The Jamieson Family
The Jamieson Family and Thinkers Lodge
2010 & 2018 interviews by Adele Wick, Cathy Eaton, & Vivian Godfree
The Jamieson family has worked in many capacities at Thinkers Lodge for over half a century. Their hard work, loyalty, and dedication were essential to the smooth running of the conferences, maintenance of the lodge, and the comfort of the guests. Leo Jamieson began working for Eva Webb in the late 1940s. After the house was torn down in Pugwash River where Cyrus Eaton and his siblings were born, Leo and his wife Donnie, who had five sons, built a house on or next to its foundation. Initially, Leo ran Eva Webb’s sheep farm and also exhibited the prize-winning sheep at numerous shows. Later, Leo became the care-taker of Thinkers Lodge. Donnie started working at the Lodge in 1967. She said, “We started cleaning on the first of May, and it took two months to get the place ready.”
Over the years, numerous Jamieson family members worked to prepare the Lodge for conferences and guests. Upkeep of the Lodge, the Lobster Factory, and the grounds required perseverance and varied maintenance skills. After the harsh winters, the interior walls were damp because the furnaces were shut off during the cold months. Leo painted the fireplaces and the bedroom walls. Sometimes, the ceilings were pealing, and he had to scrape them as well as fix damaged plaster on the walls. At one point, Gordon Williams, Violet Williams’ son assisted the Jamiesons and fixed the roof. Originally, the floors were painted black and later grey. Donnie scrubbed the well-worn floors and waxed them with a floor polisher. Every year, she repainted the risers on the stairs. A skillful seamstress, she sewed curtains for some of the bedrooms. Leo washed the outside of the windows while she cleaned the inside ones. Every summer, she polished the Russian tea set. Leo sawed the leg bottoms of some of the beds, so sleepers wouldn’t hit their heads.
Leo continued his dedication to Thinkers Lodge by serving as one of the three Pugwash Park Commissioners until his death in 1979.
Their son, Ron, who died of cancer at forty-three, was head of the maintenance department at the school. After the fire, he reupholstered many of the living room chairs during his spare time. After learning to sew from his mother and grandmother, he completed a five-year apprenticeship in Toronto to learn how to reupholster.
In 2010, Donni gave a tour of the Lodge to John and Cathy Eaton and explained how the Lodge had been set up in earlier decades. She described the rickety staircase to the basement where wood for the fire places was stored. She said, the dirt floor was “wet, muddy and most unpleasant. It was frightening to go down.”
In the remodeled kitchen, she pointed out changes including how a new pantry had replaced the old staff bathroom. She explained how the bigger central room used to be two rooms: a library filled with book shelves and a staff room where Cyrus Eaton’s executive-assistant, Betty Royan, and the secretaries she supervised typed up conference speeches and presentations.
While touring, Donnie recognized bedspreads from when she first worked at the Lodge. While demonstrating how they made the beds, she talked about the different guests pictured on the walls. She said about Joseph Rotblat, “I just loved him. He was the greatest man. He was so nice and he’d talk to you as if he knew you for some years and he’d always hunt me down to say hi to me. Sometimes, he stayed on after everyone else had gone home. I had to make the meals for him and his guest. He gave me a nice bottle of perfume.” She recalled how one night when a guest from India was staying at the Lodge by himself, he asked Donnie and Leo to come and spend the night, so he wouldn’t be alone. “On windy nights, you get the doors and windows squeaking.”
Donnie stopped at the Russian tea set and told the story of how it had been stolen and recovered by a Mounty who stopped a young man on the road who refused a ride. That made the Mounty suspicious so he checked out the youth's backpack and discovered the missing tea set. Upon seeing a ship crocheted on a doily, she remembered that Grace Newsome, Glenda Kent’s mother had given it to Anne Eaton. In 2015, Jeremy Godfree spent a winter meticulously cleaning it. Donnie pointed out the rug of a clipper ship that Eva Webb, Eaton’s sister, had hooked.
