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"Andy Simurda, 71, rises each summer morning at dawn to help his son, John, cultivate vegetables on the family's holding in the Holland Marsh. In 1932, Mr. Simurda came to the marsh with three friends from his native country, Czechoslovakia. J. Kacmar, Joseph Kuhla, and M. Sklencar were partners with Mr. Simurda in marsh gardening. They even shared accommodation in the village of Bradford while their wives waited in Czechoslovakia until the men established themselves in Canada."

"Dr. John R. Brown, a professor at the University of Toronto who studied the effects of pesticides on workers in the Holland Marsh, died Saturday at the age of 57. In April this year Dr. Brown warned than an important (missing part of the article). Dr. Brown qualified as a medical doctor in London, England, in 1953. He received a PhD in applied physiology. After coming to Canada in 1959 he lectured at the University of Toronto in science, environmental health, and industrial health. Dr. Brown was blind in one eye since childhood and became almost totally blind in 1969, but he continued to work with the help of his wife, Helena, and son, David Bartholomew. He was the author of four technical books, president of the Health League of Canada, and chairman of the national committee of employment for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind."

"About 50 Holland Marsh farmers are suing the Townships of West Gwillimbury and King, claiming damage to crops in August because of flooding. The farmers served notice of their intentions through their lawyers last month, saying the two municipalities neglected to clean the Schomberg River, and that the pumps at a pumping station didn't work during the heavy rain of August 16. The petition signed by the farmers was sent to the councils by their lawyer Norman Borins of Toronto. It states that because of the failure of the pumphouse much of the land near or level with the river was covered with water. King Mayor Margaret Britnell said the township has no obligation to the farmers because the cleaning of the canal and pumping operations are under the jurisdiction of the Holland Marsh Drainage Commission. Council agreed to receive the letter and send it on to the commission. West Gwillimbury council has referred the matter to the township's insurance company, Frank Cowan Company Limited."

"The Schomberg River dredge was finally launched last Tuesday after an abortive effort the day before. The ponderous machine, built by Louis Devald, slid slowly into the water near Wanda Street, and to the relief of everybody it not only floated, but operated like a charm. Celebrating the event with a bit of the bubbly at right are Art Janse (left) Louis Devald, and John Rupke. The dredge has its work cut out, clearing tons of silt from the Schomberg River."

"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."

"'For the fun of it.' That's the reason Grade 9 student Sandra Smith gave as she and about 180 other young people from Bradford District High School (BDHS) pitched in last Wednesday to help six Holland Marsh farmers with the harvest. Sandra and her co-workers came to the rescue after hearing that many farmers are behind in their work because the wet summer and fall limited the use of heavy harvesting machinery. The students worked free of charge and earned the gratitude of the farmers, including Jack Van Es who asked some of them back on Saturday to work for pay. Walter Yarmoluk said the students harvested about $2,000 worth of onions for him, focusing mainly on land still too wet for machinery. Mr. Yarmoluk said he has never experienced such wet conditions in 32 years of farming, from 1938 to 1955 and from 1962 to the present. This year he lost three acres of carrots and two acres of beets because of the rain. The project had to be approved by the Simcoe County school board superintendent, according to Carrol Good, guidance teacher at BDHS. It was considered an emergency situation that is not likely to be repeated this year, she said."

"After several years of hard work by many people in the Holland Marsh, the senior citizens building in Ansnorveldt was officially opened in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday. King Township Mayor Margaret Britnell, after complimenting the people of the marsh for their efforts, cut the ribbon to open the club. Secretary of the club, John Van Dyke said the need for a community centre had been growing for several years. In the summer of 1972, Mr. Van Dyke said, a group of marsh citizens decided to organize a senior club. For a while the members used a church hall for meetings but it became apparent this would only serve as a temporary measure, and plans for a building were started. A building fund raised $8,000 in the tiny community and by the fall of 1976 the shell of the building had been erected. More fund-raising efforts through the winter brought the total donations up to $17,000, and grants from Wintario and the federal New Horizons programs added $26,700. Mr. Van Dyke thanked York MPP Bill Hodgson for his efforts, and York-Simcoe MP Sinclair Stevens for helping the club get registered as a non-profit organization."

