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Poster for the 2013 Carrotfest event on Saturday, August 17th, 2013

Poster for the 2014 Carrotfest event on Saturday, August 16th, 2014

Poster for the 2015 Carrotfest weekend event from Saturday, August 14th, 2015 to Sunday, August 15th, 2015

Poster for the 2016 Carrotfest weekend event from Saturday, August 19th, 2016 to Sunday, August 20th, 2016

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : 4-H Club Year End

Cookstown Public School was quite active last Saturday afternoon as over 100 women and girls attended the 4-H activity day, put on by 4-H girls from Bradford, Ivy, Beeton, Everitt, Bond Head, Tottenham, and Hill and Valley groups.

The girls put on charades about etiquette, discussed judging and arranging of flowers, and gave plans for arranging a birthday party, and voted on next year's projects which will have a definite focus on living involving spring cotton reviews.

In the afternoon the girls record books were on display for the mothers to enjoy, and they also showed their decorated boxes which were made to hold reference files. Plays and exhibits were offered in both serious and funny presentations in order to draw attention to the fun that can be enjoyed while serious learning is taking place.

Most of the theme centered around manners, etiquette and table setting. Comments were made to the girls by visiting home economists to assist them in future clubwork, and the Bradford leaders Mrs. Swan and Mrs. Klop were quite proud of the achievements of their girls.

Projects awards were given to DonnaLee Lloyd, Nancy Jean Clubine, Lynda Slingerland, and Cathy Lewis. Achievement awards were given to Judy McArthur, Lyna McVety, Susan Robertson, and Ellen Masin, and Linda McArthur. Now the girls can go on and work toward receiving County and Provincial awards in the years to come.

"The town of Bradford is undergoing a bit of a mini-Renaissance. It's not just the Home Depot now under construction and due to open this summer, the planned Loblaw and new LCBO outlet that will be built on Holland St. west of Melbourne Drive. It's not just the banners displaying the Town's official flower, the Black-eyed Susan; or the new Sesquicentennial banners for Bradford's 150th birthday; or the flowering beds, or the new additions to both High Schools.
There is also the return of businesses seriously damaged by fire in 2006 - F.K. Textiles, the 88 & 11 Convenience Store, and Annit "a" Haircut - and a number of new stores and ventures that have opened, including Condy Books, on Barrie St.
On top of that, a growing number of established businesses in the community are celebrating the success of their enterprises, with Anniversary celebrations - from the 1st Anniversary of Dutch Treats, the Dutch Store and Deli at 15 Holland St. east; to the 29th Anniversary of Joella's Jewellery & Gifts, 32nd Anniversary of Bradford Rental Sales & Service, to one of the oldest businesses in Town: Spence TIM-BR Mart, now in its 98th year of service.
In this Sesquicentennial year, that's something to celebrate."

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : A Glimpse of History

When Lucy Shepherd (nee Fairbank) lived in the old Steel House at Steel's Corners (Highway 11 and Concession 14), she and her siblings discovered a dusty, calfbound volume in the attic of the home.

They played with the book, wrote in a few I.O.U.s and admired the elegant handwriting. It wasn't until years later, long after the Steel House had been torn down for the widening of Highway 11, that Shepherd realized she had something out of the ordinary.

The book turned out to be the Day book of blacksmith John Steel. Dating from 18855 to 1869, it itemizes the daily and monthly accounts of residents like Robert Kneeshaw, Joseph Fennel, James and Robert Bell.

Prices ranged from 10 cents to mend a pitchfork and 25 cents to replace a horseshoe, to $1.75 for repairs to a "thrashing mashen" (threshing machine). The accounts also contain a price list for construction materials for a new home in the late 1860's - including $123.41 for lumber, $19.50 for hardware, and $11.51 for the glass and "putey".

The prices seem unimaginably low by today's standards, and it is a surprise to note that over the 14 years spanned by the accounts, the blacksmith's prices did not go up.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : A Look At Bradford Over 100 Years Ago

Dear Sir:
This is a copy of a letter written during the 1860's by my grandfather, Philip Crowder, at Manchester, England to the Herald. I received a copy from an uncle, Albert Crowder, now at Bangor, Maine.

I thought it might be of interest to you.
Sincerely yours,

Philip. A. Crowder
Star Route
Deerwood, Minnesota

A Look Into History

Mr. Editor
Dear sir:

Wishing to try my hand at writing a small article for the Working People's Supplement to the Herald I thought I would write from memory, some account of the first village I settled in and of the life in the Inhabitants lead.

I emigrated to Canada nine years ago with my wife and two little ones, the oldest child not quite two years old, and arrived in the City of Churches, as it is by some called, but better know as Toronto; where I found to my surpirse, tram cars running on several of the main streets. I soon got work at my trade but it being slack time of the year for it and I being unaccustomed to their way of working, I earned but little money and so left the shop to work on a sewer which was being made in Yonge Street, where I worked 'til it was finished. I applied for work at their mill at Bradford, only forty miles "up the Northern Track", so I went home and got my dinner and a change of clothes and started at quarter to three from the "Northern Depot" for Bradford where I arrived just after six.

