Showing 136 results

"Bradford's Salad Queen Irene Schreiber will be on hand for activities."

"Robert Brown of West Gwillimbury Township, recently joined the ranks of relatively elite professionals. Earlier this year Mr. Brown was given accreditation as an appraiser by the Appraisal Institute of Canada. It took him 10 years and a lot of study to attain the position. Brown says his new status won't change much. He points out that he only has six or so years until his retirement and he is happy working for the ministry. However, he didn't completely rule out the possibility of hanging out a shingle and going to work for himself. But right now, he is going to sit back and enjoy life."

"Twenty-eight years ago, Peter Bierling was helping farmer John Rupke build a new storage barn in the Holland Marsh. Before starting work, Peter carefully wrapped plastic around an old pocket watch his grandfather gave him and placed it in a shoe polish tin. He didn't want to lose it because it was a family heirloom, and he tucked it away in his pants' pocket. A few hours later, Peter discovered to his dismay that the tin containing the watch had fallen out of his pocket. An exhaustive search failed to turn up the watch. Last week, John Rupke was in the process of tearing down the storage barn, and - you guessed it - the shoe polish tin, with the watch intact, turned up. A worker helping tear down the now-old structure found the tin lodged between the walls, in sawdust used as insulation. Mr. Rupke wound the old watch and, sure enough, it ran. He quickly called Peter's son, Louis to inform him of the find. (Peter died a few years ago). The watch had survived almost 30 years, including Hurricane Hazel in 1954 when the barn was half-covered with mud and water. Louis said afterward, "I had always kept the location of the watch in mind. I always thought I knew where it was. I think it's about 100 years old. "It was still in good shape, and it should be - it's had a rest for 30 years," he said. Louis, production manager at Bradford Frozen Foods, plans to have the watch completely overhauled. The shoe tin in which it was found has also become a collectible."

"Marking Wilbert 'Wibb' Orr's 30 years of safe school bus driving, a celebration was held at Parkview Transit recently. In photo above, Mr. Orr (wearing the hat) stands in front of his first school bus in 1947. Sharp-eyed readers will also spot Jim Thompson, formerly with the Bradford police department. At right, Wib tries out a reclining chair which was given to him by fellow drivers, as his wife, Jean, and Ted and Doug Brown of Parkview Transit look on. Wibb also received an engraved gold watch from Ted and Doug."

"Dorothy Cilipka of RR4, Bradford, submitted this week's photo showing the Bradford centennial parade in 1957. The event coincided with the annual Gala Days celebration. Dorothy said she obtained a copy of the photo after seeing it displayed in Ritchie's patent medicine store."

"Alex Haley in his recent novel, Roots, aptly illustrated the significance and importance of having a sense of where one has come from. A person who has such a sense of his genealogical history is Charles Evans, Bradford's nominee to receive the jubilee commemorative medal. Dates are special to Mr. Evans because they indicate the changes that have occurred in his family's growth and development since moving into the Bradford area more than a century ago. Mr. Evans is a fifth-generation of the Evans family to live near Bradford."

"A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten brought the spirit of Christmas a little closer to over 600 people at the December program of the Barrie Concert Association. The Canadian Children's Opera Chorus is the second of a four-concert series held at Georgian College Theatre. News of Benjamin Britten's death on Saturday was announced by Dr. Derek Holman, director of the chorus. It lent a touch of sadness to the performance, because Britten's contribution to vocal works for young people has been enormous. His work, too, has that rare quality of being extremely attractive to children and teenagers."

"Two first place trophies were taken home by Ken Wood of Bradford from the Barrie antique car flea market held at Formosa Park recently. The cars that took the first prize award for the early class category are his 1929 Pierce Arrow and the first prize for the early general interest category with his 1930 Chevrolet. Both cars were in the 1926 to 1933 classes."

"Rotary President Gary Vasey welcomed two new members to the Bradford Club recently. The new members are Ian Jones and Gordon Biddie. Rotary Director, George Hartman, was also on hand to make the two new members feel at home."

"Mike Kilkenny called his baseball career to a halt in 1973 after a squabble with the management of the Cleveland Indians, but he may be on his way to the major leagues again. Mike, who was raised in Bradford, told The Witness that a successful year with the Senior Intel County Baseball League's London Majors has drawn scouts from the big leagues south of the border to take a look. Mike went on to say that his season's statistics have aroused interest. So far this year he has won and finished each of the nine games he started and has 130 strike outs in 85 innings."