Reaching back into her memory, she said that Cyrus Eaton sometimes stayed in the Joseph Rotblat room. Donnie explained that Mr. Eaton more often stayed above the garage at Eva’s yellow house across the way. It had a living room, a very small dining room with a chesterfield in it, and two beds. She said, “Once or twice, I took over his breakfast. He was all by himself. It was quiet and he liked that. Years ago, he used to get up some mornings at 6 and 6:30 and go horseback riding with a friend.” She often baked muffins for breakfast or tea time.
Although Donnie did the majority of the cleaning, her daughter-in-law, Mary Jamieson, tackled the kitchen and dining room during her lunch hour while working as receptionist for Dr. Greg Gass. Another family member connected with Thinkers Lodge was Eleanor Jamieson, Donnie’s daughter-in-law, who also helped clean the Lodge. Eleanor and Jerry Jamison took over looking after the Lodge after Leo died in 1997. Bryan Jamieson was on the PPC for a number of years. Bobby Jamieson also worked there when he was young.
Over many years, Mary, Ron’s wife, did numerous tasks to keep the lodge running and the guests happy. She waited tables, kept the lodge clean, and helped with the repainting in the spring after the rough winters took their toll on the old building. Mary said, “We got paid pretty good, we ate pretty good, and we had fun.” After her father-in-law Leo died, she began working for the Pugwash Park Commission as bookkeeper. She kept the books and still has the journal. Everything was put into the Simply Accounting Computer Program. Now, Mary lives in the house where Anne Eaton often stayed. Mary has one of Cyrus Eaton's canoes as well as a wooden box from the sheep farm where Eva Webb lived. Both of Mary’s daughters worked as wait staff at some point, and daughter, Anne, cooked at conferences. Mary enjoys rug hooking and quilting.
Both Donnie and Mary remembered the traumatic fire in 1996 at Thinkers Lodge. Donnie said, “When Leo got the call about the fire, he jumped in his car and rushed right over.” Other Jamiesons arrived soon thereafter. They stayed until the fire was doused and helped other villagers carry the furnishings to the safety of the Lobster Factory next door.
Sometimes, during breaks, Donnie and Mary would go for a swim. Nowadays, Mary often swims and kayaks with Cathy Eaton and Vivian Godfree. Donnie remembered seeing a school of pilot whales once and lots of seals in the channel at different times. She recalled that occasionally the Lobster Factory was used for charities, such as the Anglican Blueberry Tea, a hospital benefit.
The Jamiesons reported that the early conferences were sometimes two weeks while later ones were four to seven days duration. Donnie brought down big plants every summer to place around the lodge. She said, “Mrs. Eaton was great for picking the flowered weeds and putting them in bottles.” Sometimes, they had to find places for thirty to fifty conference guests to stay. The Jamiesons were among the families that billeted conference attendees. Other families that provided accommodations for the guests were Virginia Smith’s mother (Mildred Smith), Evelyn Mundle, Howard Willot, Hazel Hollis, Anne Gillis, and Harold Elliot. The cost was between $30 and $50 a night.
Meals were prepared and served in the Lobster Factory. The bell was rung for dinner around 6 or 7. Lobster was always served on Saturday, and Donnie said, “It was something to watch people who had never had lobster try to eat one.” Turkey and salmon were served other nights. “Mr. Eaton wanted the guests to samples some of the cuisine delights of Nova Scotia.”
After Donnie retired, Mary took over for her. She worked for every conference from 1980 as a waitress until 1997 when she was put in charge and hired the cook and staff. We came about 7 in the morning and worked until 11 at night. Sometimes, guests stayed at the table until 9:30 at night. Then we cleaned, did the dishes, and set up for breakfast.”
