Mary Armstrong (Nurse at the Braeside Inn) 1950-1959

The Braeside Inn  stood at the South-West corner of Usborne Street and River Road from 1888-1969.

Mary timed her visit to the kitchen when she knew Emma’s boss, Gladys, was outside. She watched her friend move like a square dancer as she pulled pies out of the oven and placed them on the counter.  Mary wanted to talk to Emma about Mac Beattie in private.

Members of the 1949-50 Braeside Men’s Hockey Team who won the Arnprior Town League that year including Mac Beattie (goalie).

Ever since she’d heard him sing ‘Moonlight Memory’ at the Club Rooms, the melody was stuck in her head. She knew that the popular musician from Braeside was an excellent hockey player, but she wanted to know more about him. Mary had met plenty of young men from the mill, but none were as talented or as handsome as Mac.

Braeside Club Rooms were located across from their office on Arthur’s Hill.

Last week, she was called down to one of the new dry kilns to tend to a broken arm. The injured man had recently relocated from the saw mill at Temagami when it closed in 1958. With that closure, Gillies Bros. was hoping to stabilize employment and increase production in Braeside.

A gust of cold air came into the kitchen with Gladys as she stepped inside. Mary hurried back to the clinic for her 10 o’clock appointment – she’d catch up with Emma later.

Gladys and Claude Desjardin in front of the Braeside Inn, circa 1950

Listen to the audio clip about growing up in Braeside with transcription: Interview with Mrs. Phyllis Brennan.