The Citizen, 2011-07-21, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2011.
Vacation Bible School coming to Blyth
Ball’s Bridge honoured with heritage plaque
A stranger travelling the baseline
last Thursday, deep in rural Ontario,
would have been surprised to find
the area of Little Lakes Road
looking like a parking lot and
echoing with the sounds of bagpipes.
If the members of the Ontario
Heritage Trust had, at any time,
questioned their decision regarding
the designation of Ball’s Bridge as a
heritage site, they would have been
reassured by the numbers of people
who turned out for the unveiling of
the plaque on July 14.
There were, of course, a number
of politicians from various levels of
government on hand. But the
community at large responded in a
big way to the recognition of Ball’s
Bridge as significant to the history of
Huron County.
The Ontario Heritage Trust Fund
is commissioned to recognize,
preserve and protect the heritage of
our province. As one onlooker
remarked it was interesting to see a
structure other than a home or
building being given heritage status.Maria Topalovich was the trustboard member who spoke about
the plaque and assisted in its
unveiling.
Her remarks and those of others
during the ceremony gave credit to
the ‘Friends of Ball’s Bridge’ for
their perseverance and dedication to
this treasure of rural heritage. The
designation is proof of what a
dedicated group of people can
accomplish.
Sam Wesley, Plaque Program Co-
ordinator for the Ontario Heritage
Trust, spoke about the bridge and its
history. The first bridge over the
Maitland River at this point was
constructed in 1840, a wooden span,
intended for pedestrians and horse-
drawn vehicles. It’s estimated that a
newer bridge in 1856 cost $3,200. It
was a wooden structure with four
spans. By 1885 the bridge was
deteriorating and needing
replacement. The Hamilton Bridge
Company was contracted to
construct an iron two span, pin-
connected through truss bridge, a
Pratt design. That is the bridge that
stands today.
In 2006, Ball’s Bridge was closed
to traffic. It was never designed to
bear the weight of today’s vehicles
and farm machinery. For over a
century the trip to Goderich from
Londesborough involved a
circuitous trip over this bridge and
around the Little Lakes. With the
construction of a modern bridge
over the Maitland on
Londesborough Road just a quarter
of a mile south of Little Lakes Road,
the future of Ball’s Bridge looked
bleak.
A Pratt design bridge is rare today
and with the efforts of the
community and area councils, the
bridge was repaired and is open for
pedestrian and light vehicle traffic. It
is intended to have a more
recreational place in today’s world,
for hiking, biking, fishing, launching
a canoe, snowmobiling. Standing on
the bridge in the calm tranquility of
a summer day one can easily be
transported back to an earlier
age.
There is an element of romance to
the bridge. History claims an
engineer visiting in the area became
enamored of a young girl whose last
name was Ball. He built the first
bridge to make visiting her easier.
Members of the Ball clan
accommodated the workmen who
came to construct the bridge in 1885.
There is romance today in the
linking, through this bridge, of the
past, present and future. It has a
connection to the community and a
former way of life.
The new plaque stands at the
eastern entrance to the bridge. Both
at that end and the western entrance
stone pillars have been constructed
with stone from the area to make
everyone aware of the significance
of the crossing. The tall pillars are
spanned at the top by ironwork made
by a Goderich area company.
Folks then retired to the Ball
Chapel for a reception following the
unveiling.
The Christian Reformed Church
in Blyth invites children who have
completed Junior Kindergarten
through Grade 6 to “see what’s
happening on main street”. That is
the focus of their Vacation Bible
School taking place from July 25 to
29 from 9 a.m. to noon each day.
Their theme is based on Psalm 25:
4,5.
For more information you could
call Lorna at 519-523-9687 or Helen
at 519-523-4753.
Linda Renkema dropped by the
post office last week to extend
thanks to the congregation of
Londesborough United for their help
with the recent ‘baby bottle’
campaign for the “Room2Grow”
program with which she is involved.
Because of donations such as
Londesborough’s the group can
continue to provide free support,
counselling and help to every teen,
woman or family that needs this
particular help. She remarked that
the approximately $6,000 this
campaign raised will go a long way
toward the expenses for many
months.
