CASTO °REVIEW Vol. 1, No. 7 One Canada Friday, April 7, 1978 Twenty-five cents New features this issue The Castor Review introduces two new features, "The Adventures of Meg"' by local writer Margot McCallum and "Pigs'n Poodles," a pet care column by Russell veterinarian Geoff Cochrane. You'll find "Meg", an adventure series for younger readers on page 11 while "Pigs", by the chief veterinarian for the Ottawa Spay-Neutre Clinic, is on page 6. Beaver Bob fans will find an interview with the Sage of the Castor on page 9. On page 12, we offer a verbal port- rait of Embrun which hosted the Wintario television show March 30. And featured in Neighbors this month are Metcalfe's McLaurins. That's on page 8. Kinnaird Arena tribute to Doc' On June 2, the Russell arena will be officially named after Dr. Frank Kinnaird to honor 40 years of unstinting devotion to family medicine. Residents are invited toa plaque unveiling (8:30 p.m.) and a reception (9 p.m.) at the arena to mark the occasion. A dinner by invitation will be held the same evening. The Russell Recreation Association's decision to dedicate the arena to Dr. Kinnaird was recently approved by township council. Castor Review editor Mark Van Dusen interviewed this dedicated man and found him, at almost 72, to be looking forward to retiring as Russell's second family doctor in 90 years but refusing to leave without finding a replacement to carry on. Sidewalk Talk By Mark Van Dusen Jamaica -- Hustle and Hype in the sun Jamaica is a sad island. That's the conclusion I came to after a two-week holiday in the West Indian country recently. Several weeks to digest the visit has only re-affirmed that conclusion. I would not recommend Jamaica, as I saw it, to anyone looking for a restful, trouble-free vacation. I wouldn' t go back unless convinced that things had improved. More experienced travellers who sampled Jamaica have convinced me that there are other tropical retreats more worthy of one's time and money. To put things in perspective, I will acknowledge that one tends to label a whole country according to a relatively brief stay in one area. Granted, it may be presumptuous to do so. With that in mind, I can only feel sorry for the Jamaican people from what I saw in Ocho Rios. Ocho Rios is a developing resort to the right of centre on the north coast of the oblong island. It has two new towering hotels, the Hyatt Mallard Beach and the neighboring Inter- continental. Briefly, from personal observation and conversation with guests, neither hotel really lived up to their luxurious facade. Service was generally slow even for a country where speed seemed applied only on the highway and was often rendered with reluctance. Room service was also snail-paced and over- priced. Likewise, food was a little pricy and one order of escargots amounted to empty shells. The cost was uncheerfully refunded. Nightly entertainment was good but only slightly varied, two full shows of Lord Laro, who combines ballads with dirty jokes, was plenty. The man-made beach, the lush ocean setting were nice. For the tourist happy to stay put and soak up the blistering sun, things probably looked alright. It's when we decided to venture away from the protective- ness of the hotel compound that things became especially disappointing. Not content to stay put like quarantined lepers, members of our group, there were four of us and later six, regularly walked the few blocks into the village. These excursions invariably turned into running battles with moochers, drug pushers, gigolos, prostitutes and peddlers of bamboo beer mugs and beads. To the uninitiated, this type of hype can be intimidating. After two weeks, it is downright aggravating. The island is steeped in the history of buccaneers and sugar plantations. A few of the splendid white-washed, stucco plantation houses still serve as restaurants. The decor-patio dining under the palms, was breathtaking. The food was second rate. As a tourist, I came to feel regarded simply as a walking wallet to be squeezed penniless. a While this is to be expected any- preted where tourism is a major cA industry, it could have been done pa ad Pmat> more tactfully. aad? A simple request for inform- ed iam) ation from a passerby hinged on money changing hands. At- tempts to get to know the "average Joe" on equal terms ' almost always carried a price tag. In an economically _hard- pressed, tourist-dependent soc- it wasn't for a chance nigeling in an Ottawa hospital more than 40 years ago, Dr. Frank Kinnaird might never have made it to Russell. As it was, fate threw two dedicated men together in what was to consolidate a medical legacy that has spanned almost a century in the village. It was Dr. Dugald S. MacDoug- all, who was then in his 50th year as Russell's village doctor and was at the Civic Hospital to perform an operation, to whom the young Queen's University graduate and intern Kinnaird was introduced. The respect. between the old veteran and the novice was mutual; they became fast friends and Dr. Kinnaird left his fledgling practice in Hearst, Ont., to come to Russell in 1938 at the retiring Dr. MacDougall's request. The tradition then was to turn over the practice lock, stock and barrel, so Dr. MacDougall moved out of his house at the