Click on photos to enlarge;New trophies were provided for competition by school children marching to Tiny and Tay fair in Midland Friday. Penetang Protestant Public School won the urban class and S.S. 21, Tiny, (MacDonald’s School) won the rural division. Left to right are fair director Nels Jones, Clarence Cloke, principal of the Penetang school, Mrs. Viola Martin, S.S. No. 21 Tiny, and Arthur Gardiner, fair president.

The always popular Ferris wheel was again a favourite for children attending children’s day at the Midland Fall Fair. 

Pupils of S.S. 21 Tiny (MacDonald’s School) won the marching contest for rural schools held in connection with children’s day at the Tiny Tay fall fair. S.S. 21 serves a large area between Wyebridge and Wyevale. 

Ellsworth Collins of Wyebridge copped top honors in the bacon carcass competition at Midland fair. He is pictured here with the prize-winning carcasses, each of which won an ‘A’ grading in the outstanding exhibit. 

Ellsworth Collins of Wyebridge won the $12 prize for the best exhibit in the bacon carcass competition at Midland Fall Fair Saturday. All other winners in the competition were Grade A carcasses, and judge Les Allan of the Department of Agriculture in Barrie said the display was the best ever shown here. Purpose of the competition is to encourage the production of more and leaner bacon type hogs acceptable to the Canadian consumer. The Tiny and Tay Agricultural Society, assisted by the provincial Department of Agriculture and First Co-Operative Packers, Barrie, offer the competition to any bona fide hog producer. Winner of the $10 second prize was John Rumble of Hillsdale, and C. M. Carscadden of Stroud copped the third prize of $8. Winners of $5 prizes were Earl Jones, Midland R.R. 1; Roy Edwards, Vasey; Harry Slessor, Hawkestone; Mrs. Tom Blair, Wyebridge; G. D. Sproule, Stroud; Charles D’Aoust, Perkinsfield; and Irwin Gardiner, Wyebridge.

First such club formed in Ontario, Midland 4-H Strawberry Club sponsored this exhibit at Tiny and Tay fair in Midland last week. Pretty Barbara Shaw of Wyebridge is seen above with some of the plants on display. The club had 15 members in its first year. 

Champions all are these three boys and one girl, members of Vasey 4-H calf club. They were present with their prize year-old calves at Tiny Tay Fair in Midland Friday. Left to right are Blaine Edwards, reserve champion, beef calves; Pauline Robinson, reserve champion dairy calves; Bob Rawson, grand champion dairy and Lloyd Curry, grand champion beef. 

Not much escaped the attention of Eden Armstrong of Armitage, heavy horse judge at the Midland Fall Fair. With him is Everett Marshall of Midland, chairman of the heavy horse competition. 

“Why do they do it?”, muses Mrs. Charles Shaw, as she looks over a collection of hats, sweaters, sunglasses and other articles left in her Big Red Rooster restaurant at Elmvale during the summer. One of the oddest articles was a bag full of bingo chips! 

 

