The photos found in this blog post are the property of Huronia Museum, Midland, Ontario. Any reproduction for commercial use without permission is prohibited.  Any other distribution must credit Huronia Museum.  Please contact the museum with any questions you may have.  

Click on photos to enlarge.Delight in being made an honorary chief of the Christian Island band of Indians (Beausoleil First Nation) shows on the face of Dr. P. B. Rynard, M.P., as he shakes hands with W. H. Morrison, Penetang, who had stood in as his proxy during the official ceremony held during the annual Achievment Day on the island.

Pair of proud honorary Indians were Mr. and Mrs. Cliff Thomson, following ceremonies at Christian Island, Wednesday. Cliff was made an honorary chieftain with the title “Bird of the Sky.” Mrs. Thomson received her honours last year.

Mrs. James Caswell, one of the judges in the baby contest at Christian Island achievement day, Sept. 30, beams at judges choices in three classes. Left to right, Angeline with her mother, Mrs. Eleanor King; Ernestine Hawke; and Mrs. Dora Sylvester, holding her son David. Three honourary chiefs of the Christian Island band (BFN) are shown here flanked by the Indians who conferred the honours on them. Left to right, Lewis Jackson former chief, Chief Riley Roote, Cliff Thomson, W. H. Morrison acting as a proxy for Dr. P. B. Rynard, George Johnston, MLA, and Clarence Assence, band councillor.  The boy in the middle is Wallace Jackson son of Lewis Jackson. ( If anyone can identify the other two boys to the right we would appreciate it.)

Glenda Sylvester was crowned Miss Christian Island at a contest held September 30. Runners up are left to right; Margaret King, Juanita Mark and Judy Monague. 

Quartet judged Indian exhibits. Mrs. O. Mark, Mrs. Cliff Thomson, Toronto, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Lea, Hillsdale. 

Twenty-three classes, a total of 800 children, invaded Huronia Museum, Midland, during September. Here, teacher Kenneth Grant explains some of the details of the pioneer farm exhibit to John Cachs, Raymond Latanville and Bobby Gilbanks, pupils of Grade 3, Sacred Heart School, Midland, who visited the museum Tuesday. 

Waubaushene’s new memorial to the dead of two world wars will look something like this when it is completed and erected in the village park, Beaverbrook Branch 316, Canadian Legion, Waubaushene is sponsoring the memorial which will be fashioned from Barre Vt. granite by Sanderson Monument Co., Orillia. 

Track coaches Jacques Giroux and Perrie Rintoul, and Athletic Director W. C. Setterington examines the improved track at MPDHS prior to Saturday’s Tudhope-Thompson Cup track and field meet. 

Girl’s coaches get ready prior to Saturday’s Tudhope-Thompson Cup track and field meet. Girls’ coaches Mary-Jo Hargadon, centre, and Elizabeth McTague, right, check a stop-watch with sprinter Joan Daniells. 

The mighty Severn provides a beautiful setting for the boathouse of the Severn River Management Unit of the Department of Lands and Forests at Severn Falls. Above, rangers are preparing to give a firefighting demonstration for a group of the county council, press, radio and TV members who visited the unit headquarters Friday. Boathouse contains a large cruiser and two fast outboards. The CPR bridge over the Severn River is seen in the background. 

Many life-long residents of Simcoe County have never seen this broad reach of the mighty Severn River at Severn Falls. It’s worth a visit by camera fans during the colour photo season just ahead. The river is nearly 100 feet deep at this spot, according to rangers of the Severn River Management Unit headquarters nearby. 

Preparing to be better leaders of other lads in their patrols, these patrol leaders and seconds are attending the Boy Scouts bronze arrowhead course at St. Mark’s Parish House, Midland. Milton Ellery; DSM, of Midland, is instructor, assisted by Scoutmasters Ray Worrell (1st Huronia) and Jack Brownlee (3rd Midland). Left to right the Scouts are front row — Gerhard Asmann, Neil Tucker, Ricky Thiffault, Steve Gatehouse; Tom Gordanier, Marvin Howard; back row — Terry O’Dale, David Jones, Paul Delaney, Ron Ellis, Iain Bownlee, Bob Faint, Frans Kes, Ken Cleary. 

St. Andrew’s Hospital auxiliary has furnished two sitting rooms for patients and visitors. They are in the Playfair wing, near the old entrance. The auxiliary spent nearly a thousand dollars furnishing the two rooms. Ross Atkinson gets the Worlds Series game on a new television set while Arthur Lessard, a Midland resident for nearly 60 years, waits patiently. 