It was on this journey that I saw a little of what the country in Canada looks like. I had only been through old settled country before, with here and there a bit of "bush" left for firewood; but now I passed through some new cleared land with the fields full of stumps and log huts here and there, and through the Holland River swamp, (which is now cleared up), and then thought I had some idea of the back woods; how soon we think we have learned soemthing. Arrived at Bradford Depot, (station), I enquired my road to the mill, where I luckily found the clerk, who was busy that night, and he gave me an order for admission to the boarding house, where I had supper and was then shown my bed, there being three double beds in that room.

At the front of the house I found my fellow boarders, and part of my future mates, collected, some seated on benches, some playing quoits, some leaning against a fence dividing the yard from the railway; (the house being in the lumber yard, one line of lumber piles being within ten yards of the back of the house), and all indulging in rough jests. A good number of them, like myself emigrants - English, Irish, Scotch, with three of these I struck up aquaintance. One was a pit sawer from Banbury, another a Cornish youth, and the last a carpenter from Brighton. As dark came on we went to bed as our inclination led us. As half pat five we were called by a bell for breakfast, which consisted of the remains of salt pork boiled the day before for dinner, served with bread, fried potatoes followed by bread and butter and that by fat cakes and molasses with tea to drink. At five minutes to six the first whistle blew when all hands started for the mill to be in their places when the whistle blew at six. I was put at first in a gang of six or eight who were making a ditch to go between the river and cistern intended to suppply the boilers of a new mill they were building at a distance of about a furlong from the old one, the road and railroad lying between them. At half past eleven the whistle blew for dinner when I saw most of the hands that lived at the boarding house running as fast as they could for that most desirable place. I thought them a very greedy set of fellows until I arrived at the back of the house where I saw some of the last ones rubbing themelves with the towels and the row of unemployed wash-bowls ready for myself and the few elderly men that was (sic) staying there and so this tremendous rush was only to get the bowls with clean water ready in them without the trouble of pumping it. By the time I was ready the bell rang for dinner when all walked quietly into the dining room and took his place.

Dinner consisted of salt pork boiled with potatoes and some kind of garden vegetable when in season, followed by pies such as apple, pumpkin, and citeron (sic) and finish up with fat cakes and molasses and finished with a cup of tea. At half past twelve the whistle blew for work and at six to "quit", when we got our supper which consisted of bread and butter and preserved fruit and hot cakes and molasses. On Sundays we had a joint of fresh meat roasted, or rather baked, in the oven of the cook stove and sometimes someone or other of the luxuries usual in the homes of even the labourers of the county. It was here I saw green corn eat (sic) for the first time. I was highly amused at the sight but would not be tempted to try it. Perhaps some of my readers have seen a "cob" of corn or Indain corn in some corn dealers window. Well these are fathered when the grain is full not but begun to ripen, and boiled for twenty minutes, and served on the table, the diner takes hold of the stalk end with his fingers of one hand and spreads butter on the cob with a knife held in the other, he then takes hold of the other end of the cob instead of the knife and bites off the grain much the same as you may have seen some one pick a bone. It well repays you for any loss of dignity you may have sustaiend from the awkward looking position, at least I thought so the following summer when I was persuaded at the house of a friend to try just one cob and tried another without any persuading and so thought the Irishman who having arrived on Toronto in September thought he saw peas being eaten in a new way. After having devoured his corn asked the waiter to "Please to put some more pays on this stick."

After a few days I was fetched to work at the mill where there was about seventy men and boys working in about it. It is situated on one side of the Holland River in which the logs lie as they have been brought up the river by small steam tugs from Lake Simcoe. it is a large wooden building two stories high...

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : A Medical Missionary's Life in the Congo

Editor's note:

Dr. Jim Evans is the son of Bradford lawyer C.T.S. Evans and is currently serving with the United Church of Canada's Institute Medical Evangelique in the Republic of the Congo.

Jim and his wife will be writing to The Witness periodically on his experiences in the Congo.

Dear Friends,
We are somewhat uncertain as to how we should formulate our first circular letter as a married couple. Since many of you know only one of us, we feel that some sort of introduction is called for. Thumbnail biographical sketches will be unnecessary for some of you and inadequate for many of you. But they seem to be our only alternative for this kind of letter so we hope that you will understand.

Jim's home is Bradford, Ontario where he lived until he entered the University of Toronto. There he gained his medical degree and completed a year's internship. He then went to British Columbia to work in a home mission hospital of the United Church of Canada. After two years there he had a marked change of scene by going to Congo for four months. Upon his return he "dabbled" in theology for a year and then took a year's surgical residency in Vancouver. It was during the later experience that he decided to return to Congo. Thus, as an appointed missionary of the United Church of Canada, he took a tropical medicine course in Belgium and arrived in Congo in 1965. Three and a half years in Africa were not only quite interesting, but provided Jim with an opportunity to assess the needs. During an extended furlough he took various refresher courses and completed a Master of Public Health program at John Hopkins University in Baltimore. This new experience and knowledge should be helpful as he now oversees the Public Health program here at I.M.E. (Institute Medical Evangelique).