• Midland Free Press headline of Wednesday, September 17, 1958; Ask Area Municipalities Back $300,000 Addition. Municipalities supporting the Midland-Penetang District High School are being asked this week to approve a 14-room, $300,000. Addition to the million dollar structure on Hugel Ave. Opened only two years ago, the modern district high school is already feeling the strain of overcrowding. Eight hundred and twenty-nine students are now registered.
• The question of supporting the proposed addition to Midland-Penetang District High School went before the first municipal council Monday night — and met its first public opposition. At a meeting in Perkinsfield, Tiny Township Deputy-reeve Eldege Quesnelle moved support of the $512,000 (gross cost before grants) undertaking. But he failed to find a seconder, and the motion failed to come to a vote. Councillors Normand Marchand and Etienne Marchildon were most vocal in their opposition to the proposal. Mr. Marchand said he felt Penetang should have kept its own high school in the first place, instead of entering into the district school. Another factor to be considered, he said, was the rumor that a continuation school for Penetang is under consideration. Mr. Marchildon queried the accuracy of the prediction of the number of students expected in the future. “When they built the school, they told us it would be okay for 10 years. Here it’s been only two years and they want an addition. How do we know those smart guys aren’t going to be wrong again?” he queried. The councilor cited Elmvale District High School, where he said the number of future students had been overestimated, causing rooms to lie idle.
• County Herald headline of Friday, September 19, 1958; Town Officials Explore New Slum Clearance Plan. Midland, municipal officials will explore the possibility of obtaining provincial aid for slum clearance in the town under the new policy set down by Premier Leslie M. Frost Wednesday. The Ontario premier announced that the provincial government would contribute 25 percent toward the cost to municipalities of acquiring land before redevelopment of depressed areas. “We now feel it is a reasonable area for us to enter because of the importance of public housing enterprises,” said Premier Frost. The change in government thinking means that with the federal contribution of 50 percent a municipality will pay only 25 percent of the cost of land acquisition. Until now the province’s only contribution to housing developments has been on the basis of so much per unit for buildings erected, it was stated.
• Midland Curling Club can proceed with plans to commence construction of an addition to the curling rink this fall. At a meeting Monday, Sept. 8, Midland council gave its approval to a recommendation from the parks commission that the club be granted a 25-year lease on the building. Under the new lease, the club is to maintain the interior and exterior of the existing building and the addition it hopes to complete this fall. As well the club is to pay an annual rent of $500, and the insurance premium on the addition. The parks commission agreed to pay the insurance premium on the existing building and to maintain the wooden floor installed each spring when the ice is removed from the rink, as the club uses the building roughly about six months a year. The current lease expires in 1962. Alderman Douglas Haig, who represented the curlers and refrained from voting on the issue, said the agreement will bring a net profit to the municipality. He said the club was anxious to have a decision on the lease so it could proceed with the construction of the addition and have it completed by the start of the curling season. He said the club directors were opposed to purchasing the building, erected in 1919 through funds provided by the town, Tiny and Tay Agricultural Society and citizens because they felt council would be setting a dangerous precedent. Since the building’s completion 39 years ago, various leasing arrangements had been made with the club and in the original lease the club was to have the rink without any charge whatsoever, he said. The club, a non-profit organization, has, “well fulfilled its pledges” and is one of few clubs in Ontario that has provided these facilities at so low a cost to members, Mr. Haig said. Since the one-storey brick addition entails a considerable expenditure; club directors wanted a secure lease. He assured council that ownership of the addition, designed to complement the present building, would be vested in the town.
• COLDWATER—Wilcox Sheppard, associate professor of physiology, University of Tennessee School of Medicine, Memphis, Tennessee, and his wife are visiting his parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. S. Sheppard, Reinbird Street, Coldwater. Professor Sheppard teaches two physiology courses each year, to approximately 250 medical students and 125 dental students. Coldwater residents, in general, take pride in the fact that a student who attended public and secondary schools in this village has advanced to the point in his professional field where his findings have received international recognition. He has been the co-author of about 100 publications and contributed a chapter in a recently issued compendium prepared by the Atomic Energy Commission of the United States, for use at the second Geneva Conference, meeting in Geneva on the peaceful uses of atomic energy.
• Ten Years Ago This Week – 1948 – Unless drastic cuts in consumption were effected immediately, Midland consumers were to have daily power cut-offs. The situation was created by a general power shortage throughout Ontario. Hydro officials in Barrie told the Midland utilities commission that a further 10 percent cut from the town’s previous low quota would be made. * * * Farmers in the Barrie district had won the first round in their battle to keep the municipality from using the town square for other purposes than a farmer’s market. An injunction restraining the municipality from putting the square to other use was upheld by an Ontario Supreme Court justice. * * * Cold, cloudy weather plagued both Tiny and Tay Agricultural Society’s fall fair and the Christian Island Indian fair. * * * George Doucett, minister of highways, officially opened the new North River bridge. The structure replaced one destroyed in 1947 by an over-loaded vehicle. * * * St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Coldwater, was preparing to celebrate its 50^th anniversary. First minutes of a congregational meeting were dated June 24, 1898. Rev. Geo. Arnold presided over the meeting and secretary was Dr. J. A. Harvie. * * * Two Penetang fishermen Tommy Thompson and Godfrey Trilsbeck, spotted the 20-foot white oak rudder of a ship while fishing near Minnicog. They towed it behind their 28-foot launch to Penetang. It was believed to be the rudder of the three-masted schooner J. C. Woodruff, which ran aground and was burned on Whale Back Shoal more than 50 years previously.