Villagers will be interested to
learn that Edythe Beacom is now a
patient in a London Hospital. Seems
she had injured a hip and has had a
partial hip replacement. She has
been in hospital for 10 days or so
and might like to hear from her
village friends. Bert or Angela could
give you more information should
you desire.
Just three months ago I reported
that Pat Glazier had the misfortune
to break a hip. You may have seen
her out recently either with her
walker or taking a stroll.
She has progressed very well.
Thursday, her husband, Raleigh,
slipped off a truck and is currently in
a Kitchener hospital with a broken
Continued from page 1
project was a long one, but that
everyone worked hard towards the
final goal.
“It’s great to get this
accomplished,” he said. “It’s been a
long, hard struggle to get here, but
everyone worked well together.”
Van Diepenbeek stated that a lot of
thanks for the bridge being able to be
used goes to the Provincial
Government and the county as, when
the bridge was originally
downloaded by Huron County
Council, they both provided large
grants.
“County council gave us $250,000
and we received $242,000 from the
provincial government,” he said,
adding that there was still a small
reserve fund for maintenance.
“That fund should be good though,
since our engineers say the bridge
will be good for 10 years,” he said.
“Even though it will be inspected
every two.”
The onus is now on the
municipalities, according to Van
Diepenbeek, to make sure the bridge
stays in good repair.
“There may be some deck work
down the road to be done, but this
brings the whole thing to a good
close,” he said.
By BRENDA
RADFORD
Call
523-4296
PEOPLE AROUND
LONDESBORO
NEWS
FROM LONDESBORO
Marching for a bridge
A parade marked the beginning of a plaque unveiling ceremony at Ball’s Bridge on July 14.
Local dignitaries, representatives from all levels of government and interested onlookers
made their way from the bridge to the plaque’s location on the Central Huron side of the
Bridge where Little Lakes Road meets Base Line. (Denny Scott photo)
WINGHAM & DISTRICT
HOSPITAL
HIGHLIGHTS
“Excellence in Rural Health Care”
Phone: 357-3210 Fax: 357-2931 Website: www.lwha.caThank You
Every gift to the Wingham & District Hospital Foundation, no matter its size, is important. Did
you know that all donations made to the Foundation remain local for the needs of the Wingham
& District Hospital? The Foundation is grateful to all donors for their gifts. If you are interested in
more information on how you can help the Wingham & District Hospital Foundation, please e-mail
us at wdh.foundation@lwha.ca or call 357-3210 ext. 5278 Tuesdays and Thursdays 8:30am –
12:30pm.
Diabetes Education
Every year, over 80,000 Ontarians are diagnosed with diabetes. Good diabetes self management
management, exercise and blood glucose monitoring. The North Huron Family Health Team is
offering an education program on August 10th from 9:30-3:30 in the Terrace Room at the hospital.
For more information or to register contact Karen Cook RN CDE at Ext 5362.
Recruitment Update
The Wingham Recruitment Committee and Wingham & District Hospital have been busy welcom-
Wingham for four days in May to experience rural medicine. In July, Wingham is participating in the
MedQUEST program – a collaborative program to encourage students from Southwestern Ontario
to consider careers in rural healthcare. Two medical students and two high school students will be
Thank you to everyone who participated in our 5th Annual Recruitment Golf Tournament on June
18th. Thanks as well to hole sponsors and to those who donated door prizes. Golf Ball Drop
winners were Mary Shaw, Bob Foxton, Ethan Adams, Dwight Hallahan, Wiona Thompson, Lynda
Elston and Lucy Miller.
NOW AVAILABLE
IN LUCKNOW
Located at ....
Lucknow Travel
603 Campbell St., Lucknow
519-528-2388 1-877-582-5669
Reg. #
5000 6589
HOURS: 10-5 Mon-Fri, 9-12 Sat
REPRINTS
OF PHOTOS
taken by Citizen
photographers are
available to purchase.
ALL ARE IN COLOUR
4x6 - $4.00
5x7 - $5.00
8x10 - $8.00
Phone to order ~
519-523-4792
or 519-887-9114
Bridge recognized
Continued on page 19