Social Activities

Brown brothers at the family cottage. Herb (left) and brother Bill on the front lawn, c. 1930.

Photo Courtesy of Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2007-8-9.

Jewish residents embraced the northern lifestyle. Many families owned cottages on Lake Talon or Lake Nipissing, where Jewish families might own adjacent cottages to enjoy joint vacations.

There were never enough Jewish youth to form sports teams, so they joined any teams going: Herb Brown recalls playing basketball for the St John’s Anglican team, hockey with Trinity United, and taking music lessons at St. Mary’s Academy. In fact, the only known Jewish team that won a championship was the men’s curling team that won in 1964.