• As an escape from the civic reception, handshaking and other rigors (often boring in the extreme) of a Royal tour, the Georgian Bay Development Association is investigating the possibility of extending an invitation to Queen Elizabeth II to tour the Georgian Bay by boat during her Canadian tour next summer. The decision to issue the invitation was made at a recent meeting of the directors of the GBDA. One of several such associations formed in Ontario in recent years, the Georgian Bay Association is also one of the largest in terms of area. It embraces 55 member municipalities from the Counties of Bruce, Dufferin, Grey and Simcoe and the Districts of Muskoka and Parry Sound. Its sphere of influence includes any subject for the advancement of the area in the fields of industry, tourism, and agriculture. “We feel that a cruise in Georgian Bay Waters would be a relaxation and inspiration to the Royal Family after so many arduous civic receptions in the southern part of the province,” said Neville Keefe, general manager of the association. Mr. Keefe said it “would be a shame if the royal yacht, visiting Canada’s inland lakes for the first time, “should not be routed to the best waters we have to display the beauties of her Canadian Dominions.”
• Jerome Gignac, president of Penetang General Hospital Board, said this week the board is somewhat concerned about one group of people in particular, so far as the new hospital insurance scheme is concerned. “We believe that many recipients of old age pensions do not realize they will not be automatically covered under the insurance scheme,” he said. According to the chairman, people of 70 years and over who are receiving the pension must pass a means test before they will be automatically covered. Anyone who cannot pass the test must enroll in the standard way. Those persons under 70 receiving old age assistance, since they must pass the means test to receive the pension, will be covered under the scheme without any further application on their own part, he said.
• A 9,000 square foot warehouse north-west of the existing Midland Footwear plant on Elizabeth Street E. is to be started this week.
• Members of Midland Public Schools Board, at their first fall meeting, last- Friday night, evidenced a desire to keep a firm hand and a watchful eye on matters under their control. Noting an increase of four teachers in the number wishing to direct extra-curricular sports (for which extra pay is given); they decided 12 directors would be too much for the present budget. Further, they will ask for a monthly report on sports activities from the chief director; containing the proposed program, expenditures and a breakdown of what each teacher is doing.
• Eldon Fallis, 24, of Toronto, formerly of Midland area, died in St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, yesterday two hours after he was hit on the head by a brick that fell from the 12th floor of a building under construction at Bay and Temperance Streets. Mr. Fallis, a truck driver, had made a delivery in the area and was putting a tarpaulin over the back of the truck when the brick fell.
• Father of four children, Gordon Perryman, 40, was killed Wednesday morning in a fall from the roof of a building under construction on the southern outskirts of Coldwater. A carpenter employed in building a small industry on the east side of Highway 12 for Dennis Athron of Waubaushene, Mr. Perryman had been working on the roof and dropped 13 feet to the ground when a facing board on which his foot was braced, gave way. He struck his head and died instantly. (Even our most basic safety procedures of today would have prevented both of these accidents.)
• You think you have troubles? Shed a tear for this chap, “Mr. X”, who underwent the following harrowing experience during the men’s field day at Midland Golf and Country Club Sunday. Mr. X wasn’t doing too badly until he came to the long 5th hole. There’s an out-of-bounds fence along the right side of the fairway and Mr. X drove four balls over it before he got off the tee. That meant ten shots before he even got started. More trouble lay ahead. Enroute to the green Mr. X put another ball over the fence and lost still another. By the time he finally holed out he had used up 19 strokes, 12 of them on penalties! And you think you have troubles!
• Two Great Lakes shipping companies have signed a new agreement with the Seafarers International Union for a five percent wage increase retroactive to June this year, with an additional five percent effective next season. The agreement was signed Wednesday by Hal C. Banks, Canadian SIU head, and officials of Upper Lakes and St. Lawrence Transportation Company and N. M. Paterson and Sons Limited. Crew members will also get time-and-a-half for Sunday work.
• Planning board member Cecil Moreton of Midland has suggested that the town should give serious consideration to acquiring land for a municipal parking lot. Mr. Moreton contends there is land available in the central part of the municipality which is ideally situated. It is readily accessible, could provide space for a substantial number of cars, is close to the main business section and, he feels, could be obtained at a fairly reasonable price.
• Editorial – In a little more than a week’s time, the Free Press will observe the 76th anniversary of its founding, for it was on Sept 27, 1882, that the first issue of the Midland Free Press was published by Peter J. Ryan. Actually, its roots go deeper than that for Mr. Ryan purchased The Argosy that year and changed the paper’s name to the Free Press. The Argosy, published by Reeve Lorenzo McFarlane, was founded in 1875. The Penetanguishene Herald, which was incorporated with this newspaper in 1937, was established by the late A. C. Osborne in 1876. It would be interesting to know how many North Simcoe citizens will be celebrating their 76th birthday on or about the same day as this newspaper.

