Dundas/Dundass 101st Reunion

1773 - 2010


Our 101st Dundass/Dundas reunion of the descendants of William and John Dundass, cousin Moses Dundass and other Fermanagh Dundas branches is quickly approaching.
Join with us and Clan Chief David Dundas and his bride Connie Sanders Dundas on Sunday, June, 27th as we gather for an 11:00 a.m. church service at Banner United Church, near London, Ontario.
The service is followed by our annual picnic and provides a time to socialize and reconnect. As usual, beverages will be provided. Bring your potluck contribution (for 4 -6), dishes, cutlery and lawn chairs and join your “cousins” in Banner.

Woolworth's Banana Roll (Cake) Recipe

I was fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home Mom when my children were in school. Early in 1977, a neighbour taught me how to decorate cakes, not just birthday but the more advanced techniques of working with Royal Icing and air brushing colours on to a cake. Word got around the neighbourhood that I baked and decorated cakes..soon I had a thriving cottage industry. Over the years from 1977 to 1989, I baked and decorated a lot of cakes. Some were done for schools, gradutions, our local library on the opening of a new branch, weddings and birthdays, however, two that I recall were for people turning 100 and 101 years old. I still have my book of various pictures that I took when a cake was finished.



And two of my favourites, the "you're how old" was done for my sister's 40th birthday and the tiger was done using airbrush techniques.









Lifting heavy wedding cakes put a strain on my shoulder resulting in a "frozen shoulder" and in 1988, I stopped doing cakes. Went back to college at the age of 49, took a legal secretarial course and upon graduation, re-entered the work-force. Commuting to Toronto from Oshawa daily did not leave me very much time to do any baking, even birthday cakes for my kids. So I compromised.

Years before I began to bake cakes, my husband would periodically pick up a banana roll from the Woolworths store in downtown Oshawa. We just loved them, so delicious and not expensive, something like $3.50 for a banana roll that would serve 6 people. Although I had often been complimented on the taste of my cakes (I still am even today whenever I run into one of my former customers)I could never duplicate the taste of Woolworths banana roll nor the taste of the icing...it was so delicious. So whenver birthdays rolled around, I would order two banana rolls for that occasion.

During the past couple of years, at birthdays, my younger daughter often commented, "Mom, how I wish you knew how to make a Woolworths Banana Roll", said she with a mouthful of a special order birthday cake from our supermarket. Find me the recipe, said I, and I will make it up. What a wonderful tool Google is..two weeks ago she sent me the recipe she had found on a website, http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m0407M08.htm#5

..it seems my family is not the only family who misses these delicious cakes. And so I made up a banana roll, following the recipe from the website. The cake tasted like the banana roll from Woolworths but alas the whipped cream frosting did not. Then I remembered, walking into Woolworths store to pick up the banana roll, it was ready for me and waiting in their display case, however, the case was not refrigerated...Woolworths did not use WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING on their Banana Rolls. I knew that it had to be a different recipe and thinking back to when I was baking and icing cakes, I remembered a recipe for a "Pretend Whipped Cream Frosting" that didn't use whipping cream at all. Mary Lisko,aka the happy cooker, had this recipe in her cookbook.

So I baked another banana roll, did up the frosting and yes, this is the famous Woolworths Banana Roll, except..the consistency of the frosting was not quite the same. It needed to be a bit stiffer. I solved this by adding a packet of "Whip-It" to stabilize it (I used to use "Nutriwhip" when I was decorating but I couldn't find it) to the frosting recipe.

Here are the recipes:

1 cup sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 large) mashed ripe banana
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature

Line a 12 X 15 1/2 inch by 1/2 thickness cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2 inch overhang. Grease the pan first. Grease the parchment paper. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mash banana and add sour cream. The recipe calls for lemon zest..I do not use it. Cream the butter until it is smooth and lighter in color. Add the sugar and scrape the mixture clinging to the sides into the center of the bowl. Continue to cream until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until the mixture is quite fluffy. Add half of the flour mixture until blended. Then add the banana mixture, blending well. Add the remaining flour mixture, blending until smooth. Pour batter into pan, using a spatula to spread it into the corners. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until golden brown. It may take longer, depending on your oven.

Remove from oven and while still warm, invert on to a tea towel that has been sprinkled with icing sugar. Beginning at the short side end, roll up in the tea towel..cool.