"The Toronto Telegram, now defunct, ran this week's photographs in the 1950s, showing the Holland Marsh harvest. Even then the marsh was prized for its productivity and the great opportunities for employment it provided. The photos are included in a collection at the Simcoe County Museum in Midhurst."

Description : "Reginald Kuzyk was 30 years old, and an employee of the department of Highways, back on October 15th, 1954, when Hurricane Hazel hit.
The storm brought torrential rains and flooding. Dams burst, and homes were swept away in the floods. A total of 81 people lost their lives in Ontario. The floodwaters had washed onions from Holland Marsh fields and heaped them on the highway in "gobs.... I never seen so many onions in one place. They were all over the ground, and everywhere." He also remembers seeing two homes, which had drifted on the floodwaters until they washed up next to the highway. By the time Hazel blew itself out, more than seven thousand acres of farmland on both sides of the 400 were under water, covered by a lake more than 7' deep in places.
George Sadovchuk's described the Marsh after Hurricane Hazel as "it was just a lake. It was very impressive to see all that water where once was viable land... I was just amazed at the destruction that took place."
Relief efforts brought the homeless into Bradford, to the Town Hall, where they were clothed and fed by volunteers. A total of 25 pumps took about 4 weeks to drain the fields, at a peak pumping 220,000 gallons per minute. But it would take months to clear the debris and repair the damage. Seventy families - 350 men, women and children - spent the winter that followed in a trailer park, set up by the Rotary Club on the site of the Bradford Arena.
The sky was appropriately grey, for Sunday's historic tour of the Holland Marsh. The tour not only commemorated the 200th Anniversary of Yonge Street, but also the 42nd anniversary of Hurricane Hazel."

Description : The flooding of the Marsh on October 15th, 1954, is one occasion not easily forgotten by those who were part of the Springdale community at that time. It had already rained for weeks. We were behind in the harvesting, and most of the onions were still in the field, bagged up and stacked in long rows. On that Friday, October 15th the rain kept pouring down, and an all-time record of 7" of rain was recorded for the Toronto area. Hurricane Hazel had entered the mainland just south of Myrtle Beach, leaving a path of destruction and devastation with winds over 90 miles per hour, and torrential rains. It crossed Lake Ontario near Toronto. At 7:30 p.m. that Friday we received a phone call to leave for higher ground. Laying sandbags on the dikes had proven a hopeless task, as the water that came roaring down from the surrounding hills was just too much. We put some suitcases on the truck and left our house. For a few minutes, the rain stopped, the sky was clear above, and the stillness was eerie. Then it started again: the wind, the rain, the darkness. The roads were full of gullies. Weston Road, then the 6th Concession of King Twp., was under construction, and turned into a river of mud. The water in the canal was close to the top of the dike. I got out of the truck to check whether the bridge was still there. We followed the townline eastward. A 3' wide creek east of Highway 400 had turned into a raging river, boiling 2' high over the small bridge. About 10 cars were standing there, the drivers debating whether it was safe to cross. One look was enough. We turned around and went back to the wooden canal bank road to Wist Road. This road was also full of gullies, washed out by the water coming down from the 400. While travelling south on the 400, we encountered a huge landslide just south of highway 9. The whole side of the hill had slid down, all but blocking the southbound lanes. A Gray Coach bus was lying on its side in the median. That was enough. We turned off at the Aurora side road and sought refuge at the farmhouse of George and Helen Sportel. Already 30 people were there. The men slept downstairs and the women and children upstairs, where the bedrooms were, We had no blankets, beds or pillows for the men, but at least we were high and dry. At 11 p.m., I went back to take a look at our house. It was still there, but the land was under water, and water levels were creeping up the driveway. When I tried to drive a little further, the road disappeared under water. I brought some furniture upstairs, but still did not think that the water would reach the floor, which at that time was still at least 2' above the flood. The next morning at 6 a.m., we climbed a hill, and saw a Holland Marsh that was now a large lake. Only the roofs of the houses seemed to be above the water. It was a cold, still morning, but sunny, and for the first time in weeks it was not raining.