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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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Senseless vandalism seems the only way to describe this scene, taken in D. MacNabb’s garden at 157 Fifth Street, Midland. Numerous tomato plants and many hours of work were ruined by the invaders, who also uprooted cabbage and flower plants. Marks on the ground indicated the vandalism was the work of adults. 

These two men, Kenneth Price, left, and Kelvin Ward, are in charge of the paving program now underway at Port McNicoll. Mr. Price of Toronto is an engineer for 0. A. Meadows and Associates Ltd., while Mr. Ward, from Barrie, is foreman for the Disher-Farrand Co. Portions of three village streets are getting new paved surfaces. 

It’s quite a mess right now, but Port McNicoll’s Fourth Ave will be a much-improved thoroughfare in a few weeks when badly-needed new paving is installed. Seventh Ave. and Third Street will also be paved in a program which also includes ditching, curbing and the laying of some sidewalks. 

Deep in delphiniums is Arthur Rollinson, whose Pacific Hybrids add color to the many gardens blooming in Waubaushene these days. Mr. Rollinson is secretary of the community’s bustling Chamber of Commerce. 

A good time was had by all apparently, according to the girls returning from Camp Kitchikewana on the S.S. Dover August 27. Despite mediocre weather for the past two weeks, the young campers sported good coats of tan to show their waiting parents. The event also marked the end of camp “Kitchi” for another season. 

Load of lumber bound for Penetang Tuesday, Sept 2, was too high to go through the CPR subway about five miles east of Midland. When driver Bert Bridges tried to turn around and find an alternate route, his vehicle became stuck while straddling Highway 12. 

Making sure of the ground rules before Monday’s OBA playoff game in Midland are Indians’ Murray Yorke, umpires A. MacLean and R. Horne, and Bowmanville manager Fred Cowle. Indians won 2-0. The second game of the best-of-three intermediate A playdowns is slated for Bowmanville Saturday. 

Heroes in Midland Indians’ 2.0 win over Bowmanville Harvesters Monday were Gord Dyment, left, and Larry Greene. Dyment allowed only one hit and fanned 18 batters. Green produced the needed runs with a homer with one mate aboard in the third inning. 

 The new overflow storm sewer being constructed from Penetang’s Main Street to the bay, alongside Fern Shoe plant, approached completion this week when the contractor finished laying four-foot tile to the street line. Work started Tuesday morning to tear up the pavement for the huge excavation which will be necessary to join, the new line to the existing trunk sewer. The plan calls for the new line to enter the main hole at a lower, level than the sanitary sewer. The top portion of the existing sewer will be cut away, allowing it to overflow during flood conditions with water being carried away in the overflow sewer. 