When cool, unroll the cake and fill with:

Pretend Whipped Cream Frosting:

4 Tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup white (granulated) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon butter flavouring
Ground walnuts
1 packet Whip-it (optional)

Mix flour and milk in a saucepan (do not use a microwave). Cook over low heat until thick, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Place into a bowl and put in fridg to cool. Cream butter and shortening together, beat for 4 minutes...it must be 4 minutes. Add sugar gradually. Add the flour paste, mixing well, then the packet of Whip-it and continue beating. Add vanilla and butter flavouring and mix well until well blended.

Using a spatula, cover the unrolled banana cake with the frosting. Then roll up beginning at the short end. Slice the ends of the roll to make it even and spread the frosting on top. Sprinkle the top with ground walnuts..and you have the Woolworths Banana Roll. Enjoy.

UK Parliamentary Reception for the PAS, a success

Several health care professionals attended the UK Parliamentary Reception for the PAS and helped make this event a resounding success. Attending from the United States were Sally Pacholok, R.N. and her husband, Jeffrey Stuart, D.O.. Sally and Jeffrey are the well-known authors of "Could It BE B12, An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses". In the top photo are Sally and several members of the PAS, in the second photo are Sally and Jeffrey and the last photo is Sally. These pictures were taken in the Jubilee Room, Westminster Hall, at the event. Also attending from the Netherlands was Dr. Hans Reijnen, a physician who is studying the effects of B12 deficiency and discussed a paper on this at the event. Dr. Reijnen is one of a few doctors who use methylcobalamin as the preferred treatment for B12 deficiency.

Thank you to Martyn Hooper, PAS Chair and all members of the PAS who contributed to this important event. All of your hard work is paying off.

As a result of the parliamentary reception, a parliamentary debate was held on November 4th wherein UK MP Madeleine Moon presented an argument relating to the treatment and diagnosis of pernicious anaemia. The PAS' fight for better treatment for pernicious anaemia/B12 deficient sufferers has not ended with this debate, in fact, it has just begun.

UK Parliamentary Reception Video on Pernicious Anaemia

Pernicious Anaemia. TO BE OR NOT TO BE. from Mairi Sutherland on Vimeo.

Let all Dundases celebrate the marriage of our Clan Chief, David Dundas to Connie Sanders

Congratulations Connie and David. On October 15th, last, in Cambridge, Ontario, Connie Sanders and David Duncan Dundas were married. David is the 31st Chief of the Clan Dundas. Connie is the co-author of the Dundas/Dundass genealogy book, "The Descendants of William and John Dundass, 1771-1981, Scots-Irish Immigrants to Canada". Connie and David met whilst Connie was researching her book.

I must commend both of them for keeping this a well-guarded secret. I don't think anyone who attended the Banner reunion in June, had an inkling that a marriage was about to happen.

Best wishes from a Dundas cousin to another.

Highway of Heroes...401 in Ontario from Trenton in the East to Toronto in the West

God Bless Canada

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What began as a grass roots campaign has grown to encompass the population of the cities, towns and villages that stretch along Highway 401 in Ontario between the City of Toronto in the west to the City of Quinte West (Trenton) in the east. As the video says, there are 50 bridges over the 401 along this stretch of highway and whenever the body of a soldier is repatriated back home, these bridges are lined with people. Firefighters standing atop their trucks on top of the bridges, Police Officers, EMS people and ordinary people, all out to support the troops in Afghanistan. The above video was sent to me in an email..Lee Greenwood sings "God Bless Canada". The Oshawa bridges are where I have stood, too many times, waiting for the approaching hearse and convoy of vehicles that precede the hearse. I stand on the bridge to show my support for our soldiers in Afghanistan and to show my support for the families of our soldiers. It is very moving, one has to be there to understand what I mean.

Sally Pacholok's Campaign to raise awareness of B12 Deficiency

Press Release

“Year of B12 Awareness”
September declared
“Vitamin B12 Awareness Month” in the United States
September 23 will be “Vitamin B12 Awareness Day”
Fall into Action by September 23

Fresno, CA- Masked behind misdiagnoses, B12 deficiency has slowly grown to become the most untreated and unrecognized nutritional disorder causing injury in the United States.
This crippler is a master of masquerade, striking different people in different ways. It afflicts one person with tremors, makes another depressed or psychotic, and causes agonizing leg and arm pains in still another. It can mimic Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, early Parkinson's disease, diabetic neuropathy, or chronic fatigue syndrome. It can make men or women infertile or cause developmental disabilities in children. Other times it lurks silently, stealthily increasing its victim's risk of deadly diseases ranging from stroke and heart attacks to cancer.

