“People go to extreme lengths in India to get an education. It is ingrained in our psyche.”

Meet Vishnu Prasad.

Vishnu was born in Puttur, India to parents who were both doctors. He and his two siblings attended school in Bangalore. His parents spent a lot of time working in the Middle East so it fell to his uncle, Dr. Jayaprakash, to assist with the large, multigenerational family that included Vishnu’s grandparents. When he wasn’t studying, Vishnu enjoyed many different sports including badminton and volleyball … and of course, cricket.

He was accepted into one of the best medical schools in India in Mangalore on the west coast. From his earliest days Vishnu wanted to be a surgeon. While attending medical school he met his future wife, Sanjana Sridharan. After completing this chapter of their educational journey, the couple wedded.  During the next year they travelled the length and breadth of India writing entrance exams for specialist universities.

He enrolled in the orthopedics program in Bangalore but it wasn’t what he expected and he departed after six months. In 1996 the couple travelled to the United Kingdom on speculation, hoping to find the right fit. Vishnu took a three year general surgery program in Birmingham, acquiring his FRCS designation in General Surgery while Sanjana enrolled in psychiatry training in Coventry. He did his orthopedic residency in Wales over the next seven years and received his FRCS in Trauma and Orthopaedics. Sanjana received her MRCPsych (Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists) in 2000.

The ensuing years were marked by more studies and time apart, tests that demonstrated the vision and determination of this young couple. Vishnu eventually specialized in adult reconstruction, with hip and knee surgery becoming his predominant field of work.

But their educational quest was far from over. In order to experience different health care systems, they felt that they needed to work abroad. In 2012, Vishnu was offered a Fellowship in Toronto. One of his colleagues there was Dr. Andrew Hayward who ended up moving to New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. He thought Nova Scotia would be a good fit for Vishnu and Sanjana as the area was known to be friendly … and a lot less hectic than the city!

In 2013, they moved to Halifax where Vishnu worked on complex cases with well-known orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Michael Dunbar. Sanjana weighed a few options for work before accepting a position at St. Martha’s Hospital in Antigonish in 2014. Upon completion of his Fellowship in June of 2014, Vishnu began work at the Aberdeen Hospital in New Glasgow. Sanjana recently moved to the Aberdeen as well.

The couple feels very much at home in Antigonish. They have made many friends and know that if they need a “big city fix”, Halifax is just a few hours away. From time to time they host gatherings at their home, welcoming guests with upbeat music, cordial conversation and wonderful food.  When the weather cooperates, everyone gathers outside to enjoy a friendly cricket match!   ‘‘Cricket is a sport that requires tactics, intelligence, strategy, finesse … and brawn,” says Vishnu.

Family means everything to them, and whenever decisions are made they factor in their parents, who visit on a regular basis.  Not surprisingly, summer and fall are Vishnu and Sanjana’s favorite seasons for hosting visitors from India!

Vishnu and Sanjana are highly regarded by their peers and the communities in which they work and live.  The region is fortunate to have these highly skilled physicians, who happen to be two of the nicest people one could meet.  To them I say welcome… make yourselves at home … and please stay awhile!

“The hard times that I experienced during the Great Depression made me what I am today.”

Meet Merle Taylor.

If you want to know why Merle still stacks her own firewood for winter at the age of 93, look no further than her prairie farm upbringing in the 1930’s.

One of five siblings born into a farming family not far from Winnipeg, she grew up in hard times. “We always had lots to eat and we were never cold, but we never had any money.” She attended school not far from the farm until the end of grade 8. Besides her chores at home, she was paid the princely sum of $5.00 a year to get the fire going in the stove at the school each morning. One morning she completed her duties but no one showed up at the school.  On her way home she met a farmer driving his horse and wagon. When she looked at the thermometer on the back of the wagon and saw that it was -56, she realized why school had been cancelled!

The local high school was 4 miles away and with no way to get there; Merle took grade 9 and 10 through correspondence. She earned her GED some thirty years later. Before she joined the military at the age of 19 she worked at a local farm in the summer, earning $8 a month working 10 hour days, milking the cows, feeding the pigs and other chores … hard work for 3¢ an hour.

Her father’s younger brother was a wireless air gunner, her impetus for signing up to serve her country. When an opening appeared at the recruiting centre for a “wireless operator ground “(WOG), she jumped at the opportunity as she had discovered that she had an aptitude for this important work. She completed basic training in Rockcliffe, Ontario and then moved on to Montreal to attend wireless school.

On her first night in Montreal, she was writing a letter to send to her parents back home when a young, “lovely looking” airman came around the corner looking for an ink refill. Fred Taylor would later on tell his best buddy that he had just met a farm girl that he was going to marry someday.

Merle became a whiz at Morse code and trained pilots from all over the British Commonwealth in Saskatoon. Fred was posted to Calgary and when the couple realized that they couldn’t be apart, they decided to get married there … on Merle’s 20^th birthday. They tracked down a United Church minister and arranged a time for the wedding. They arrived by streetcar and were married only after the minister managed to find two witnesses. They left the church by streetcar and treated themselves to fish and chips and ice cream, a far cry from some weddings today!

When Merle discovered that she was expecting, she received a tersely worded letter from the Air Force: “Your duties are no longer required.” Although excited at the prospect of starting a family, deep down Merle felt some sorrow, as she was very proud of the work she was doing for her country.

They were now living in Calgary in an apartment. Fred was a wireless electric mechanic and in his spare time he had made a radio for Merle. When he got called for service overseas with just two days’ notice and no rent money in hand ($28), he bartered the radio for the rent. For the next thirty-five years, they exchanged Christmas card with their former landlady. When the she passed away, her children arranged to have Merle’s radio returned to her. She proudly displays this treasured keepsake in her kitchen.

