noticed all the hills. It was something that she didn’t have to worry about in Holland, since the land was flat.

Now in a new land, they had to start all over again, since they had nothing to farm with. That didn’t bother Nuy, because he was thrilled with the 165 acres of land that he now owned. It made his farm in Holland look very small. He couldn’t believe his good fortune. The day after his arrival in Bear River, he and the boys were off to the woods to cut some pulp to buy a few necessities. They had brought some seed from Holland, and they planted a large garden. They were amazed at how quickly the vegetables started to grow. Nuy did make one mistake that year; he planted the potatoes on the flat rather than in drills, and they didn’t grow very well. In Holland, the soil was soft and a drill wasn’t necessary. However, his other vegetables did grow in abundance and size. This provided food for them that first winter. Johanna bottled all the vegetables and fruit that fall, since they had no refrigeration at that time. Jeannette recalls that their Christmas on Prince Edward Island was pretty lean, but a neighbour, Peter Sheehan, gave them a turkey for their Christmas dinner; otherwise, they would not have had one.

Eventually, the tractor replaced the horse, and Nuy had to learn how to drive it. He mounted the machine, and drove it around the yard, but he didn’t know how to stop it. He ended up driving it through the door of the building and it continued going until it went through the other end. Jeannette chuckles as she recalls her father shouting, “WOH! WOH!”

Nuy and his family had to cope with our frigid winters and mountains of snow. Winter set in rather early that year, and Jeannette remembers it well. It was October 28, 1954, when a winter storm started. Her mother sent her to the store for some groceries. She had no overshoes and was wearing wooden shoes and short ankle socks. In

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