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. 

Freak Line Storm Lashes North Tiny Beach Area
Free Press Herald headline from Wednesday July 11, 1962. 

Dozens of boats were reported damaged on the west shore of Tiny Township when a furious line storm struck that area about mid-Sunday afternoon. Rain, hail, and extraordinarily high winds ac­companied the storm as it raced across the country­side in a narrow swath. Hardest hit were Highland Point and Penetanguishene areas. Indications are that the storm was approximately 400 yards wide when it raced in off Nottawasaga Bay at Wahnekewing Beach where boats were said to have been tossed like nut­shells. 

Many ancient trees in the Wanekning Beach area west of Penetanguishene fell a cropper to Sunday’s short but violent windstorm. This one came to rest against a cottage owned by A. M. McNamara of Windsor. Directly across the road, another tree put a big hole in the roof of a cottage owned by P. G. McNamara, RR 3, Penetanguishene. 

Trees in town, as well as in the park, were not spared by the storm Sunday. Half of this huge old elm crashed down in the yard of Rolf Litchenfeld, King Street. Fortunately it landed squarely between two houses and no great damage was caused. This occurred late at night, long after the original storm. 

Two Midland women received severe face and head injuries when these two cars collided at Firth’s Corners, one mile west of Midland, last night. A third car, not seen in the picture, was also involved but sustained only minor damage. Most seriously hurt were Mrs. Mac Perrin, driver of one car, and Miss June Hansford, a front seat passenger, both of Midland. Miss Hansford was thrown through the windshield and sustained severe head and facial lacerations. Mrs. Perrin suffered a broken jaw and lost a number of teeth. Another passenger in the car, Mrs. Elsie Puddicombe, riding in the back seat, escaped with minor bruises. Miss Hansford and Mrs. Puddicombe were being driven home from the Brooklea Golf and Country Club where they were employed by Mr. and Mrs. Perrin. 

Temperatures that soared into the 90’s Sunday afternoon proved anything but a boon to South Simcoe Baseball League officials in staging their second All-Star game in Midland Sunday afternoon. The defending champion Midland Indians thwarted the All-Stars’ plans for two straight wins by coming up with a 5-3 victory. All-Stars had won the first game last year by trimming Alliston Braves, the 1960 champs, by an 8-3 margin. League officials had hoped for a crowd of 500 or better to boost their injured player fund. But the heat and high humidity sent many fans to the beaches, or other cooler spots, and only about 300 turned up at the game. Despite the humid atmosphere and a brief rain and wind storm midway through the affair, the fans were treated to a tidy tussle between playing coach Gord Dyment’s Indians and 17 players chosen from the other 12 teams in the two-section league. 

Midland Indians proved poor hosts Sunday afternoon when they defeated the South Simcoe League All-Stars 5-3 in the second annual “dream game”. Discussing ground rules in this picture are Indian manager Gord Dyment, umpire Ted Watson, All-Star manager Dean Heliotis and umpires Bob Grier and Lloyd Patton. 

There were really two All-Star teams in action in the South Simcoe Baseball League “dream game” in Midland Sunday, judging by the results. Defending league champions, Midland Indians scored a 5-3 win over the All-Stars chosen from the other twelve teams in the wide-spread league, shown here. Hot weather kept attendance below expectations. 

There were some near misses, and not a little confusion at times, as these members of the 1st and 2nd Midland Girl Guides’ companies tried for their bosuns’ badges at Little Lake recently. 

These eight girls are up to their ears in kids these days as they help look after the more than 400 children signed up for Midland Y’s Men’s Club’s summer program at Little Lake. Left to right are; front row — Mary Lou Graham, in charge of crafts; Betty Jean Watkinson, games, and counsellors Barbara Dalrymple and Gudron Mandler; back row — counsellors Betty Ann McCullough, Judy McIntyre, Eden Morrison and Wynne Gilmore. 

 We included this promotion list because it reminds us of what a one-room school was like. All grades in one class, one teacher and every child of one household attending the same class every day. Seven families made up the 23 students at Mount St. Louis.

Midland householders will have to keep their garden hoses dry for a few more days yet, Public Utilities Commission secretary-manager Stewart Holt told this paper yesterday. Any use of a hose by house-holders was ordered discontinued Friday when officials became alarmed at the low level of reserve ponds in the reservoir area in the north-west section of town. All-time record pumping figures hastened the decision. 

Hydro Rate Cut?? We may never see that again!

UP BOOK BUDGET TO MEET COST HIKE
County Herald headline of Friday, July 13, 1962. 