The ship docked in Baltimore on July 29 and it was exactly one month later that we were married. The first week back was spent with Jim's family in Canada and at the end of that time Jim's brother, Bob, was married -- two family weddings in one summer! Then Patty began a very busy but happy three weeks at home in California seeing family and friends after a year's absence and finishing up wedding plans.

Short Honeymoon

Our wedding was as meaningful and happy an occasion as we could have hoped for. All of our family and friends who were able to share this experience with us made it all the more special. For those who could not come, we wish we could tell about it in detail but there just is not enough space.

After a "mini honeymoon" of two days, we returned to pack our possessions and make arrangements necessary to enable us to leave a week and two days later! It was a hectic time but somehow everything was accomplished and we left Covina September 10, spent a day and half in Seattle seeing many of Patty's friends and family there, another day and a half in Toronto and Bradford, and on September 14, left for a two week honeymoon in Scandinavia.

What a wonderful two weeks that was! We spent the longest time in Norway where the scenery was spectacular. We traveled by plane, steamer, and train, thus getting a variety of views of many areas. We stopped in Stockholm for a couple of days and ended our Scandinavian visit in Copenhagen which is, indeed, the charming city it is reputed to be. This stay in Denmark included a trip to the Hans Christian Anderson country which was one of the highlights of our two weeks. September 29 we began the trip to Congo which included a planned layover in Brussels of eight hours and an unplanned layover in Geneva of six hours due to technical problems and the strict security measures. Were we ever happy to arrive in Kinshasa! We were happier still to arrive at I.M.E. which is now our home! After our many travels over the last year we were eager to settle into one place.

Like Home

We have been here six weeks now and, indeed, it does seem like home. Jim is very busy in the public health program for even as current programs continue, the public health team is evaluating the direction in which it is moving and potential opportunities for contributing further to the rural health program of this region, as well as public health interests here on the I.M.E. grounds, Jim is teaching two courses in the school of nursing in addition to taking his share of night calls for the hospital.

Parry has been quite busy as she supervised the painting of the interior of the house after our arrival and is presently doing those final touches to make it look like home. She is discovering the challenges of keeping house and cooking where there is no hot water (although now there is running water all day since the rains started), where there is the constant battle with the bugs, where all water must be boiled before drinking, where doing the laundry is not just pushing buttons on a washer and dryer, etc. One could go on forever -- but the important point is that such aspects of life do not continue to seem as inconveniences but rather become those things one just does in daily living. Patty is also making some progress in her Kikongo study as she attends class two times a week and tries to keep to regular study hours. Her best opportunities to hear it spoken so far have been on road trips when she has accompanied Jim. One trip was to a village with the public health team to carry on clinics, another to a village where T.B. patients were being followed up, and the third to a community health centre which was originally sponsored by I.M.E. and is now becoming independent. These have been fascinating trips as they have been opportunities to see some village life, to meet village people, and to understand better the physical, social and spiritual needs of the Congolese.

Hope

These are happy days for us as we are beginning our marriage, establishing our home, making and renewing many friendships, and joining in the effort to provide better health care. It is with the hope of helping to meet the many needs of these people that we have come; and we trust that our efforts, your prayers and God's participation turn our hope to reality, through our lives Christ himself will become a reality to those we encounter.

Especially, now as Christmas approaches, we are thankful for God's Gift of his Son and we want to take the opportunity of this season to share with each of you our wish that yours will be a most blessed Christmas and a very happy New Year.

Sincerely, Dr. Jim and Patty Evans

Patty Evans

Patty (nee Parks) spent her pre-college years in various California cities where her father has pastored American Baptist churches. She began her college days at Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, and after two years there, transferred to Standford University to complete the work for her nursing degree. Following a year's work in Covina, California (where her family now lives), Patty entered a Master's program at the University of Washington. She changed the role of student to that of faculty member at the end of a year and taught in a coronary care program at the University. In August, 1969 she began the challenging and exciting experience of sailing on the hospital shop the S.S. HOPE as it made its 8th voyage -- this time to Tunisia. It was a full and busy year as she worked in the Intensive Care Unit and had an opportunity to learn about the language and culture of the patients and the Tunisian counterpart nurses. It turned out to be a year not only for new nursing experiences but also for travel as well throughout Tunisia and to parts of Europe. One of these times was to meet Jim in London for two weeks at Christmas which was, of course, a most happy holiday. The year in Tunisia ended on a delightful note, for Jim, on completion of his program at Johns Hopkins, was able to go to Tunisia to work with the HOPE public health team for the last five weeks and then sail home with all the other "Hopies".

"The Ad Hoc Facilities Committee, comprised of Mayor Frank Jonkman, Councillors Marty Toombs and Jim Corneau, Chief Building Official Art Janse, Deputy Treasurer Ian Goodfellows and Police Chief Bruce Davis met on Wednesday night, to consider future facilities that could include a new Police Station, a consolidated administration centre, and possibly, an indoor pool." ...