Also waiting for the game, left to right, are John Sutherland, Toronto; Robert Thompson, Waubaushene, and Francis Faint, Midland. Bobby is a Free Press Herald carrier boy in Waubaushene. 

While coach “Bun” Deschamp tries out the easy chair presented to him by his players three members of this year’s Midland ball team display trophies presented at a dinner in Bourgeois’ dining room Saturday night. Gord Dyment, left, was the winner of the MlL’s (Midland Industries Limited) most valuable player trophy, and Joe Faragher, right, the most popular player trophy donated by P. H. Jory Ltd. Murray Yorke, centre, is holding the O’Keefe Trophy the team picked up for winning the North Simcoe League title. 

Four pretty girls are fair samples of the inspiration available to the boys of the five schools which participated in the Tudhope field meet at MPDHS Saturday. Representing the cheerleaders of each of the schools are, left to right, Nancy Keith, Collingwood, Liz Lang, Orillia, Gail Pethic, Barrie Central, Bonnie Taylor, Barrie North, and Mary Lou Bissette, MPDHS. (I wonder which one was not considered pretty?) 

A new track and near-perfect weather conditions made for keen competition at the Tudhope and Thompson track and field meet at MPDHS Field Saturday. Bill Binkley is seen chalking up a win for MPDHS in the intermediate 220-yard dash.

Fishing off Present Island Wednesday, Sept. 30, Jim Edgar of Sunnyside, felt a big tug and thought perhaps he had a 10-pound pike on his line. It turned out to be a 46 inch, 30-pound muskellunge. Biggest fish Jim had caught previously weighed 22 pounds. This one was taken around 5.30 p.m. on a No. 5 spinner and took only 15 minutes to boat. 

Paul Hudson and Barbara Hudson, children of Mr. and Mrs. Bob Hudson, Midland, put the “squeeze” on a squash grown by Vern Johnson, farmer at R.R. 2, Midland. The Hubbard squash weighs 65 pounds. 

Newest Scout troop in the district, 1st Huronia, has been putting the “out” in Scouting into practice. Bob Turner, Darcy Puddicombe, Gerhard Asmann, Eldon Drinkle and David Jones, members of the Hawk patrol, practice knot tying.

The 1st Huronia Beaver patrol members Clifford Lockhart, Murray Lockhart, Bob Faint, Keith Lockhart, Ken Lockhart and Ron Waples squat Indian fashion in a patrol huddle. (Should have called it the ‘Lockhart’ patrol.) 