   Increased textbook costs for the 1962-3 school year posed a budget problem for Midland-Penetanguishene District High School Board, meeting Wednesday night. “We face a jump of 30 per cent on all books bought this year yet our budget of $2,500 remains the same. In most cases students can buy textbooks second hand, but cost to the student is bound to rise,” admitted MPDHS Principal Ray Gauthier.    Principal Gauthier in his monthly report listed percentages of failures throughout the school. In Grade 9, 67 of 288 students failed for a rate of 23.26 per cent. Grade 10 had 38 failures in 237 students for a failure percentage of 16.03. There were 45 failures among Grade 11’s 178 students. The failure rate was 25.28. Grade 12 recorded 28 out of 147 students, or 19.04 failures. Overall failure rate was 20.94 per cent, up from 16.1 last year. On the other hand, 17.79 per cent of pupils had honour standings. “From a drop-out rate of 12 per cent for 1958, double the provincial average, we have dropped to 7.1 per cent this year,” Mr. Gauthier reported. 

Midland will have gobs of gobs — navy, that is — for the next eleven days. (An Old English meaning of the word gob is “a sailor.” ) The tars — 140 officers and men — comprise the crew of HMCS Victoriaville which pulled into Midland harbour last night and officially docked this morning. She will leave Midland July 23 at 9.30 a.m. The 301 by 37-foot Canadian Navy vessel is one of several RCN ships which carried out gunnery practice on Georgian Bay earlier this week. (Sailors became known as Jack Tars because of their clever use of this natural gooey substance to waterproof things. The name Tar, in this context, dates back to the 17th century and is short for ‘tarpaulin’ which in those days meant a seaman.) 

Tiny Township School Section No. 14 at Wyevale will have doubled its present capacity by the end of this year, according to Jack Brock, one of the trustees. At a recent public meeting, ratepayers of the section agreed to the additional expenditure. According to Mr. Brock, the new construction will include two classrooms, a new heating system and new washrooms. Estimated cost for the work is $53,000. Mr. Brock told Tiny Township Council that the enlarged school would, if found necessary in the future, be big enough to accommodate an area school. 

Jim Neilon, Victoria, B.C., proves that the big ones don’t always get away. He is shown here with his niece, Kathryn Bourgeois, holding the head of an 18-pound catfish he caught in the Muscosh (as spelled in the paper) district recently. Mr. Neilon is currently visiting his sister Mrs. Lionel Bourgeois of Midland. 

One of the men who is pleading for peace between the Saskatchewan government and doctors of that province is Father Athol Murray, remembered by many citizens of Penetanguishene. Now 70 years old and famous for his work in establishing Notre Dame College in Saskatchewan. Father Murray held his first post as a priest at Penetanguishene. He came to this town as assistant to Father Brunelle after being ordained at Scarborough. Father Murray is credited with much of the organization work behind the 1921 Old Home Week when numerous historical plaques were erected around the town, and a ceremony was staged commemorating the end of the war between Hurons and Iroquois. The venerable priest is also credited with having developed the original idea of the donation of a pair of angels which today stand at the south entrance to town. 

Midland firemen got a long run Sunday morning when they were called to the farm home of Orval Truax in Tay Township, near Waverley. Burned was a shed containing a number of chickens and ducks. A fireman is seen here trying to put out a large pile of firewood which also fell prey to the flames. 

Model home on Noreene Street built by Beaver Lumber and this photo was used in an advertisement announcing an open house Saturday and Sunday, July 7 & 8. Mortgage as low as $56 per month.  [This house burnt around 2018 but was rebuilt.]  

July is the month for pruning your Christmas trees, announc­ed Arthur W. Leman, district forester, in his weekly Lake Simcoe district report. “Pine trees generally grow too fast to produce well balanc­ed, bushy specimens unless they are pruned.” he said. “In each of the first two grow­ing seasons pines normally grow six to 10 inches. But in the third growing season, the major­ity start to stretch out and grow as much as 18 to 20 inches. This is too much growth. A 10 to 14 inch growth per year and proportionate side branch growth will produce well shaped trees at six feet. One man can shear 50 to 80 trees an hour. Pruning should be carried out annually to maintain a conical shape until they reach marketable size.” forester Le­man advised. [Pruning Christmas trees was hard work but a good source of summer income for many North Simcoe young people.] 

A Tay Township man was in Penetanguishene police court, July 5, and was fined $25 and costs for creating a disturbance. OPP Const C. W. Boone told the court he had found the man on County Road 6, June 23, on his hands and knees in the middle of the road praying. His actions were obstructing traffic, the officer said. He also told the court the man had been drinking.