Down by the River: Stream of Dreams Brings Back Memories for Dearness Home Residents

This spring, the beloved Stream of Dreams program came to Dearness Home. Over 500 fish will be painted by residents, their loved ones, visitors to the day program, and staff. In June, the fish will form a beautiful mural outside of Dearness, representing the residents’ hopes for the Thames River.

Herb, a 91-year-old resident of Dearness, took the time to write down and share his memories of the river. “As kids, we all had our dreams. But you know where they all went to? We all spent our time at the river,” he began.

When Herb was a child, he remembers having good clothes, school clothes, and hiking clothes. Suited in his hiking clothes, he would head down to the river with his friends to explore. “All the time we had a backpack ready,” he said. His bag would be equipped with everything needed for a riverside feast, including a pot, pan, matches, can of beans, salt, and even eggs fresh from his family farm. “There’s nothing like a hardboiled egg out there when you’re hiking – and a saltshaker!”

Beans and eggs weren’t the only thing on the menu, though. “On our way to our big hike, we would pass the bakery shop. For a nickel, we could get day old cookies and those sticky little buns,” he shared. “That bag full lasted us all day”.

At the river, Herb and his friends constructed fishing rods from sticks and string. They would spend the day fishing and searching for other animals to admire. “Take a little notebook if you want to figure out what kinds of birds hang around the river,” he suggested. A magnifying glass was another treasured tool he would use for investigating “polliwogs”, toads, and crickets.

“So have a good time, take a walking stick, pack up your ol’ kit bag… and you will fill your full dreams down by our good ol’ Thames River,” he concluded.

The Stream of Dreams presentation and painting project brought back many memories for Herb, as well as other Dearness residents and staff, and we were grateful to hear their stories. Thank you to the City of London for their support of the program.

You can listen to Herb first-hand in our Youtube video and find photos of the program in our Flickr album.