The Blossom pool was a private swimming pool in Cote Saint-Luc located between Blossom and Mackle Avenue, north-west of Wentworth Park (today Kirwan Park). In early 1962, the Cote Saint-Luc Swimming Pool Association, a non-profit organization headed by Bernard Lang, privately purchased the grounds between Blossom and Mackle, which was about 40,000 square feet. The pool itself was 5000 square feet and L shaped. The whole recreation center featured the pool, a wading pool for children, a change house, a parking area, and a play area. Construction started in the end of March 1962 and was completed in June 1962.  

The club could accommodate 500 families and priority was given to Cote Saint-Lucers. However, membership was open to CSL residents and surrounding areas. The initial cost was 125$ per family, plus a 25$ annual fee each year. By February 28 1962, 500 families had signed up to the Blossom Pool.  

The official opening date was June 15, 1962. They offered free swimming lessons to children which led to red cross certificates. Other notable features included an aquatic display, lounge chairs, shuffleboard, competitions, social events, table tennis, volleyball, dance patio, family swim nights, spacious sun deck, and lifeguards always on duty.  

By 1998, after 36 years of operation, the Blossom pool was forced to close. The membership had declined significantly within the years, going from 500 families to 200 families. This was mainly due to changing demographics in Cote Saint-Luc. Members appealed to city council in order to save the pool. Despite all efforts, the Blossom pool closed for the 1998 season.  

On September 2022, the city held a reunion for those families who would attend the Blossom Pool. You can visit their Facebook page to see photos, videos and other memories shared in honor of this event: Blossom Pool Memories | Facebook

In 1960 we moved into a lovely home built by our parents on land they bought from Fritz Riegert, poultry keeper and farmer. When we moved onto the street, Mr Riegert’s farmhouse (5525 Randall), barn and chicken coops were still standing, abandoned and very dilapidated. We all remember it as looking quite scary.

We never ventured onto the field or near the house -our parents were very emphatic about that rule. Except for one time – which my parents never ever found out about. One girlfriend, who was much more daring than I decided we had to get close to the house. We found an open window or door and went inside. I remember it being dark and dirty – scary, just like in the movies. We were not in the house for long – I think I was just too scared. But, I do remember finding a huge pile of newspapers on the floor and when we looked at the pile of papers, I found a newspaper from 1951 – my birth year. I think that it was even from my birthdate, but that could be just my memory playing tricks on me. All I remember is that I did not dare bring the newspaper home because then I would definitely be in BIG trouble from my parents.

Beyond Randall and Merton, the streets were not yet built up. Neither was neighbouring Hampstead, where we would go for walks, play and picnic in the fields. A narrow stream also ran through part of the field. Later on Hampstead Golf Course came into existence, before any houses were built.

Our section of Randall is still so beautiful because all the homes are individually built, before developers started buying up sections and putting up similar models on each block. A few years after our moving in, a wonderful couple bought part of the land next to us and built their home. They were very special people and we have such fond memories of time spent together. The one-story home was built especially for the couple as the wife was in a wheelchair and this provided her with easy access to manoeuvre about, even to get to her beautiful gardens, front and back.

Claire, Leah, Judy

One could say that I did indeed grow up in Cote St. Luc for I have spent the last fifty four years of my adult life in a community I have chosen as my home.

My residency began in the summer of 1963 when as a newlywed couple, my husband Brahms and I were offered 3 months free rent in a recently built building at 7920 Kingsley Road. That’s where our first son, Jeffrey, was born as was our second one; Jonathan. We lived there for 8 years along with our dog, Chanelle.

In 1971, we then became the proud owners of our first home at 5768 Leger Ave., that’s where our third son, Joshua’s life began. There too, our now completed family knew happy days for 7 years.

It was however in 1978 when we moved to our beautiful home for the next 37 years at 5620 Edgemore Ave., that our family lived our happiest and fullest years. On Edgemore, I lived near one of my closest and dearest friends –Evy Uditsky who also had three boys and who had insisted we buy the last home of the project on that street.

On that street which I consider the loveliest in CSL, the park at the center was a wonderful gathering place for young mothers and fathers and their children. Later on, I had the joy of pushing my grandsons on the very swings their fathers had enjoyed.

On Edgemore, I grew a garden that for years would win a prize by the city. It truly represented my earthly paradise.

The community of CSL itself offered so much to young families –from baseball programs to swimming ones, to ski school, and to my very favorite of all –the CSL Tennis Club where I’ve been a member for the last 43 years.

