I took the train from Mattawa, ON (a whistle stop on the CN line but where I lived at the time) with my son, Jordan, then 4. We arrived a couple of days later in Moosomin, Sask at 2 a.m. Dorothy Wigmore was waiting there to pick us up. I had sent my tent and equipment ahead so that when we arrived at Ron and LIz's farm in Oxbow, we could just crawl into our sleeping bags until morning. It was a great reunion. My son was now old enough to hang out with "the guys", which he just loved. Here a few pics.

This reunion was just west of Waterloo at Glen Soulis' dad's place.

It was so long ago that it's hard to remember all the stories from the early days. But the reunions - now that's a different story. I remember one reunion at Bruce Mines (then the home of Elaine Switzman and Michael Corbett) in 1987. I was a single mother of a two- year-old. Donna was into letting kids explore and do their own thing. There was painting available for the little ones. But I was trying to keep mine a little cleaner than painting would allow. I was so exhausted a lot of the time and the suggestion to just let my son get covered in paint to explore was more than I could handle, and I didn't feel I would get any help in cleaning him up. 

I remember another Bruce Mines reunion in 1985, when my son was just over 2 months old. I brought my tent, but Elaine was so generous and said, since I had a baby, I could sleep in the house. What a relief!

In 1989, the reunion was at Ron and Liz's in Saskatchewan. Brian Iler and Arel Agnew had their youngest, Andrew with them. My son, 4 years, and Andrew, 2 or 3, were youngest ones there. But my son, Jordan, was so thrilled by all the attention from the adult males in the group, he was really annoyed by the attention from Andrew. He protested, "Why does he keep bugging me". Jordan's biggest thrill was going for a walk with John Dufort and, I think, Ron?, all by himself. He felt so grown up. 

The reunion in 2000 in Ktchener:my son had died earlier that year; Arel and Brian had split up. Arel and I spent a lot of time in my tent, just talking. We formed a close friendship that continues to this day. 

This picture by Brian Cere really captured me at that time..