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WHITBY FREE ,RESS,-WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1 l% 1976. PACf 7 istorical Whitby Ihy Brian Winterj knMil Words fron ,WestLynse by Norm Mealing Good Wednesday to you all! This week, unlike others in the not-too-distant past, has been very busy, and I have a number of items of interest to share with you today. So, without procrastinating any further, here they are. The good people who labour long and hard in support of Denis O'Connor High School are holding a dance this coming Saturday, February 14th, in support of-the school. The dance, being billed as, what else, a Valentine's Dance, is being held in the school gym. The dance begins at 8:30 p.m., goes to 1 a.m., and the cost is $8.00 per couple. There will be a light, hot buffet, a cash bar and music will be courtesy of a disc jockey. The proceeds go to help finance activities at the school and tickets are available from Ann Filo at 668-6283. Later this month, the Corridor Area Ratepayers Association will be holding a dance at the Heydenshore Pavillion. The date is Friday, February 27th, and is sounds like a biggie! A 13-piece band will be featured, a lunch will be provided and there will be prizes. There will be a customary cash bar, and the price of admission is $7.00 per couple. Tickets are available from Mary McEachern at 725-8967 or Pat Allen at 668-9419. Although I advised last week that the Scouts' Paper Drives were finished, it seems my advice was a week too early. There will be a paper drive this coming Saturday, February 14th, and you are requested to get those newspapers out early for the boys to pick up. It will be the last paper drive and the organizers have asked that I thank you all once again for your support over the past years. It's time once again to extend congratulations to our Town Council. For the second consecutive year, they have brought in a budget which will keep the mill rate at the same level, and thereby keep their portion of the property taxes at the same level. Although this is cause for celebration, don't get too carried away because the two big spenders in Durham have yet to be heard from - the school board and the regional government. And, although I don't like to preach'doom and gloom, I must confess to a complete lack of hope, especially where the regional governmcnil is cuncerned. My hopeî!iess stems from a recent news item which may have escaped your notice. It seems that the Region approved salary increases to be paid to 230 regional employees. These salary increases will be retroactive to January 1st, and will cost an estimated $330,000. The Chief Administrative Officer's salary will increase to $37,400 per year, Regional -Commissioners will go to $35,400 per year, and the Personnel Commissioner and the Regional Solicitor will go to $33,150 per year. These hardly seem to reflect restraint as preached by the Anti-Inflation Board, and do no augur well for the future. While on the subject of Regional government, you are probably all aware of the activity of our M.P.P., Dr. Charles Godfrey, over the past few .months. He, along with two of the remaining three Durham Region M.P.P.'s, Messrs. '?reaugh and Moffat, have been holding meetings throughout the region to determine what people think about the regional government. One only hopes that thie public input will be such that the three men introduce a private member's bill abolishing the region. I say this because other than providing for highly-paid, over-priced and unnecessary jobs for a few people, the region has had little impact on our lives. Aside from developing develop- ment plans which would, if followed, turn the region into a mini-Metro, the region has done nothing. The sum total of the effect of regional government iii this area has been an unconscionable increase in our property taxes and their recent actions in awarding salary increases leave little hope for anything but more tax increases to pay for this totally unnecessary bureaucratic nightmare. Our final item for this week has to do with an issue which'has captured some attention over the last week. It is an issue which affects West Lynde, but, through a combination of circunstances, it carne to the attention of Town Council. As you are all probably aware, a rumour was making the rounds which was saying, in effect, that the zoning 'on our subdivision was, in some way, irregular or improper or illegal. When I first heard the rumour, I contacted Dr. Ken Hobbs, our West Ward Councillor, and asked him to follow up on it for me. This he did, and in the hope of ending the rumour here and now, I give the following: - From a letter from Kcith Birch (Town Planning Director) to Dr. Hobbs: "As far as I am aware, there are no errors in the zoning by-laws which permitted the subdivision. These by-laws were enacted by the Town in 1970 and were duly authorized by the Ontario Municipal Board". - Fromi a letter frdm H. T. Nicol, Q.C. (Town Solicitor) to Mr. W. T. Wallace (Town Clerk): "I wish to advise that I have reviewed the by-law and also the official plan that existed at the date this by-law was passed and have