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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1967-06-29, Page 7rx, !Once' a fatrtiliar rallying sp park ' on . su timer evenings - built by gob Standish at • th in 1927, is now located on into an ultramodern gift Squires, nephew of the invitation to all Old Home the transformed bands the new building. (Staff Ph of for band concerts in Court House for many ,years, the old bandstand, e time of the Centennial of,Goderich. Bayfield road and has been converted and craft shop of unique design. Bert original builder, extends a special week visitors to drive out and inspect fond which has peen incorporated into oto) Old Home Ct1TEJ (1% miles south of C Open 1 p.m. SA Home SATURDAY, Old-fashioned "q SUN D Si H Demonstra eek Features At The N1AL NOME arlow, turn right, first farm on left) till dusk the following days: TURDAY JULY 1st Baking Sale, • 2 p.m. JULY•.1st—MONDAY, JULY 3rd uilting .bee"—Afternoon and evening AY. EVENING, JULY 2nd ng Song of old hymns, EDNESDAY, JULY 5th omeBaking Sale, 2 p.m, ion of "baler twine" mat making ADMISSION 25c - 1Oc — 4; t'J Hold' .ettler 'WOK be SWOrnitt 0$ Opeping Pioneer__In Co1born About 200 knells assembled' atthe eld Alien hOntestead Just :south. of Carlow Sunday, even, ing when • official ceremonies were Held fox the opening c the 'pioneerhome, fully furn, £' ished wtthantiques, fore sum mer season a' a C 1borne township Centennial project. Guest speaker, ,for, the oc. rasion, was'" Jack Maeiiaren of Benrnilter, president Qf Huron cotlaty historical society. Chairtnan was Reeve. Wilaner' Hardy of h Colborne, who also 'called upon Hugh Hill for. a, . few words; Mr.. Hill had, mingled feel. ings about Cent pni�11. • year, pride in the .achie nlents of the.pioneers'who'he edthe'pre. sent ,fine farms out of the.vir• gin forest, and , at the same time regret that today's genet. ation would not see the grandeur of the forests or fully realize the struggle that brought forth the fertile farms of today. In " the course of the pro. , gram, the Goderich band under ' direction of Charles Kalbfleisch :P1 d rtthe sel ions. WEIGH IN "+ A humorous little skit saw three Colborne citizens weighed in on a "weighing machine" totalling their, weights at 403 pounds, that of the famed giant of Benmiller. On display was one "'of the iron' steps once mounted on his wagon, and a part of it retrieved from the Canadian west where • it was Qtaken years ago. Following official ceremo- nies, guests were shown through the old home by ladies 'of the committee, all appropriately dressed in gowns of yester- year. . Following is the address by Mr: Maclaren: . "It seems appropriate on this occasion to read to you Isabel Fiske Conant's lines: " He who loves an old house Never loves in vain, How can an old house, used May We Suggest You -..UP 'YOUR AR for "OLD WEE l 'Y.4L•4 OME opERAT • QF. 1 'BRITANNIA ROAD EAST Sure can clean it! . Come on over .and see how enjoyable it can be, wash= ing your, car, truck, trac- tor, engines, lawn mowers; boats, motors, etc.,, etc. 5 Minute Wash and Rinse CYele Costs Only 25c PROCLAMATIQN DOMINION DAY looTh Anniversary of Canada's. Confederation TO THE CITIZENS OF TIIE TOWN OF GODERICH I HEREBY PROCLAIM MONDAY, JULY 3rd, 1967,.. A PUBLIC HOLIDAY All citizens are requested "to govern themselves accordingly: DR FRAM MILLS, Mayor to 4//11440 .T aln To alae and larkspur, and a tree,above . Ever fail, • to answer the heart that4-gives it lova':. "There is no sadder sight than a ,„deserted .house, And there's a good many of them around these parts. Samuel Butler has said - "An empty' house ins like a body frons which ,:life has departed," `Always wheel • we see a deserted heuse we think Ofthe people =who' once lived there and wonder what happened to theta . what became of their hopes. Did laughter ring under the eaves? No doubt they often experiencled" disappointments, suffering, and privations, Travel and coram. unication were equally difficult and in, consequence the new.