Huronia Museum – Looking Back 60 Years Ago in North Simcoe – Sept 7th to 14th, 1958

Click on photos to enlarge;

After the battle was over and the Midland Golf and Country Club’s men’s title decided for another year, Les Marsell left, and Doug Haig show there are no hard feelings. It turned out to be Doug’s year to win, the second time, Les has held the honour on several occasions. 

New curbing and improved road levels will mean a big improvement for Midland’s Fifth Street, eventually. But unmarked piles of gravel and other fill constituted a hazard for unwary motorists at the time this photo was taken. 

Two youths on a motorcycle hit this pile of dirt on Hugel Ave. last Friday. At that time it was unmarked by a light or barricade. The light was installed after the accident and the earth was removed Saturday.

 Bringing along the junior golfers is a prime requisite for any golf club that is looking ahead. Above are some of the top youngsters at the Midland club. In the top picture is Jane Campbell, girls’ champion, and David Bertrand, who retained his boys’ title in matches played last Saturday. Two boys in the bottom picture, Sandy Campbell, left, and Andy Copeland of Elmvale, finished only one and two strokes, respectively, behind Dave. 

This is the beginning of the automatic dishwasher for the home.

  • County Herald headline of September 12, 1958; See Departmental “boob” in Traffic Light Switch. Did someone “boob” when the type and location of the traffic light at Waverley was changed? Garage man Herb Hornsby and a number of other Waverley residents think so. And they hope the powers that be will restore the previous system. Hornsby has some concrete evidence right in his backyard, that something may be radically wrong. The evidence is a number of wrecked cars that have been in collisions at the intersection in recent weeks. Several years ago, Mr. Hornsby recalled, villagers had been able, through the late Dr. J. D. McPhee, then MPP for Simcoe East, to persuade authorities to install a light at the main intersection of the village. The intersection marks the junction of Highway 93 and County Road 23. Both roads carry considerable traffic. Much of the traffic going south on Highway 27 branches off at Waverley onto Highway 93 as an alternative route to the Crown Hill junction of Highway 400. 

Dented fenders and hoods of these cars resulted from collisions at the intersection of Highway 93 and County Road 23 in Waverley. Residents want the red flasher light returned to its former place, above the center of the intersection, before one of the accidents results in a fatality. 

