From the Advocate – 100 years ago (1914)
Mr. and Mrs. John Green of the 9th Line of Erin have lately received a long letter from their son Elmer, who is with the first Canadian Contingent of the 48th Highlanders on the Salisbury Plains. They expect to move shortly from tents to huts that will each house 35 men. He says they are treated very kindly by the English and that they expect to visit London in a few days.By an order-in-council, the Canadian government has made it a criminal offence to circulate or possess anti-British papers, which are apparently popular in Montreal. Offenders could face a $5,000 fine or two years in prison.
Economist Sir Henry Pellatt predicts that after a declaration of peace there will be a doubling of Canadian industries within five years. “We must build up enough industries to meet the needs of an ever-increasing agricultural population,” he said. “The close of the war will let loose the stream of emigration, and we shall see three or four hundred thousand people a year from Great Britain and Europe take their places as Canadian farmers.”
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| Remembrance Day in Erin, 2014 |
Harry Smith has been unanimously elected as the chairman of the newly formed Recreation Board, with Mrs. H.P. O’Sullivan as the Secretary. They decided to do a survey through the Erin Advocate to see what services are desired by people of all ages and what can be provided with existing facilities. The survey on page 7 includes choices ranging from a Rifle Club and Field Hockey to a Community Theatre and a Bridge Club. Choices for a new major facility include a swimming pool, a community park, tennis courts and a lawn bowling green.
Tenders are invited for the removal of the Erin Station of the Canadian Pacific Railway – one of 20 to be demolished as part of a consolidation project. CPR acquired the Erin line in 1880, and up to four passenger trains per day plus freight trains served the community. There were once special train excursions to the Erin Fair and Stanley Park, but passenger service was discontinued in 1958. The last regular agent at the station was Bill Weber.
The Wellington Board of Education has approved new facilities worth $100,000 at Ross R. MacKay School and $88,000 at Brisbane School. Each will get a general purpose room - gymnasium, two change rooms, a stage, storage rooms, a kitchen and a new entrance foyer, and MacKay will also get a teachers’ room.
The As We Were column recalled the Advocate of November 1910, in which it was reported that the population of Erin village was 526, while Orangeville had 2,351 and Grand Valley 759.
From the Advocate – 35 years ago (1979)
Erin Village Bylaw Enforcement Officer Robert Stewart had his tires slashed by vandals last week. In another incident, stop signs were removed at the intersection of 17 Sideroad and Second Line, leaving drivers unprotected.
Judy Andrews, originally from Florida, has set up shop at 2 Union Street in Erin, operating The Craft Menagerie. She does her own designs of home decorating items such as pillows, table cloths and stuffed animals.
Doris Fines, in her Dateline Ospringe column, reports that the Mimosa Metric Munchers had a Halloween party at Linda Moore’s house. The 4H girls made their own submarine sandwiches, and Brian Moore took them all for a hay ride, where there was much talking, laughing and singing.
From the Advocate – 25 years ago (1989)
Erin Village Bylaw Enforcement Officer Robert Stewart has responded to an anonymous Letter to the Editor, which complains that he is not doing his job by not enforcing the loitering bylaw. He said that Village Council has arranged with the OPP that charges would only be laid if the OPP provide the names and addresses of a group of people who do not disburse when told to do so by police. A follow-up Letter to the Editor was published from Kari-Ann Puckering, a young person who is part of the so-called “Becker’s Gang”. She says the group is unfairly blamed for downtown vandalism, and says the village has failed its youth by not delivering promised recreation such as a swimming pool, roller skating and teen dances.
