old timer

noun, person who has lived in a place or been associated with an organization, job, etc. for a long time (COD); see also oldie; all quotes below refer to an older person who has spent their life on Wolfe Island, except the last two which refer to ship captains

“Very few people, but some people, they object to everything, the old timers.”

“They ended up they each married one of his daughters. So the old timers said, it cost them a daughter apiece to get the road cut.”

“Dad said the old timers said that they had one child, a girl, and she grew up to be a very attractive woman.”

“It’s a type of person, and it would be what you would expect from some old timers that just really resented everything that was done.”

“The old timers used to call that Petersville.”

“She knew that when the wind changed the ice became unsafe ’cause the water would lower, and when it came up, you know, it was like, it was springy, but it was safe. These are the things the old timers knew.”

“In fact, some of the newcomers are the worst. They want nothing to change. They found their little piece of paradise, and they want it to stay this way. So they’re in conflict sometimes with the old timers, who other people think are the ones who never want to change anything.”

“I used to play forty-fives. I haven’t played it since I was a kid though. They had forty-fives here. Every day they played at the township garage, right across from our house. Oh, all the old timers would be there.”

“Nine Mile up here, when the old schooners used to come in, she had a three second light flash every thirty seconds. The horn blew a three second blast every thirty seconds. So these old timers, when they come in, they didn’t have to see the light but they could time the horn.”

“And that’s why the old timers, they’d come in. It was on the chart, eh? And they’d hear the horn, see the flash of the lights, and they’d say, ‘Well, that’s Nine Mile’.”