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Dally Journal - Record Centennial Edition, Friday, Sept. 1, 198T Area Novelist World Famous The beauty of the Oakville ar ea, and the life of its nineteenth century immigrants, has b e e n made fam iliar to millions of readers all over the world thr ough the 16 " Whiteoaks" novels of Mazo de la Roche. The novels about the Whiteoak fam ily, beginning with their ar rival in Southern Ontario and ending with the celebration by the great-grand children of the 1950 centenary of the building of their ancestral home, Jalna, wer only a small part of M azo's liter ary output but it is only for these 16 works that she is re m em bered by m ost of the world. M azo was b om M azo Louise Roche in Newmarket in 1 8 7 9, and before she died near Clark son in 1961, after alm ost 20 years of seclusion, she had lived in Toronto, Bronte and, for a long period during which she was accused of turning her back on Canada, in England. working as a travelling salesman decided at 56 that he had been meant to be a farm er. He acquired the " old Crabb pla ce" , as it was known in the district, between Highway 2 and the lake, just west of The Cudm ore Road outside Bronte, and before his lease ran out the con dition of the farm went steadily downhill. It was on the farm In 1914 that M azo was interviewed for a Star Weekly article entitled, " Joan of the Barnyard -- A Young Poetress Who Loves Chic kens," by Katharine Hale, later to becom e literary editor of the Toronto Mail and Em pire. FAMILIAR PEOPLE It is not clear exactly where the Jalna of the novels was loc ated, but references in the stor ies place it 25 miles from " the city" , and on " the lake." The town o f " Stead" in the novels is undoubtedly Oakville. " When the time cam e to people the world in and around Jalna," Hambleton writes, " M azo made a series o f com posite portraits using characteristics of those she had known intim ately.' * THE CUDMORES The R och e's next-door neigh bors in Bronte w ere the Cudm ores, a farm ing fam ily who had bought the lakeshore proper ty ten years earlier, and who are still prominent in the life of the area. William Cudmore is an Oakville town councillor. Times have changed . . . since the Credit Bureau of Oakville first opened S in ce its in c e p tio n 15 y e a rs ago th e c r e d it B u re a u o f O a k v ille L td . has u n d e rg o n e so m e s ta rtlin g changes. D e d ic a te d to th e m a in te n a n c e o f a h e a lth y c re d it s o c ie ty , th e B u re a u has p a rtic ip a te d in th e ra p id re s id e n tia l a n d business g ro w th o f th is com m u n ity . T h e b u re a u o ccupies m o d e rn , m a in flo o r o ffic e s a t 2 6 0 C h u rc h S t., w h e re a s ta ff o f 19 re p o rtin g a n d c o lle c tio n specialists a r e e n g a g e d . P r iv a te ly o w n e d a n d m a n a g e d , th e f ir m m a in ta in s c o m p re h e n s iv e c re d it r e p o rtin g a n d c o lle c tio n s e rv ices, s e rv in g 1800 cus to m e rs in c lu d in g a w id e ra n g e o f in d u s trie s as w e ll as a ll th e p ro fes sio n s in O a k v ille , M ilt o n , S tre e ts v ille , E rin d a le , C a rk s o n a n d G e o rg e to w n . A c tiv e m e m b e rs h ip in associated c re d it B u re a u s o f O n ta rio - C an ad a an d A m e ric a m a k e th e In te rn a tio n a s e rv ic e o f 4 2 0 0 C re d it B u re a u s a v a ila b le to lo cal c u s to m e rs . D y n a m ic c h a n g e s a re p re d ic te d f o r th e B u re a u in d u s try . C o m p u te riz a tio n Is fo re c a s t. C o m p u to r w ill b e " t a lk in g " to c o m p u to rs . N e w p r e s e n tly non · e x is ta n t B u re a u s e rvices w ill be c o m e a v a ila b le c re a tin g p o sitio n s f o r n e w p e rs o n n e l. T h e m a n a g e m e n t a n d p e rs o n n e l o f th e O a k v ille B u re a u c o n g ra tu la te