HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1975-01-30, Page 4Queer's Hotet, S'ealo"rth, Onterio.-••••9.
REMEMBER WHEN? — The Queen's Hotel celebrates its centennial next year.
This early, photo, perhaps taken about 1930 when Seaforth still had old fashioned
light standards'and plenty of trees at the corner of Main' and' Goderich Streets, Is
taken-frorma post card in the possession of the present owners of the hotel, Jim and
Joan Parkinson.
LINCOLN GREEN AT THE QUEEN'S — Joan Parkinson, left, sits down with some
of the customers at the Queen's Hotel one night recently. Members of the band,
called Lincoln Green, entertain on stage in the newly opened 'Centennial room. The
room has a small dance floor and seats over 100 people. (Staff Photo)
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AnnIEW ,14•••••••10MMIIM•iiiiIMMTION••••01•11
ongratul:tions
JIM & JCYAN0 PARKINSON
on completion of their
Centennial ,Lounge
BALL-L NIAcULAY
We are happy to have supplied
some of the building materials
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THE' HURON EXPOSITOR 4AN4ARY 10" 19V5 'Queen's. Hotel .
Oext .yeari
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170.- up with. Seaforth
The Queen's Hotel, which
recently has undergone extensive
renovations, has grown up. with
the town. There has been a hotel
en the site at the north-eaat
'corner of Main and Goderich
Streets for more than 100 years.
.When the British Hotel, a
frame building, was destroyed
September 4, 1876, in a fire that
razed half the business section'of
the town, the proprietor, Thomas
Stephens, .within days had made
arrangements for the erection ofa
new building which a few month's
later, Hasopened as "The
Queen's".
Contract' for brick, stonework '
and plastering for the new •
building 40 x 65 feet, was
awarded October 1, 1876 to
Jathes Mullett, with completion
promised December 20 of the
same year. • •
Commenting on the contract,
The' Expositor of that time said:
"The contractor is said to be a
pushing energetic man, and no
doubt the work will be done by
the time promised."
Mr. Mullett and the other
tradesmen employed on the con-
struction project did their work
well, and by early spring the hotel
was ready for opening Cere-
monies, which were set for April 2
1877.
The Expositor of April 6, 1877,
tells of the event: "Stephen's
new• hotel in this town was
fotmally opened by a public
supper on the eyening of Monday
last. At the appointed hour about
80 gentlemen sat down to an
excellent supper, which had been
prepared for them. Among those
present we- noticed quite a
number, 'from the surrounding
country, ancrSevetal from neigh-
bouring'towns. After all had full
satisfied the 'inner man', th•
tables were cleared preparatory
for the intellectual part of tke .
"The chair was occupied by.
Mayor Coleman, the first vice-
chair by M.P. Hayes, Esq.. and
the second vice-chair by James, H.
benson, Esq. It :would be
superflous to •• say that these
gentlemen filled their several
positions with 'credit to them-.
selves 'and to the entire satisfac-
tion of the entire company. The
usual toasts on such occasions
were proposed in fitting terms by'
the chairman, and were eloquent-
ly responded to by gentlemen
,present. Excellent songs were
sung by Professor Milliard and
Messrs. G. W. Cline, Robert and
Thomas Hayes, R. Carmichael,
James Stretton and John. Scott.
"In proposing the toast, 'The
Health of the Host' and 'the
prosperity of the new hotel'. the
chairman alluded in fitting terms,
to the circumstances under which
the hotel had been erectged and
the commendable energy and
enterprise of the proprietor in
investing his means in so cern-
modious, handsome and substan-
tial an edifice and announced that
the pleasing duty of 'christening,
thehoter had been delegated to
him, and stated that the name by
which the house would hereafter
be known would be 'The •Queen's
Hotel'.
':,The hotel is one of the most
commodious and handsome.
edifices of the kind in this section
of the province. It is two stories.
high with a mansard roof. The
halls, both on the ground and
second flats," are large and airy,
while the sitting and lbedrooms
have -an exceeding comfortable
and cheerful 'appearance. The
whole house will be heated by hot
air from a furnace stationed in the
rellar,, It is also being elegantly
furnished,"
The opening was on a Monday
evening,- and two days later on
Wednesday, disaster almost
struck again, when fire was
discovered in a downstairs floor.
This is , the story from • the
Expositor at the time:
"The new hotel of Mr.