 

 

(I wonder if Doug can bring back the .50 cent 2×4 to go with the 1.00 beer?)

• Free Press Herald headline of September 3, 1958; Volunteer Fire Fighters Launch Bicycle Safety Plan. Midland Fire Brigade will start a “bicycle safety program” in all Midland primary schools next week, both public and separate. Firemen Dave Hudson and Fred Grigg are in charge of the program which will seek the co-operation of teachers and parents as well as the young bike riders. The brigade hopes to have at least two firemen visit each school next week to explain the program to the children. Teachers will provide further instruction, it is hoped, following the initial visits. The young bicyclists will be divided into four groups, including Grades 3, 4 and 5, and 6, 7 and 8, both boys and girls. Each child will be given a written test in school, and have his bicycle inspected for mechanical faults. Climaxing the instruction, the boys and girls will cycle through a test course to be painted on the municipal parking lot on Second Street. Each child who passes the course will get a colored decal for his bike. Trophies will be presented to the winners in each group, and badges to those finishing a bit farther down the list.
• County Herald headline of September 6, 1958; Increase in Enrolment Crowds MPDHS Classrooms. Things are a bit too crowded for comfort at the new Midland-Penetang District High Sçhool on Hugel Ave., west. And, until the proposed new addition is built, it is going to be even more crowded in the next few years, according to L. M. Johnston, principal. It all began a couple of years ago, said Mr. Johnston, when the Grade 9’s started getting larger. Now, these larger classes are beginning to show up throughout the entire school. Some of the classes now have 37 pupils. Mr. Johnston and Department of Education officials feel that 35 is about the maximum load for best results. Increase in the number of pupils attending school this year, 32 would make a good-sized class in itself. Enrolment Wednesday was 812 pupils, compared with 780 last year. Department of Education officials say the ratio of pupils to teachers should be around 25-1. There are 33 teachers at present on the MPDHS staff. This would mean they could handle 825 pupils only 13 more than Wednesday’s enrolment figure, the MPDHS principal said.
• Dame fortune refused to smile on the Avro Marine Club, so far as weather was concerned, when the club held its first annual regatta on Penetang Bay over the holiday weekend. With events scheduled to get underway at 1 o’clock Saturday, and a full program to follow for the next three days, officials were constantly kept on the run changing the program to suit the weather. At the scheduled time of opening, rain was falling, so a one-hour delay was announced. The rain stopped, but a south wind was blowing the bay waters into whitecaps. So it was decided to carry through the opening ceremonies and call off marine events until Sunday. With C. J. Thomson, an Avro executive at the microphone, Jack Denton, president of the Marine Club was introduced. Officials of Tiny Township, the town of Penetang, and Penetang Chamber of Commerce were introduced as well, and each welcomed the visitors to this area. Low clouds, wind and scattered showers continued to dog the regatta through the following two days. The committee, however, managed to squeeze most of the competition in between showers, and heavy winds.
• An attractive red-haired woman, believed to be acting as a front for a gang of bond thieves, was able to cash nearly $10,000 in bonds in banks in Midland, Orillia, and Ottawa valley centers before she was nabbed by police in St. Catharines last week. A woman swindled banks in Midland and Orillia of $2,700 and took banks in Perth, Arnprior, Carleton Place, and Trenton to the tune of $5,000, police in that area said. It is understood one other Midland bank was victimized the same day as the Bank of Montreal, by a woman who used forged passports to identify her as the person in whose name the bonds were registered.
• The old bridge on Highway 103 across the narrows at Waubaushene had a lot of motorists talking to themselves Monday afternoon. En route to Southern Ontario points after holidays in the northland, the motorists had been overjoyed to find much of the 26-mile stretch of the new Trans-Canada Highway north of Waubaushene freshly paved. Their joy turned to something else when they became part of a line reportedly two miles long waiting to cross the bridge. Heavy trucks which damaged the structure many months ago have resulted in the bridge being limited to one lane traffic, regulated by a stoplight. A new bridge is slated to be ready by Thanksgiving.