th e c itize n s o f O a k v ille a n d C a n a d a on t h e ir f ir s t 100 y e a rs . It is e x c itin g to k n o w th a t w e w ill be p a rtic i* p a tin g in th e " C a n a d ia n S c e n e " o f th e y e a rs a h e a d . B L A C K S M IT H SHOP IS N O W GARAGE Jack Whitaker, left, and Albert Hughes Cars Meant End For Blacksmith The smith, a mighty man was he! And early Oakville had its share of these brawny chaps, be fore the advent of the automo bile rang the swan song for the blacksmith's anvil. OAKVILLE AREA hefty types played to regular But there is little doubt that audiences, as the shop was a the background for the White favorite haunt for town youngstoaks fam ily and their Jalna es erSj who loved to watch the tate was the lakeshore area ar smith beat white hot iron into ound Oakville. " Whiteoak coun shape. try was the country she knew But the increasing popularity as a child," says Ronald HambP robably the best known smi o f the auto forced the Whitakers leton in a recent biography of thy stood hard by the com er of to bow to progress and build a the novelist, " particularly the garage beside the blacksmith region around Oakville, Clark Lakeshore Rd. and Trafalgar Rd. shop in 1915. The smithies toil son and Bronte, which she first (then Colbom e and Dundas) and ed on for a time, but eventually knew at the age of 32." was operated by the Whitaker gave w ay to the requirments She was 32 when her father, fam ily. From simply shoeing of a new era o f transportation. a failure in business and then horses the business developed into a wagon works, where the *miths fitted out wheels by heat ing the the 6teel tires before put ting them on the wheels, then plunged them into cold water to assure a snug fit. WHITAKER WORKS It was an interestingly varied routine at the old Whitaker works, It was recalled during 1957 town centennial celebrations by Albert " A b" Hughes who ap prenticed in a Clarkson smithy. " We also used to build sleighs, repair lawn mowers, and do gen eral repairs wherever metal was involved." Mr. Hughes re lated. " I rem em ber setting new tires on the old water cart that was used to sprinkle town streets in sum m er in an effort to keep down the dust. Another of my jobs was sharpening the picks used by the men who put in the first town s e w e r s . The picks had to be drawn out on an anvil and then tempered. It was tough work! 66-HOUR WEEK Whitaker employees sued to work from 7 a.m . to 6 p.m. six days a week. And these CREDIT BUREAU y. . , f OLD FASHIONED SAVINGS Aw ait you when you shop GROCE RlES GIFTS P A T E N T M E D I C IN E S C A R D S , etc . O P E N D A I L Y 8 :3 0 a .m . - 11 p .m . S A T U R D A Y S 'T I L M I D N I G H T '1 U fj · .... / 5 ( I* v . ·· I at FARIS SUPERETTE F e a tu rin g : it it C r e d i t is a Conveni ence Buy W i s e l y Pay Promptly The Credit Bureau of Oakville Ltd. 260 Church Street 845-7133 FARI S SUPERETTE 4 8 L a k e s h o re R o ad , W e s t 8 4 5 -0 1 6 8 ...A BIG PART OF CANADA'S and OAKVILLE'S FUTURE!!! We can't lay claim to a formidable part of Canada's first one hundred years as a nation. You see, we're only 12 years old; During that time, however, the warm reception we've received from people throughout the community leaves us looking forward to the future. Our growth has closely paralleled that of this great Country. We started hum bly, just as Canada and Oakville did, but through hard work, good relationships with our employees and your loyal patronage, we've reached the threshold of a bright future. REAL ESTATE & 202 INS. LTD. KERR STREET AS THE YEARS PASS INTO THE SECOND CENTURY OF OUR GREAT COUNTRY, WE HOPE TO BECOME AN EVEN BIGGER PART OF OUR COM M UNITY BY PROVIDING THE REAL ESTATE SERVICE TO FULFILL YOUR NEEDS. 845-7551 We pay tribute to Canada and to Oakville and premise to continue our contribution to both. Oakville's Most Progressive Realtor i