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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2002-08-28, Page 3News Former maternity hospital birthplace of many residents of Brussels over age 50 By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Staff Because most of Brussels' residents who are over 50 were born in Terence Brandon's bed and breakfast when it was a maternity hospital run by Dr. Charles Myers, he calls his house "the heart of the village." Myers opened his hospital in 1946 and his daughter Irene ("Reenie") Richmond, who still lives in Brussels, says her father originally did other operations such as removing tonsils and appendixes, before becoming solely a maternity hospital. "Public health insisted they go into one specialty," she says. Raising their family of five daughters on the west side of the house, Charles and his wife Anne, who was also a nurse, ran the maternity hospital on the east side. Richmond, who is the middle daughter, remembers helping to bring trays of food to the new mothers from the time she was seven or eight. "We always helped taking trays and holding babies. The mothers stayed for about seven days during that time," she says. Richmond remembers having to give up her bedroom sometimes for the 35-40 women who delivered their babies in her house each year. But, after a phone call from her older sister Liz in Teeswater, she's not sure if that memory is correct. "She says we were never put out of our beds,' laughs Richmond. She does remember the large second floor room with the window seat overlooking the west garden as the room that was always full of new mothers. "I think people liked it because it was homey. Their babies could stay right with them," she says. Richmond was a teenager when her parents closed the hospital in 1956 but she went on to become a registered nurse assistant or RNA. "I was never frightened of birth or babies. I loved it. Nursing and babies got into my blood," she says. However, she says the demands on her parents, especially her father who continued to have patients at three different area hospitals, were too great. "It was just too much on Dad's health. Both my parents worked really hard," she says. But, she and her sisters still have the bassinet that was used at the maternity home. They have passed it through the family for every baby born. The delivery room was above the kitchen and Brandon has converted it to a guest room for bed and breakfast patrons. "People always want to know where they were born when they come here. Now they can stay in this room," he says. Richmond says she never thought about the fact that she grew up in the largest house in Brussels when she was a child. "As kids, you take it for granted. It wasn't a big deal," she says. Historic mansion built in 1887 at height of Brussels' prosperity From Page 10 originally took up five to six acres with tennis courts, stables and rock gardens along the river, Brandon says the land was subdivided so that his property now takes up about one acre. "This house was built at the height of Brussel's prosperity when the lumber, furniture and manufacturing companies took advantage of the abundance of natural resources around them. There was a lot of commerce in the area then but you still had to travel a dirt track through a forest to get here. It was still wilderness," he says. Brandon says the doctors who built the house were so wealthy that they lined the stalls of the stable in the coach house with tiger oak wainscotting. As he continues to work on restoring the house, he plans to renovate the coach house into a 1,000 -square - foot apartment where up to four people can stay as bed and breakfast visitors. "This is a very unique property and I want to open it up for people to enjoy. This house is a representation of the history of this part of the country. It's not often you're able to enjoy 19th century grandeur in the 21 th century," he says. Brandon says both Brussels and Seaforth have "incredible architecture" and predicts that more and more tourists will soon be coming to the area to appreciate its heritage. "The area is so wealthy in beautiful architecture. It's the last discovered area in Ontario, the next vacation