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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY. DEUIEMBIER 31. 1975, PAGE 7 WestLynct by Norm Mealing Well, faithful reader, here we are on the eve of a New Year, 1976, and we thought that we could pass the next few minutes reviewing the year which wiil pass mbt history as of midnight tonight. 1975 started off with a bang! Upset as we were wit-I the West Lynde vs. Whitby numiber which was constantly being played on us when we were around and about, we decided to iay out in fuit view for ail to see our perception of that scene. Well, fromi the intensity of the reaction to that colum-rn, one could safely assumne that'nmy prose was, to say the ieast, mjsunderstood. There was a brief, but intense stormi which culminated in the then Couincillor for the West Ward, now Mayor Gartshore, labelling this columrn, and this columnist, "a disservice to the community". As we moved throuigh January and into February, the community association hieid a generai meeting which, running true to form, drew 19 people. A group of uis also were preparing to meet with the Hon. Arthuîr Meen, Q.C., to discuss assessmients. That particular meeting, heid on February i2th, was also attended by the then Minister of Housing, the Hon. Donald Irvine. The Revenue Minister was unable to satisfy the questions on assessments, but Mr. h-vine was able to-queli our collective fear when lie emphaticaliy, and categorically, stated that his mninistry and the Ontario Housing Corporation were not interesteci in or negotiating for the proposed highrises at the corner of Dundas and Jeffrey St,,. Hi uJ4- istoriceali Whitby Wne 14v trian iaer MAJOR 1HARPER HOUSE At ilienr thý. st corner of Mary nid Perry Sti-reers staids the homne of two tomr b n ayor s. I3uiIt in the eariy i 850's, and (rerno(.deiiedaburait 10 year s ar.- wsth orecfMjor Harper. miayor in i1879 and i880. and bis zscu Ernest. mnayor of Whitby lu 11) 18,ni 1920-21i. Major Flarper (that was bis real naine and not a niiitary rank) wvas born lu Witby un Novenmber 1, 1835, and died at Whitby on April 27. 19 17, beiug the uidest native resident of the towu ar the trne of' bis death at tie age of 81. His fatber, Walter hiarper, a native of Cornwall, Eugiand was building the large brick bouse beside St. Bernard's School on Dundas Street when bis son was bori there. Shortiy after bis birth Major Harper miet witb a tragic accident, wben tire nu:se who was carrying it feu tbrougb the floor in the attic, to the basemneut, and the boy was seriousiy injured. However, by the age of 12, Major Harper had recovered bis healtb sufflciently to live ou to a ripe oid age. Ffir a wbiie the family iived on a fartn in East Wbitby and Mr. Harper took up farming. He did flot frud tins to bis liking, however, and decided to become a carpenter and buiider of wood working mnachinery. In 1853, be and Stephen Gross established the Whitby Planning Mill and Sash factorv' southeast corner of Brock and Mary Streets, with Mr. Hiarper runntng the macniine shop and designing the machiuery used tn tt. He h.ad 10 employees in 1869, and had enougli work tor 20, turning out patterns in wood, window blinds and roliers, and 30,000 to 40,000 curtain roilers a year. Mr. Harper aiso became recognized as one of the most uoted designers of woodworking machiuery in Canada at this time. Mr. Harper and bis fatber did aIl the machine and woodwork for tbe Ontario County Court House, buit in 1853-54 (tnow the WVhitby Centen-iial Building), and received the contract for the woodwork in Ailtbe stations and freight'sbeds between Toronto and Cobourg, buiit by the Grand Trunlk Railw'ay in 1i856. Tire firm iater becamie known as Ma jor Harper and Sou, wheu Ernest Harper becamie a partuer witb his father. lu 1875, Mr. Harper moved the planniing miii fromthte corner February slud into Marchi, and our hecarts quickened as the assessment bat tie gained monrentum, and the Association sputtered into an Executive election. The sluggishiness of the latter event promnpted us once again to put peu to paper, and outline why 1 feit the W.L.C.A. was going througli the doidrumns. Once again, mny words were pooriy received, and one of the Association Executive branded mie "a fast-taiking, fly-by-night individual" in a letter to the Editor of this weekly. Election nighit turned out to be a biggie. Not anly did 125 people turn out to vote in the new executive, and to iearn of assessment fighiting strategy, ail present learned that the highrises at Dundas and Jeffrey Sts. were to be bulit, and Mr. lrvine's February assurances notwithstanding, the Ontario Housing Corporation was to be invoived, both as mortgagor and rentor. When April, came the long-awaîted hearing on the assess- ment appeals. And deat. With April, and stretching into May, came the battie with the province over the highrises. There were ciassics of their kind. On the one hand, there were the aroused citizens demanding answers to weli-pre- pared and thoughtful questions, and on the other hand, there were the bureaucrats answering these questions witb an evasiveness borne of many years of practise. Who wili ever forget the spectacle of the senior Housing