Later on, as they grew, two of my sons became involved with EMO –our emergency first responder. First our son Jeffrey, then Jonathan who followed in his brother’s footsteps. Both proudly rose to the rank of Captain. Jonathan was awarded the Governor General medal for his years of service.

One of the wonderful and proud assets of our community is of course the Eleanor London Côte saint-Luc Public Library. To that effect, I’m pleases to report that my letter to the editor of the Montreal Gazette, which paid tribute to the memory of its founder, was published on May 30^th, 2017.

Now in our senior years, (although my husband Brahms is still working full time as an Oncology Social Worker at the Jewish General Hospital),I have retired from my life’s  career as a college professor of French and Women’s Studies, and we are happily settled in our fairly recent acquired Condo (again, my letter to the editor about the upside of downsizing),I am within walking distance from the library.

Lastly, I am now a member of the Senior Community Garden where I happily grow tomatoes and eggplant as well as enjoy the flowering of some dahlias, and I can still enjoy the song of birds.

Cote St. Luc remains my number one  community where I grew up and where I can also grow old.

My parents became very early residents of CSL just as the post‑war building boom began in Cote St. Luc. The builders had bought a piece of farmland where CSL juts into Montreal West. The purchase was in 1952, and following the installation of sewers, electricity (but no phone), and water, the house was built in 1953, and we moved in January 1954. We were five children, one girl and four boys.

The first street where we   lived in that building project is now called Westluke, but at the time the name started as Lemieux Ave., which was not acceptable to the postal authorities as another street with this name existed. I believe there was yet another non‑starter name applied for.

It has to be understood that when we moved in, there were no sidewalks, or paved roads, or even a house on the other side of our street… and that only our street existed. You could look out from the front window and see few vehicles on Westminster Ave., with nothing but a farm field and a small stream in that field which filled our view. From the rear side of the house, you could see to the far border of the golf course, with steam engines passing on the raised railbed.

In those days, few families had a second car, and most women did not drive. So my mother was housebound during the week with my baby brother, but she could order from Eaton’s, Simpson’s, Hudson Bay, and they would all deliver to the house. When weather was bad and the street not passable, the poor drivers would walk, sometimes from Westminster, to our house where they would collect payment and leave the goods.

In 1954, the nearest shopping centre was in Dorval!

There was only one school in CSL at the time, located at the corner of CSL Road and Westminster, but it was Catholic, and we had to go out of CSL to the Protestant school, Elizabeth Ballantyn, in Montreal West. As I was only 5 years old, it was hard for me to walk through the large field from our house to Westminster Avenue as the grass was growing wild, it was muddy, and there was this little stream to cross. My pant legs and shoes were always muddy and full of sticking, prickly plant seeds.

It was customary in those  days for the first lesson in class to be a 20‑minute hymn sing, following the singing of the national anthem and God Save the Queen. This was partly compensated for, in my mind, by the elaborate Christmas festivities.

As I was only 5 years old, I was in kindergarten that first year and was dismissed earlier than my siblings. I would walk home alone, being terrified when I passed over the hump bridge as coal‑fired trains passed beneath and you could not see a thing, nor breathe properly, when this happened.

As a home construction  boom was taking effect, I enjoyed the freedom of going wherever I wanted after school, and at a rather young age I thought I knew all the steps to build a house. I should add that as more families moved in, all the kids played outside without adult supervision and with no front doors locked during daytime.

I remember the Polio epidemic and the long lineup at a school in Ville St. Pierre when the polio vaccine became available. This was about in 1956.

The first Jewish New Years festivities were held in a new home borrowed from the builder, and it was on Edinburgh Avenue, adjacent to Westluke. Most families contributed to the success of that venture by bringing furniture, lamps, desks, etc. Note; this was long before the start of the Beth Zion synagogue.

After living in Chomedey, Laval for 29 years, we finally decided it was time to move into the city of Cote St. Luc.

Two of my children were on their own and the third was going to McGill. My father was at Maimonides (now called Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Center), and it was getting more difficult to cross the Cartierville Bridge to come to town.

After living in a home, it was a big change to move into an apartment, but we have never regretted it for a moment.

So the big move was in July 1989.

Lots has changed in Cote St. Luc since then.

Our apartment is facing the back of the Cavendish Mall.

So much has happened here that when family or friends from out of town come to visit, they get lost because of all the new construction.