• Dr. C. A. Talbot said Monday he credits the Volunteer Fire Department here with saving the life of Linda McArthur Sunday evening when she suffered an attack of asthma, causing a severe lack of oxygen and convulsions. Linda, 9, is the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Neil McArthur of Port McNicoll, and has been subject to mild attacks of asthma from birth. She was playing with friends Sunday evening and had just returned home when the attack struck her. Dr. Talbot was called and had administered necessary drugs and was waiting for the arrival of the ambulance when Police Chief John Magnus suggested the resuscitating equipment of the fire department. He immediately went after Fire Chief Lloyd Cameron who brought the equipment to the scene and administered oxygen to the unconscious Linda during the ambulance trip to St. Andrews Hospital, Midland. Dr. Talbot said it was mainly the foresight of Chief Magnus and the prompt response by Fire Chief Cameron which saved the girl’s life; as the drugs, while effective, take a certain length of time to relieve the patient. Linda will celebrate her tenth birthday today.
• Ten Years Ago This Week – Temperatures the last week of August and early in September hovered between the 93 and 95-degree mark during the day with lows at night of between 62 and 64 degrees. * * * The Department of Highways announced that it planned to start construction on a $100,000 road from Lovering to Severn Falls. * * * When Midland Public Schools opened for the fall term, they included kindergarten – primary classes for the first time in their history. * * * Port McNicoll officially launched its new municipally owned waterworks system. Man mainly responsible for the project was Reeve George Patterson.  * * * Prompt action by the residents of Waverley area, headed by Herb Hornsby, saved many acres of timber in a reforested area near the village when a fire broke out in a bush nearby. * * * Three hold-up men invaded a bank at Elmvale, slugged the manager on the head, lifted the contents of 11 safety deposit boxes and fled. All three were masked. * * * Victoria Harbour council was requested by petition to submit to a vote the question of the sale of beer and wine within the village. A total of 180 persons signed the petition. It was the second time in seven years that a request had been made for a vote. * * * Eight gasoline vendors in Penetang had submitted a request to Penetang council to rescind the existing bylaw which restricted the sale of gas after 7 p.m.
• Editorial – Wise & Otherwise – W. H. “Bill” Cranston, vice-president of the Shoe Corporation of Canada and the chairman of the Ontario Archaeological and Historic Sites Board has been given a free hand by the Ontario government, it seems. At least Ontario Minister of Transport M. D. Dymond said at the unveiling of the historical plaque at Epletts’ mill in Coldwater the other day “that anything Bill Cranston does is all right with the Ontario government”. With one of its citizens given this carte blanche authority, Huronia should be sitting pretty. The line for those with requests forms to the right.
• Obituary – George F. Walmsley a resident of Port McNicoll for 40 years, George Finlay Walmsley died August 24 at Toronto following a heart attack. Funeral service was held August 29 at Nicholl’s funeral home and interment was in Lakeview Cemetery. Rev. George Johnson officiated and the service was under the auspices of the LOL. Pallbearers were Michael Kelly and Herb Richardson of Port McNicoll, Wm. Bowen, Leslie Ney, Robert Davis, and George Richardson. Mr. Walmsey was born July 17, 1871, in Glasgow Scotland, and was educated in Glasgow and Gamebridge, Ont. He married Mabel Maughan in Midland. Mr. Walmsley was employed as a grain distributor at the CPR Elevator Port McNicoll, until his retirement and since then had kept a large vegetable garden. He had served with the 42^nd Black Watch during World War II. A member of the United Church, he belonged to the Orange Lodge and the Black Knights in Midland. He was a life member of the Black Watch Association and president locally, as well as being a member of the Black Watch Association in Toronto. He was also a life member of Branch 80, Canadian Legion, Midland. Predeceased by his wife in August 1948, he is survived by one son, William S. Walmsley of Toronto; two daughters, Mrs. C. J. Duncan (Jesse) of Galt, Mrs. R. B. Duncan (Florence) of Port McNicoll; and seven grandchildren.
