HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1993-04-07, Page 5Pictorial memoir brings back many
memories for this LucknoNviOAdy
imissiamwomommismommiamme heading to the home of her
TI0daughter (my mother). Mrs. Stuart
THE EDITOR Collyer now lives in that home.
Grandma's calls wakened mother
and she recognized the voice.
A Mr. 'Matheson, who operated
the electrical plant, had just reached
his home, where Wagners live
today, when he heard the cry "fire."
He alerted . the operator of the
'water works', the brick building on
the west bank of the river south of
Hwy. 86. Steamwas kept up all the
time in order to blow the 'fire
whistle'.
The cause of the fire was never
determined, but Mr. Matheson told
that when he passed a dress making
shop he had seen a faint light. One
of the girls who worked there was
heard to say, "I wonder what I did
with that charcoal iron?"
The block was rebuilt in 1906 and
named the Beaver Block. Grandma
started a business again in the store
owned by Thos. Treleaven - Luck-
now's local photographer. '
Yours sincerely,
Helen Thompson.
To the editor:
The March 31 edition of the
Sentinel had many things of
interest. Of most interest to me was
the picture of the remains of the
Campbell block, destroyed by fire
in October 1905. This was of par-
ticular interest as my Grandmother
Campbell and her daughter Loran,
age 13, just escaped with their
lives.
There are many who will remem-
ber Mrs. N.L. Campbell, who
operated a restaurant business,
where Mrs. Jessie Johnston now
lives, from shortly after the fire
until August of 1933, when at age
77 she retired. She was renowned
for her many sundaes, made for
many years from her own ice-cream
made with real cream supplied by
the late Phillip MacMillan,
grandfather of Bruce Willits. The.
"freezer" was turned by her little
grandson, the late Campbell
Thompson. But that is a story in
itself!
She was assisted • in later years by
her daughter Lorna; who gave up as
teller in the Bank of Montreal to do
so. Lorna had joined the staff of the
Molson's Bank about 1920. She
was the first female to do so.
Grandpa Campbell had been a
private banker in partnership with a
Mr. Cameron. In the mid 80s, due
to conditions I won't explain, the
business failed. • In. 1888 along with
their two daughters, Louise and
Isabelle (my mother) then age six,
they left to homestead near Crystal
City m southern Manitoba,
Grandma used to tell how they
freighted her piano out and used it
during winter blizzards to keep the
door of their home shut.
They spent four years out there;
years filled with disaster after
disaster. A crop failure each year,
their team of horses poisoned, to
name but a few. In December of
1892 they returned to Lucknow and
shortly after opened a restaurant
probably about where Beckers is
today. They dived upstairs. On
January 1, 1897, Grandpa Campbell
died.
It was on a cold October night in
1905 that Grandma awakened,
about midnight, smelling smoke.
Realizing that there was a fire
somewhere, she wakened Lorna, put
a woolen skirt hanging on the stair•
bannister over Lorna's head and
holding a lighted lamp, started
down the stairs. Before they
reached the door, the smoke was so
thick she couldn't see.
Barefooted and in their night
clothes they started up the street
with Grandma calling "fire." She
probably was still holding the lamp,
as the electricity generated inthe
building where Gibson's seed
cleaning plant is now, was shut
down at mie!night. They were
Queen's Bush Ministry is
close as your telephone
To the editor:
Winter is "thinking time" in the
rural community,
We're thinking about sharpening
our pencils to tackle those income
tax forms, thinking about the seed
varieties for spring planting,
thinking about changes and challen-
ges in our lives and on our, farms.
Sometimes thinking turns to wor-
rying and grinds us down worse
than a stuck vehicle in heavy snow.
Worrying can be like spinning your
wheels - the more you spin, the
deeper you go. One thing is for
sure this winter - just as common as
stuck vehicles so are farmers wor-
rying about where the money will
come from for spring planting, how
long will their spouse's off -farm job
last and can they make it one more
-season?
We can't always get that vehicle
out without help - we can't always
solve our problems without help,
either.
Helping people solve problems
and putting them into perspective is
something we practice every day. If
we can be of help to you just give
us a call at (519) 392-6090.
We are the Queen's Bush Rural
Ministries - helping you to survive
the rural crisis.
Judith Trimble, QBRM
Sarah Mann and Steve Mann presented the Stewart Mann
Memorial trophy for Leading scorer to Clint Murray during the
winter sports banquet on Friday evening. (Pat Livingston photo)
HAVE AN OPINION?
Express it by sending a letter to the editor of the
Lucknow Sentinel. It ,must be signed and accompanied
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information.
The Sentinel also reserves the right to edit letters. .
Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, April 7, 1993 — Page 5
Implemented an `affordable
budget' says Serre
Those variations range from a
school tax drop of $271 to an
increase of as much as $198 for
separate ratepayers.
Instruction costs, which include
salaries and benefits, account for
61.5 per cent of the total budget, an
increase of 2.7 per cern from last
year.
"Everything else is down 2.3 per
cent," Serre said. "A key fact is that
the .4 per cent increase in expen-
diture per pupil goes to instruction.
That's the way it should be."
Serre pointed to a -3.9 per cent
increase in assessment growth and
decreased costs for capital projects
and transportation as factors that
allowed the board to keep the mil
rate unchanged in spite of decreased
provincial grants and enrolment
growth. Noting that tax arrears in
Hanover rose from $67,000 in 1991
to $330,000 in 1992, Serre said
trustees had incentive to limit the
budget.
. "The board was quite aware there
were a lot of people out there hur-
•turn to page 11
•from page 1
to meet (the province's and the
board's) goals and also maintains
the established foundation for the
1994 operation budget."
In his comments to trustees,
Business superintendent Paul Serre
said the Ministry of Education
ordered boards to "reduce expen-
ditures."
"It's a very key statement," Serre
said. "We said we will implement
'affordable budgets'."
The province's goals also include
finding more efficient ways to
provide services. For its part, the
board aimed to maintain programs
and staff, set a budget that is within
its financial resources, and develop
a flexible multi-year plan to meet
the "changing conditions" of
provincial and ministry plans.
While the net mill rate is
unchanged from last year, Serre
warned there will be significant
variations from one municipality
and even one household to another,
thanks to equalized assessment and
Bruce County's switch to Market
Value Assessment.
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