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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-09-08, Page 40a.. 1)1 t1. P�►G• 6A—GODE,R1CH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1977 Eugene and Margaret Brooks of Stoney Creek prepare to board a bus which will take them 'on a tour highlighting points of interest in Goderich: Their tour guide was Sandy Naftel (right) of the Welcome Centre. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks were chosen as Iasi week's tourists of the week in, • a Goderich. They were treated to lunch 'at the Candlelight Restaurant and then given the tour of the town. Mr. Brooks is .a retired baker. The couple were camping in their trailer at Point Farms Provincial Park. (staff photo) Round and About........ Where, please. is COM - RE.RMl R:F.Ontario:, Hearing this name on television made.' me think of Cumber, Essex County - The Sunshine County - Ontario. Cumber -- I grew up there but 1 don't know its beginnings lir its history. It is about seven miles from `Tilbury, a few miles from Staples and only ,shout 14 _ miles from Leamington. 1 could he wrong on mileage hut anyway that is the general location of Coriihc.'r. The town's business section was all one sinelt' street going Iron) Highway :-' to the railway station. The — only hotel was near the station and ionic lovely homes' were . 00 that main street road which. ccmtinued tow and Lake St. Clair. We ha'd lived in the centre of the town on Main StrOte opposite " the big Methodist Church which had on one'side i,mg shed for the horses and hue:gies in the winter or rainy Sundays. On the other side, ataacba'd,. w<is an arbtbr with a seat and a vine, part of which ac,rs poson ie,y, We kid played there . 1 remember ',tie of the girl, becoming eery. ill from poison . She was in bed for quite sometime w i.th the (lector making many :•ails This sutirtd the rest of us • then one , ho loos hard that if you ate a piece its the stat +•ti wouidii't e'er cot( h ii,,,) `ted,'•-, to say .. cce all - or, n',,,t of as • atea piece of iht leaf �1 r an't remember- ever hay in ; this miserable etcher hut 'tie. sister had had .i. any,.c-a 1 haee never had poison ivy and sister n, , er. -'1111.1d t attain tither. This ria', ht• her, oust' 14.4. were s(t,lded and told about this dantt'rous plant. so 1 dont recommend this remedy, 1 don't remember ti,tt kirul of a road or sadew Ik was in front of the house hu' 1 recall all a bet\ y r<rinstorni that filled the ditch and ('o\ ereti our sale lawn with se\er,tl inches of \.deter. Ninth'' wasn't home at the time hut Martha Rathburn appears weekly in The Signal -Star. we had playmates there so we _a.11-ran.out.tn.play in the water - of tee''the storm, i. being the oldest. realized we'd get the devil if we went "swimming" in our school clothes so we ran hack in the house. raided the laundry basket and put on the clothes et e had worort. to Sunday school the day before. Well. we had a wonderful time playing in the deep -to us - ditch, sliding down the clay hank and 'swimming" in the mud and grass of the lawn. When Mum arrived home - t„o late - our snliling races rltirekl\ changed to tears - espectady mine hecuae 1 reall\ caught it - I was the oldest I should have known better Sunday cloths! 1 remember at that house I w ,i-. alw a} s bringing home all the stray rats- and recall stepping out of he'd to the -hick shed" where my kitten •.c.,,—irk. it did die and the it,m•r•al and interment - the child thing - was mast im- pi,•s•sry c' and tearful. After dad c gime home from the w,,r' ve mu\ecl to a farm ,shout ;t dole from the village. 1 he house as 1 recalled it - until ,t few years ago - was rt•,rt big We had a nice dog who played games tiyith us and one of the game's %vas a follov. the leader" thing,. a h,•re t'. t• went round and t.q.incl 111' kitchen t4rblt - the clrnine room: table. in and out of n'uni ,ind dads bedroom, th,•r upstairs into the hedr-,tom, o`• et- the bed --'with 'tile dot; jumping up and down on the bed with us, "into the next room and downstairs again. Believe it or not my. dad usually led this game. What a leader he was, and one always marched to the music of the ° victorola - marching music, naturally. Dad was great for doing . things with us kids. Mother couldn't take time from. cooking, canning and busy - busy things that someone has to do. When she had a moment to sit she would knit or crochet and she was very good at this too. We _had a big, barn,• corn. cribs, big straw -stacks and some cattle on the fbrm - usually pregnant ones - the cattle that' is! Dad worked in town and' taking care of the animals was probably part of the deal for the use of,e house and garden and alt that goes with a small farm. I don't know how Targe that farm really was - as I didn't realize the grain and all those fields were part of the farm, Anyway, .I was dad's right hand man. _I could feed the cattle. I think he always got milk enough from some of the cows so we always had lots of milk and butter. I helped clean the stable and push down hay from the loft or put straw in .the stalls. A very exciting time of growing up for a very little girl. I say little - as I weighed about 80 "THE ROYAL HOME GR/cNDEUR • Ti. IS THE HOME FOR YOU • CUSTOM BUILT - Completely finished to your choice of plan, design,, colours. + DIRECT PURCHASE From manufacturer you save money since there are no extra middlemen. • GUARANTEE • That stands with ed""ery home on all work- manship and materials. • FAST DELIVERY DATE You could be living in your new home in 10 weeks. *PRICE - Fantastically affordable'. We buy bulk and pass savings on to you. MODEL HOME - open Mon -Sat. 10-6 p.m. r NAME; WRITE FOR FREE BROCHURES ADDRESS: PHONE. 