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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1980-07-23, Page 1Organizers :of the Dungannon, 125th „ birthday. celebrations- August I 4, expect the population of their village to grow from 272 to over 5,000 the weekend 'of their • celebration. The response to their invitations to the party have been overwhelming and people • are coming home from all across Canada fore the four day celebration. The 125th birthday committee has 'planned a variety of events including a mammoth parade, ibeautY queen contest, Birthday Ball, beard growing contest, Teddy Bear parade, old fashioned breakfast, pork and Chicken barbecues, a variety concert,' a shirt tail parade and a slide presentation, Yesteryear. • • A beauty contest to.-crown the 125th birthday •celebratirk• queen from among, , entrants Will 'launch the celebration on Friday evening, August Turn to Page 2•' tine brass-clock-face-belonged-to-the original council chambet7cloCk when the Lucknow Town Hall.was lOcated at the corner of Campbell and Havelock'Streets*, now the BP service station. The remnants of the original clock were discovered -Under the _garage floor by_JaeLLeith senior while he was digging a hole for a furnace in the early 1930-'s„His son, Jaek Leithjunior, of Florida, leftocting on a wish of his father who died, in 1974 has returned The clock to the village. He presented it to Lucicnow reeve, George Joynt last week. Mr. Leith senior had hoped some village organization would support a project to have a replica built of a 19th century clock cabinet to house the clock face. Mr. Joynt said a cabinet will be inade for• the clock so it will once again stand in the council chambers as the village's official •timepiece. (Sentinetstaff photo) • • rigmal village timepiece returns to town hall causes fire • a fire at the new home of Bill and fire burning in the ceiling , of the Sunday morning. was called to the scene' about 8 o'clock when the Andrew family discovered livingroom. Lightning apparently came in along the electrical wiring and Suzanne,Andrew, Ashfield Township- Lucknow District Fire Department Lightning is believed to have caused started a fire in the ceiling of the room near a light fixture. When firemen arrived Mr. Andrew was using a gdrden hose to spray the ceiling fire with water. Firemen were able to contain the fire and deputy chief William (Bud) Hamilton said the heavy insulation prevented the fire from getting away before they arrived, He estimated the damage to be about $3,000. The family only recently moved into the new house and the old farmhouse is still standing close by. Mr. Hamilton said there would have been little firemen could have done to prevent the fire from spreading to the old house, if the new home had taken fire. Power out Lightning knocked out a high tension pole two miles north of Lucknow during a thunderstorm early Monday morning and hydro power was off in the village of Lucknow about five hours between 4:00 and 9:00 a.m. Fuses blew in many locations and power was off from 11:00 p.m. Sunday evening until Monday evening in p'arts of Ashfield, Kinloss and Huron Townships.- - . Ontario Hydro crews worked through early Sunday morning until all the power was restored late Monday evening. BY JACK LEITH JR. In the early 1930s, Jack Leith, a tinsmith and plumber of Lucknow, found the rem- nants of the town's original' council chamber clock while digging a hole for a furnace installation, in- what is now the BPService Station at the corner of Havelock and Campbell Streets. The service station building was once Lucknow's town hall, built about 1885 and abandoned following a fire which gutted the inside. Jack Leith, who died in 1974 had dug out.the blackened dock face from under the present garage floor and taken it home where it lay for 20 years. The clock was taken to Hamilton when the Leiths moved from Lucknow in 1941. It was while in Hamilton, where Jack was employ- ed as the- maintenance superintendent of the 5telco Steel Company. that Jack had time to take a renewed interest in the "square brass clock facing". Cleaning the black grime from the old treasure, Mr,, Leith uncovered the shining brass face of a beautiful "Towches- ter clock", according to his son, Jack junior, vvho 'rouges it to Reeve George "Joynt last week. Jack junior said "his dad had the clock running in his home till he died" but the son does not recall whether his dad added the brass mechanism or whether it was part of the original artifact, although the hands are not original. Jack junior said his father was