Diane Armstrong was born in the town of South Porcupine and has been a lifetime resident of the City of Timmins. She and her husband Robert share 4 children and 9 grandchildren.
With a deep interest in local history, Diane has written two books and is the Over the Hill columnist with the Timmins Times.
A life-long volunteer, she has shared her time with the Girl Guides, teen groups, Friends of the Museum, Timmins Housing Authority, has entertained monthly at several senior’s residences monthly, and is a member of the Board of Spruce Hill Lodge.
Diane has been the recipient of several service awards, the Ontario Heritage Foundation Achievement Award for her work on saving the Hollinger House, and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for volunteer service to the community.
- Scents that Trigger Memories
Today's homogeneous stores lack the distinctive smells of stores I remember. Scents such as vanilla and musk are now wafted from the ventilating systems and the experience of shopping at a clothing store is the same as a browse through the hardware or ...
- Oh, How We Danced…
There were at least 38 dance halls in the Porcupine area before the days of recorded tapes and disc jockeys. Public dances were held on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, so there was a huge demand for live musicians. Many of the better on...
- The Neighbourhood Grocery Stores
On First Avenue in Schumacher, there were Sebalj Groceries & Meats, Frank Zanchin's Market, Joe Schwab's Grocery and Nick & Bill Blahey's (who had their main store in Timmins). The Northern Provision Store and McLelland's Groceries & Meats ...
- The Famous Hollinger Houses
In the earliest days of Timmins, it was one thing to have found a gold ore body worthy of establishing a mine, and quite another to accommodate the workers required to staff the mine. By 1912, the town of Timmins was just a collection of a few building...
- We Loved to Dance
Cultural clubs and fraternal societies had dances in their halls. The most prominent would be La Ronde which was built in 1968 and serves our Francophone community. The Oddfellows Hall was located on Spruce north, between Algonquin and Fifth. The Or...
- Karl Doran, a Pioneer
Long before the idea of getting our foods from within a hundred miles; long before it was fashionable to recycle and reuse, a German immigrant in our city led the way with innovation. Karl Keichmeister came to Canada in the late 1920s and and worked...
- Who Discovered the Porcupine and When?
It is often discouraging trying to get accurate and factual information for historical columns. Such is the case of who really discovered the Porcupine gold mining area. There is the legend of George Bannerman, who with partner Tom Geddes, found the...
- Before the Zamboni
I once asked people to share their memories of our two local arenas in the 1950s - the South Porcupine "Barn" and the MacIntyre Arena. I expected that team spirit, community loyalties and lifelong friendships would be on the list. What I didn't expect ...
- Culture in the Porcupine before World War II
Besides silent movies and choral groups, the early residents of the Porcupine participated in many forms of recreation. Culture came in the form of visiting musicians and singers, who took to any stage available, and performed to an always appreciative...
- Summer at the Mac
Imagine it's the month of August in the 1940s and 1950s. The Summer Skating School would be hosting their final concert at the McIntyre Arena. Soon the ice would be taken out and the roller skating boards would be put in. The Summer Skating School w...
- Grocery Shopping Before Supermarkets
Many lament the demise of the small grocery stores and their personalized friendly service. Timmins residents may remember the general store down by the river, known as Hubert's Store. Owners of the store were Josephine and Alan Hubert. They also opera...
- Early Dance Halls of the Porcupine
When researching this topic, I had no idea that would discover there were at least 38 halls in the area that had regular dances with live bands or orchestras. The ethnic diversity of the Porcupine was a determining factor for 20 of these halls. The ...
- Fire Fighting, Then and Now
During the disastrous forest fire of July 11, 1911 a loose, yet organized group of volunteer firefighters saved many buildings in Golden City, fighting the fire by bucket brigade. That town had the Porcupine Camp's first official fire brigade under the...