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
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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.