Page 7 - December 2022 News On 7

HAZZARD'S HISTORY NOTES

by Grant Ketcheson
“HAPPY CHRISTMAS”
As the Christmas season approaches, we look back fondly on holidays from our past. In the rosy glow of hindsight, we
remember the special preparations in our homes: the tree, the trimmings, the food and gifts. School concerts and the
special evenings at Hazzard's Church were part of the traditions of Christmas. When we were children, we wondered,
“Would the big day ever get here?”
There were, however, Christmases past that were fraught with worry and fear. In the years 1914-1918, there were many
empty chairs at Christmas dinner celebrations. What of sons, brothers, husbands, fighting somewhere in France? Are they
safe tonight? These thoughts and more would have been uppermost in the minds of thousands during the dark years of
the Great War.
The Keene family, who lived in a white frame farmhouse a mile north of Hazzard's Corners, was one of those families.
Winnifred, like so many mothers of the era, had already weathered tragedy. Her son, Thomas, had died of pneumonia at
age nineteen. Three years later in 1908, her husband Richard, only 58 years old and the father of their eight children,
along with their twenty-year-old son, Fred, succumbed to typhoid fever.
As the Keene family gathered to celebrate Christmas in 1916 and prepared to head off to the “Christmas Tree” at Hazzard's
Church, they must have had special prayers for a son and brother, Melbourne (Mel), thousands of miles away on the
battlefields of Belgium.
Mel and sister Alma were close in age and we know he remembered her when he was in Europe. Many years later, from a
worn trunk left by Aunt Alma, we found a few special treasures. Among them were greeting cards sent to her from her
brother during the Great War. How long did it take for these cards to come from Europe to Hazzard's Corners? One thing
that we know for sure, those cards were works of art. Some are elaborately embroidered, our favourite being the 1916
Christmas card, fashioned on delicate lace. How Aunt Alma must have excitedly awaited each one! The Mel Keene story
had a happy ending as he returned safely home. He left Hazzard's Corners and moved to western Canada where he
established a farm of his own. Sadly, Alma Keene's sweetheart, Harold Harris, did not return and lies somewhere in
France.
As that 1916 Christmas card says:
HAPPY CHRISTMAS

This card, on delicate lace, was a A note, tucked in a tiny pocket on the
work of art sent to Alma Keene card, from Mel to Alma

Gunner Melbourne Keene,
somewhere in Belgium, 1916