reached the conclusion that the above-mentioned by-law insofar as it relates to the single family residential development is entirely in conforrnity with such official plan", and "As further assurance, I wish to point out that provisions of Section 35, Subsection 28 of the Tenders called for 401 widening Transportation and Corm- munications Minister James Snow has announced that tenders have been called for the widening of Highway 401 from Brock Road in Pickering to Highway 12 in Whitby. The tenders will cover grading, drainage, ganular base and paving for six lanes of traffic for a distance of 6.9 miles. Tenders for the project will be opened at ministry headquarters in Downsview March 24. CLOCA meets'here Whitby residents are invited to attend the annual meeting 9f the Central Lake Ontario Conservative Author- ity, which will be held here this year. The meeting, will com- mence at 8 p.m. in the coun- cil chambers at the municipal building, 405 Dundas Street West. Entry will be through the doors from the parking -lot at the rear of the building. Members of the Authority will assume office at this meeting, and reports will be presented. Planning Act, which provides as follows: 'any by-law approved by the Municipal Board under this section shall be conclusively deemed to be in conformity with the official plan then in effect in the municipality'.". I have quoted frorn these letters following discussions with Dr. Hobbs, and I wish to thank him for his efforts in this regard. When I contacted Dr. Hobbs, he agreed without hesitation to look into it and get back to me. He did not, as others have, concern himself with who started this rumour, he simply went and asked and provided an ;nswer. This, my friends, is effective localrepresentation, and I suggest that, when we have questions, we ask Dr. lobbs. He is there. One final note on this whole issue, if I might. While it may have been a 'vicious rumour', as some have described it, it deserved looking into, and dispelling. For my money, the letters frorn Dr. Hobbs effectively squelch the rumour. Bye for now, see·you next week. Draw fattens 3 wallets Three Whitby residents V. M. Pasowisty of 1009 had their wallets fattened by McCullough Drive and M. J. a recent Wintario draw. Burke of 225 Bowman H. R. Wilson of 78 Calais Avenue each pocketted Street won $10,000 while $1,000. -1 The house in the above picture is one of the oldest in downtown Whitby, and was once a showplace of the town. Until about 15 years ago it had a three-storey tower on the front, and a large wing at the back. Today only the shell of the main building remains. The early history of the house is largely unknown, although it may have at one time belonged to Robert Perry, one of the sons of Peter Perry. It is known however, that the home from 1892 to '920, belonged to Dr. Frank Warren, a former mayor of Whitby and one of the town's leading doctors for about 50 years. Dr. Warren was born on May 31, 1850 in a house on Dufferin Street, at Port Whitl8y, the son of Whitby's customs Collector William Warren. William 'Warren and his brother John B. Warren, were early settlers of Whitby, arriving from Ireland in 1821. From 1844 to 1874, William Warren was customs collector at Port Whitby. Dr. Frank Warren attended the Whitby Grammar School, Upper Canada College and McGill University, and for a short while was House Surgeon at St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago. In 1870 he set up his practice in Brooklin, along with his brother Henry, and a year later commenced practice on his own. When his brother died a few years later, Dr. Warren took over his practice. In 1892, Dr. Warren noved to Whitby and purchased the property bounded by Byron, Dundas and Centre Streets, which was a large open lot with the massive brick home in the middle of it. A circular driveway passed by the front door. Dr. Warren had a large practice, covering Oshawa. Whitby, Brooklin and Columbus, and thère are still residents of Whitby living today who were brought into the world by him. Dr. Warren spent several years on the town council, serving as mayor from 1915 to 1917. He took an active part in patriotic activities during the First World War, being Chairman of the Whitby Patriotic Fund, and a member of the Red Cross; YMCA and Salvation Army. An active, community-minded citizen, he was a Mason, a member of the Oddfellows Lodge, and the Ancient Order of United Worknien. In politics he was a staunch conservative, and could have run for the Ontario Legislature, had lie chosen to do so. In religion he was a member of the Church of England. On Oct. 23, 1872, he married Henrietta Elizabeth Burns, daughter of Thomas Burns of St. Catherines, Ont. Dr. Warren died on Nov. 9, 1920, at the age of 70 and his house and property was purchased by G. P. Lynd. In 1926, the Catholic Church built the St. Bernard's separate school on' the western portion of the Dr. Warren property, and in the 1950s a gas station was built on the east side of the property. The Warren house stood intact as apartments until about 1960 when most of the building was demolished, leaving only the shell of the main portion of the house.