From the Advocate – 100 years ago (1914)
The federal government has passed an order-in-council extending censorship to telegraph and telephone companies. All out-of country messages must go through special offices where the staff are sworn to stop any information of interest to the enemy. The government may seize the property of any such company. In a separate order, it is now a crime to sketch, photograph or publish details of any military facility, to give liquor to a soldier to obtain information, or to spread rumours “likely to create disaffection” near a defended harbour.
In local news, J. McCaig has completed the new cement sidewalk down Main Street and “has made a first class job of it”.
The Advocate carried an ad from a London, Ontario factory: “Kellogg’s Toasted Corn Flakes is the only article bearing the Kellogg name that is ‘Made in Canada’. All others are made outside Canada and do not help our working people. Keep your money at home.”
From the Advocate – 45 years ago (1969)
MPP John Root and Erin Township Reeve Stanley Fuller presented trophies for winners in the Hillsburgh Horticultural Society Flower Show. Winners included Mrs. Henry Wheeler, Mrs. Harry Collier, Mrs. Harold Sargent, Miss Bertha Everson and Mrs. Roy McConnell.
Front-page news in Erin: A revolutionary new method of sewage treatment developed by the Ontario Water Resources Commission could save municipalities millions of dollars. Adding a lime precipitation process to sewage plants would double their capacity, removing about 92% of phosphorus and nitrogen “at a fraction of what it would cost by conventional methods”, according to Ontario Energy Minister George Kerr.
Construction of a four-room extension has been completed at Erin Public School, and there are so many students that two portables have been added as well. When the school was built in 1923, it housed both elementary and high school students, and was still considered too large.
From the Advocate – 35 years ago (1979)
A developer who wants to build an 18,000 sq.ft. industrial plaza including a food outlet on Highway 24, between the 8th and 9th Lines, has been given the cold shoulder by Erin Township Council. Perry Wilson was told by Councillor Jo Schneider that no development should be allowed that would take business away from Hillsburgh or Erin Village, and that available space in the village must be used first.
Beaver trappers can now get permits from Erin Township, after Road Superintendent Ed Barden told council that the animals have caused problems, including the loss of healthy trees, clogged marshes and road washouts.
Fair Queen Beth Graham will help open the 129th Erin Fall Fair on Friday, starting with the West Central Ontario Championship Holstein Show and a teen dance. Daily admission is $1.50 Friday and Saturday, $2 Sunday and Monday, or the whole weekend for $5.
The Erin village municipal building was filled with the sound of angry heckling as the Committee for Better Service demanded that the Community Telephone Company put Erin in a toll-free calling area including Orangeville, Guelph, Acton and Georgetown – without the proposed rate increase of $12.50 the company says it needs in order to make a reasonable profit.
From the Advocate – 25 years ago (1989)
After 36 years behind the counter at the Erin Post Office, Louise Hunter is retiring. She started in 1953 when the office was at 54 Main Street. In 1983, when she was turned down for the postmaster job, there was a petition of 500 names asking Canada Post to reconsider. She was eventually offered the job two years ago, but she turned it down since it was so close to her retirement.
Gord Gregson, custodian at Brisbane Public School for the past eight years, has hung up his broom for the last time. Principal Malcolm Hughes hosted an assembly in his honour, with posters and gifts presented by students.
