"The Right Honorable John Diefenbaker receives a mounted replica of a portion of the press plate used in printing his article "My First Prairie Christmas" which appears in the December Canadian Reader's Digest. Making the presentation to Mr. Diefenbaker in Ottawa are roving editor Robert Collins (left) and Digest editor Charles Magill. In the Digest article, Mr. Diefenbaker describes how his first Christmas in the prairies in 1903 reaffirmed the values he was learning day by day; the warmth of family, the loyalty of friends, the special kind of goodwill that reaches out to those less fortunate."
"Persons dropping in at the new West End Fashions store in the Anzil Plaza will have a warm smile and a cup of coffee waiting for them from Bette Hare. Mrs. Hare opened the store primarily to meet people. "I love meeting people," she said, "and you just don't meet people being at home, so I asked Len about buying the store and he said, 'Why don't you'" Len and Bette had operated a radio and television appliance store in town for 18 years, and after they finally sold out this year, Mrs. Hare found staying at home very boring. Operating her own store has been very exciting, and she doesn't mind the hard work."
"Former warden of Simcoe County, D. Arthur Evans. MPP for Centre Simcoe, won the riding for the Progressive Conservative party five times during his 16 years as a member of the Ontario Legislature. Mr. Evans has announced he will be retiring at the end of his current term. George Taylor, Barrie lawyer, has been chosen the next party candidate to stand in the next provincial election. Simcoe County warden in 1958, Warden elected to the legislature on September 20, 1960, when the late Leslie M. Frost was Ontario premier. Mr. Evans ran in a by-election when the seat became vacant through the death of the late George G. Johnston."
"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."
"Dodds Esso defeated Red & White 8-4 to win the Atom championship. Members of the team are Mark Bowles, Jim Madigan, Scott Shepard, Paul Taucar, Jeff Dodds, Mike Hemelaar, William Britnell, Don Harrison, Steve Heilemann, Tery Shiels, Gary Vanderpost, Ricky Lawrence, Danny Reynolds, Frank Shawnhorse, Derek Green and Mike Fortune. Don Harrison is the coach while Hank Vanderpost manages the team."
"When Southern Ontario residents put away all their snowmobiling equipment and winter clothes, they thought the long, cold winter had ended, but Old Man Winter decided he still had some say in the matter. Over a foot of snow covered southern Simcoe County and winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour created 15-foot drifts that blocked traffic, closed businesses, schools, and stranded travellers. The Ontario Provincial Police detachment had their hands full like everybody else. The detachment has waded through only a handful of accident reports and so far they report four property damage collisions involving six vehicles on Highway 400 between Highways 88 and 89. Five property damage collisions involving six vehicles south of Highway 88 were also looked into. There are still numerous accidents that have yet to be fully investigated."
"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."
"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."
"Mrs. Austin Zoeller, vice president of the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada, speaking last Wednesday night at the 50th anniversary of Bradford Women's Institute said, 'There is no other organization like the W.I. in the whole wide world.' She recalled the W.I. was born on tragedy--the death of a child from drinking impure milk. Mrs. Adelaide Hoodless, the founder of the W.I. was the mother of the child. Mrs. Zoeller told how the secretary of the Farmer's Institute, Erland Lee at Stoney Creek, Ontario, promoted hearing a woman speaker against the wishes of his all-men organization. Mrs. Hoodless, that speaker, made a dynamic speech. Lee told the men after if they believed it important to have an organization to learn how to feed their animals, then it was equally important their wives had an organization to educate themselves on how to feed their families."