  • Midland Free Press headline of September 10, 1958; Lost in Bush Two Days 17-Year-Old Alive. An air, lake and land search for Ross Hobson, 17, of Toronto, ended happily yesterday when the youth was found on the shores of the Gibson River, some 15 miles north of the Honey Harbour cottage from which he had strayed. Hobson was discovered by some unidentified persons in a boat, about 1 ½ miles west of the Trans Canada Highway bridge over the Gibson River. OPP Const. Bill Mohan said the young man appeared in good condition after wandering some 40 hours in dense bushland. Heavy rains covered the area for part of that period. Temperatures in the area dropped close to the freezing mark Monday night.
  • Editorial, “Wise and Otherwise” – Since preparations are now underway for the visit to Canada next year of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, to officially open the St. Lawrence Seaway, it would seem an appropriate time for municipal authorities in this area to put in a bid to have the royal yacht make Georgian Bay a port of call. Few indeed are the Great Lakes communities with harbour facilities that can top those at Midland or Port McNicolI. Fewer still can offer the royal couple such interesting sights ashore. And in the summer, at least 100,000 local and summer residents would have an opportunity to see them.
  • Residents of Penetang can be assured that a pair of red lights which appeared on the northern horizon for the first time Monday night are not sputniks, satellites, or flying saucers. They are lights installed on top of the TV antenna tower at the Ontario Hospital as a warning to any low-flying aircraft. Workmen completed their installation Monday, and the lights were turned on for the first time Monday night.
  • Although both he and his two companions had been warned twice, by a watchman, Paul Yates drowned in about 18 feet of water near the Midland Boat Works Saturday afternoon. Paul and the other two young lads had been hopping from one boat to another, several eyewitnesses said, when Paul slipped and fell into the water between two berthed craft. Charles Rutherford, who had been sitting in a car on the town dock, heard the boys’ screams. He ran around to the boat works dock, peeled off his clothes and dived in but was unable to locate the boy because the water was riled by winds. Meanwhile, his wife and Dave Hewis, harbormaster, rushed to Atkinson’s Marine and Machine where firemen and police were phoned. Lloyd Atkinson, the proprietor of the firm, donned a bathing suit and aqualung equipment and sped to the accident scene in a boat guided by his brother, Ray. Paul’s body was recovered by Lloyd about 25 minutes after the accident happened. Firemen worked with a resuscitator for 45 minutes in a vain attempt to revive the lad.
  • One day last month, a priest gave the last rites of his church to Gilles Gauthier, son of Mr. and Mrs. Elie Gauthier of 128 Sixth Street, Midland. I had no hope,” said 22-year-old Gilles. But a modem-day medical miracle brought the young man, who had been staying with relatives in Cornwall, back from the living death he had been experiencing through a heart condition. Now convalescing from a unique operation, he will soon come to spend two months in Midland. After that, he will return to Cornwall where a normal job is waiting for him; and he can now face the future on an almost equal status with his fellow man. Montreal doctors performed the difficult six-hour operation, during part of which a mechanical artificial heart and lung machine pumped blood through his body. This enabled them to repair an abnormally expanded valve in his heart; which had been causing it to “work overtime”. It was not until six years ago that Gilles had discovered what had forced him to avoid any exertion all through his life. He had been in and out of hospitals for the past three years,  given five years to live but warned that death could come at any time. Once before Canadian doctors had performed “the miracle”. Louis Burns, a 25-year-old theatre usher from Fredericton, N.B., had been the guinea pig. He lives a normal life today.
  • Midland harbor has a discouraging look this week, with no less than seven large Canada Steamship Line vessels tied up there. Lack of ore trade is said to be the main reason why many other Great Lakes’ harbours, as well as Midland, are plugged with idle ships at this time. In Midland, the Gleneagles, Westmount, Donnacona, Prescott, and Goderich are tied up at the CSL winter dock. Across the bay, at Midland shipyard, are the Thunder Bay and the Hochelaga.
  • A veteran of World War I, James Edward Fitzgerald died August 29 at Midland following a lingering illness. He was 62. Born June 26, 1896, at Wyevale, Mr. Fitzgerald was educated at Wyevale and Wyebridge. He had lived in Wyebridge but had spent the past 25 years living in Detroit. He had served overseas in England and France with the 116th Battalion in World War I. Mr. Fitzgerald was a member of the Roman Catholic Church. Surviving are four sisters, Mrs. Arthur Goneau (Kate) of Midland, Mrs. Agnes Marchildon of Penetang, Mrs. Edward Rowe of Cornwall, Mrs. Winnifred Labrie of Midland; two brothers Jack and Tom Fitzgerald, both of Midland. He was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Fitzgerald of Midland. Pallbearers were Gerald McKeown, Doug Blake, Phil Blake, Tom Gilbert, Walter Cadieux, and William Murphy.
  • As part of its program to encourage increased water-borne tourist traffic on the Georgian Bay, the Georgian Bay Development Association has been instrumental in securing revisions and improvements to channel markings on the east shore of the bay. The 50 improvements being made by the federal Department of Transport between Honey Harbour and Parry Sound, are part of a plan to establish a marine “highway” along the inside channel. Neville Keefe, general manager of the GBDA, said when the program is completed this fall that the inner channel will be as well marked for boat traffic as Highway 400 is for motor vehicles. The GBDA general manager said the next move this fall will be to survey the waters from the Trent outlet at Port Severn into Georgian Bay. Next season, he said, it is planned to push this “bayway” northward in two or three stages from Parry Sound to Killarney. Some basic work on water surveys is needed from the Hydrographic Department before the Transport Department can take over, he added.
  • 25 Years Ago This Week – Enrolment at Midland High School at the end of the first week following the commencement of the fall term was 360, five fewer than the previous year. * * * Heavy frosts were reported throughout the district and farmers were concerned about their potato crops. Frost was so severe at Perkinsfield one night that it froze water in a dish left outside a farm home. * * * Unemployed men in Penetang went on strike when the council refused to consider demands contained in an anonymous letter sent to council. The men asked for basic relief of $3 per week per family plus $1 for each child between 9 and 20 years, and 85 cents for every child under 9. The two groups compromised several days later. * * * “Byng”, a shepherd dog owned by Fred Eplett of Victoria Harbour, came second in the heavyweight division of a Lake Ontario dog derby held in Toronto. His owner received $25 and a silver medal. * * * A total of 1,261 persons clicked through the turnstiles on the opening day of Coldwater’s fall fair in 1933. While the first-day attendance did not set a record, directors were pleased with the turn-out. * * * World-famed fliers, Mr. and Mrs. James Mollison announced plans to use Wasaga Beach as their take-off point for their proposed non-stop flight to Bagdad. The plane, which was being brought by ship from England, was to be assembled at the de Havilland, plant in Toronto. * * * Hon. W. G. Martin, minister of public welfare, officially opened Tiny and Tay Agricultural Society’s annual fall fair in Midland.
  • The “district” in Midland-Penetang District High School is no misnomer, according to statistics supplied this week by Principal L. M. Johnston. Of the total enrolment of 817 pupils, 340 are from Midland and 224 from Penetang. The remaining 253 come from various areas within the school district. Largest representation, 69, is from the Hillsdale – Waverley area. The Waubaushene-Fesserton area is next, with 52 pupils attending MPDHS. These are followed by the Vasey area, 42; Port McNicoll, 41; Victoria Harbour, 3; and the Balm Beach area, 16. “There are a lot of people who don’t seem to realize we have so many pupils attending from outside the urban municipalities,” said Mr. Johnston.
  • Penetang police Thursday picked up a car stolen in Toronto before it had been reported missing. Early Thursday morning Const. Art Lizotte discovered a car near Norse Boat Works containing three youths. When questioned, the lads said they were on their way to Britt. Further investigation revealed the driver did not have a driver’s permit. He said the car belonged to his brother. Not satisfied entirely with the youth’s story, especially in light of the fact that none of the three had any money, the officer locked them in the cells, pending further investigation. Chief Jack Arbour, when he came on duty, again questioned the lads, who admitted they had stolen the vehicle from a Toronto used car lot. Toronto police came to Penetang Thursday afternoon and took the lads and car back to Toronto.
  • Midland Planning Board, following a series of meetings, has submitted two recommendations to Midland council. The recommendations were contained in a report from Planning Board Chairman Percy Crawford, read at Monday night’s session. One of the suggestions, that no further building permits for housing be issued in the area bounded by William Street, Centre and Yonge Streets, and the waterfront for a period of at least three months, was approved by council. Action on the other, that the town acquires an additional 33 feet for road purposes on Russell Street from Robert to Hanley and to extend Hanley Street in a straight right-of-way from Johnston to Russell; was deferred until council’s property committee meets with Lakeview Cemetery Board. Alderman Haig said traffic flow along Russell, Robert and Johnston Streets has been a major problem in the winter. He felt the board’s proposal had merit.

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