• Predict Tighter Controls for Area Hairdressers, County Herald headline of September 2^nd, 1959. Unless their premises and their own qualifications meet specific standards set out in special provincial legislation passed in September and to be given official approval later this year, a number of part-time hairdressers in this area may not be able to operate. John Cosey, a professional hairdresser in Midland, told Midland council Monday night that compulsory certification for all hairdressers would be effective in Ontario by March.  He said the legislation was set up September 1^st but had not been published in the Ontario Gazette yet.
• Boats Collide in Channel, Man Drowns in Crack-up, Free Press Herald headline of September 7^th, 1959. Victim of a motorboat accident near Honey Harbour Sunday night, the body of James Lizotte, 31, was recovered Monday morning. Police said Mr. Lizotte, heading south in the main channel of the Inside Passage, was driving a boat with his brother, Robert, 22, as a passenger. Robert was not injured. The driver of the northbound craft which collided with the Lizotte boat was David Lee, 22, of Toronto. In the latter’s boat were Donald Hitching, 25, and Isobel Chester 22, both of Toronto, Gail Schlegal, 20, Honey Harbour, and Elanor Sled, 19, of Feversham. None were seriously injured. OPP Const. William Mohan is in charge of the investigation into the water accident, which occurred about 1-1/2 miles north of Honey Harbour. The Lee boat apparently struck the Lizotte craft at the right rear; throwing Lizotte into the water. His body was recovered by an uncle, Alex Lizotte, and a Cousin, Anthony Toby. The drowning was one of several that have plagued the Lizotte family down the years. Jim’s brother, Eddie, 27, lost his life in an almost similar mishap at Honey Harbour July 9, 1956. An uncle, James Toby, 23, also drowned at Honey Harbour in 1942.
• Officials at Christian Island (Beausoleil First Nation) are hopeful that an experiment being carried out at the present time will help to further the economy of the residents of the Indian Reserve. Several thousand speckled trout were planted recently into one of the island’s two beautiful lakes, which contain mirror clear water. If the trout survive and multiply, the lake could easily become a trout fisherman’s paradise, with fishing controlled entirely by reserve officials.
• Michele (Mike) Tersigni, who was responsible for the beautiful CPR gardens at Port McNicoll, collapsed and died in the company’s greenhouse Wednesday, the day following his return from holidays. Mr. Tersigni joined the CPR staff in 1941 as a freight handler and in 1948 transferred to the gardening post. For 15 years prior to joining the CPR staff, Mr. Tersigni had worked for a contractor employed by the railway company. Mr. Tersigni, who was 61, was the husband of the former Jean Catalano. His body is at the Beausoleil funeral home, Penetang, until Saturday morning at 8:30. Requiem high mass will be celebrated at Sacred Heart Church, Port McNicoll, at 9:30 with interment in St. Margaret’s Cemetery.
• Midland Memorial Community Centre Board this week appointed a new stationary engineer and a manager for Arena Gardens. Named arena manager was Ken Stonehouse, 27, former assistant manager of Ravina Gardens, Toronto, and an employee of Midland Industries for 1 ½ years. He has had experience as a baseball umpire and a hockey referee. He was one of nine considered for the post. The new engineer is Sid Houle of Midland who was employed in the same capacity by Grew Boats of Penetang for a number of years. One other person applied for the position.
• Many Midland men are presently employed in the Collingwood Shipyards on the building of a third ship in excess of 700 feet in length in less than two years. The keel was laid Sept. 29. The ship, a sister of the Menihek Lake, is being constructed for the Carry Ore Company of Montreal. It will have a length of 715 feet and a beam of 75 feet with a capacity to carry 25,000 long tons of ore. The target date for completion of the ship is September 1960.
• The price of pasteurized homogenized milk to the consumer went up one cent all over Ontario Oct. 1, Garnet Armstrong of Armstrong’s Dairy, Midland, advised Monday afternoon. The new price of 23 cents in Midland was the result of the one-cent increase ruling by the Ontario Milk Board, Mr. Armstrong stated, adding that no doubt it was due to the increase the farmers have received for their milk.
• Hundreds of North Simcoe district Cubs, Scouts, Brownies, Guides, Explorers, CGIT and Sea Cadets joined in the annual church parade of youth organizations Sunday afternoon. The procession formed up in Town Park, Midland, and preceded by Midland Citizens’ Band marched down King Street to Hugel Ave., and west on Hugel Ave. to Knox Presbyterian, and St. Margaret’s Roman Catholic Church. The Protestant service was in charge of Rev. Wilson Morden of St. Paul’s United Church, chairman of the Midland District Ministerial Association. He was assisted by Rev. J. L. Self, Rev. Ralph Wright and Lieut. Wm. Johnston of the Salvation Army. The service at St. Margaret’s was in charge of Rev. L. Petipas, assisted by Rev. F. Voorwerk.
• 25 Years Ago This Week – North Simcoe citizens had a variety of weather in the early fall of 1934. The last few days of September brought mid-summer temperatures. Young people in Midland sought respite from the heat by swimming in Little Lake. The heatwave ended the first of October with icy blasts from the north. * * * Adolph Hitler was named President of Germany and commander-in-chief of the army. He retained his post as chancellor of the country. * * * Midland High School athletes obtained 49 points, ranking second to Barrie in the Tudhope Trophy competitions held at Orillia. Orillia Collegiate was in third place with 42 points. Barrie won the trophy for the fifth consecutive year,  obtaining 58 points. * * * Edward Garrity, who had operated a grocery store in Midland for 11 years, was appointed governor of the county jail at Barrie. Mr. Garrity also had lived in Waubaushene for some years, moving to that community with his family when he was two years old. Rev. C. R. Maconachie, the rector of Coldwater parish, was elected rural dean at a meeting of the Great Chapter of East Simcoe Deanery held in St. Mark’s parish hall. * * * Hon. E. C. Drury, premier of Ontario, during the four-year term of the UFO government, was appointed sheriff of Simcoe County. He succeeded Sheriff Dinwoody. Mr. Drury’s duties of Local Registrar of the Supreme Court and clerk of the County Court were combined in the new appointment.