The Citizen, 1992-07-01, Page 49THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 1 ,1992. PAGE Z
East Wawanosh Township 125th Anniversary Commemorative Edition
Published by North Huron Citizen
S. Hallahan, a driving force in the community
Special man
Simon Hallahan has been a driving
force in not only East Wawanosh, but
in the county as well.
Simon Hallahan is one of the beloved
people who has helped build the East
Wawanosh community into what it is today.
He has served on councils, instigated clubs
for area youth, been involved in the creation
of several businesses and proved to be an
outstanding neighbour.
In 1989, Simon celebrated his 90th
birthday with an open-house on his
Westfield area farm. The provincial and
federal government recognized this
accomplishment: Jack Riddell, M.P.P. for
Huron and Minister of Agriculture, and
Murray Cardiff M.P. for Huron-Bruce both
presented him with plaques. Three years
later, Simon is still going strong as a type of
living legend to his community.
It's difficult to find an activity that Simon
hasn't been involved in. From 1975 to 1982
he served as reeve of East Wawanosh after
having been talked into running by "a bunch
of Orangemen". At county council he was
chairman of the Huronview Management
Committee for a year, as well as a part of the
property committee, Social Services
Committee, and Children’s and Family
Services. Simon also served on council for
ten years.
In his early years, Simon was involved
with the Silver Creek Threshing Syndicate.
The fall of 1927 he found himself in the
position of running the syndicate. Later
Simon's interest in threshing was still
evident as he helped co-found the Huron
Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association in
1962. He served as the association's
secretary from 1962 until 1981.
Simon has also been active in the Belgrave
Farmers' Co-op, Huron County Plowmen's
Association, the Huron County Milk
Producers, the Huron County Pork
Producers, St. Michael's Cemetery Board,
the Blyth Fire Board, and the Huron County
Holstein Association.
For over 50 years Simon has been
involved in the 4H movement, which
qualified him for the Blyth Citizen of the
Year award in 1990. In 1936 he was the
leader of the Boys and Girls Club which
eventually evolved into the 4H Club. He
helped organize the 4H club leaders
association in 1952. He led a 4H dairy club
for years, and after the Blyth Agricultural
Society wound up in the 1970's, he and his
son Maurice sponsored the Hallrice 4H club.
But wait, that's not all! Simon was also the
chairman of the committee that formed the
co-operative cheese factory in Blyth. The
idea to use local dairy farmers' milk in a
plant came from Walter McGill, and he and
Simon found a planning mill belonging to
Ab Taylor in Blyth for sale for $1,500. The
idea was taken to an open meeting of
farmers and they elected Simon chairman.
The farmers raised $10,000 to buy and equip
the plant. Through Bob Henry, a committee
member, the group brought Carmen Hodgins
from a plant in Donegal and he guided the
purchase of $6,500 worth of equipment for
the plant. With Carmen Hodgins, Jim
Lawrie and Walter Buttell came to operate
the plant. Business went well for several
years before things turned sour and it was
sold out to United Dairy Co-operative, the
forerunner to GayLea Foods, which
eventually centralized the operation in
Guelph and closed out in Blyth.
The Huron County Federation of
Agriculture honoured Simon with its award
for Outstanding Contribution to Agriculture
several years ago. In 1984 he also received a
Bicentennial Certificate of Merit from the
Province of Ontario.
Pretty impressive for a man who never got
past "the third book" in school at S.S. No.3.
However, there have been plenty of
hardships along the way. The family ran
into financial problems in 1915 and nearly
lost the farm first settled by Dennis Hallahan
in 1856. As it was, 100 acres of the 300 acre
farm had to be let go so the 21 year old
Simon could take over the original Hallahan
homestead. His son Maurice now lives on
this farm.
It was a struggle for the young Simon to
get a mortgage and a struggle to pay it off.
By 1932 his stock of cows and pigs was
healthy, but the farm was too wet to grow
enough feed for the animals so expensive
feed had to be purchased. He was
recommended for a government-sponsored
loan to drain the land and after that he "just
walked right along".
By 1942 he was milking cows by hand
since Hydro wasn't available yet. He used a
gas-powered milking machine to solve the
problem temporarily, but on Oct. 17, 1944,
the machine caught fire, burning the bam
down in the process. Simon went into debt
rebuilding the bam.
In 1966 the bam burned down again on
Oct. 14. Simon didn't know where the
money was going to come from to rebuild
continued on page A18
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East Wawanosh Township on your 125th Birthday
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