HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-03-26, Page 5Wednesday, March 25, 2015 • Huron Expositor 5
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Seaforth Veterans' Day Celebration, August 13, 1919
The Great War officially
ended when Germany
signed the Versailles Treaty on
June 28, 1919. The treaty marked
the end of almost five years of war-
time austerity, hardship and sacri-
fice. In July, Seaforth Mayor Wil-
liam Harburn declared
Wednesday, August 13 a civic holi-
day to celebrate Veterans' Day. A
day, the 'Clinton News -Record'
hoped would 'without doubt, be
the biggest affair of the year in
Western Ontario and far eclipse
any previous celebration' in
Seaforth.
Services of Thanksgiving were
held on Sunday, July 6 in area
churches. At the Egmondville
Presbyterian Church, a large
reception was held for the 21
members of the congregation who
served overseas and especially for
those who had made the Supreme
Sacrifice. A close friend or family
member presented each soldier or
their closest surviving relative
$10.00 and a token of the congre-
gation's appreciation for their ser-
vice to King and Country.
Yet, a more public demonstra-
tion was needed to announce the
war's end and a return to what
everyone hoped would be nor-
malcy. Charles Sills, the Secretary
of the Seaforth Chapter of the
Great War Veterans' Association
argued in the local papers for a
Veterans' Day celebration because
after 'five long years, the people of
this district have heard and read of
the great deeds of their gallants
sons' who have 'upheld so well the
name of Canada, how they
Huron History
David Yates
brought fame to this fair land' that
it was time to celebrate their
return to 'our land of peace and
plenty.'
On short notice, the town
organized an impressive program
of sports, music and aeroplanes.
An unusual feature of the day was
an exhibition of captured German
artillery and machine guns. In the
days before the celebration, local
papers encouraged shops and pri-
vate residences to decorate their
homes and businesses with flags
and bunting.
When Veterans' Day arrived, the
'Huron Expositor' said that the
coloured lights and decorations
on 'Main Street never looked bet -
tee Shops and restaurants closed
for the day. The celebration began
with a baseball game between
Zurich and Seaforth teams. The
'snappy' Zurich team won by a
score of '13-7.
The famed Clinton Kilty Pipe
Band led a 'Caluthumpian' parade
in the afternoon that lasted for
hours. The lead entry was a 'beau-
tiful float' to the war dead. The
captured German field guns
letter to the editor
A quote from one of Canada's founding fathers
Just the other day I came across
a quote that was written over 150
years ago. The message in the
quote is relevant for today's Can-
ada. It is necessary to give a bit of
background before the quote is
read.
Around the 1850s, Canadians
were spreading hatred among
themselves. It was Protestants
against Catholics and vice versa.
Both sides had their radicals and
the hatred ran deep. Canada could
never become a nation with such
divisions. The quote is from
Thomas D'Arcy McGee. McGee
was born in Ireland in 1825 and
quickly became a radical Irish
Nationalist. He moved between
Ireland and the USA in his fight for
Catholic rights. He was a complex
man and some believe he was the
deepest thinker among our found-
ing fathers. After years of work and
little positive outcomes, he
decided to move to Canada
because he thought his chances of
equality would be better. Unfortu-
nately, Canada too had its prob-
lems. Over the years, McGee went
from radical to moderate as he
worked to set Canada up for
nationhood.
Fast forward to today, and I see a
federal Canadian government that
is encouraging fear; a government
that is dividing Canadians. During
the month of January 2014, Mr.
Oliver and Mr. Harper said Cana-
dians who are environmentalists
brought up the parade's rear.
'A huge crowd' attended he
midway and games at Victoria
Park. Foot races, tug-of-war com-
petitions and ticket sales for a
draw on a brand new Ford auto-
mobile were huge attractions (A
Mr. Belcher from Goderich won
the car).
The main sporting event was a
set of boxing matches held in the
Palace Skating Arena. The over-
flowing crowds watched as J. Low-
ery, the Ontario heavy weight box-
ing champion and 20 mile long
distance bicycle race champion,
spar with local favourite Percy
Platt. Local judges declared the
bout a draw.
The day's events closed with a
'grand' carnival on Main Street
which turned into an explosion of
jubilation. The street was 'packed
from pavement to pavement with
a happy throng of merrymakers'
who danced and celebrated until
the 'early hours of the morning:
The 'Expositor' wrote that the Vet-
erans' Day Celebration was all it
was planned and expected to
be—a huge success.'
In August 1919, the citizens of
Seaforth, like those across the
country, celebrated not just the
end of a long and bloody struggle
but their belief that they had just
fought 'the War to end all
Wars.' After the Great Wars' hor-
rors, it was unimaginable that any-
one would want to jeopardize
peace again. No one on that
August day could have dreamed
that their sons and daughters
would be called to fight an even
greater war in just twenty years.
are enemies of Canada and they
are terrorists. Before that, I saw Mr.
Harper on a CTV show say that
Islam was the biggest threat to
Canada and he did not say radical
Islam, he just said Islam. He has
bad relations with our Native
brethren, our French Canadian
friends and he has attacked our
citizens in the Maritimes. There are
no words of love for Canadians,
just lots of talk about how we
should be afraid. Fear leads to
hatred. Hatred leads to a failing
society. Just look at Syria.
Now back to McGee. The quote
is directed towards a group that
was spreading divisions among
Canadians. Internal divisions do
not make for stable countries. This
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Veterans' Day Program in 'Huron Expositor' July 24, 1919.
is what McGee wrote: "Addresses
itself only to one order of the intel-
lect- the narrow, the distorted and
the unteachable; it builds itself on
the lowest level of human nature,
on the basis of unchangeable
hatred and mistrust. There is noth-
ing in it noble or generous, or
attractive to good men."
He finishes with saying that the
group is "radically and indefensi-
bly anti -Canadian." Canadians
should think about these words
carefully.
McGee helped Canadians
obtain religious rights. He worked
to unite Canada and form a nation.
He went from radical to moderate.
In the end he was assassinated,
some believe that this occurred
Submitted
because he was branded a traitor
for being a moderate.
Canada needs to focus on our
many problems such as youth
unemployment, healthcare, food
security, a struggling middleclass,
infrastructure and a hundred other
issues. We must always be on
guard for dangerous ideology but
we do not need to divide our citi-
zens to accomplish this. Please
Canada; listen to Thomas D'Arcy
McGee once more as our future
depends on it.
Dan Taylor
Clinton