spot. Stratford is the next Niagara -on -the -Lake and I can just see Brussels as an antique town someday because the traffic through here is phenomenal," he says. Catholic board scrambles on student smoking issue By Stew Slater Special to The Expositor Officials at St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School in Clinton are trying to catch up with the Avon Maitland District School Board regarding student smoking areas. They're scrambling after receiving much later requests than Avon Maitland officials for changes from Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health. Starting with the first day of school, Sept. 4, smokers at St. Anne's will be told to move back to the rear access road they utilized up until June, 2000 for their habit. According to superintendent of education Ray Contois, the older site is less favourable because it's barely visible from the school, making it difficult for school officials to monitor student activities and discern whether or not non -students are present in the area. He also notes it's immediately adjacent to two elementary schools, potentially allowing younger students to be influenced towards a decision to smoke. Last year, the school followed the lead of several Avon Maitland schools, including Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton, and arranged for the municipality to lease a small section of school property for use as a smoking area. Such arrangements were undertaken as attempts to circumvent provincial legislation prohibiting smoking on school property. In the spring of 2001, school officials began receiving letters from District Health Units in Huron and Perth suggesting the Chief Medical Officer of Health believed lease agreements contravened the spirit of that legislation. Several Avon Maitland schools promptly tackled the issue anew, arranging stakeholder meetings and, in some cases, finding alternative solutions. But Contois says he only heard about the Chief Medical Officer's concerns after Avon Maitland schools began their work. He then called the Huron health unit and requested a letter. It arrived near the end of June. For now, he says, students will have to return to the old smoking arca. But he's hoping a solution can be found, especially since the municipality of Central Huron recently established a subcommittee to address student smoking issues. "Right now, we're just gathering information," he said. "I guess we're putting ourselves in danger of looking like we're supporting smoking but, in actual fact, our intent is to decrease the visibility of it (for elementary school students) and, therefore, not influence others." Tours offered of new tech wings at St. Michael and St. Anne's By Stew Slater Special to The Expositor Expansions to technical education programs and facilities at two secondary schools in Huron and Perth Counties will be celebrated this autumn by the Huron - Perth Catholic District School Board. Students and teachers will begin using the additions at Stratford's St. Michael Catholic Secondary School and Clinton's St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School when classes begin. Official opening ceremonies will be staged at a later date. In each case, Bishop John Sherlock will officiate an outdoor mass starting at 2 p.m. The first celebration is Sunday, Sept. 16 at St. Mikes, and it will be followed by a ribbon -cutting ceremony. The S3 million addition to the existing building, upon which work began about a year ago, includes facilities for transportation, manufacturing and construction programs as well as additional classroom space and a new chapel. Huron -Perth board chair Ron Marcy says those in attendance Sept. 16 will be welcome to take a tour of the addition following the service. The official opening at St. Anne's is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 4. That project began in October, 2000 with a projected cost of just under S2 million. Transportation, manufacturing and construction courses were again the focus, but the renovations also allowed for expansions to the school's library and music facilities. Our Baby is becoming a TEENAGER! Kyle McNichol Love, Mom, Dad, Jeff, Brent & all your family. ter, riAtillit111111111101111111111.1 