• (A letter to the editor that will be of interest to our marine historians.)  Dear Editor: The single-screw wooden freighter C. N. Pratt, official No. 80574, was built at Walkerville in 1681 by Jenkins for C. N. Pratt and others of Windsor. Oak was used throughout, except for her cabin and pilot house. She measured 127 feet 26.6 feet and 9.9 feet depth, gross tonnage 385. In 1890 she was sold to Beck and Co., Windsor. The International Wrecking Co. of Windsor installed a fore-and-aft compound engine with 18 and 32-inch cylinders having a 26-inch stroke and Scotch boiler measuring 10 feet by 11 feet. She was renamed C. W. Chamberlain, a steam barge of the type popular in that era for transporting lumber and coal, besides towing schooners and log rafts. In 1908 she was sold to Charles Beck, lumber manufacturer of Penetanguishene, and in 1913 to the late Capt. Edward Francis Burke of Midland and during 1913 she was sold to Midland Transportation Co. of Midland. In 1917 she passed to the joint ownership of James Henry Milnes, James Herbert Milnes, and John Percy Milnes, all of Toronto. In 1919 her registry was transferred from Midland to Kingston. In 1920 she was sold to James Swift, James Swift Jr., Harry J. Martin and James Martin, joint owners, all of Kingston. The same year Harry J. Martin became sole owner and he sold her to Alphonse Arsène Larocque of Montreal, and her registry transferred from Kingston to Montréal. In 1920 also she was sold to Sencennes McNaughtan Limited of Montreal and, in 1923 to the Consolidated/Sand Co. of Montreal and in 1928, to Consolidated Oka Sand and Gravel Co. Ltd., of Montreal. In 1929 her name was changed to Glenarm. Her registry was closed Sept. 16, 1932; after she had been sunk in the St. Lawrence River by order of owners and direction of Marine Department because she had become unseaworthy. W. R. Williams.
• Textile Workers Union of America (CLC-AFL-CIO) was certified by the Ontario Labor Relations Board yesterday morning, to represent employees of United Shoe Plastics in wage contract negotiations. About 16 employees of the Midland firm, a division of the Shoe Corporation of Canada, are members of the union, it was stated. No opposition to the union certification was presented by United Shoe Plastics at the hearing held in the OLRB offices on Harbor Street, Toronto, Tuesday morning. The firm manufactures plastic shoe components such as heels; counters, lifts, and soles used in the production of footwear.
• COLDWATER — As contractors are at work in the area paving the Trans-Canada Highway link from Waubaushene north, Lloyd Letherby, MPP, considered it advisable if possible to persuade the Highways Department to hard-surface the old road into Port Severn which will be by-passed by the new highway. Last weekend, successful representations were made by him and assurance received from officials of the department that the old road would receive hot mix paving, which includes a stretch from the southern approach to Port Severn, near the schoolhouse, to the junction of the new highway near the Roman Catholic church. At the same time, Mr. Letherby said, the department also agreed to surface the short link on the old highway from the point on a hill where Highway 103 merges with Highway 12, to Russell’s store, in Waubaushene.
• Marriage – Verna Merle Lambie, daughter of Mrs. Winnifred Lambie, became the bride of Kenneth John Webb, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Webb of Midland August 16 in Knox Presbyterian Church. Rev. Alex MacLean of Toronto officiated. The bride was given in marriage by her brother, Raymond Lambie. Her gown of heavy white taffeta was trimmed around the neckline and bodice with an overlay of floral lace inset with tiny seed pearls and sequins. The sweeping skirt with bustle back fell to a chapel train. A sequined tiara held her finger-tip veil and she carried white sweet peas, stephanotis, and red roses. Thelma Lambie, matron of honor, and bridesmaid Mary Webb wore short gowns of turquoise and mauve taffeta with matching headbands. They carried nosegays of coral and yellow gladioli. Flower girl in a pink nylon dress over taffeta was Lynn Lambie, niece of the bride. Groomsman was Daniel Webb, brother of the groom. Murray Reid and William Jarman ushered. At the Midland Golf and Country Club, the bride’s mother received wearing a dusty rose, lace-over-taffeta dress, and pink accessories. The groom’s mother chose a blue shantung dress and pink accessories. For their honeymoon trip to Eastern Canada, the bride chose a chocolate brown and white shantung sheath with brown shoes and bag and white feathered cloche hat. Out-of-town guests came from Toronto, Buffalo, Owen Sound, Victoria Harbour, Penetang, Vasey, Detroit, and Sturgeon Bay.
• While he could not guarantee the continuance of the Conservation Farm at Hillsdale, Hon. Ray Connell, Minister of Reform Institutions, said Wednesday he was both interested and impressed with the unique project. Mr. Connell addressed Flos, Medonte, Tay and Tiny Township officials at a dinner in Hillsdale United Church Wednesday evening, following an inspection of Conservation Farm work. “As far as I am concerned, a project like this will have my support although problems can crop up, we hope they won’t,” he said. It was the newly-appointed cabinet minister’s first visit to his department’s Conservation Farm, where carefully screened inmates serving short terms have been doing conservation work in Medonte and neighboring townships for the past three summers. Mr. Connell was not left in doubt as to local support of the camp.