1 HAVE A LOT • YES L i NO Lj ROYAL HOMES BOX 37357-2 44 HAM pounds soaking wet -• when 1 graduated into high school. My, how things change! Well, now, how did I get off on that tangent? I hope you enjoyed the sky- diving events that took -place. this last weekend. Folks will be talking about it fo . some time as it is certainly 5 great thrill to have someone out of, the blue - drop in on -you. The fans at the ball diamonds were highly entertained by at least three of these ad- venturous people dropping in. "A rose between Green. Thumbs" - or Thumbers - what a nice write up by David for Jean Barnett. A great many people are goingto miss Jean, miss her, nice smile and soft voice - we can only hope she can continue her teaching with the children. when she settles down in Mexico. Although too few people have told her how much they appreciate what she has done, I think I can safely say "We Love you, Jean, and wish you and hubby the very best in your new home". Look in the Bulletin and AROUND the BulletinBoard for coming events. The season has changed and there are lots of new things coming up Relax and have a nice day, Love Martha. 15,000 at jail. • I roni 'mgt. IA following year due to budget restrictions. The wall 'around one exercise yard was removed-' and the stone used in the construction of the house. The jailer, Joseph Griffin, a former reeve of. Ashfield Township, moved into the new house in 1900. A humane riutn• he believed that' those imprisoned in the jail should learn some means Of earning a living in the outside world so they were taught car- pentry, stone . masonry, kitchen and gardening skills. When Mr. Griffin retired in 1922, he was succeeded by Mfr. James Reynolds. From 1955 until 1968 the position was held by Mr. Robert Bell. In that year the Ministry of Correctional Services took "over the administration of all penal 'institutions tri the province. , ' The ministry rented the jail from the county. A superintendent was brought in who did not occupy the house. There are very deep win- dow ledges throughout the Governor's House due to the thickness of the stone walls. The wood is ash and var- nished with dark varnish. The floors are pine. Oak was a favorite wood for furniture as the supply of fine wood in the country became exhausted. In the diningroom there is an ornate sideboard and 'oak serving table and chairs. The dining table in the centre of the room is cherryand var- nished dark. Bosnell feels that one of the major features of the building is the contrast between the austerity of the jail and the beauty of the Governor's House. Diane Wunnink and Mary Moore served as hostesses at the jail this year: Part of their job was keeping the Gover- nor's House clean, Visitors, they said, seemed to be most impressed 'with the cleanliness- of 'the_. building and with all the antiques. This year was Mary's second year as a hostess and Diane's first.' The girls say the job is fun and a good way to meet people from all over the world. A • busload of students on a Lions Inter- national: Student Exchange visited the jail one day. There were students representing 28 different countries on that tour. In the spring the jail has a lot of visitors from, European countries.. The hostesses will conduct guided tours by previous arrangement. Otherwise people are allowed to wander freely through the jail. The hostesses try to talk to all the visitors and make them feel welcome. They say they don't want anyone to feel like an intruder ••••• The questions people ask most frequently, say the girls, are: "when was the jail closed" "when was it openerl'• ,n,l '„ hrio were the hangings"? People are usually curious to see the leg irons as well. There is only one remaining "leg iron" in -the building. Although it was originally used for rowdy prisoners, it has not been used since 1950.. The jail was used to keep prisoners until April of 1972. There were only two hangings at the jail. The first, in 1865, was the last public hanging in Canada.It was conducted on the park area adjacent to the main road. The second was in 1911 and conducted in one of the small courtyards. Contrary to popular belief, there are no bodies buried in any of the courtyards. The body of the last prisoner executed was buried at the" jail for a short time but his remains were claimed by fritends and removed. Officially no prisoners were allowed outside the jail walls except under the strictest supervision. This was usually to work in the jail garden. It is common knowledge however that one of the Governors was a 'very liberal minded soul and permitted the prisoners ample time to work several miles north of Goderich at the task of constructing a cottage -- for his personal use. One obligation at the Governor's expense was the provision of Christmas dinner for all prisoners in the building on December 25. This was the one feast of the year for any prisoner who spent that holiday in the building. Diets were simple and basic with vegetables used from the prison garden. After 1968, when the Province of Ontario- took over the operation of this jail, a prescribed menu was issued from Toronto which was mandatory to follow. There were few excapades, but it is known that at least one prisoner managed' to scale the walls with theiaid of the table and several chairs stacked one on top of the other. The first prisoner ever kept at the jail received a '30 -day sentence for selling at an auction without a license. The jail ended its season this year on Labour Day. It will now he closed except for Saturdays and Sundays from 12 noon until 5:30 p.m. Group tours will be accepted until November 26, 1977 by previous agreement only and again after April 4, 1978. The jail will he open tothe public again next year on a daily basis beginning. May 20, 1278 during the hours of 10 a,m. and 5:30 p.m. and continue through Labour Day. Forever is a long, long time. And that's how long we'd like to see you slim. counterweight" Introduces its New Fan Program Lose weight starting this week. Here's how: You will learn a whole new concept of weight control which keeps working with you 7 days a week. You will learn how to avoid regaining lost pounds ever again. Well keep your plate full of such tasty, exciting foods as steaks, spaghetti, garlic bread, desserts, parfaits and even a glass of wine. 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