— ..dome; was doomed .to loneli. ness and often danger, "We,'should know and remem• .,,ber what our forefathers achie. ved. We roust not lightly lis. card., those pioneer men and women, as has-beens that are of , no concern to us. French .:.•Canadians appreciate-gthissact a great deal better than Eng- lish-speaking Caitaidians,the im. portance of their history in this land. We should know what trials, difficulties and dangers they endured. We know that soldiers have won medals for heroism on the field of battle, for some feat of bravery often performed in a brief space of time. Yet the early settlers of Colborne township - men and women - endured long years of struggle with the elements and great dans gers, They were never de- corated with any medals or in. deed with any appreciation. There was nd onearound to recommend recognition of their valour. "Our.• forefathers had imag. ination, courage and the cap- acity for hard work. Their bold attack on their environment should astonish tis today. The • grandfathers of men still live ing 'knew the Huron Tract so literally a howling wilderness. Today' that countryside is pro. ductive . the .wilderness tamed, thanks to the eourage and det. ermination of those pioneers, families went from T' ewl' Yor1 up to the Niagara penins'a1a :+here Governor Simcoe invited . them to settle. " "In snail boats they travelled up the Hudson, their frail craft loaded down with sundry house.. hold matters. At night they pushed into shore .and reared a temporary tent. In due course they Jwould reach Albany, which *in those days, was. one of the outposts oP civilization pp 'the edge of the little-known wilder:, ness. When they reached the place where Troy now stands they turned •off to the left, up ' the rapid, .winding stream..;,af the Mohawk, The .going here • was difficult 'and the men Worn • out by nightfall, after working against the rapids, or portage ing over seemingly impossible ,places. After a long haul of hard going, the little boats, ei'm., erged upon the wide watersof. Lake Ontario. "Niagara was then the seat of government where governor Simcoe might recqmmend the _County of... N !oak as a good Place to settle. Theit boat would be' transported from Queenston to Chippewa around Niagara Falls. Supplies were added, and the last -huridred miles along Lake Erie's un- known coast. They would sel- ect a spot and often discover the nearest settler Might be twenty or twenty-five miles away: If they were lucky they bought a cow. "The urgent thing was to get some land cleared, so that they could plant maize, potatoes and garden vegetables for the next year: There were many abet,. ',axles. Fish and meat could be had for the getting, but bears and wolves were plentiful as well, and the latter howl0ed about the house at night. The first sugar -making was not skillful, but they made • sufficient of a poor quality 'for a years con. sumption. Their potatoes' yield• ed' well, but racoons destroyed their maize. "Lone, cold winters seemed to have no .ending- perhaps to be followedinthe summer by a total failure of the grain crops. Only `the Indians saved their .maize from , destruction.. ',by the animals who invaded the settlements because of the scar- city of food in the woods. They sold this to the white peop)e but often the nearest mill was .- seventy miles away and they had only a coffee mill to grind it with, When the meal was ground, it was made into Johnny cakes, eaten hot for breakfast, cold for dinner and the rem- ainder in mush ford supper. rIn case of illness there were nbi horses, no roads _ merely track through the woods, S., FROM BRITAIN ANI? EUROPE "Thousands of . those immig. rants landed at Quebec or New ° York after a two months voy. age across the Atlantic, into a country in which the dreaded cholera -was-carrying-off-vi tims by the - hundreds. Also, after 'the American Revolution, Many 'who had <remained loyal to Britain found it better to leave the UnitedStatesand comp to Canada. A goodly number of