Hon. Ray Connell, at left, found time for a joke Wednesday when, as Minister of Reform Institutions, he visited his department’s conservation farm at Hillsdale. With him is W. H. Cranston of Midland, center, an early backer of the project; and Lloyd Letherby of Coldwater, MPP for Simcoe East.

Sleeping tents used by inmates of the Reform Institutions conservation farm near Hillsdale were inspected yesterday by department officials. Left to right are Lieut. C. Clarke, officer commanding the camp; E. Griffin, superintendent of Mimico Reformatory, where men are chosen for the North Simcoe project; and Hon. Ray Connell, minister of Reform Institutions.

The 36 men of the conservation farm of the Ontario Department of Reform Institutions near Hillsdale have completed 21- projects so far this season. Lieut. C. Clarke said Wednesday almost all the projects were in the townships of Tiny, Tay, Flos and Medonte and were completed since the camp opened this season on May 22. The men are all short-term prisoners who have committed such offenses as petty theft and minor liquor infractions. They are carefully screened before being transferred to this district from Mimico Reformatory. Projects completed are as follows: Medonte— Planting 4,000 Austrian Pine. Medonte—Cleaning and brushing conservation lot. Cutting fence posts for Mimico Reformatory. Medonte — Hillsdale Community Park; brushing and cleaning, building pavilion and tables. Cutting fence posts for the Ontario Hospital, New Toronto. Midland Kiwanis — Planting 15,000 Austrian Pine. Medonte— Vasey Park; brushing, cleaning, and picnic tables made. Tay — Waverley Park; brushing and cleaning, children’s swings erected. Tay — Excavation at Iroquois village on Forget site. Flos—Brushing and cleaning on 9th Concession. Cutting and loading 1,000 cedar poles for Burwash Industrial Farm. Erecting new buildings on the campsite. Flos — Picnic tables made. Flos-Medonte tables made. Park — Picnic Medonte — Thinning out timber on reforestation lot at Coldwater. Tay — Brushing and fencing at McKenzie Park, Victoria Harbour. Medonte — Brushing between rows of pine on Reforestation lot. Tay — Brushing and cleaning at Waubaushene. Tay — Brushing and cleaning at Scott’s Line. Tay — Midland Park; new extension; brushing and clearing timber. Midland Kiwanis — Picnic tables made for Crippled Children’s camp.

 In addition to the 21 projects already completed by the conservation farm workforce in North Simcoe this summer, officials hope nine more will have been finished when camp closes for the season late this fall.