Mary praised the food that Chef Selby Clark prepared as well as the wonderful cookies his wife, Myrna, baked. After Selby died, Mary hired his daughter, Kathy Dean, to be cook for conferences. Mary enjoyed meeting Joseph Rotblat, who always came in the kitchen to thank her. She treasures the photo of the two of them. At one of the last conferences, she met a mathematician who gave her some text books, Using Math and Quilts in Africa. Mary recalled another memorable guest who brought a chair from Anne Eaton’s Alma Mater, Vassar College. About Raymond Bourque, Eaton’s butler in charge of staff, Mary said, he was a lovely man, he liked women, and he liked to joke a lot. He was “Always in that black suit.” She found Anne Eaton very gracious and mentioned that Anne was very fond of Mary’s husband, Ron.
Mary recalled two notable conferences. In 2003, they served a meal for a conference in the school, as well as additional meals at the Lobster Factory. “When there was a big conference in Halifax, four busloads came here for the day. We fed 200 at the elementary school. Over the years, we didn’t talk to the delegates much unless they had an accommodation problem.”
In 2007, the Pugwash Peace Exchange planned the 50th anniversary of the 1957 Pugwash Conference, which Romeo Dallaire attended. Mary Jamison organized the kitchen staff. Her daughter, Anne, cooked, and her sister, Maureen arranged the flowers. Some of the kitchen staff who helped serve the meals were Leah Jamieson, Louise Hillhouse, Karen Chiasson, Teri Maracle, and Vivian Godfree.
Caretaker Leo Jamieson, Chef Selby Clark, and butler Raymond Bourque all died within a couple months of each other in 1997. Always they were good friends and had many laughs together. Eaton’s assistant Ray Szabo, Eaton’s grandnephew and wife, Giovanni and Susan Brenciaglia, always visited Donnie after she retired. She passed away February 27, 2017 when she was 91.
Thinkers Lodge guests owe much to the many members of the Jamieson family who took care of them with such warmth and courtesy. The Jamiesons played an important role in the success of the conferences and in the upkeep of Thinkers Lodge.
2010 & 2018 interviews by Adele Wick, Cathy Eaton, & Vivian Godfree
The Jamieson family has worked in many capacities at Thinkers Lodge for over half a century. Their hard work, loyalty, and dedication were essential to the smooth running of the conferences, maintenance of the lodge, and the comfort of the guests. Leo Jamieson began working for Eva Webb in the late 1940s. After the house was torn down in Pugwash River where Cyrus Eaton and his siblings were born, Leo and his wife Donnie, who had five sons, built a house on or next to its foundation. Initially, Leo ran Eva Webb’s sheep farm and also exhibited the prize-winning sheep at numerous shows. Later, Leo became the care-taker of Thinkers Lodge. Donnie started working at the Lodge in 1967. She said, “We started cleaning on the first of May, and it took two months to get the place ready.”
Over the years, numerous Jamieson family members worked to prepare the Lodge for conferences and guests. Upkeep of the Lodge, the Lobster Factory, and the grounds required perseverance and varied maintenance skills. After the harsh winters, the interior walls were damp because the furnaces were shut off during the cold months. Leo painted the fireplaces and the bedroom walls. Sometimes, the ceilings were pealing, and he had to scrape them as well as fix damaged plaster on the walls. At one point, Gordon Williams, Violet Williams’ son assisted the Jamiesons and fixed the roof. Originally, the floors were painted black and later grey. Donnie scrubbed the well-worn floors and waxed them with a floor polisher. Every year, she repainted the risers on the stairs. A skillful seamstress, she sewed curtains for some of the bedrooms. Leo washed the outside of the windows while she cleaned the inside ones. Every summer, she polished the Russian tea set. Leo sawed the leg bottoms of some of the beds, so sleepers wouldn’t hit their heads.
Leo continued his dedication to Thinkers Lodge by serving as one of the three Pugwash Park Commissioners until his death in 1979.