Sally Pacholok, R.N. and Jeffrey Stuart, D.O. are spearheading a national effort to alert the public to the dangers of vitamin B12 deficiency—a public health care crisis costing state and federal agencies billions of dollars and costing millions of people their health.

Organizers chose spring to begin the campaign because it's a time when we're all thinking about getting out and moving around more—and healthy vitamin B12 levels are crucial for an independent and active life. They are calling on all health care institutions and assisted-living residences to learn about B12 deficiency by September 23—Vitamin B12 Awareness Day—and to include screening seniors for B12 deficiency in their fall-prevention programs.



Pacholok and Stuart point out that B12 deficiency is a world-wide problem and a hidden epidemic in the United States. B12 deficiency causes symptoms such as nerve pain or tingling, dementia, mental illness, tremor, difficulty walking, and frequent falls. It is commonly misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's disease, depression, peripheral neuropathy, vertigo, and mini-strokes. Major medical journals report that vitamin B12 deficiency occurs in up to 15 percent of the elderly—approximately 5.4 million seniors. Other studies report the prevalence to be 15 percent to 25 percent. What's more, these numbers only relate to persons 65 and older. They don't include the vast numbers of Americans under the age of 65—many of them infants, children or middle-aged adults—who become B12 deficient for a variety of reasons. In younger people B12 deficiency can mimic post-partum depression/psychosis and autistic-like symptoms in children.

Groups of people at high risk for B12 deficiency include vegans, vegetarians, alcoholics, people with eating disorders, celiac disease, Crohn's disease, those who have had gastric bypass surgery, and those who suffer from autoimmune diseases and AIDS. The use of certain drugs such as proton pump inhibitors, metformin, H-2 blockers and nitrous oxide can also cause B12 deficiency.

Did you know the following?
• Most patients who have B12 deficiency symptoms or are at risk for B12 deficiency never get tested.
• Even doctors who do order B12 tests miss many cases of B12 deficiency because they don't use an additional sensitive test (urinary methylmalonic acid).
• Misdiagnosis is common because B12 deficiency mimics other diseases.
• Many doctors rarely contemplate B12 deficiency unless red blood cell abnormalities or anemia—often late signs—are present.
• The elderly are easily misdiagnosed because doctors often blame their symptoms on coexisting medical problems.
• Treating B12 deficiency costs only a few dollars a month and symptoms are often completely reversible if people receive early treatment.
• If diagnosed too late, symptoms such as dementia, tremor, and nerve injury typically cannot be reversed.
• Multi-vitamin pills contain only small amounts of B12—far too little to correct a B12 deficiency or to prevent B12 deficiency in at-risk groups.

Pacholok and Stuart believe the hidden epidemic of B12 deficiency can be stopped in its tracks by educating the health care community and the public. "This is one of the most preventable, and most curable, of all medical scourges," they say, “but only if we choose to act." They urge the medical community to take steps including:

• Screening at-risk adults in assisted living residences, group homes, nursing homes, and hospitals.
• Incorporating screening for B12 deficiency into all fall prevention programs.
• Screening at-risk pregnant women and nursing mothers.
• Screening infants and children with developmental delays.
• Screening patients diagnosed with MS, mental illness, or dementia (including Alzheimer's).

Pacholok and Stuart are seasoned media interviewees and would be happy to answer your listeners' questions.

Sally Pacholok has been practicing emergency nursing for 22 years. Jeffrey Stuart, D.O. is board-certified in emergency medicine and has been practicing for 16 years. They coauthored the most comprehensive explanation of this problem, Could It Be B12?: An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses (Quill Driver Books). They have appeared as guests on CNN-Headline News, Seeking Solutions with Suzanne, KATV Channel 7 News in Little Rock, Arkansas, and numerous TV shows in southeastern Michigan. Additionally, they have been interviewed by dozens of radio stations including: KSTE Radio, Sacramento Wide World of Health, KHNR Honolulu Doctors Health Radio, KKCR BBS Radio, Dr. Ann West Show, CHOK Radio, Ontario Canada Live with Lee, Redbook, First Magazine, Bottom Line Health, Variety, Anchorage Times, Detroit Free Press, South Bend Tribune, Lockport Union-Sun and Journal, and Nursing 2007.

Possible Interview Questions:

Why is vitamin B12 important?
Why do we become deficient?
What are the signs and symptoms of B12 deficiency, and who is at risk?
Who should be tested?
Why are patients being misdiagnosed?
What are the names of the tests used to diagnose B12 deficiency?
What is the cost to patients and society regarding misdiagnosis?
What can we do to help raise awareness?