"A meeting was held Sunday evening to discuss the future of the Bond Head Post Office. Above, [left to right], A.R. Secor, area manager; Bradford postmaster, Keith Stevens and the organizer of the meeting, Mrs. Lynda Usher, consider the future. Although an advertisement has been placed for a new postmaster, no one has applied for the position, About 50 villagers attended the meeting."
"The Auld Kirk, a historical church located at the Scotch Settlement will be the scene of an old time church service Sunday, June 22 at 3:00 p.m. The service is being jointly arranged by the Barrie Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church and the Simcoe Presbytery of the United Church. The Auld Kirk is on the 6th line of West Gwillimbury Township south of Highway 88 at the Scotch Settlement. The outdoor service will be led by Rev. Henry Dahlin, minister of Bond Head United Church and Chairman of the Simcoe Presbytery. Also participating in the service will be Rev. Ken Purdon, minister of Burton Ave. United Church in Barrie and Rev. Ed MacDonald, minister of the Presbyterian Church in Orillia and moderator of Barrie Presbytery. The guest preacher will be Rev. W. Stanford Reid, Professor of History at the University of Guelph. The Auld Kirk's beginnings go back to 1823 when a log church was built by the settlers of the Scotch Settlement. In 1827, a frame church was built and the original log building was moved and used as a school until 1840. The present Auld Kirk building was erected in 1869 at a cost of $1,000. Due to a dwindling population the church was closed in 1885 and for some years fell into disrepair. In 1912, it required a new roof. In 1953, the restoration of the cemetery was started and in 1958 restoration work began on the church."
"Tonight at Barrie Raceway, old style horse racing will be featured, as six high-wheeled sulkies will take part in a special race. The sulkies, imported from the United States, will be used by horses and drivers usually competing at the raceway. The sulkies are replicas of an 1864 model and have high wheels. The large wooden spokes in the original wheels have been replaced with steel spokes. The special sulkies were the idea of California racing executive Jim Dunnigan. They were built by Harry Alberty of Los Angeles, who builds wagons and coaches used by movies and television programs. Alberty had problems constructing wheels and axles which would stand the strain of racing but eventually after months of experimenting, he came up with a workable design. The sulkies cost about $12,000, far more than the $450 price of a modern cart."
"Bradford Salad Festival organizer Leo Kleiss said yesterday that pre-sale of tickets for the festival are going well and he expects that very few will be left by the time the festival gets underway. Advertising and community bulletins should bring people from all over Southern Ontario and the estimate is that up to 15,000 people will attend. Area motels and hotels have been booked for the past two months. Last week the Bradford Rotary Club issued a challenge to the Bradford Lions Club to participate in what should be one of the funniest moments of the festival - donkey baseball. The Lions have accepted the challenge and the event will be staged Sunday, July 18. In addition, the Big A Amusements will be opening their variety of carnival rides and games on Tuesday, July 13 to run through until the following Sunday at 6 p.m. Tickets for all the events including the teen dance, salad feast and the baseball games can be purchased at the Festival office in the old Bank of Commerce building at the corner of Barrie and Holland St."
"Bill Atkins and his daughter, Beverley, of Concession 6, West Gwillimbury, hit the trail on Sunday to enjoy the spring-like day. Car-drivers on the same route faced washed-out sections of road and general bumpiness."
"Mrs. Rose McEvoy, owner and manager of Bradford's Queen's Hotel, is generous - from her whole heart. She is an outgoing, amiable person with a great feel for the needs of people. Mrs. McEvoy has been in the hotel business since 1940s. Her late husband Frank was already in the business when she met him. Later, Mr. McEvoy opened the Jolly Miller as a hotel, and then along with his brother bought the Queen's Hotel in Bradford in 1942."
"Peter Born, son of Mr. and Mrs. Josef Born of Bradford, received his Bachelor of Science honors degree in geology from Carleton University in Ottawa in early November. A graduate of Bradford District High School, he is currently enrolled in a Master of Science geology program at Laurentian University in Sudbury.'
"Peter John Winterkorn, 227 Church St., Bradford, was admitted to the Bachelor of Arts degree by the University of Toronto and the University of St. Michael's College Friday, June 18. The degree was conferred for an English specialist program in conjunction with a history minor program. Next year, Peter will complete a Bachelor of Education degree with the Faculty of Education of the University of Toronto."
"Peter Smith and Lesley Barker proudly display the trophies they won last Thursday at the Bradford District High School's Drama Night. Lesley and Peter won the best actress and best actor awards for the second year in a row, the first time that has happened in the history of the school. The judge's decision was wildly applauded by the audience."
When the WEGWHIST Team launched Governor Simcoe Slept Here last December, we underestimated your response. Hindsight, which always has 20/20 vision, indicates that we should have printed more copies, but by the same token, we didn't anticipate that many of you were going to buy 4 or 5 copies. All 1,023 copies have found a home, and many of you asked if we are going to do a reprint. We have considered this request, and we have decided to do a reprint that will be available about Aug. 15, 2006. Some factual errors have been brought to our attention, so we are preparing a correction addendum that will be included with the reprint, and will be available to all who have already purchased a book. Pre-publication sales of the reprint will begin July 1st. The pre-publication price will be $65, the post-publication price $75.
