Melanie Jackson - Creative Works

By Melanie Jackson msjacksonpei@gmail.com It’s a story not everyone lives to tell. A tale about the transition from addiction to sobriety. This is the storyline behind Doug Llewellyn’s recent self-published book If God Were An Apple Tree. “It’s about my journey to recovery - without getting into all the negative background,” Mr Llewellyn said from Victoria, BC, where he’s lived for the past 13 years. The Georgetown native said he was inspired to write the book because of a steep decline in successful recovery rates he’s seen in his jobs over the years as a substance abuse counsellor and a personal development counsellor. “Addiction is not what it was when I first started out,” said Mr Llewellyn, who works as a Program Coordinator for the addictions division of the Salvation Army. “We have more people going back and using than ever before.” Mr Llewellyn believes the road to a successful recovery begins with a step towards God and a step away from one’s past. “After a...

By Melanie Jackson msjacksonpei@gmail.com Just up the hill from the gas station in Eldon, a building sits atop the highest point of land in the community. The windows in front face the highway and look out over fields that lead to the old Halliday wharf, where a ferry used to carry passengers to Charlottetown. The two storey structure is nestled amid a lot lined with white birch and spruce trees, and the grey and white paint on its shingles, barely chipped or faded, mask the true age of the structure. Inside the old Eldon schoolhouse, a row of six foot high, block pane windows welcomes the morning sun and illuminates the room where children from the area once gathered for lessons in reading, writing and ‘rithmetic. Today, those same windows provide light the new owners need to carry out the restoration and revitalization of the historic building they will soon call home. There’s no electricity yet, and a wood stove at the front of what was once the classroom is the only sour...