Their son, Ron, who died of cancer at forty-three, was head of the maintenance department at the school. After the fire, he reupholstered many of the living room chairs during his spare time. After learning to sew from his mother and grandmother, he completed a five-year apprenticeship in Toronto to learn how to reupholster.
In 2010, Donni gave a tour of the Lodge to John and Cathy Eaton and explained how the Lodge had been set up in earlier decades. She described the rickety staircase to the basement where wood for the fire places was stored. She said, the dirt floor was “wet, muddy and most unpleasant. It was frightening to go down.”
In the remodeled kitchen, she pointed out changes including how a new pantry had replaced the old staff bathroom. She explained how the bigger central room used to be two rooms: a library filled with book shelves and a staff room where Cyrus Eaton’s executive-assistant, Betty Royan, and the secretaries she supervised typed up conference speeches and presentations.
While touring, Donnie recognized bedspreads from when she first worked at the Lodge. While demonstrating how they made the beds, she talked about the different guests pictured on the walls. She said about Joseph Rotblat, “I just loved him. He was the greatest man. He was so nice and he’d talk to you as if he knew you for some years and he’d always hunt me down to say hi to me. Sometimes, he stayed on after everyone else had gone home. I had to make the meals for him and his guest. He gave me a nice bottle of perfume.” She recalled how one night when a guest from India was staying at the Lodge by himself, he asked Donnie and Leo to come and spend the night, so he wouldn’t be alone. “On windy nights, you get the doors and windows squeaking.”
Donnie stopped at the Russian tea set and told the story of how it had been stolen and recovered by a Mounty who stopped a young man on the road who refused a ride. That made the Mounty suspicious so he checked out the youth's backpack and discovered the missing tea set. Upon seeing a ship crocheted on a doily, she remembered that Grace Newsome, Glenda Kent’s mother had given it to Anne Eaton. In 2015, Jeremy Godfree spent a winter meticulously cleaning it. Donnie pointed out the rug of a clipper ship that Eva Webb, Eaton’s sister, had hooked.
Reaching back into her memory, she said that Cyrus Eaton sometimes stayed in the Joseph Rotblat room. Donnie explained that Mr. Eaton more often stayed above the garage at Eva’s yellow house across the way. It had a living room, a very small dining room with a chesterfield in it, and two beds. She said, “Once or twice, I took over his breakfast. He was all by himself. It was quiet and he liked that. Years ago, he used to get up some mornings at 6 and 6:30 and go horseback riding with a friend.” She often baked muffins for breakfast or tea time.
Although Donnie did the majority of the cleaning, her daughter-in-law, Mary Jamieson, tackled the kitchen and dining room during her lunch hour while working as receptionist for Dr. Greg Gass. Another family member connected with Thinkers Lodge was Eleanor Jamieson, Donnie’s daughter-in-law, who also helped clean the Lodge. Eleanor and Jerry Jamison took over looking after the Lodge after Leo died in 1997. Bryan Jamieson was on the PPC for a number of years. Bobby Jamieson also worked there when he was young.
Over many years, Mary, Ron’s wife, did numerous tasks to keep the lodge running and the guests happy. She waited tables, kept the lodge clean, and helped with the repainting in the spring after the rough winters took their toll on the old building. Mary said, “We got paid pretty good, we ate pretty good, and we had fun.” After her father-in-law Leo died, she began working for the Pugwash Park Commission as bookkeeper. She kept the books and still has the journal. Everything was put into the Simply Accounting Computer Program. Now, Mary lives in the house where Anne Eaton often stayed. Mary has one of Cyrus Eaton's canoes as well as a wooden box from the sheep farm where Eva Webb lived. Both of Mary’s daughters worked as wait staff at some point, and daughter, Anne, cooked at conferences. Mary enjoys rug hooking and quilting.
