Times-Advocate, 1983-11-09, Page 26Supplement to the Times -Advocate, November 18, 1983
founding members recall challenge
Sometimes when Elmer Bell,
Charlie MacNaughton, Benson
Tuckey and BiII Ellerington get
together they talk about the days
when South Huron Hospital was on-
ly a dream in their heads and a
sketch on an architect's drawing
board.
They remember that decade after
World War 1I as a 'very progressive'
era for this district. Besides the
hospital, there were many ambitious
projects in the works...two new
schools (public and high), the Exeter
Legion Hall and artificial ice in the
arena, to name a few.
"It was a time," recalls Mr. Bell,
"when there seemed to be many
capable and willing people around
to tackle the jobs and push them to
completion."
The hospital stands as a monu-
ment to those who took up its
gauntlet. Bell, MacNaughton, Tuckey
and Ellerington were in the thick of
it, right from the start.
When asked what was the greatest
obstacle they had to overcome, the
four men agreed that 'selling the idea
of the hospital to the public and fin-
ding the financing for it was near the
top of the list. However, once area
citizens caught the vision,
'everybody' got behind it, which
made raising the money relatively
easy. The biggest challenge, they say,
was the actual construction of the
building.
Production had not yet caught up
with the shortages caused by the
war; some materials were either im-
possible to buy or in very short supp-
ly. What probably saved the day was
the Hospital Association acting as its
own contractor and taking advantage
of every lead and source available
through district businessmen. They
ferretted out materials and equip-
ment few othe,-s could find, and
stored them away for futt., a use.
They remember the day the ar-
chitect told them it was an 'impossi-
ble time' to build. "For one thing,
you'll never find the steel."
"We've already got it!" came the
ready reply.
"Then, you won't get sufficient ce-
ment," the architect shot back.
"We've more than enough stored
waiting in a barn," they replied.
No one could deter their en-
thusiasm. Their battle cry was,
"We're going to do it!"
Charlie MacNaughton recalls how
the building committee met every
Saturday night to hammer out
strategies. Both Ellerington and
Tuckey were on that same commit -
Please turn to page 3
FOUNDING MEMBERS who were in on South Huron Hospital right from the
beginning, Elmer D. Bell, Q.C., Hon. Charles MacNaughton, seated, and
Benson Tuckey and William Ellerington, standing, look over 1953 Times -
Advocate proclaiming the hospital's opening. They remember it as an ex-
citing day, culminating hundreds of hours of hard work. "We all breathed
a sigh of relief." TA photo
J