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Municipality :
Community : Bradford
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Concession :
Description : Some historians pore over dusty tomes and draw all their knowledge from archival materials. Joe Saint knows the history books, but he is also a repository of oral tradition, a collector of tales and reminiscences. He can put a family name and a face to practically every historic building in Bradford. Joe Saint is 81, a timespan that encompasses a lot of changes, a lot of experience. Taking a driving tour with Saint is like getting a glimpse into the rich tapestry of Bradford West Gwillimbury's past. The Village Inn has a history. Built in 1910 by W.D. Watson, as a grocery store, it remained a grocery store until the mid 1930s. Then Jack Pong transformed it into a Chinese Restaurant, and in 1937, bought a liquor licence. All of Ontario was "dry" by 1916, but in the 1930s, Mitch Hepburn lifted Prohibition and introduced "local option." Some communities stayed dry, some brought in the alcohol - Bradford was the only community between North York and Barrie that had a beer licence. Aurora, Richmond Hill, Newmarket, all stayed "dry" by local option. "There were just too many church people, and too many bootleggers," says Saint. "Bootlegging in those days was an honest profession" - considered to be better than going on welfare. The owner of The Queen's Hotel didn't have the funds to buy a licence. A group of potential customers, tired of dealing with the bootleggers, reportedly chipped in to help pay the fees. Several of the homes on John Street East, including numbers 28, 34 and 49, were "floated" across the river to their present location, when the mill in Amsterdam closed. Actually, the homes were transported in winter, when it was easier to haul them across the frozen surface, Saint says. "There's a lot of history in this town. Some of it's good, and some of it's not... I didn't tell you the juicy stuff," says Saint.

Municipality : Toronto
Community : Other - Bradford
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Concession :
Description : How do you keep six girls on the farm after they've seen T.O.? Well, you couldn't keep the Lee sisters away from Toronto General Hospital School of Nursing from 1947 to 1963. They followed each other through the school's hallowed halls to pursue a training that none of them regrets today. Over the weekend and continuing today, as the school's 1,100-strong alumni association celebrates its 100th anniversary in Toronto, the six have come from Canada and across the United States for a personal and pedagogical reunion. Once the two eldest sisters, Jean Moulding, now 65, and Charlotte Laubach, 63, set the pattern, it was hard for the others to break. But each had her own special reason for leaving the grind of their parent's farm in Bradford about 8 kilometres (5 miles) northwest of Newmarket. The youngest sister Barbara was only 5 when Jean left in 1947 for the bright lights and her three-year training. Like all her sisters, she says she'd do if all over again. For Margaret Evans teaching was her first choice but her mother pushed her to go to school, where she hated being the fifth sister there.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford
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Concession :
Description : December 31ist marked not only the end of the old year and the Millennium, but the end of an era in Bradford. At the stroke of midnight, Lewis Ambulance Service ceased to exist, Flowing seamlessly into the new Health Trust Pre Hospital Services Inc., land ambulance providers for Simcoe County. Mac Lewis purchased the ambulance service 37 years ago, in 1963, as part of the Lathangue Kilkenny Funeral Home. The single ambulance - a 1954 Pontiac, equipped with 2 stretchers, Oxygen, bandages, and little else - answered 143 calls, staffed by Lewis and a number of part-timers. In 2000, Lewis Ambulance Service answered over 3,300 calls - "still with one vehicle," notes Lewis, but that vehicle is now equipped with a full array of equipment, from backboards to defibrillator, and staffed by employees that include 8 full-time and 10 part-time Level 1 Paramedics. There have many other changes over the last 37-plus years, especially in the attitude of the province towards private ambulance operators. Prior to 1963, there were 425 private operators in the Province. In 1964, they banded together to form the Ontario Ambulance Operators' Association, and began lobbying the government to set standards, for training, ambulances, etc. The government resisted until 1967/68, when it appointed Dr. Norman McNally as the Director of Ambulance Services - and within days, Dr. McNally was telling operators that thy were obsolete, and that the government would be taking over the service within 5 years. By 1975, the Province had purchased or closed all but 71 of the privately-owned ambulance services. Subsequent governments reversed the trend; it seemed that every time the government changed, the policy changed. Lewis not only has praise for Health Trust Pre Hospital Services, but for the direction that the County has decided to take. Simcoe County Council has approved expanding the service, adding 5 new stations and 5 ambulances, and up to 40 paramedics, to improve response times.

