By Jim Hagarty
There are 29 places in the world named London. I live not far from the London in Ontario, Canada, named, of course, after the big cheese in England.
There are 26 Stratfords in the world. I live in one of them, the one in Ontario, Canada. (I have to specify that because there is at least one more in Canada.) I am going to guess the original is Stratford-upon-Avon in England, again.
But move over English places. There are 72 Berlins on Earth. There was one just down the road from me, a big city in fact. But in the first World War, being identified with Germany did not look good on a resume and so the Berlin, Ontario, governors decided to change the name to Kitchener after a top Canadian military guy at the time. A hundred years later, there is a move afoot to change the name of Kitchener back to Berlin but it will not likely happen.
But I am here to tell you that there is only one Punkeydoodle’s Corners in the world. It’s a little place, with about five corners, located in the country a few miles from my place. Maybe 10 homes there. One business perhaps.
But 150 years ago, when this part of Canada was just opening up, the place was rockin’. And the story goes there was a pub. The owner was fond of singing, “Yankee Doodle came to town, riding on a pony …” The problem was, for some reason, he couldn’t pronounce “Yankee Doodle” and instead sang, “Punkey Doodle.” Soon, the little village became known as Punkeydoodle’s Corners. At least that is one theory about how the name came to be. There are others.
Years ago, a Canadian prime minister visited Punkeydoodle’s on an anniversary and made a dedication of some sort and a speech. New signs went up and I think they were promptly stolen, probably for a university residence room somewhere.
The newest signs seem to be lasting, however. Maybe because they are erected so high over the settlement.
