Treur Case, Wilma, Sid C.

The Trip to the Land of Milk and Honey

The Recollection by Simon (Sid) C. Treur

I arrived with my parents from, The Hague in The Netherlands to Canada, at the age of 8 years and 9 months. My parents names, Cornelis (CASE) S. Treur, age 34 and my mother Myntje (WILMA) W. Treur-Salij age 35.

We travelled from the Hoek of Holland by ferry boat to London on March 1, 1951. When we arrived in London we stayed one night in a London Hotel. At this location my parents first saw a television in the hotel lobby area with an actual broadcast on the tube. This amazed them as they related this to me. The following day we left by train to go to Liverpool for departure to our new homeland. A large vast country portrayed to us the by means of posters and pictures in the Netherlands. Canada: the land of opportunity and challenge.

We arrived in Liverpool and boarded the ship R. M. S. FRANCONIA, for departure to Canada and the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia. My parents told me that the total amount of Canadian funds allowed to be brought with us from Holland was a total of $164.00. Our personal belongings were crated in Holland and shipped by a separate freighter, in a large wooden box, to our final destination in Canada. The first stop on this journey was a stop at Cobh, Ireland. This stop was to have additional passengers board the ship, by means of a tender. The harbour was not able to accommodate a normal docking at a berth. We then proceeded to cross the Atlantic Ocean and cross this vast body of water to arrive in Halifax on March 11, 1951.

Our crossing was eventful as we met up with other Dutch immigrants along with English, Scottish and Irish immigrants and regular cruise passengers. This ship was not an immigrant ship as many were in those days with barrack type accommodation. The command of the English language was next to nil for me and my parents had gone to English lessons for a few months prior to our departure. This did get them started and they were able to make themselves understood. They used visual means, showing samples or literal translations from Dutch to English. This method did not give the same meaning always and an example was requesting a hose for washing a truck. The word hose translated to snake, and we requested a snake from our sponsor for the job of hand washing the truck.

On board we did have a few days of rough weather and the various remedies for sea sickness were administered to overcome the sensation of motion sickness. We had entertainment on board, as this was a cruise ship of the day and not a converted troop carrier for immigrants. My father immigrated with his brother and his family William (Willem) Treur and spouse Mary (Rie) and daughter Margaret (Greetje). We were a bit musical; especially William. He played many instruments and I played a bit of accordion along with my cousin Margaret. We entertained on board a few times and my Uncle William after hours. The passengers even went around with a hat and collected money and gave the collected money to him.

We finally arrived in Halifax, our new country and our future, especially for us the children. My parents had no idea what stood before them. We were officially registered at Pier 21 and had stamps entered on the passport of my parents. I was listed on my Mothers passport. Too bad that this passport was not kept or had to be returned on renewal. Now to have proof of entry I have to go back to get this confirmed at Canada Immigration records to receive my Old Age Security, before I reach 65. We then were directed to a train, which was to bring us to our destination and our sponsor. Our destination was Toronto, Ontario and the sponsor was Robert Lantz Nurseries, located at 3000 Bathurst Street. The nursery sponsored both families.

My parents fulfilled their duties in respect to their sponsorship but soon were engaged in part time work at night mowing lawns and doing various other jobs to compliment their income. The pay at the nursery was $ 30.00 per week. My mother did housework and cleaning offices in addition to her daily home activities for the family. Our first rented apartment was on the East side across from 3000 Bathurst Street. This was above a store, which was occupied by B. J. Bielesch & Company Plumbing, & Heating Supplies, Electrical Appliances Radios. This information comes from a photograph and using a magnifying glass I was able to read it. My parents soon moved and rented the top floor of a new house located on Covington Ave., near Lawrence Ave. and Bathurst Street. From there they rented a complete home on Fairholme Ave.

The home on Fairholme was a receiving point, from my recollection, of many new immigrants to Canada. These first new arrivals were, as I recollect, cousins and nephews from my parent's families, children of my father's uncles and aunts. This became our extended family as more family and friends of friends immigrated throughout those early years of the 1950s. Many stayed as boarders and started working at anything, just to get settled and establish an income. All newcomers wanted to establish themselves and looked for a promising future. Most succeeded. Most went into the Gardening and Nursery areas. My father arranged many of these positions, as Sheridan Nurseries Ltd. now employed him in the Landscape Department. Many new immigrants were employed from various counties but mostly the Netherlands. Some were from Estonia and were stone masons who skilled in facing flagstone for walls and walks in the landscaping of many new homes and commercial buildings. My father Landscaped the Ford Motor Company plant along the Queen Elizabeth as one project and another was the Eaton Estate in the Caledonia Hills, Northwest of Toronto.

The harsh winters took a toll on those that worked outdoors and many employees were laid off during the winter months. They obtained work in factories and some drove and delivered heating oil in the Toronto area and suburbs.

My mother was one of four sisters and two brothers. One sister, Corrie VanDolder-Salij, immigrated to Canada in 1952 and one brother, Joop (John) Salij, in 1956. My father's, mother and father also immigrated in 1952 but could not get used to the environment and especially the language. They returned to the Netherlands after only one year in Canada.

Upon our arrival in Toronto, I was enrolled in the local public school system and placed in grade 1, as I did not speak the language. There was no ESL in those days. I was in grade 3 in the Netherlands so it was a shock, sitting in a class with 5 or 6 year olds. I picked up on the language quick enough to be doing some of the work done by the grade 3 class. In the basics, I was a bit ahead, such as arithmetic. By the following year I had moved into my grade level for my age. I was very fortunate to go to school and after High School at Bathurst Heights, moved on to take private schooling in a new technology then. The technology was Electronic Data Processing. Those days it was unit record equipment and some huge computer systems that took up floor space by the hundreds of square feet. The equipment today such as our home and office computers, are no comparison to then. Equipment at astronomical speeds and storage devices in the billions of bytes. The sophisticated hardware and software developed in the last 50, years is hard to comprehend from then to now. I relate to myself as a dinosaur in the industry today. I spent a number of years in the United states, as at the time the job opportunities were limited to just a few large organisations. I returned to Canada, after obtaining sufficient experience and returned to the West Coast of British Columbia. I became an employee for a short time. Soon after I started my own company in 1970. I am still in operation today and located in Vancouver. The company offers services related to Data Processing and Communication Marketing. We use various computers, laser printers, inkjet machines and other equipment to maintain the various services that the company provides.

My father passed away in 1999. My mother, Wilma passed away peacefully in her afternoon nap June 27 2007.