Stephens had a narrow escape
from destruction by fire on
Wednesday morning last. Be-
tween 5 and 6 o'clock in the
morning, when Mr. Stephens
awoke, he was somewhat
astonished to find hi room filled
gutting with smoke. On uP and
coming down S airs, he dis-
covered the fool in the hallway,
immediately above the furnace, to
be on fire. He got assistance and
in a short time the fire was
extinguished, but not however
until considerable damage was
done.
- "The floor Over the furnace was
completely' burned out and the
doors and partitions were charred
and scorched. The furnace had
not been'properly secured, there
being only the thickness of one brick between' it and the joi4ts,
underneath' the floor. The bricks
became so hot that they ignited
, the joists and hence thsfire. Had
not the partitions oa each side of
the hall been brick, there is no
doubt but the house today would
be in ruins. As it i13, a few dollars
will retair the damage, and the
furnace will likely be more .
s e cTuhree I Sy t ephen guardeds ' '
family continued
to operate The Queen's for nearly
60 years. Subsequently, there .,
were several owners.
Agricultural Society has over
feast.
and STILL THE PLACE to BE
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(Continued from Page 1)
is unique in that it is one of the
two in all, Ontario.
Miss Jane Pengilley. 'Home
Economist for Huron County,
spoke on 4-H work. She said that
4,H members are very active and
m• the clubs are growing continually,
24 Club's displayed their
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achievements at the Seaforth
mes. ,Lksed-- were
"World 'Food in Canada" and
"Taking a Look at Yourself".
The exhibits were very colourful
and informative and of a high
quality.
Len MacGregor, Assistant Ag.
Rep. reported for the Junior Fair.
He said the dairy and 4-H exhibits
were Up this year with beef and
field crops approximately the
same. The quality of the beef
cattle is 'improving. Several new
clubs have been formed and wit' IT
encouragement it is hoped there
will be more exhibiting next year.
A 4-H'horse show was held for the
first, time this year and while
there are improvements to be
made, it was very successful with
, a good number of clubs taking
part. Mr. MacGregor 'compli-
mented the directors for the
harmonious manner in which the
Junior and Senior fair 'works
together.
Oliver Pryce reported the
entries in the Heavy Horse
Smoking adds
red blood cells
Pack-a-day 'smokers ' usualty.
have more'red b load cells than do
nonsmokers. But extra cells can
cause blood clotting, .
The job of the red blood cells is
to deliver oxygen to all the tissues
of the body. But smokers upset
'this oxygen-delivery system. For
one thing. the carbon monoxide in
cigarette smoke literally drives
the oxygen out of the redlilood
cells. And carbon monoxide stays
in the system hours after the
..smoker stops inhaling. .
, To Compensate ' for this
disruption 4 tik body may.produce
more red blood cells in order-to
get the necessary oxygen.
Co ensation,' however. may
cause cOmplkations, as the extra
"'Ca's produced can cause thicker
blood and clotting.,, This is one
reason why smokers suffer from a
higher rate of strokes and heart
attackS thatil do nonsmokers.
Normally, there are about
thirty ' billion red blood cells
surging 'through the body at any
'one litne.A red cell spends only a
fraCtion of a second in the lung,
Where it absorbs oxygen and
gpeedS off to other parts of the
bOdy. Red blood cells 'ha•O to be
incredibly fast and efficient. Each
red cell lasts about four months,
"',,iiit iS then replaced by a fresh,
hew nine. -
ReMeinbeil it takes but a
moment ;es place a Huron
Expositor Want Ad and be money
in Piteket: Dial, 527.0240.
section were up. The Heavy
Horses are very popular and there
were eight entries in the six-horse
tandem hitch class.
Alf Ross said that while, the
light horse show in June was a
disaster financially "we certainly
did not lack in exhibitors and
Many of the best horses in
Western Ontario were here". In
of tornatdo warnings and a
excellent show he' said.
R.J. Doig reported for the Turf
Club in the absence of Wm..
Bennett. ev have 'had a very
-bus in 1974. The road had
een built up at a cost of S285.00
and a spreader had been pur-
chased in the hope that the yard
at the barn could be kept in better
condition. Repairs to the barn
started. The Turf Club
is lookie forward to, having the
same g d relations with the
Agricultural Society in 1975.