Municipality :
Community : Newmarket
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Concession :
Description : The first resident of a clearing in the woods that grew into the Town of Newmarket was a Pennsylvania miller named Joseph Hill. He eventually lost all his property here in a court battle and, as war broke out in 1812, left for Pennsylvania rather than swear allegiance to the British Crown. Hill and another Quaker miller, James Kinsey, arrived in the spring of 1801 with Timothy Rogers' first group of settlers. They build a dam and mill where the Holland River and the old Indian trail crossed. Today we call his millpond Fairy lake and a heritage plaque stands close to where the mill was built. There was a small technicality Hill ignored - he didn't own the land on which he built and it was grabbed up 1802 by York mason Joseph McMertrie. But Rogers, who was anxious to see the mill and store in his new settlement survive, came to Hill's aid by buying the property from McMertrie in 1804 and turning it over to Hill. Enter Elisha Beman, a shrewd New York Entrepreneur with good colonial government connections. He bought land and built a mill upstream from Hill. This was the start of a feud which lasted until Hill fled back to the U.S.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
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Concession :
Description : He called water "a much more valuable commodity than oil and gasoline...It's liquid gold." New Tecumseth Mayor Keogh spoke of the vision that led to the development of the water pipeline from Georgian Bay. The signing opens the way for negotiations to being in earnest, for the purchase from Collingwood and New Tecumseth, and the design and construction of the pipe to Bond Head. The route proposed follows a former railway track south of Alliston to the 11th Line New Tecumseth, down the 15th Sideroad to the Beeton Road, and east to County Road 27. Earlier that morning, Bradford West Gwillimbury had met with the Ministry of the Environment, and finally received a new water-taking permit for its main municipal wells - with a warning that the wells will be closely monitored. "There's reason to monitor with great care," Thompson said, noting, "There was no request for additional water (from the wells), and no offer of additional water. We're nearing the limit of what the aquifer can offer. There's significant growth, and there's not a hope that could be accommodated by the aquifer. The town has agreed to growth, through its Official Master plan, he said, but without the Georgian Bay water, "realistically our community is not going to grow." The agreement will ensure not only that the Official Plan can be met, but that the Town will have a secure and reliable source of potable water.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford
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Concession :
Description : Bradford's HOME HARDWARE marked its 'official' grand opening in their new building, Wednesday, April 20, 1988. The first 45 patrons through the double doors received a complimentary grab bag valued at between $15.00 and $20.00. Children were drawn to the fish pond where, with a little bit of co-ordination and luck, they left with a free goldfish. Mayor Bill dePeuter was on hand for the "chain cutting" ceremony. An estimated 1,500 visited the store and took advantage of the many in-store grand opening specials. Mr. Jim Schaefer has been owner/dealer of the Home Hardware franchise since the first store opened in Bradford, ten years ago. Jim is a fifth generation descendant in the hardware business. His wife, Elsa, and two children, Holly and Jim Jr. are working hard to keep the 'family business' tradition alive. The new premises, which encompasses an area of approximately 15,000 sq. ft. is located on Dissette Street across from the Bradford Car Wash. Complimenting the additional floor space (previous sq. footage 5,200) is a larger line of general hardware items, an extended line of Beautitone pains, bigger selection of bikes, a full range houseware and giftware items and a newly added Bath and Accessories Department, complete wth shower stalls, cupboards, etc. An additional 16 employees help to keep the store running smoothly. Extended hours have made the store more accessible to its patrons.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford
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Concession :
