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BOYS AND GIRLS SWAPPING COURSES they walked into their classrooms recently To be precise it CHATTING By One Good Reminiscence Leads to Another WAS DELIGHTED with reader reaction to the column about Mrs F Wat sons memories of her grand father Mr Search from which Id Judge there is much interest In the early history of Georgetown ONE GOOD thing some times leads to another and in this case the column led CoL John Barber of Barber and Henley Travel Agency do some reminiscing The mention of Berwick Hall on Main Street South especial ly triggered his interest Barbers father who was also John R built the mansion around the year 1680 the of the sink ar chitect who designed TOKratoa v COL BARBER now living at Market Street not far from Berwick Hall was born in the big bouse and lived there until he was eleven One of the most vivid recollections of his boyhood is Christmas in Berwick Hall end the towering twentyfive foot Christmas tree in the entrance hall alight with candies In retrospect be says It was a beautiful sight but its a wonder the place bum John Barber was only twentyone when be took over the management of the William Barber Brothers Paper Mill on the Credit River Six years Lat er be owned it The mill was sold in Purchased by Ab- Provincial Paper Ltd the building was sold by them when they phased out their raw- stock papermaking operations here and the firm of Delta Craft is now operating in what was the original Barber RECALLING many things he remembers and has heard about the Georgetown of the era Barber looked across from his office on Main St to where the municipal office and the SidMac building now stand He remembers when that whole area was covered with a springfed pond The water was channelled under Main Street and emerged in a flume which provided power for Clarks grist mill located be tween what is now Canadian Tire and the former Beaver Lumber Co property The wat er was then discharged from the grist mill to Wilbur Park Fond in the valley below at TIIAT time the Cana dian Tire building boused one of the towns main indust ries Arnolds Glove Factory the property occupied by Kentners Lumber Company and later by the Beaver Lum ber H P had built a saw mill The mill got its power from the pond In the valley below it which was dam med up opposite where the Water Street apartments are now located This was the pond which was used as the town skating rink In winter Keenly contested hockey games took place there Spectators had to be avid fans to endure stand ing around outside on the Ice for the duration Only shelter was a mens dressing room on one side of the rink and a a on the other Another grist rmll CoL Barber recalls was at the foot of Fac tory Street It was Later taken down and there ore no traces of it today MR p owned most of the valley behind his mill which extended back to the John Street CNR culvert When the Toronto Suburban Railroad decided to put a track through town Wilbur Pond drained to allow them to con struct the bridge which span- Got Your Eye on Someone Special Dont shy away behind outofdate glasses Cut a shining his or her way through glasses thai accent your baft facial features IF YOU HAVE A Doctors Prescription For Glasses LET US Fill IT ACCURATELY Wide Selection of Attractive fames BRAMPTON DISPENSING OPTICIANS 81 MAIN ST N BRAMPTON ONT norm Mill Street It was at this juncture that the pond on Main Street was also drained so that the railroad could lay their tracks As you can ima gine the spongy springfed land was far from ideal for such a purpose The tracks of ten heaved with one aide up and the other down so that it was not too uncommon for a train engine to topple over BEFORE ANY grist mills wen built In Georgetown the local f bad to take all their grain to Barber remembers Major Grant a longtime resident of town and its Notary Public grandfath er of Mrs J Early who ink Market Street tell of the con voy they made to their grain down the line over the corduroy road to the mill at Oakville In those days it was Jokingly remarked mile age was 21 miles to the gallon ANOTHER anecdote CoL Barber attributes to Maj or Grant concerns Thomas Speight father of deputy reeve Arthur Speight Mr Speight ran a machine shop in Georgetown and later established our first garage He was a clever mech anic who after seeing an illus tration of a bicycle in a proceeded to build one for himself with only the drawing as a guide It was the model with a huge wheel in front This was prob ably the first bicycle In Can ada and later when Mr Speight added a motor to it the bicycle became Canadas irst motorcycle THE GEORGETOWNERS of the IBM era were a vital lot it was around that time that we produced the champion lacrosse team of Ca nada Team members included Dr Frank Watson Charles Er- Frank Sutton Arthur Bradley C Barber Charles Watson and Robert who was the outstanding star of the team Undoubtedly Mr wins athletic abilities were pas sed along in large measure to his grandson former star Bob son of Mrs and the late Harry of town GEORGETOWN had elec tricity In the ISM years Its source was the H P Law- son power plant in Glen Wil liams But the power wasnt too reliable in winter when the generator was subject to icing- over In these frequent emerg encies they had to use big hoses to get the plant operating again It was easy to tell when there was fee trouble because the lights all over town would slowly dim as the Ice coating grew thicker end thick er and gradually brighten In as he steam hoses melt ed It It was a big day in town when the power system was hooked up to the Hydro Elec tric AN INCIDENT Colonel Barber mentioned concer ning his grandfather James Barber illustrates for me one of the reasons the young Bar ber brothers who emigrated with their parents from Ireland In 1B2Z were so successful in the new world They had ingenuity and enterprise Because James Barber had built his large brick home on Road south of the railway tracks he became very con cerned about the number of bad accidents which occurred when train men were trapped on top of freight cars as they went under the