corner of Church and Concession Streets to make way for his successor. (Dr. MacDougall lived until his death several years later in the house now owned by Pat and Jack McLaren on Craig Street across from MacDougall Park). Now, Dr. Kinnaird is bent on preserving the tradition as he contemplates the day when he will turn over the same house to someone he feels can continue to dispense the high quality of medical care to which local residents have become accust- omed. Despite a few promising pros- pects that didn't materialize, he is certain that someone will come along and is determined to stay on although "I'm slowing down a little bit'? until someone does. "It's important to get some- body who can become part of the community very quickly. It's still hard for country people today to get into Ottawa to see a doctor and people open up a lot more toa doctor who gets to know them as a family, they bring in all their problems,' he said, as_ he reminisced in front of the crack- ling fireplace in his parlor. And, if he has anything to say, his successor will not be of the type who dispensed drugs like | Frank Kinnaird, M.D. penny-candy for every ache and pain. "Today if people get a bit of a fever, they want an antibiotic right away. It's an easy out for the doctor but people should be made to rely more on their natural resistance," he said. Community participation is no stranger to Dr. Kinnaird, whose green thumb is as sharp as his plunger thumb. He is one of four surviving founding members of the Russell Lions Club and has managed finalist and champion- ship bantam hockey teams in Russell. But he is first a doctor. Perhaps it was his childhood memory of his father's death from typhoid on the family's homestead near Prince Albert, Sask., that spur- red him into medicine. Whatever the reason, Dr. Kinnaird, who was raised in Hammond with his brother and sister after the tragedy on the Prairies, has seen once-common killers like typhoid become relatively easy to cure with the developmnt of antibiotics. X-rays and improved . anest- hetics were other reakthroughs he witnessed. "Before the im- provement of anesthetics, a child commonly died from a ruptured appendix,'he said. When he went overseas during the Second World War with the 24th Canadian General Hospital, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, the treatment for pneu- monia was "a mustard plaster, aspirin and whiskey."' By the end of the war, penicillin was in use. But administering medicine wasn't always easy back home. There was the time a team of horses had to pull his car two miles back to town in a blizzard after a call to the Stanley farm on the north road. For a while he had his own team of horses for winter rounds. Wallace Campbell, father of Russell resident Bob Campbell and "an excellent horseman," did the driving. Tina Campbell, Bob's wife, who helps make a visit to the doctor's as friendly as any visit to a neighbor's, has been his faithful , nurse from the start. He said he hopes to stay in Russell after he finds a successor but might join his brother Jack in retirement in Halifax. And, with a humility that has become legendary, he was surprised by | the decision to name the arena after him, "I don't really think I deserve it," he said. iety, this attitude is perhaps understandable - understandable but sad. J Russell Village -- New bank building A major face-lift is in prospect for Russell Village's business area. The Castor Review has learned that the Therkelsen Farm Mach- inery building, on Main street, has been sold. It is understood that first option for the building was held by the Bank of Nova Scotia, and that it has applied for and received a demolition permit for the building. The Therkelsen building is to be replaced by a modern office building containing accommod- ations for the Bank as well as legal offices. Erik Therkelsen, proprietor of the Farm Implement business will be moving to a new building on the Russell-Embrun road. Construction of the new building will begin shortly and should be completed by June. Recently an Ottawa group took over a brick building on the corner of Concession Road and Mill street, opposite the Hard- ware store. Lorne Wade, prop- rietor of a shoe store and haber- dashery, was given notice to move. The notice has now been rescinded. Bank manager Roger Morin declined to confirm that the bank had either purchased the building or was in process of negotiating for accommodation in the new office building; but at the same time he did not deny the Castor Review information. In spite of the bank's reticence, it was learned from township officials that the bank has had an coming option on the building for some time. Councillor Baird McNeil stated that the construction of an office building on the Main street was a further step in the rehabilitation of Russell Village. He said council would be watching close- ly to ensure that the heritage aspects of the street would be preserved in line with the Registry Office and the Post Office. 'We want Russell to be a good town to live in and a good town to do business in," Mr. McNeil said. "We intend to do everything possible to preserve the amenities, so the citizens of Russell can continue to be proud _of their own." (See picture page 8)