Ministry officiai when faced with over 400 of Whitby's citizens, in- cluding the Council, saying they neither wanted nor needed the building, simipiy stating that he wouid recornmend the building despite the wishes of the people? And who wili ever forget the Hon. Donald Irvine's reception of the citizens of this town when he accused the W.L.C.A. of 'piaying politics', and refused our petition of over 1,500 signatures. June came, and witbi it, famiiy fun day. The town initiated court action to delay the highrises. But, by now, the best sliot hiad been fired, and we drifted into the summer mont hs. Our sumimer idyli was shattered somewhat when, in the first week of August, the provincial election was cailed. We returned two wveeks early to tèllow the campaiga in the columun, and comment generally on our contest hiere in of Brock and Mary Streets to a site on Mary Street adjacent to the WVitby and Port Perry Railway tracks, so lumiber couid be unioaded by rail at the door. In later yeurs Mr. li-arper's machine shop wvas in the building on Mary Street now occupied by Rousseau i leritage Flouse, whcre sîtelis were made f'or the First World War. Mr. I larper took an active part in municipal polirtcs, SPend(inlg lafhurIr 20 years ou the xhitby Schiool Board, and later heinugelected tlu îlw Town Courucil. [le was a councilior frumi 187' to 1874, depuity reeve, 1,S75-76, reeve iunt1878 ani inayor in i1871)-80.Ilui 1881 lie \V*ýis appui uted police nmragis tr ale te r the1lw .and se rved in p- that pus-h t*lr '30 years. until bis death in 19)17. ilEs soun r nest ok i kup a polit icai ca rcer, aisu , heing ý Stow\ýil counICillirIli i1905, 11907, 1908 andi 1914. and niavor in 1918 lant i 10-2)1 Mlaj or i lirrper joirred rlie \iasuus ln 1867. andti wSst o*Composite bLtge Iri 1887. llie \v as isO ia meruher of'Irle Otit'iltii\S ýs Lodge. sartmgru1872. Onta v W r;he r 4, i 8 S6, lina n riýeti Frît ii ne Pie r ,orn. anti 11a1(1two soiIs ant iore dL e Ile iet s a lrolet!ca drîiaiot'teriwonî irst tizs or uoe t lo:ul lomver ioks lile 1 larper liiretire reiirdeil. mas rirted Por ts line sui\l.onire o'\ ac aristiii 1 sceerintier the eves und caronrîrtidite sviiitom,. Il sliîkeiv titis wooti w'ork aun iuced tin\ Ir.I larper S owrî ru:îcbre 4siop. Durham. We were fortunate 'in tliat we had a very reai chioice between two very good candidates, Charles Godfrey and Des Newman. Thanks primarily to the airport issue, Dr. Godfrey emerged as the victor, but West Lynde and.Whitby did flot forget our treatment on the highrises as was evidenced by the poor third-place showing of the Tory hopeful. September ended, and October began, and Council gave up the fight, and the highrises were approved. November and December saw Whitby elect a Mayor, and the West Ward elect a Councillor. The new Mayor and the new Councillor offered renewed hope. Both live in the West Ward, and both are aware of the desires of our area. The former is committed to no further highrises, and the latter gives every indication of wanting to effectively represent his constituents. On election night, he was especiàlly iaudatory about West Lynde in lis acceptance speech. WelI, folk, that's my thumbnail sketch of 1975. If I have missed anyone or anythinig, 1 apologize. Bye for now, and iet's hope that we ail can prosper and reason prevails in 1976. Local Big Brothers Association is staging a recruitmn rive by BLAKE PURDY Staff Writer The Big Brother Associa- tion of Oshawa and Whitby is staging a recruitiment drive during the week of January 4 to 10. The local chapter wbich presently bas 80 big brothers hopes to have 100 in the uew year with the belp of this drive, according to John Cameron, one of i15 dîrectors. Although about 40 to 50 big brothers juin the chapter' each year, that number isI usuaily reduced to I1O to 1 5 before the year is out as the big brothers move out of town or find they do not have the time to spend with their little brothers, etc. As a resuit, "there are aiways iittle brothers waiting for big brothers", according to Mr. Cameron who estimates that the waiting iist of the local chapter numbers about 20. The littie brothers, wiho are referred to the association by various gruups, are father- less boys six to 16 who eau benefit front a steadyiug maie influence in the form of' big 1) ro th e rs. The big brothers are adtrits maies whio, a f 1er being tllortugiily screeied. a re jutiged to bave gtud, stable character. Wiiiigess to de- vote timete b the little brother The local chapter, founded irr late 1968 and fuliy accredi- tet inl May of 1969, is especialiy in need of hig, brothers froin Whitby, says Mr. Cameron. Anyone interested in be- corning a big brother should cail executive director Jim Webber or case worker Carol Halstead at 579-2551 between 9. a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday tlirotigliFriday. We had a bal It ail started withi a couple Jf grade five and six King Street Sehiool students roll1'ing a snowball along the ground. Thiree days later, everyoine had gotten ini on the fun. iiucluding teachers (thie guys witli tue moustaches) Mike Bible (Ieft) and Rick Alstoin (right). 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