those people had to make their own perilous way. Some, /�'WAMTED REAL ESTATE AGENT Interesting work with better than average income is open to an ambitious man in the Goderich area join a fast growing— Real Estate firm now by contacting RUTH VAN DER-MEER, 55 Montreal St r Goderich. On t. -524=787.5. or WILFREb McINTEE CO., LIMITED. Boil 549, Walkerton, Ontario. Phone 881-2270 Z6-7 LER AT THE GODERICH ARENA FRI., JUNE 30th TO THE "WIN -JAMMERS SKATE 8 - 10.114% it DANCE 11).' - 12 P.M. Admission: $1.00 - Skates For Rent •--- . h' 5 n wide •dlstriet, to settle ail dist pules, 4erforrn h a,rri • es, bury the t (lead.40d prescribe .for OM. st6.k, Ml4�. f+g was ,mast dl1i. ieult to .obtain, for there were . Only a few sheep, and these had to be watched with the great. • ?st care by day, and at night.' Penned near the house in a fold built -high againstbearsa'nd '" wolves. !ilk was flax, the. peddlers pack T., and buckskin that they had to depend upon for • cloth. 'ing after their filrst supply was worn out. When the flaxseed was in the ground, it 'was given over to .the women tq cultivate. They. had to weed, pull; and thresh out. the seeds, and then spread 'it out to rot. Then . men crackled and dressed it and returned it to the waruen, who spun and wove it, making strong linen for shirts and plaid for their own dresses, "As ,the children grew ap there was no instruction, save what their over -busy parents .could give, and no church or Sunday school. At rareyinter. vacs the circuit -riding elergy.'" man would come to' hold Sera vices and baptize. the children. Those were hard times and hard experiences for everybody and certainly not least for.the frail and, delicate Women, of whom many had known the lux- uries of life before they foll- owed their husbands into the wilderness. "Now I am sure the original John Allen who built this house knew all these conditions -trials and tribulations. According to my informant ' this house was built in 1866 but the land 'was cleared a generation before that. It was built for John's son Robert and his bride. There was a family of 12,one of whom, Mrs. Fred Seabrook; lives in Goderich. In 1850 two sons Robert and Sam , each owned some 50 acres of land here. I don't think there's any doubt- that there 'originally was a log house here. . "This is a primitive house -no water - no hydro -no paint on the exterior but it has been kept inside spotlessly clean by Charlotte--Morrish,who married Charles A11en,the son ofRobert Allen They had five children. Arnol d; -grandson -of Robert,' is the custodian of this house. "On, behalf ' of the Huron county historical.society I con- gratula.te everybody who has taken a hand in rejuvenating and refurnishing this house. The Huron county historical society is a very new association of people with very sparse funds in the bank but I • have been asked to turn over 'a Cheque] a small emolument,, over to Mrs.- Wilmer Hardy as a token of our appreciation for whatyou are doing , "1 understandherethe house will be open to the public throughout this summer and Fall on Satur. days and home madebakingwill be for sale. "I am happy to declare this house officially open." * * * * * * * * PERSONAL Mrs. James Thomson visited over the weekend with her dau- ghter Mrs, Orville Lobb, Mr. Lobb, John and Walter of Chat. ham, Tuesday, JuIy4th RIVTT'S TV 6� Radio 111E SQUARE . GaDERtcH Scry ce to all makes of bearing aids. FREE hearing'', test. Home consultation by appointment: (No ,c411.- JACK c411. JACK , B. CUDD HEARING AID -SERVICE 8 Duke St. East, Kitchener Phone 742-9404 ' KEITH LUTES, Proprietor BATTERIES AND SERVICE ALWAYS AVAILABLE AT RIVETT'S ei GUARANTEED INVESTMENT CER11fftA1j$ INTEREST FOR A TERM OF 5 YEARS 6% FOR 1, 2,3OR4YEARS 4 VICTORIA AND GREY TRUST 7_ Mable Hickingbotton, 143 Cam. :_- ---eron Str'ee't, is still ' confirTed in hospital in Seaforth. A CENTENNIAL WELCOME TO GODERICH for "OLD HOME WEE MAGAZINES GIFTS - STORE HOURS OPEN SAT., JULY 1st SUN., JULY 2nd MON., JULY 3rd TUE., JULY 4th