February 08, 2018

LOOKING BACK – Returning war veteran hosts concert

From the Advocate – 100 years ago (1918)
Returning war veteran hosts concert
A Grand Concert is to be held at Hillsburg Town Hall, on Friday evening, Feb. 15th. Sgt. J.R. McNally, recently returned from the Firing Line, will preside as Chairman. Proceeds are for the Red Cross of Hillsburg.
The Belfountain and Rockside Red Cross Society have shipped to headquarters for the month of January 42 pair of socks, 18 suits of pyjamas, 12 day shirts and 36 towels.
From the Advocate – 35 years ago (1983)
Will Conservatives back a leader?
An editorial by Advocate Editor Bob Kincaid asked: Did Joe Clark do the right thing when he called for a Progressive Conservative leadership convention after receiving over 66 per cent of his party’s support? He is allowing 33 per cent to run the party. Mr. Clark should realize that 66 per cent is not that bad.
The Conservatives have made it a habit to shoot themselves in the foot, just when they have the opportunity to win an election and take over the government. Former party president Dalton Camp said it is “preposterous” that a mere 33 per cent should be allowed to set policy. On the other hand, Toronto MP Otto Jelinek says new convention is badly needed.
Potential new leaders – “phantoms”, as Clark calls them – should be coming out of the woodwork in the next two to three weeks. If Clark wins this time, will the party stand behind their leader and become solid? I doubt it. They haven’t for the past 40 years. Why should they now?
From the Advocate – 25 years ago (1993)
Editor Bill Doole remembered
Career journalist, teacher and former owner and editor of The Advocate Bill Doole died last week after an 11-year-long battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Doole, 76, was well-known and liked in the newspaper business and the communities where he worked. He and his wife Nora, who died in 1990, owned the Erin Advocate for six and a half years in the 1970s, buying it from Charles W. Hull in July 1972. He would sometimes write a column called Typewriter Dust, and after retiring wrote a column called Sweet and Sour.
Doole was the son of an Irish immigrant building contractor who had fought at the Battle of Batoche during the Riel Rebellion. He started as a copy boy and became a crime reporter at the Toronto Star. He served with the Canadian army in Ottawa during the war. He later worked for the Vancouver Sun and was editor and publisher of the Brampton Conservator. Before buying The Advocate, he taught journalism for two years at Sheridan College.
From the Advocate – 20 years ago (1998)
Anonymous $25,000 for trailway
A $25,000 anonymous donation for development of the Elora Cataract Trailway was presented to the trailway association last week by long-time trail advocates Peel Regional Councillor Ian Sinclair, Caledon Ward 1 Councillor Richard Paterak and Erin Mayor Barb Tocher. The donation will be used to develop the trail from Mississauga Road in Caledon to the Sixth Line of Erin. The Erin section could be done by September. The fundraising target is $238,000, with $114,723 raised so far. It is being used for trail surfacing, interpretive rest areas and parkland in Erin village and Hillsburgh.