Part of the Cavendish Mall was demolished, and where there was all bare land now is completely built up with beautiful large homes, apartment buildings, many new avenues, and it seems like a new little city has emerged.

Every year around June, in the back of my building, the carnival would come with all rides and treats, and if I went on my balcony, I could enjoy watching all the excitement.

Now all this land which was bare is occupied with townhouses.

Cavendish Mall, now called Quartier Cavendish, is not the same anymore.

Eaton’s department store, Brown’s shoe store, Laura Secord, Canadian Tire, Caplan Duval, and most of all the famous Pumpernick’s restaurant, all gone.

The Chabad Synagogue held its services at Eaton’s, and now has their own building on Kildare.

The Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc Public Library, which was in the Cote St. Luc Shopping Centre, is now on Cavendish Blvd. and has so many programs for children and senior citizens.

The Cote St. Luc Aquatic and Community Center was built in 2011 and has fitness classes, an amazing pool, and many programs and activities for all.

So Cote St. Luc has changed dramatically since 1989 and is still growing.

Looking forward to enjoying many more years in Cote St. Luc, hopefully in good health, G‑d Willing.

My grandfather, William (Bill) Dallison arrived to Canada from England in 1909. In 1932, he bought the house at 774 Hudson. Soon after, he moved to 865 Wolseley Avenue, renting the house from William J. Henderson, and lived there until his death in 1948. My grandfather had six children: Gill (Gilbert), Vicky, Alice (Gertrude), William (Eric), Daisy, and finally Leonard (Len), my father. 

Alice Gertrude married John Noel Henderson, who  was a veteran. He served in the Canadian Grenadier Guards, a Montreal armored regiment, and saw action in both Normandy and North-West Europe. While he was overseas, my Aunt Alice continued to live with her parents at 865 Wolseley, with her first child. 

After my Uncle John was discharged from the Army, he and his family first lived on Girouard Street in NDG. When my granddad died in 1948, the house at 865 Wolseley became vacant, and so John and Alice rented it from William Henderson, just like my grandparents. When William Henderson passed away, an opportunity arose and Uncle John bought the house from his estate. Cote Saint-Luc was a very close-knit community. William Henderson and my granddad were friends and golfing buddies. In addition, Uncle John, at one point, caddied for William Henderson. In fact, that was how John and Alice met – on the golf course, John was caddying and Alice was with her father.

By 1961, John and Alice Henderson had moved to Pointe-Claire. My Aunt Alice at age 97 currently lives in a long term care home in the West Island.

As for me, my childhood home is at 600 Westminster. I did not realize it at the time, but one side is larger than the other. I believe the wooden stair well at the back is about twice the size as the other. There should be a wooden shed behind the Flat close to the Saint-Pierre River. It was used as a two car garage. There was also a driveway running close to the Flat on the creek side. As a boy, I spent many an hour shoveling snow from it. However, it does not show in the photo. I suspect that this is a very early photo when no one in the neighborhood had a car. My dad Len did not get a car until after the war.

As I remember, the Saint-Pierre River (we called it the Creek) circles the flat on two sides. You can pick out the bridge on Westminster street and to my great pleasure, you can also see the pond by the bridge where my family skated. My sister’s playhouse and the footbridge to it is not shown in the photo. It would have been built a couple of years after the photo was taken.

However, there was a foot bridge that was built during the war by the neighbors to give access to the Victory Gardens. These gardens were across the bridge, where the ground had different colors. That was where my parents and our neighbours had their gardens and they did their bit for the war effort. We all spent many weekends working there.

Next to the house was the Green’s house. It is now an overgrown lot. Mr. Green was a World War One Vet and his wife was an English war bride. Next is the stucco house (now 618-620 Westminster), with two rental apartments. The Prud’homme family lived there after their farm house was demolished. 

Almost opposite to the flat is  the entrance to the Prud’homme farm. There is a complex of farm buildings and a stone farmhouse. These are way back from the street with hay fields in between. What surprised me from this photo is that very close by is a second farm complex. The entrance to this second farm is from Cote Saint-Luc Road. After the war, a tall wooden fence enclosed this farm house, so you could no longer see who and how many people were visiting. My dad told me that it had become a gambling den and I was never to go near it.

This is the farm house that my sister Jean suggests burnt down. The burning farm could be seen from Smart Street. A string of brick houses were on Smart street. Two families of Nices, senior and Junior, lived in two of them and my friend lived in another. I believe his surname was constable. We used to play in an apple orchard across the street.