Mall and looked at all the sights. The one I liked the most was the skating rink. After visiting with friends, we went back to Calgary. We saw the Calgary Stampede grounds and the Olympic Games site.

After leaving Calgary, we visited our niece, Cindy, in Lethbridge and helped her to move to Regina. We stayed there for two days and then started to head back home through the States.

We crossed the border and spent the first night in Round Up, Montana. We visited the Buffalo Bill museum in Cody, Wyoming. Through South Dakota, we saw how gold was made in Rapid City; visited Crazy Horse Mountain and saw Mount Rushmore. Near Keystone we went to a gold mine that has a waterfall inside. In Wall, S.D we visited the famous Wall Drug Store. In Minnesota we stopped at a Cabella Sports Store. We drove through Wisconsin, Michigan and the rest of the way back home through Canada.

I had a really good trip and had lots of fun.

 

The Beverly Hillbillies

by Bruce Walsh

I like to watch the Beverly Hillbillies. It is one of my favorite shows. I like Granny because she is funny and makes people laugh. She is a little old lady who wears a long dress and boots. Granny likes to drink moonshine. She also has a great imagination.

Ellie May's boyfriend's nick name is Frog. Granny told Ellie May not to go swimming with him. She was afraid Ellie May might turn into a frog. She saw that Frog was wearing flippers and thought they were frog's feet.

 

Bruce submitted the following as an entry for the recognition award for adult literacy. He had to write a story about how learning to read has changed his life. Here is Bruce's submission, which won an award.

How Learning to Read Changed my Life

by Bruce Walsh

Western Quebec Literacy Council

I was born in Sudbury, Ontario. I grew up on our family farm which was in a small community just outside Sudbury. The farm was beside a lake. I would go fishing there sometimes with my brother and sister. I liked going to school and went as far as grade six. I did not go back to school after grade six. I stayed at home and worked on the farm. Nothing changed until we moved to my grandparents' farm in Shawville, Quebec. I worked on the farm and I managed to receive my driver's license. I still work and live there with my dad.

A few years ago I received a phone call from the Western Quebec Literacy Council. They wanted to know if I would like to learn to read and write. I accepted and this is how I got started. Since then I have been going for lessons with my tutor once a week. I read lesson books, short stories and try to read the newspaper.

I have written a few short stories about my life experiences. "A Day in the Sugar Bush" - how my dad and I make maple syrup on our farm; "My Visit to the Wild Wild West" - the trip I made with my brother, Les and Darlene, from Shawville to Calgary and then back to home through the United States; "My Cruise to Alaska" - a flight to Vancouver and a six day cruise to Alaska with my dad, Phil and Joan.

Since I learned to read and write I can read the signs in grocery stores and street signs. I am able to read menus in restaurants and itineraries on my trips. I can read labels on packages and fill out forms.

I have many new friends who I met by going to the literacy council. We have our own curling team, "The Happy Rockers" . We meet every Thursday evening to curl. I play the position of "Skip" . Thanks to learning to add, subtract and multiply, I can keep track of the score board and watch how well our team is doing with points.

I am also a member of a group formed by the literacy council called T.R.E.E. (Teamwork to Raise Education and Equality.) It is for the students. I help to chair the meetings and to organize activities with the group. We have gone on day trips to museums, a trip to Montreal, held craft days and bowling days.

Because of learning to read and write, it has made me more active and involved. I look forward to curling each week and I enjoy doing activities with the T.R.E.E. group.

 

My Trip to Jasper

by Bruce Walsh

We left Sudbury by motor home on Saturday, September 22, 2007 and drove to Thunderbay. There we spent the first night. Sunday we spent the night in Neepawa, and Monday night in Cold Lake.

Tuesday we arrived at Cindy' s, my niece, in Fort McMurry. There we spent the rest of the week. After leaving on Saturday, we went for a tour of the oil sands, then left for Calgary. We spent the night in Airdric. The next day we arrived in Calgary, and had breakfast with Darcy and Sarah.

During the week we visited with Jeannie, and met her daughters Melissa and Taylor. There were many more people to visit. At Julie's, we met Darlene's grandparents Lorne and Eileen. On Thursday night we left with Darcy and Sarah for Edmonton, Jasper and the Colombia Icefields. We saw a natural bridge made from rock that spread over a river. It was there where we met some tourists from Taiwan, who had never seen a motor home. They asked for a tour of the inside, and really enjoyed seeing what it looked like.

We continued on to Lake Louise and Banff, before heading back to Calgary. There we had Thanksgiving supper at Terry's. The next day we started to head east to go back home.

Along the way we stopped in Brooks, Alberta; Moosomin, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, Manitoba. We also stopped at Kakbeca Falls near Thunderbay. It was a very pretty place. After spending the night in Nipigon, the next day we made many stops at trading posts, water falls and different stores. We arrived back home in Sudbury around eight o'clock that evening.

I liked my trip very much. I enjoyed visiting all the places that I have never seen before.