Bin line bridge There was not enough clearance and they were felled before they had time to realize what could happen So James Barber contrived a safety device which consisted of a stout rope ex tended from the tops of both banks on the approach to the bridge Prom the rope dangled many lengths of heavily knot ted cords forming a fringe which harmlessly striking an unwary train man warned him of the low bridge ahead This device was later univer sally adopted by the railways CHATTING WITH another kindred spirit re George towns early days brought forth the comment that while persuing an old document be had noticed that this April Bucks Fine Food store on Mill Street celebrated its birthday Established in University Womens Club Staging Spring Musical e The Milton and District Univ ersity Womens Club which in cludes eleven members from the Georgetown area will pres ent its third Spring in May In the main auditorium of the Ontario School for the Deaf in Milton The Milton Chansonettcs chor al group under the direction of Mrs Judy Hunter will be the main attraction and a varied program is planned including everything from Bach to Brit ten and folk songs to modern show tunes For a change of pace Miss Becky Wicks will present classical piano select ions and the Wicks Jan quart et will perform SINGERS The cho sponsored by the University Womens Club be gan as a club study group 3 years ago but has grown to in clude singers and welcomes women in the community who con read music and enjoy part icipating in a vocal group The group practices every Monday night and has perform ed for Senior Citizens the Milton District Hospital and various churches In the area They are participating in the Hamilton Klwanis Music Festi val this spring PROVIDES SCHOLARSHIPS Georgetown residents wish ing to enjoy a pleasant Sunday outing will find the main aud itorium at the entrance under the big clock at the Ontario School for the Deaf in Milton All proceeds from this event go to the club scholarship fund which provides scholarships to grade 13 girls In the Ml Acton and Georgetown high schools April 1B3I by J M Buck the publication went on to compli ment Mr Buck on the high quality or his meat market and also his civicmlndedness As many of you know the Buck family homo is now the Sacre Rectory high up on the hill at the comer of John and Guelph Streets READING OVER these little sidelights on earlier days In Georgetown it occurs to me that knowing more about the towns history lends another dimension to living here Its a pity that we dont have more authenticated records to draw from but that lack makes the living memories of oar pre sent townspeople all the more to be treasured BRIDGE CLUB Fourteen tables of players competed at Georgetown dupli cate bridge dub lost week There Is a competition at pre sent with a winner to be chos en who has played with several different partners over a period of weeks and this resulted In many new combinations that evening WINNERS NorthSouth winners 1st Joe Maurer and Fred Allen 2nd Jim Katil and Bill Hamil ton 3rd Mr and Mrs Bob Wil liams Mrs Ron Gibson and Mr Ron Dawson Bill Wan- del and Mrs VI EastWest 1st Cam Sin clair and Mrs Kay Harmer 2nd Mr and Mrs Larry Stone 3rd Tom and Jim Sar gent Bob Dickson and Mrs Clayton Barbour Mrs Jack Campbell and Mrs Sue Sullivan Town Bridgers Fare Well at York Three members of George town duplicate bridge dub made a credible showing In competition at the big Toronto bridge tournament at the Royal York Hotel Wellington Duke founder and director of the lo cal dub was there for the whole four days and afternoon and evening sessions each day Teaming with Mike Loruiso they placed fourth and second In two of the competitions they entered On Sunday Mr Wilson with Wandel of Acton another member of the Georgetown dub Bob Densby of Toronto and Jim Hardy enter ed the Swiss team competition In the afternoon session they qualified for the evening finals and were successful that night In winning four of their match es and tying two Last week Mr Wilson with Dr Arthur of Guelph was in Toledo Ohio for a competi tion there DID YOU KNOW That volunteer drivers for the local Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society travelled appro ximately 10600 miles In These drivers are given a small remuneration to cover mileage most trips take from two and a half to three hours Why do they drive men and women from all age brackets religion or social backgrounds who need transportation to hos pitals for Cancer treatments Financial need has very little to do with this service This is CancerCampaign for funds month and your contribu tions will help finance this ser vice If you can also spare a little time to volunteer as a dri ver occasionally contact Mrs Barry Tlmleek Driv ers are most urgently needed Why Not Let US Do Your INCOME TAX Just leave your tax return with us Well phone you when its ready Guaranteed fast service Very Reasonable Ritas BEA CLARK Motor Vehicles Office Stmt South THE GEOBGETOVTN THURSDAY APRIL IS DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME Pursuant to resolution passed by the Municipal Council Daylight Swing Time will be observed in Georgetown beginning at am Sunday April 25th and ending at 200 am Sunday October 31st Kindergarten Registrations IN Halton County Separate Schools FOR 1971 will piece to the following THURSDAY APRIL 22 Surnames A to FRIDAY APRIL 23 Surnames to to am MO pm to 310 pm Children who will be 5 years of ago on or before ait day of February are if you need money Onestop shopping for the money you need when you need it Personal loans to and more Mortgages up to Money to make life a little more pleasant Call Niagara the allCanadian consumer loan company Si Commission on PostSecondary Education in Ontario PUBLIC HEARING The Commission on PostSecondary Education In Ontario is holding a public hearing in on Tuesday April 1971 The hearing will be held at trie Public library Meeting Room A Norfolk Street sessions beginning at pm and- pm will bo presented and concerned of the community are Invited to discuss Commissioners the future direction of postsecondary education