They travelled to Nova Scotia by troop train with their young son so that Merle and Sandy could be close to Fred’s parents, just in case he didn’t make it back from Europe.

After the war they began farming in the Lochaber area. Four more sons arrived: Lloyd, Keith, Sid and Jim; who all pitched in with the farm chores. When Fred became a property assessor in 1956, most of the farm work fell to Merle, who continued to milk cows by hand. They planted their first strawberry crop that year and this family enterprise is still thriving at 70 years later and counting.

When they were approached by the Department of Highways in 1954 to house some of the workers building the new # 7 highway, Merle and Fred agreed. In addition to all of the farm chores and looking after four small children, the Taylors boarded 10 men! For six months Merle fed these hungry workers three square meals a day as the highway took shape along Lochaber Lake.

Her soulmate and best friend (that lovely looking airman!) passed away in 1982. Merle still speaks lovingly and longingly about her late husband, Fred.

After keeping the farm going upon Fred’s death, Merle was delighted when Sid and Barbara purchased the farm in 1986. She still surveys the comings and goings on the farm from a perch on her golf cart.

Merle has been a powerhouse in her community, devoting years of service to the Woman’s Institute and every conceivable project and purpose in and around Lochaber. In 2005 when she could no longer shear and shape thousands of balsam fir Christmas trees, she turned her enormous energy and talents to making “tied comforters.” In eleven years she has turned out 278 comforters with all of the proceeds going to charity and the community. And nobody has won more ribbons at the Eastern Nova Scotia Exhibition over the years!

Even though she handles an iPad like a teenager, she still prefers to communicate with friends around the world with Morse code and voice.  She has been an amateur radio operator for years, tapping out dashes and dots from her control center in the basement.

On her 90^th birthday, Merle had the pleasure of christening a canoe named in her honour at the local canoe club. And what is her next adventure? “On my 95^th birthday I want to fly in a float plane and land on Lochaber Lake.” One wouldn’t be surprised to hear that she wants to be on the first voyage to Mars when she turns 100!

Merle shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. This prairie farm girl with the incredible work ethic and generosity of spirit continues to give of herself for home and country.

“I have been extremely blessed with good health and I am very thankful for my lot in life.”

Surely it is Merle Taylor’s family, community, province and country who are the fortunate ones.

“We have a passion and respect for the earth. We have always cared about the welfare of animals. We are caretakers.”

Meet Marianna van de Lagemaat and Aaron Padolsky.

At the age of two, Marianna and her family moved to Canada, arriving at Pier 21 in Halifax. Her parents met at a labour camp in Ukraine during the war. They moved to the Ottawa Valley where her father farmed and her mother eventually ended up teaching at Carleton University. After completing high school, Marianna moved on to Carleton to study languages.

Aaron was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba where he spent his childhood before moving to Ottawa to study Philosophy at Carleton.

They took a school sponsored bus trip to New York City in March of 1968 to visit art museums. They attended the St. Patrick’s Day parade and one of the politicians riding in the motorcade that day was Presidential hopeful Bobby Kennedy, who would be assassinated three months later in California. Aaron and Marianna struck up a friendship that has endured for nearly 50 years.

They went their separate ways after university but kept in touch. They reconnected in 1985 after the death of Marianna’s first husband. Over time Aaron became dad to Marianna’s two children. He had spent some time during the intervening years living in Nova Scotia and in 1986 the couple decided to make the move east. They spent five years in Port Bickerton before moving on to Country Harbor where they lived for the next 24 years. Antigonish was a frequent stopping place during those years.

They both had farming in their blood so it was not surprising that they acquired 2.5 acres of land and started raising animals … and caring for them. Marianna loved animals and besides tending to her own, she also boarded others, including a pregnant cow!

Aaron was well-known in the area for being the organist for both the United and Anglican churches in many communities.

When Marianna’s mother’s heath failed, they built a granny flat and she moved in with them. The onset of dementia was the impetus for Marianna and Aaron to start the Dementia Care Givers Support Group, operating under the auspices of the Alzheimer’s Society. When Marianna’s mom ended up as a resident of the R.K. Nursing Home, the couple moved to Antigonish.

As Aaron and Marianna prepare to relocate, friends and colleagues speak highly and fondly of them.  The organizations to which they loaned their time and energy are far too numerous to list, but it is certain that all of these groups will miss them terribly.   “They are truly remarkable people. It’s humbling to see such generosity; the amount of time, patience and genuine love for animals in need was inspirational,” says a member of the local SPCA.

Marianna and Aaron have become fixtures at the Antigonish Art Fair, generously donating their time and talents with a crowd-pleasing clown act. According to a member of the organizing committee for the Fair, “Arpo and his fellow clowns regularly show up to perform, most times unannounced. Audience participation is their hallmark. They have a tremendous rapport with children and adults alike.”

The long, harsh east coast winters and the call of family are taking them to B.C. where they will take up residence on Vancouver Island.

Margaret Mead, who studied many communities around the world, used to say that each was composed of residents and citizens. Residents were those who simply lived there, taking every advantage, while citizens were those who made the community work. A friend commented that “Aaron and Marianna are citizens in the best sense of the word. They will be missed. On the other hand, another community will soon benefit from their citizenship.”

“We would love to be able to take Antigonish with us… except the winters! We made so many connections and friendships during our time here.”

Our community is a better place because of these kind and gentle people. They leave behind many friends and fans who will miss them dearly… especially their four legged friends!

“All the world loves a clown” – Cole Porter