Description : Mr. Kenneth E. Kidd, the Curator of the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology, has been good enough to mention to me than an Indian burying ground was discovered in Bradford in 1902 on the property of John Stibbs, Baker. His property would be the one now occupied by the bake shop just north of Mr. Worfolk's barber shop. The ossuary was five and a half feet below the surface and slightly oval, measuring ten feet by eight and a half feet. It was estimated that there were between fifty and one hundred buried there. It was evidently of pre-European origin, having no relics indicating contact with the white man. In the Archaeological Report of 1907 the following reference was made to it: "In 1902 an oosuary was examined at Bradford, Simoce County, but when the spot was reached it was found that 'curio' seekers had almost destroyed the appearance of the place, wholly so, indeed, for any scientific purpose. A ghoulish craze seemed to have taken possession of many people in the village, so that in passing along its principal street skulls were seen on window-sills, while in not a few sitting-rooms they occupied prominent places on centre tables." Mr. Stibbs, the owner of the ground was anxious to have all the skills placed in the Provincial Museum, but not a single person showed any willingness to give up his gruesome specimen - that which he might show to his or her more rural visitors, especially ladies, and over which utterances might be bandied in solemn tones with deep-drawn sighs, while the speakers were fully of the belief that their made-to-order morallsings were the out-come of pure and undefiled religion! At least one man contemplated having the top of his skull sawn off to form an ink bottle stand!, Of course he meant his Indian skull.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
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Concession :
Description : Starting, today, all who live or work in the 905 area should add the area code to the 7-digit number when making local phone calls. Calls made without the code may be interrupted by a recorded announcement before the call will be connected. The announcement will disrupt local data calls (i.e. fax, modem, call forwarding, Internet dial-up, etc.) made with only 7 digits. It is important that everyone in the 905 area program their equipment to accommodate 10 digits immediately. Local 10 digit dialing becomes mandatory for all calls on June 9th, when the new 289 area code will be added to the "905" region. The area code is not required for 911, 411 or 611 calls.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford
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Concession :
Description : We, the Downtown Revitalization Committee, wish to express our thanks to all those families who have agreed to sponsor the millennium clock. The response, in only the first three days, has been overwhelming. Family names, engraved on this millennium marker, will ensure a place in the history of Bradford West Gwillimbury. Thank you to our corporate sponsors: Vins Plastics, Gary Ross Memorial Fund, Ventera and Holy Trinity High School. Since space is limited, we encourage you to contact Bradford Print Shoppe, Royal Bank, or The Village Inn to secure your name on the millennium marker. The cost is $250 for 30 letters.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford
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Concession :
Description : The town of Bradford came into being in May of 1857, but was not formally inaugurated until January 1st, 1858 - which means that, sometime in the next 12 months, Bradford celebrates its sesquicentennial. Town Council has decided to accept January 1, 2008 as the date of the 150th Anniversary - in part because it gives the municipality more time to get things rolling, and get co-ordinating committees in place. "This is a high priority," says Mayor Doug White of the Planned Sesquicentennial Celebrations. "We want to do this right. We want this to be a celebration the likes of which this Town has never seen before." Not only that, White says, but "we want the entire community to be part of this." The Mayor and several members of Council will sit on a Sesquicentennial Steering committee, headed by Councillor Del Crake; and the BWG Recreation Department will take on a co-ordinating role, in addition to running Town events. But members of the community - churches, schools organizations and associations, clubs, businesses, individuals - are invited to get involved, by sending a representative to sit on an Advisory
Community Group Committee, by planning an event and contacting the Recreation Dept. to have it listed on the Sesquicentennial Calendar, or by volunteering for Town events or fundraising activities. Some of the ideas already under consideration include a New Year's Eve Black Tie Gala, on December 31, 2007, to kick off the Official Town celebration which could culminate in a huge community-wide party and formal proclamation on July 1,2008, at the Canada Day Celebration. "The sky's the limit - we want the community to come up with every idea. Nothing is too minor, and nothing is impossible," says Mayor White. "There's a tremendous amount of pride in the community. We want the participation of everybody," adds Councillor Crake. Interested in getting involved in the 150th Anniversary Celebrations for the town of Bradford? Contact Nick Warman Manager of Recreation. In the Jan. 9 meeting of Council, Councillors Del Crake, Jeanny Salmon, Mark Contois, and James Leduc were appointed to a Sesquicentennial Steering Committee.