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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-08-16, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1989. Mennonites move Auburn house to St. Helens BY USA BOONSTOPPEL Traffic in Auburn met an unusual site Thursday when the old Bake- laar house on Hans Bakelaar’s property at RR 1, Auburn was moved by tractor trailor to a mennonite home in St. Helens. Heave-ho Ittookalotofeffortfromthegroundcrewatthesiteoftheformerhomeof Mrs. J. C. Bakelaar’s house owned by Hans Bakelaar of RR 1, Auburn to place the wide roof of the house onto a narrow tractor trailer bed for transportation to the Shetler residence in St. Helens, the home’s new owners. W. Wawanosh worries about weeds The yellow-sided house just past the railway tracks by Auburn has been empty for almost two years since the passing away of its owners, Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Bakelaar. Mrs. Bakelaar had lived there for almost 20 years. For a time, Hans Bakelaar, the couple’s son, had rented the house out but decided that since the house was so close to his own home on the property he would rather have it removed, so he decided to give the house to the Mennonites. “I went to the Mennonites because they’re known for tearing stuff down and moving it away,” said Mr. Bakelaar. But when the Shetler family of St. Helens saw the house, they decided to keep it. “I felt it was a shame not to use the house,” said William Shetler, who said he would be living in the house. “It’s nice to see someone make use of the house,” said Mr. Bakelaar. The Shetler family hired the services of Wilson’s from Port Elgin to transport the house. Along with the Mennonites help, Wilson’s first jacked the structure up from the basement and placed steel trusses underneath it. The next day, the roof was taken off and placed on a transport truck with a crane. On Thursday, the house was pulled out onto the road for a police escorted move to St. Helens. The removal of the house from the Auburn area brought back memories for Tom and Marion Haggitt who once lived there themselves. “My son was bom while we lived in that house,” said Mr. Haggitt who watched the move from the home of that son, Steven, whose house neighbours the Bake­ laar residence. Mrs. Haggitt can remember many of the families who made that house their home. Back when the railroad tracks beside Bakelaar’s were used over four times a day, the station agent for the Auburn railway station lived there. His name was Donald Patterson, she said. Then the house was sold to Mrs. Haggitt’s father, George Beadle in 1915 who lived there for more than 20 years. The property was then rented to Arthur Hallam and then to Joe Postill who moved out of the house after a year but lived in Auburn until he passed away. After Mr. Postill moved out, the Haggitt’s bought the house in 1942 and lived in it for the next 19 years. It was at this time that Mr. J. C. Bakelaar bought the place which was adjacent to the property where he was living at the time which is now the home of Hans and Audrey Boonstoppel. But the Bakelaar’s didn’t move into their home until their son Len got married. Len Bakelaar stayed at the home farm while his parents, with their youn­ gest son Hans, moved into the house. Many years later, Hans built his own house on the proper­ ty- While reminiscing, Mrs. Haggitt solved a mystery about the house that Mr. Bakelaar discovered. While inspecting the house during the move, he saw that a few beams in the roof were charred indicating that the house had been on fire at one time in the past. Mrs. Haggitt remembered that one Thanks­ giving morning, the roof had caught on fire while family mem­ bers were cleaning out the chim­ ney. It was decided at the August 1 meeting of West Wawanosh Coun­ cil that the Huron County Weed Inspector Joe Gibson should be contacted, regarding part of Lots 14 and 15 on Concession 10. The land here has been neglected and is now overgrown with weeds. An amount of $1,700 will be paid to W. Adamson & Son Contracting for the blasting, priming and painting of the garage roof. Following a motion by Councillor David Errington, Council agreed to pay the initial fee of $150 for the Letter from the editor Continued from page 4 often a hotbed of the movement in many schools. I did take part in one student march (seeking better stu­ dent loans - has anything chang­ ed?) but I can’t even remember smelling anyone smoking mari­ juana until years later, and then it was back in Huron County. I was pretty naive and square back then. I guess I was pretty naive because when I thought of the 1960’s, it wasn’t the free sex and the drugs I thought of, it was idealism. My generation rebelled against the materialism of their parents, so they said. They wanted a better world, one with peace and a healthy environment. The U.S. of course had the civil rights move­ ment and the anti-Vietnam war movement. We didn’t have those things in Canada but there was a new sense of self as a nation in young people as we adopted a new flag and celebrated Expo and the Centennial. But in reality the sixties ended up being mostly a big, self-indul­ gent party with all the big talk turning to nothing. Just what have we left from the “revolution” represented by Woodstock? Well we’ve got the music which has contributed something because how would so many movies have a musical score today if they couldn’t bring back sixties music? We have, unfortunately, got more drugs than ever. And the free love of the sixties turned into the promiscuity road superintendent’s application for certification provided that a daily log is started and maintained from this time on. The building inspector was auth­ orized to issue permits to: William Shetler for a residence; Bill Sproul for a shed; and John Stryker for a porch enclosure. The general accounts in the amount of $35,180.12 and the road accounts totalling $49,026.23 are to be paid. Council agreed to endorse the petition from Howick asking the of more recent years and the rash of sexually communicated diseases that plagues us today. But the anti-materialism has been lost as my generation became the “me” generation and set out to stuff their expensive homes and their expensive cars with every trinket known to man. The new sense of nationhood among those young people has been lost as the “me” generation watches the Blue Jays, swigs American beer and talks about how terrible it is that those Canadian stations cluttering up the cable TV keep them from their rights to more American channels. This generation that was going to set out on its own to be individuals, turned out to be the greatest fashion followers of all time. In the sixties it was fashionable to wear denim and tie-dyed shirts and tune out and turn on and talk about the new world they would build, so the kids did. Now the fashion is to reject everything the sixties stood for (except the nostalgia of Wood- stock and the music) so the now-middle aged rebels do. Now the fashion is fashion, expensive clothing, expensive cars, expensive restaurants and expensive homes with expensive furniture. The ideals of the sixties were just the foolishness of youth. It shows you how naive some of us country boys still are. Some of us think that idealism was the one part of the 1960s that was worth keeping. province for legislation that would require all chemical companies to provide for the return of and recycling of pesticide and herbicide containers. Reconstruction on Concession Road 6-7 at Lots 22-23 will soon proceed. News from home -every week Compiled by Mrs. Mildred Lawlor. 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