BUCK & DOE or for JASON PATTERSONe and KIM SALVERDA Saturday, September 15 9 pm -1 am Dublin Pavilion Age of Lunch . Majority Provided For more information and tickets call 529-3290 482-3106 Dianna's Country Bakery & Cafe St. Colum an 345-2804 OPEN Mon - Thurs -ham-7pm Fri-Gam-8pm, Sat - 7am - 2pm Sun - 8am - 8pm BAKERY SPECIAL Fudge Brownies Reg. 3.50 ea. NOW 2.50 . Breakfast Special 2 eggs with bacon, ham or sausage toast & homefries until 11 a.m. Sat. & Sun. $2.99 SUNDAY BRUNCH 10:00 AM TO 2:00 PM $695 • SUNDAY EVENING BUFFET 3:00 PM -8:00 PM Chicken Parmesan and Roast Beef $7 • 95 GODERICH POWER & SAIL SQUADRON Safety Day Saturday, September 15 beginning at 10:00 a.m., Clinton Saint Anne's Catholic School Soccer Field (Hwy. 8 East - Clinton) LEARN about handling Safety Flares. BRING YOUR OLD FLARE - practice setting them off. LEARN about using your Fire Extinguisher. BRING YOUR EXTINGUISHER - Fire Supplied. Fall Training BOATING & PILOTING COURSES Central Huron Secondary School - Clinton starting Tuesday, September 11 Registration begins at 19:00 Contact Dean Nisbett @ 524-4963 for more info. VISIT OUR WEBSITE: http!/goderich. cps-ecp.org FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 SPECIAL MEAT LOAF DINNER' OR ALL -YOU- CAN - EAT FISH & CHIPS $595 • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 SPECIAL ROAST CHICKEN or PORK CHOPS efr $895 Seniors Discount 10% SPARHY'S PLACE FAMILY DINING 527.1964 90 Main St. Seaforth FRI. & SAT. 6:45 & 9:15 PM SUN.- THURS. 8 PM PG -TIIE PERFECT 1''.-11111.1 'Jaw art Fess FRI.-THURS. SEPT. 07-13 - -11 • t91 FRI. & SAT. 6:45&9:15PM SUN.- THURS. 8 PM LONG DISTANCE? CALL 1-800-265-3438 FOR TOLL FREE MOVIE INFO THE HURON EXPOSITOR, Soptter 5, 2001-11 MCL SOUND FULL DJ SERVICE Book your Receptions, Buck & Does earty!ikfr For more info call John McLeod - canton 482-9984 after 6 p.m. or leave a message 411,- 412.• .47 Ijk UPCOMING DANCE at the Brodhagen Community Centre 8:30 pm -12:30 am The Blenders Saturday, Sept. 15 For information call 347-4127 or 347-2731 St r,tt fort l • 1 • (Tint, nuts: I 551 Huron St. 273-6780 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rush Hou. 2 Nightly .t 7 & 9:15 11•tnw M Ips. Srwd.y . Sunday Am.rlcan Pi. 2 NOW/ at7&9:15 added 5 ..dads,. Madero The Princess Diaries Nightly M 7 & 9:15 ,© 1d... t a MOM* Rat Raw Nightly M7a9:15 '® �...dZp• $d I a Wad. The MuskMNr Nightly M 7 & 9:15 W1.nee M ?pm SruN.y & Sunday -4.25 Tuesday cul ow t...1. ..t.. 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 t The Congregation of Northside United•Church invites you to attend a SPECIAL SERVICE OF WORSHIP to dedicate the New Millennium Wing Sunday, September 9th at 11 am Please join us for this historic occasion and celebrate with us at the luncheon which follows. Royal Canadian Legion Br. 156 Seaforth Sunday Dinner Sunday, Sept. 16 4:30 PM -? Roast Beef & Chicken Homemade Desserts 1F ADULTS $10.00 CHILDREN $4.50 Pre-Schoolers Free Take-outs & delivery available... CALL SEAFORTH LEGION 527-0740 Seaforth Fall Fair Th a r' ., Sept. 1 3, Fri. Sept. 14, Sat. Sept. 15 Don't Miss Our "BABY SHOW" Saturday, September 15 at 2:00 p.m. at the Agriplex Classes for Babies: 1. 0 - 6 months 2. 6 - 12 months 3. 12 - 18 months Prizes for all babies entered! Special prizes for novelty classes ie. most smiles, curliest hair, etc. Please call by Thurs., Sept. 13, 2001 to register Joanne Maloney -Flanagan 345-2525 or Fair Office 527-1321 A DECADE OF CARING HURON UNITED WAY 10TH ANNUAL KICKOFF SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Chicken Dinner $10 4-7pm Lions Harbour Park, Goderich For Tickets CaII: Huron United Way 519-482-7643 Fax: 519-482-7208 Email: uniteway@tcc. R " unified Way REGISTRATI • ► • R 2001-2002 D • .ICE SEASON September 5 & 6 SPECIAL 10 WEEK SESSION CLASSES Include: -Pre-school Dance Class for 3 year olds - Adult Modem Dance for beginner/intermediate students aged 16 and up Melanie April (Hons, BA Dance) Spm to 8 ppm 136 East St., Goderich -- Modem Dance -- Ages 10 to Adult —Ballet— Ages 4 to Adult Highland Dancing with Heather Knapp -Sinclair Classes are arailabk al a1I {trek of corrpekecx beginners of any age from the minimum age w may reveal Contemporary Steps