There’s a little town nestled
on the banks of two beautiful rivers
where the Madawaska and
Ottawa converge
the people were different
at least when I lived there
you could walk down main street
say hello to those
you didn’t even know
a different way of life
in old Arnprior

We couldn’t get cable
only three channels off the antenna
the old folks on town council
voting it down
afraid it would change things too much
and we had nuns who taught us
with the rules of the strap
in winter
played league hockey for free
in summer
diving off the long concrete warf
down at the park
Coca-Cola street parties
with neighbor kids after dark
Florient scented mornings
by old highway 17

We’d ride our bikes
down dusty unpaved roads
up through Chats Haven to where we
made our home on Second Avenue
two streets over from Wes’ Chip Wagon
famous throughout the valley
and our very own Dairy Queen
looking east to where a bigger
town beckoned us to come visit
and maybe even stay
a different kind of life
in old Arnprior


© 1982
Inputted and revised © 2019





Photo: A view of the main drag, downtown John Street, Arnprior, Ontario, circa 1970. Courtesy of Lost Ottawa FB group. First incorporated into a village in 1862, town in 1892

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11/20/2019

Posted on 11/20/2019
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti