WESTVILLE, N.S. — A letter first written in 1941 has finally reached its destination.
On Nov. 11, brothers Glenn and Ian MacIntosh held the letter which had been sent to their grandfather Archie Hubley of Westville 78 years ago. As previously reported in The News, the letter mysteriously showed up in the mail to be sorted in Pictou County this year.
The letter was from D.J. Bourque, District Entertainment Officer for the Canadian Legion War Services, who was lining up entertainment for concert parties to perform for troops stationed in Nova Scotia.
Bourque states that he had “heard some very nice things about you and your talented daughters.”
The talented daughters he wrote about were twin sisters Lyla and Willa.
Glenn and Ian are Lyla’s sons and formally received the letter during a special service held on Remembrance Day at the Westville legion. Also present were other descendants of the Hubley family.
Willa had passed away in 2009, but Lyla, now 92, lives at Glen Haven Manor in New Glasgow.
“We knew that our mother and her twin sister danced for the troops at one point in time, but we didn’t know this connection even existed,” Glenn said. “Our mother is not able to tell us these stories now, but we had heard the stories when we were younger.”
The sisters were famous locally for tap dancing. It’s something that Ian said she enjoyed doing all her life. Even in her 80s she’d be trying to teach others how to dance.
“I wish mom was aware enough to know all this was going on,” Ian said. “She’d be tickled pink to see all this. She really enjoyed that type of stuff.”
He said the sisters were very proud of their past as performers.
“They really enjoyed it,” he said. “Even in the house, she was always dancing.”
Westville legion Vice President Joe Stewart, who along with his wife and Legion President Michelle MacLeod Stewart helped track down the family, said it was great to be able to see all the relatives come out for the ceremony.
“It’s really good to see it come full circle,” he said.
Central Nova MP Sean Fraser was on hand for the presentation and said it was extraordinary to be in the room and watch family members meet for the first time over a letter that has been missing for 78 years.
“You almost wonder if it’s done more good uniting a family today than it would have if he had been delivered 78 years ago,” he said.
He believes it also paints a picture of the larger community engagement during the war years.
“You always envision that the war consisted of these major milestones or battles – Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Dieppe, whatever it might be – but behind the scenes in our own communities, we had local legions trying to get young entertainers to perform to keep the spirits high in the community to perform for veterans who had come home already.”
It shows that the war was more than an overseas fight.
“It engaged everyone from every corner of Canada.”
