Heritage photo: Wilno sisters celebrated Canada’s centennial in 1967

On St. Patrick’s Day this year I was given a copy of an old Toronto Telegram newspaper dated July 1, 1967 – Canada’s Centennial Year. The Weekend Magazine was included, and in it was an article entitled “Who are today’s Canadians?” I was pleasantly surprised to see the above picture of two girls from Wilno in the Telegram’s special centennial publication.

The full description under the photograph reads:

“Lorraine Bloskie, seven, and her sister Rachel, nine, live on a farm established by their Polish great-great-grandfather at Wilno, in Ontario’s beautiful Madawaska Valley. Wilno was settled in the 1840s by Polish Roman Catholic fisherman, tired of religious persecution by Prussia. All but two of the local priest’s parishioners are still Polish and many Wilno children learn Polish before English. Lorraine’s father, Dominic Bloskie, would like all his four children to go to college, though he knows this would mean they would have to leave Wilno.

There were 323,517 Poles in Canada in 1961, more than 70,000 of them post-war immigrants.”

Toronto Telegram Weekend section (1967,1 Jul.) Who are today’s Canadians?

Both Rachel and Lorraine were students of mine a long time ago at Madawaska Valley District High School. Rachel Stamplecoski recently retired from her position as a nurse at Valley Manor, but I have lost track of Lorraine so any readers who are still in touch with her might share this article with her.

Note to our readers: If you are interested in having a picture and story featured in The Madawaska Valley Current, please submit the information to Bob Corrigan at madvalleycurrent@gmail.com (subject Heritage Photos) or mail your photo to Bob c/o The Current at PO Box 1097, Barry’s Bay K0J 1B0 (originals will be returned).