fascinated by clocks and upon disposing of the estate in Listowel afte his father's death, a note was found from lick senior, saying "never to sell the brass faced clock but- to • give it to someone of responsibility in Lucknow who would appreciate its value.". Six years. later, Jack junior• visiting from Florida where he makes his home, got the clock out of storage only to discover it had been through a second fire in the Listowel Produce building owned by another son of Jack Leith. senior, George, who resides in Listowel. The clock was restored again by George's son, Paul and this time, Jack junior got it quickly to Reeve Joynt, acting on the sentiments of his father. Jack Leith junior says his dad always wanted to build the clock into a cabinet, but acknowledged his dad could make anything out of sheet metal but couldn't make a simple table out of wood. Mr, Leith senior ' hOweVer, said thatif the craek was taken back to Lucknow, he hoped some association in the village would get behind a project to have a replica built of a 19th - Turn to page 2• Opens clinic Dr, Barbara B. Cameron and Dr.. William M. Stephenson opened their new veterinary clinic at Ostrander on, July 16. Ostrander is a small hamlet one and one half miles 119_0 of Tillsonburg an highWay. 19: Dr.. Cameron : graduated from Guelph in 1973 .and Was associated with the Winglaarn Veter- ' inary Clinic for two years. Since• then she has been an associate of Dr. Gary Galloway in Aylmer Barbara. is the daughter of Mrs. Kenneth Cameron and the late Ken- neth Cameron of Lucknow. Dr. Stephenson is a 1978 graduate Of O.V.C. Guelph. After graduating he was associated with the Drayton-Vet erinary Clinic for one year, then went to Aylmer where he worked with Dr. GalloWay. Dr. Stephenson is the son of Mr. And Mrs. Robert Stephenson, R.11, A ,9 Woodstock. . They will be Operating a large and small animal practice. Mystery letter Editor's note:: Pat Duggan , •of West 'VVawanosh brought a copy of The People's Journal, Dundee, Scotland dated July, 1978' to the Sentinel this week::-=The following story 'from The Journal is reprinted for the interest of our readerS. 111Y$TER LignOyouNRAW CHEST Antique furniture is the business of Mrs, Elizabeth Grant. Lately it provided her with an unexpected link with the past. The piece was a Victorian chest of drawers: Nothing remarkable on the outside, but inside, Mrs. Grant founci a letter dated March 12, 1869. The writer was-fanet-Lees-and-her-address- given as care-of Robert -Lees--(her brother). at. Lucknow , Post Office, Canada West. The man to whom the letter was sent :was Robert Young, address unknown, but obviously somewhere in Scotland. Mrs. Giant, who is. District Coun- cillor for RockWell ward, has kept the letter in the hope that she can,pass it on to members of the Lees family. Problem is where to send it? "There are several Lucknows in Canada," she says. "Which one would be the home of Janet Lees? Which, part of Canada was then known as Canada West?" "lt was Janet's estimation that her new home was 900 miles away from her landing point of Quebec." The letter is a touching one. Janet, Lees talks of going to Canada with her two wee lasses. She asks Robert Young,if he's seen anything of their father. There's a touch of homesicknesg in the letter. An asking after friends and relations in the manner, of one who has found herself suddenly in a strange land among different people. From the letter, Mrs. Grant has pieced together some, possibilities, that Robert Lees may have worked 'in or even owned a mill of some kind in Canada. Robert Young, to whom the letter was sent, may have lived in Fife. Back-tracing the piece of furniture which bore the letter from 1869 is not practicable. "It was in several different hands before it came into mine," says Mrs. Grant. _ She'd like to see the mystery letter returned to „the family. Mrs. Grant's , own mystery is where to send it. I A Part Albert man drowned in Lake Huron Sunday evening while swim ming with a friend at the beach. • Terry Ronald Berlet, 19, of Port Albert disappeared .while swimming with a friend off Pori Albert beach at 7 p.m, Sunday. Ontario Provincial Police divers from Toberrnory and Owen Sound were called to'the scene but the body wasn't., recovered until 7.30 Monday morning. Terry is the' son of Ross and Betty Berlet of Port Albert. Funeral service was herd. WedhOday and- interment - followed in Christ Church Cemetery, F'ort Albert. • The two divers called to the scene Sunday, had earlier recovered the bodies of two Scarborough children, from a farm pond near Zurich.