Melinda and Meredith

Gary and Bonnie Gayda - Parents of Melinda and Meredith

Souvenir wine label

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Madeline,
Hello!
 
I'm Gary Gayda, from Belleville, Ontario, Canada.
 
Your website is delightful!
 
A cousin in Brandon, Manitoba and I are beginning to compile information on the Gayda family in Canada. My grandfather, Peter Gayda, immigrated from what is now Ukraine (Austro-Hungary then) around 1900. His name was changed from "Gajda" to "Gayda" at the Canadian border, because that's what the immigration official heard when it was said to him (the Ukrainian "j" sounding like "y" to him). He settled in Sakatchewan, working a s a section foreman with the Canadian Pacific Railway.
 
The Breaking News from April 18, 2006 was interesting to me - both my daughters are in law in Toronto: one a lawyer dealing with refugees & immgrants; the other finishing her final year at law school, with a simikar interest in i&r law. She will be articling with the City of Toronto next year, and finishing her bar exams in 2008.
 
The picture of our girls above was taken last June at Melinda's wedding (l to r, Melinda, 31; Meredith, 27); the label was placed on souvenir bottles of our wine [Stu is Stuart Paterson]; and Bonnie is my wife of 38 years).
 
Also re your Breaking News item from April18, 2006: my birthday is April 18 (1946)!
 
I would appreciate any information you can supply on your Gayda family, and will be happy to tell you about mine, and also send more pictures - some members of your family show a Canadian Gayda resemblance.
 
Hope to hear from you!