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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1976-12-23, Page 16Pose 16—Tbe Winoam Advance -Tithes, December 23, 1976 ti Of the once famous Arthur's Radio Orchestra of Wingham pictured in this 1926 photograph only Wilfrid Arthur, on extreme right, seated, is still living. Others in the band were left to right: Tom Cruickshank of Wingham on drums: Irwin Edwards of Wingham on banjo; Mrs. Tom Cruickshank operated his own gargp in Wing - don, he played violin. The wife's .. ham, Wilf spent most of his time KNOW Cruickshank), who played piano. working for others. HOSPITAL as us," Mr. Arthur said, "but, we In 1860 he moved to Clinton and were the first band to go out from Tom Cruickshank, the wife's took up work as a boiler engineer sister's husband on the drums." surrounding area." at the Clinton Public Hospital, a Question: What does the ad The medical support services job which lasted 10 years. ministrator do? groupincludes the highly quali- ..In i9W I begain working as a mechanic for Hagold Lobb, retic- Answer The hospital admuus ied Stin the pharw"y, laboratory and radiological ingin 1871 " Wilf said. trator or executive director is ap- Pointed by the board of directors services; Physis ate, occu- lt was 1, those 11 ears to be responsible to it for overall national therapists, social that he successfully worked for management of the hospital. He workers and other para -medical and received his certificate as a appoints other senior staff and specialists trained to Provide fourth class stationary department heads to exercise modern health care services. He brings out the framed car- direct operating control over Today's hospital chief execu- tificate for a viewin g An such areas as nursing, medical five officer is a professional. He achievement he is very proud of. support services, dietary, house- or she may well be a graduate cot o For an old, big band man, to- day's modern, electronic music k�P�B. personnel, purchasing, business administrationbegr4 course, and will ahnost certainly have makes Wilf feel uncomfortable. financial and business office additional diplomas or post "The old bands could really mOne s. graduate qualifications in health play good music," he said. "Give his closest associates is the director l nursing services administration and hospital me a Guy Lombardo, P ul White- man or Horace Heidt, anytime," responsibleis e pro - foring els on management. It may still the era the of a good nprogram f electric guitar, but Wilt has , throughout the hospital. The staff � P - noticed a trend "back to my kind of registered nurses, registered PROTECT of music." The kind of music he still sits nursing assistants, ward order- lies and ward clerks comprises TURKEY QUALITY S , down to play on the piano, every the largest group of employees in now and then. the hospital. i What's new at Huronview i A group of 20 members of the Salvation Army Citadel of Goder- ich along with Captain Grace Herber visited the Home on Sun- day afternoon. The band enter- tained in each of the sitting rooms and the rest of the group dis- tributed gifts of fruit to all of the residents which was greatly ap- preciated. Mrs. Shirley Luther led the Christian Women's Club song service in the chapel on Sunday evening accompanied at the organ by her husband, Eric Luther. Three new residents were wel- comed at Monday's program. They were Mrs. Frances Mc- Lean, Miss Christina Isbister and (Carrie Hingston) on piano; Clayton Steeper of London on the violin, and Alex Dark. Marie Flynn, Lorne ro- Wilfrid, who played a host of instruments. Born in Howick Township, Wilfrid Lawson and Norman is aSpen the P Y P' vided the old tyme music and the has been living in Clinton since 1960. Clinton Christian Reformed volunteers helped with the activi- ties and led the carol singing. Seventy students of the adio r c e s t r a once Precious Blood Roman Catholic Arthur's bk- hool of Exeter presented their Christmas Concert on Tuesday thr1*11ed BY CHRIS ZDEB In Clinton News -Record For 20 years, Wilfrid Arthur asked the people of Ontario the musical question, `Are you lone- some tonight?' For the last 33 years, he has asked himself the question, 'Do the people of Ontario remem- ber?' Wilfrid Arthur may not be remembered by as many people as Guy Lombardo, but he will long be remembered as the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in southwestern Ontario. In 1923, Wilfrid Arthur, 72, now retired and residing in Clinton was the "leader of a five -piece band, known as Arthur's Radio Orchestra. The radio station was . • afternoon The students had sin southern Onciatedt raised the funds for the trip and t O�� � the concert was greatly appre- as the Huron County Board 10HP, now known as CKNX, don, he played violin. The wife's Wingham. sister, Mrs. Tom (Carrie) "There were many bands to :. Cruickshank), who played piano. play on the radio the same time Irwin Edwards from the West as us," Mr. Arthur said, "but, we Coast, who played piano, and were the first band to go out from Tom Cruickshank, the wife's the station and tour the sister's husband on the drums." surrounding area." Wilf is the last living member Sarnia, Orangeville, and as far of the original Arthur Band. north as Owen Sound, the Arthur Various musicians came and band travelled out from Wing- went from the band during its 20 ham to play one-night stands years of existence, but Tom and almost every night of the week. Carrie Cruickshank stayed with Mary, Wilf's wife of almost 50 Wilf right until the band disband - years, takes down a picture of the ed in 1943. band that hangs in their apart- "The war was on then," Wilf ment living room and hands it to recounts. "I joined the RCA her husband. (Royal Canadian Artillery) as a "There's 'Papa'," he said member of the anti-tank unit out pointing to himself in the picture. of Wingham." "I played sax, violin and piano. From 1940 until 1942, he played That's Clayton Steeper of Lon- sax with the unit's Wingham Citi - Of the once famous Arthur's Radio Orchestra of Wingham pictured in this 1926 photograph only Wilfrid Arthur, on extreme right, seated, is still living. Others in the band were left to right' Tom Cruickshank of Wingham on drums; Irwin Edwards of Wingham on Banjo; Mrs. Tom Cruickshank (Carrie Hingston) on piano; Clayton Steeper of London on the violin, and Wilfrid, who played a host of instruments. Born in Howick Township, Wilfrid has been living in Clinton since 1960. 