Both Donnie and Mary remembered the traumatic fire in 1996 at Thinkers Lodge. Donnie said, “When Leo got the call about the fire, he jumped in his car and rushed right over.” Other Jamiesons arrived soon thereafter. They stayed until the fire was doused and helped other villagers carry the furnishings to the safety of the Lobster Factory next door.
Sometimes, during breaks, Donnie and Mary would go for a swim. Nowadays, Mary often swims and kayaks with Cathy Eaton and Vivian Godfree. Donnie remembered seeing a school of pilot whales once and lots of seals in the channel at different times. She recalled that occasionally the Lobster Factory was used for charities, such as the Anglican Blueberry Tea, a hospital benefit.
The Jamiesons reported that the early conferences were sometimes two weeks while later ones were four to seven days duration. Donnie brought down big plants every summer to place around the lodge. She said, “Mrs. Eaton was great for picking the flowered weeds and putting them in bottles.” Sometimes, they had to find places for thirty to fifty conference guests to stay. The Jamiesons were among the families that billeted conference attendees. Other families that provided accommodations for the guests were Virginia Smith’s mother (Mildred Smith), Evelyn Mundle, Howard Willot, Hazel Hollis, Anne Gillis, and Harold Elliot. The cost was between $30 and $50 a night.
Meals were prepared and served in the Lobster Factory. The bell was rung for dinner around 6 or 7. Lobster was always served on Saturday, and Donnie said, “It was something to watch people who had never had lobster try to eat one.” Turkey and salmon were served other nights. “Mr. Eaton wanted the guests to samples some of the cuisine delights of Nova Scotia.”
After Donnie retired, Mary took over for her. She worked for every conference from 1980 as a waitress until 1997 when she was put in charge and hired the cook and staff. We came about 7 in the morning and worked until 11 at night. Sometimes, guests stayed at the table until 9:30 at night. Then we cleaned, did the dishes, and set up for breakfast.”
Mary praised the food that Chef Selby Clark prepared as well as the wonderful cookies his wife, Myrna, baked. After Selby died, Mary hired his daughter, Kathy Dean, to be cook for conferences. Mary enjoyed meeting Joseph Rotblat, who always came in the kitchen to thank her. She treasures the photo of the two of them. At one of the last conferences, she met a mathematician who gave her some text books, Using Math and Quilts in Africa. Mary recalled another memorable guest who brought a chair from Anne Eaton’s Alma Mater, Vassar College. About Raymond Bourque, Eaton’s butler in charge of staff, Mary said, he was a lovely man, he liked women, and he liked to joke a lot. He was “Always in that black suit.” She found Anne Eaton very gracious and mentioned that Anne was very fond of Mary’s husband, Ron.
Mary recalled two notable conferences. In 2003, they served a meal for a conference in the school, as well as additional meals at the Lobster Factory. “When there was a big conference in Halifax, four busloads came here for the day. We fed 200 at the elementary school. Over the years, we didn’t talk to the delegates much unless they had an accommodation problem.”
In 2007, the Pugwash Peace Exchange planned the 50th anniversary of the 1957 Pugwash Conference, which Romeo Dallaire attended. Mary Jamison organized the kitchen staff. Her daughter, Anne, cooked, and her sister, Maureen arranged the flowers. Some of the kitchen staff who helped serve the meals were Leah Jamieson, Louise Hillhouse, Karen Chiasson, Teri Maracle, and Vivian Godfree.
Caretaker Leo Jamieson, Chef Selby Clark, and butler Raymond Bourque all died within a couple months of each other in 1997. Always they were good friends and had many laughs together. Eaton’s assistant Ray Szabo, Eaton’s grandnephew and wife, Giovanni and Susan Brenciaglia, always visited Donnie after she retired. She passed away February 27, 2017 when she was 91.
Thinkers Lodge guests owe much to the many members of the Jamieson family who took care of them with such warmth and courtesy. The Jamiesons played an important role in the success of the conferences and in the upkeep of Thinkers Lodge.