Joe Devereaux said the number
of beef cattle was down slightly
but the quality was good and a
study is underway to determine if
a new class would attract more
exhibitors, The dairy cattle
entries .vere up this year and this
section isexpected to expand as it
is anticipated the Regional Jersey
Show will be held here in 1975..
• Robt. McMillan reported on the
swine classes. He said there was
a very, large exhibit with 13
exhibitors. An invitation has
been extended to'hold the "All
Ontario" Landrace Show 'here
and a decision would be made in
April.
Lewis 'Coyne spoke for the
"Field Ct'ops Section". • The
exhibits were very good and all
but one in the Field Crop
Competition completed the pro-
ject. The corn exhibits were
numerous and, the barley and
mixed grain„goodr
Arthur - Belton reported for the
parade and dance. He said the
teachers and pupils had worked
well and had made the parade
very successful. He felt with the
higher prize money being offered
there should be an even better
parade next year.
The dance was most successful
and with Walter Osteneck's Band
engaged for 1975 the dance
should be a real success.
Keith Sharpe speaking for the
Chamber, of Commerce said all
commercial space had been sold.
A lot of painting and repairing
Chad been done to the-Partitions.
'He felt with 1975 being the
4.Seaforth Centennial the fair could
poSsibly get some action displays.
James Doig reported that many
had visited Old MacDonalds Barn
and since cash crop farming has
become so [tabular the fair should
try in' same way to induce the
youngdtq.people to become more
interested in livestock. He spoke
of braving a hand milking display
but at present has had do
volunteers.
ken Moore said there had been
an increase in the number of
articles donated to the Penny Sale
and the proceeds were up by
some 568.00. There is a lot of
work involved but this has
become a very popular part of the
fair.
w.1). Wilson said that the extra
events held during the 'year tad
added to the work load at ,the
Gordon Papple speaking for the.
'property committee said the race ‘r
track had been widened an&the
show rings levelled. The track
required a lot of sand to build it
up. A new mower had been
purchased for the grounds. The
president and committee did a
fine job during the year. ,
The • nominating committee
consisting of Arthur Bolton,
Gordon Papple' and Robt.
McMillan brought the following
nominations for directors for
1975: Alfred. Ross, Ken Campbell
Joe Devereaux, Kenneth Cole-
man. Robt. Fotheringham, Robt:
Broadfoot, W,D.Wilson, Wm.
Dale. Gordon Papple—, Donald,
Dodds, Robt. Dalton, Lewis
Coyne, Kenneth, Moore, Tom
Papple, Eric Mcl tosh, Kenneth
Carnothan. . Papple, Everett
Storey. Jr. arrners-Jim Render= . son.
President . Alf Ross "called
Arthur Bolton to the frpnt and
presented him with an Agricul-
tural Service Diploma from the
Ontario Association of Agricul-
tural Societies. Mr. Bolton said
he became actively involved with
the Seaforth Fair in 1959 when he
became representative for the'
Junior Farmers. He .has seen
quite a few changes, he said, but
this is the first year he has known
the balance on the books to be in
black. This he felt was a very,
good indication that the Seaforth,,,
Society would Continue as_maritd
fairs were having very djfficAkt9
times.
gates and thanked all who have
rrential downpour thly gave an asslacediffing-the--yedL;;
Joe Devereaux
A meeting of the directors
followed and the following were
elected: Past President - Alf
Ross; President - Joseph
Devereaux; 1st Vice-President -
Kenneth Campbell; 2nd Vice-
President - W.D. Wilson; Sec.
Treasurer - Mrs. W. J. Cuthill.
Kenneth Campbell gave an
interesting -travelogue from pic-
tures and the ships log on his
Atlantic crossing in June of f973.
Kenneth Moore expressed 'the
appreciation of the meeting.
BEST WISHES
TO THE
QUEEN'S HOTEL
ON COMPLETION OF, THE
CENTENNIAL LOUNGE
Sills Hardware
Was' haRpy to have supplied
some of' the electrical-
components
To Mark Seaforth's 100th 8irthday
The , New
Centennial Lounge
is Open with
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WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT
and NIGHTLY DANCING
Traditional home cooked meals are served in t e
Tom Stephens Dining lounge •
named after the founder of ,the Queeni
Clean, comfortable accommodations are available
at reasonable rates.
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The original warm friendly atmosphere still exists, as it did
when Stephens opened the 'Queens in April 187 6.
THE QUffN'S HbTEL
THE PLACE TO gE IN HURON .COUNTY