11 1 of Education has not made any zens' Band. He regretted the band dissoly- allowance in the school budget "After the war, it was hard to ing a little, "but 20 year of that for visits to the Home. find the musicians necessary to (playing one righters), is enough Mrs. Coates accompanied the form a hand and the band tris- to kill any man," Wilf said. school choir and a chorus from solved," Wilf said. Except for a period between each of the grades in the singing By the end of World War II, he 1928 and 1932 when he owned and of several Christmas songs. had thrown himself full-time into CARE for the starving ,married, we'd go to Grand Bend his work as a garage mechanic, a and hear the Lombardo Brothers move far different from the one summers," Mary said. made in 1922 when he worked in a Playing a similar brand of Gorrie garage. , and other area band leaders in a "It was my first garage and I London music shop where they Nancy Van Bruwaene enter- tained with accordion solos; Janet Kints and Susan Gregus each played piano recitals. A play "Santa on Trial" was pre- sented by Grades 5 and 6. Mrs. Lawson thanked the students and teachers on behalf of the resi- dents. Winners of the draw sponsored by the craft room were Mrs. Me- linda Nivins of Clinton, who won the mat and Mrs. R. Harrison of Goderich, winner of the lace cloth. The draw cleared $120. The Home was saddened on Monday to learn of the sudden death of the former administrator, Harvey C. Johnston, of Clinton, and the sympathy of the residents go out to Mrs. Johnston and the family. Italian Children Wait For Good Witch `Befana' Italian youngsters anticipate gifts- on January 6, the Feast of the Epiph�Dy� rather than on Christmas Eve. Children place their shoes by the fireplace in anticipation of the arrival of "Befana", the good witch, who comes down the chim- ney on a broom to fill shoes with sweets for those who have been good, with coal for the naughty. worked there a year before leav- ing. Iwas on the on and up," he t&WIIII m'ation said. The "on and up period" had be- gun the year before with his en- col in the American Tech- stalks ilElions. Tech- nological Society's auto engin- If you select a frozen turkey for Christmas — as most of us do — protect flavor and quality by taking care when you thaw the bird for cooking. The best place to thaw a frozen turkey is in the refrigerator. When you thaw a bird at room temperature, the outside warms up while the inside is still frozen. Bacteria may grow on the thawed areas and could cause s1lage. Usual thawing time in the refrigerator for a large bird is two to three days. You can speed up the process by placing the frozen bird. unwrapped, in a pan of cold water. Change the water frequently and thawing time will be two to six hours — depending upon size of the turkey. WELCOME... There is a gen- tleness to the snow that falls on Christmas Eve, a soft and silent reflection of the warm spirit that prevails within the church and wherever men of good will abide. eermg course. "The course was in Chicago and I lived there for the two years A massive, unprecedented human tragedy is in the making. that I took the course," Wilf said. "Looking back, I'm sorry I de- cided to come back up here (Can- ada)." Although he did come back, the big band sounds ofBenny Good- man, %%%o cares and Glenn Miller drew him c b k to "the wind cit " and the ay y Drake Hotel for New Year's Eve. "We'd sit in the Drake Hotel Glenn During this world food crisis and listen to the bands. Miller, Benny Goodman, I met I pledge to skip or cut down and shook hands with them all a meal a week for the when I was in Chicago," Wilf said. rest of this year and send my Back in Canada Guy Lombardo "empty late money"to p y p proved to be a close friend. "Before Wilf and I were even CARE for the starving ,married, we'd go to Grand Bend people overseas. and hear the Lombardo Brothers playing in the pavilion during the summers," Mary said. Playing a similar brand of music, Wilf said that he met Guy and other area band leaders in a London music shop where they aH went to buy their music. "Wilf's band was always pretty well liked because he played for mixed dancing. He'd play a coun- try and western tune," Mary + , said. Unlike her husband, sister, and brother-in-law, Mary never play- ed in the band, but she was 1 h d h th h1 t fl, cr,�Al QP\G� kPIATE GPM a ways on an W en ey e■������������eaaamaaaammm atm=�mmanasMasMasMM �■Y�s•������������ road. She began following the band V` before she married Wilf in 1927, but the piano in her family's home went far in bringing Wilf ` Here' is my and Mary closer together. ` "We had a piano at home and Wilf and the band would come ' pledge of is I I over to practise every evening after supper." Mary said. Name Wilf divided his time between +- (please print) his work at the garage during the Address day and his band in the evenings. 1 One thing was certain, Wilf could not support himself and Cit Mary on his band playing. —�L--- - - - _ Area Code "We made about t,'1 apiece Province when we first started out," Wilf -- said, "and we weren't making �, (Make your tax-deductible cheque out to "CARE WORLD HUNGER anymore than $5 by the time the FUND". We will send you regular reminder envelopes for your band disbanded in 1943. It wasn't nonvenience. Thank you) like today, where a -band member CARE Canada Department 4,63 Sparks St. Ottawa K1 P can make $50 a night." N