Growing Up in Jollimore

Growing up in Jollimore, a treasured experience

Iris V. Shea

February 2014

This article is dedicated to my 83 year old brother, Edgar Umlah, who passed away January 11, 2014.

We shared the experience of growing up in Jollimore, a small close-knit community on the western side

of the Northwest Arm. One of our favourite past times was reminiscing about people who lived there

and the events in which we participated...his memories from the 1930s and 1940s, mine from the 1940s

and 1950s. The Dingle was our playground.

Sports and music were a great part of our family life. For Edgar, and many of his old friends and

schoolmates at Old Cunard School, the opportunity existed to participate in hockey and softball. We

both had the advantage of taking piano lessons. Our mother was the piano teacher in Jollimore for

many years. In the 1930s, our father played softball and umpired the games between Jollimore “All

Stars” and South Street. The games were played on the Old Cunard School grounds and on Studley

Field in Halifax.

The following article was printed in the “Evening Mail”, July 7, 1936, page 5: “A piano recital

by the pupils of Mrs. Myrtle E. Umlah, at her home in Jollimore, assisted by Miss Helen Topple,

violinist, on June 30, was declared excellent by the large number of friends and parents attending, and

Mrs. Umlah was warmly congratulated upon the high standard achieved. Those taking part included:

Edgar Umlah, Edna McCarthy, Laurence Umlah, Muriel Boutilier, Evelyn McCarthy, Phyllis Jollimore

and Miss Helen Topple, violin. A prize for the most time practising was awarded by the teacher to Miss

Phyllis Jollimore.” (Helen Topple was Mrs. Umlah's sister). From this early age of six years, Edgar

continued to play the piano until his 70s when arthritis in his fingers prevented it. When I was growing

up, a family get-together always included a sing song, with all of the family joining in, our mother or

Edgar playing the old songs from the 1920s to the 1940s.

Edgar loved to sing. His “Dean Martin like” voice was popular at the Variety Shows and

Minstrel Shows held at St. Augustine's and St. Michael's Church Halls during the 1950s. He had a great

sense of rhythm and loved to dance. He and his wife, Lillian Tobin of Spryfield (she taught him to

dance), were regulars at the Saturday night dances in Ketch Harbour where the talented Sullivan family

of Kline Heights provided “live” dance music.

Growing up in Jollimore, life revolved around Old Cunard School and St. Augustine's Anglican

Church. Under the title “Armdale News”, Marjorie Major, a writer for the Halifax Mail, reported on

events that took place in Jollimore. Dorothy Burgess of Jollimore would sometimes fill in for Mrs.

Major with her column “Jollimore News”. School and church events were given a lot of attention. In

the Halifax Mail, June 29, 1940, page seven, was this headline “Formal Closing of Cunard School” by

Marjorie Major. Her column included the names of all students from Primary to Grade 8 whose names

were on the pass list and prize list. “Grades five and six teacher, Miss O'Connor: in order of merit,

grade five students, Laurence Umlah, Edgar Umlah, Mary Martin, Norma Belair, Joyce Maithus,

Doreen MacKenzie, Doris Slauenwhite, Billy Innes, Christina MacDougall, Edwina Mayo, Robert

Brown. Grade six students, in order of merit, Grace Chipman, Billy Wild, Carl Jollimore, Evelyn

Miller, Ross Forward, Gerald Martin, Phyllis Jollimore, Harriett White, Kathleen Mitchell, Jessie

Barry, Fred Boutilier.” In the same article, prizes for Perfect Attendance were awarded to Shirley

Jollimore and Cecelia Slauenwhite, grade 7; Carl Jollimore, grade 6; Basil Martin, Billy Innes and

Edgar Umlah, grade 5.

Halifax Mail, Thurs. Aug. 20, 1942 by M. Major : “Annual Sunday School picnic of St.

Augustine’s at Dingle yesterday. Wheelbarrow race won by Jackie Jollimore and Edgar Umlah; relay

race won by Vincent McDonald, Edgar Umlah, Dorothy Bignell and Josephine Innes.”

Another highlight of growing up in Jollimore was the Sunday night outdoor movies at the

Dingle. They began in 1945 when George Martin of Melville Cove installed a large screen in the 

canteen parking lot with large speakers near the screen. Mr. Martin owned and operated the Dingle

Canteen and the movies ran all summer for several years. Cars lined up in front of the screen in the

parking lot. Adults and children not in cars sat on the side of the hill in the rough wooded area above

the parking lot, in full view of the movie screen. Crowds of spectators came from nearby communities.

There was no charge to watch the movies but the canteen did a brisk business. The ferries on the Arm

were very busy on movie night as residents of Halifax and Armdale took advantage of the

entertainment.

Prior to World War II, organized hockey and softball were popular in all of our local

communities. In 1933 when the North West Arm Athletic Club was first formed, hockey games were

played on Williams Lake or on Chocolate Lake using home-made goal posts. Games were later played

at the Shirley Street Arena. Jollimore had a senior men's hockey team and a School Boy's team. Softball

was also part of the North West Arm Athletic Club. In addition to a senior men's team, the Jollimore

ladies had a team. Their competition came from Kline Heights, Purcell's Cove, Melville Cove and

Spryfield. During the war years, 1939 to 1945, organized softball and hockey took a rest since many of

the organizers and players joined the war effort.

The North West Arm Hockey League was formed following the war. The junior division was

made up of teams from Jollimore, Purcell’s Cove, Spryfield and Melville Cove. Going into the playoffs

in March 1949, the Jollimore Juniors were the defending champions, having won the title the two

previous years. Their reward for winning three years in a row was to keep the trophy donated by Father

Martin of St. John the Baptist Church in Armdale. For softball players, many of the young people of

Jollimore and surrounding communities joined leagues that played on the Halifax Commons. Edgar

Umlah was a well known pitcher in the years that followed. Comments from his friends who played

softball with him and against him stated “Edgar owned the Commons”.