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....... . .. ........ Orongo Weekly Times, Wednesday, November 14,1984-5 The Cream of Bariey Mili 'The MIII was the life-line of mils at one time. One. of building and its site have any growing community back these was housed in the pre- maintalned a steady contribu- i the days of eariy settie- sent Visuai Arts Centre at tion of one sort or another to ment. Port Darlington, bless- Simpson and Baseline Roads the town. ed with two creeks had seven in Bowmanville. This ------------------------------------------------ Famiiar Faces-Places Town of Newcastle Bi-Centennial article Cream of Barley Mili The walls inside the; red brick building off Simpson Avenue on Soper Creek are lined with brightly coloured children's paintings. To the right,~ on the first floor is a table full of clay models. And in the background, you can- hear the sounds of an art ciass. Oniy the stury exposed wooden piliars which indicate the weight of the machinery they supported provide evidence of the former use of this building. Ontario Milîs, MacKay's Caiedonia Mills, Çream of Barley -- these are just a few names that ring from 'the past of the Visual Arts Centre and its site. It's one of colourful owners, and of firsts and in- novations ail of which con- tributed to the growing com- munity of Bowmanviile. kt ail started back in 1814 when Timothy Saper bought 941,/ acres of land from Augustus Barber. Since the land çcjiecomplete with its own source or water power in the form of Soper Creek, it was oniy niaturai to buiid a miii. That year, Soper opened up one of the first saw milîs in the Darlington area. His only other competitor at the time was John Bürk who operated grist and saw milis to the west of, him on Barber's (Bowmanvilie) Creek where the Vanstone Mili now stands. A grist miii was opened il years latr in 1825 which Soper calied On- tario Mills. After 1877, the mil changed hands a few times untii 1886. It was then that John MacKay, alias the "'Barley King of Canada" and a millet by trade purchased the miii and site and launched itinto a new prominence. H-e called the business the Caldedonia Milis which specialized in the manufacture of "pot" and "peari" barley. MacKay, known to be a quiet man in private was quite renown in the barley world. He won awards at expositions in many parts of the world in- cluding a bronze niedal for a peari bariey machine in Buf- falo in 1873, a silver medal for peari barley in Jamaica in 1891, flot to mention a diploma for barley at Woiverhapton Industriai Ex- hibition in 1902. He even pat- ented bis own equipment which ground a very fine grade of flour and had it in- stalied into the miii. In 1894, a Globe article described the wooden miii as "one of the busiest of the busy spots of Bowmanviile that is known the world over alrnost". Indeed, the Bariey King's products were soid flot only across Canada but in the U.S. and in the Com- monwealth countries. By 1894, the miii had been operating to capacity 24 hours a day with exception of Sundays and arrangments were made to enlarge the facilities. This miii though, burned down in 1904 two years after John MacKay's death. But it was quickly repiaced with the present red brick structure that ran on a combination of water and a 120 h.p. engine. Before long business was boomning again. During and after the First World War, a wheat shortage ensued stimulating business in barley products. Now, the red brick mill was evolving into the Cream of Barley MiIlis, named after its famous breakfast porridge which was flot unlike Cream of Wheat. Older residents of Bowman- ville recail it as a mainstay at the breakfast table each mor- ning. By 1929, a new phase of the Mill had begun. It was then that James Lake Morden made one of the smartest business moves of his career -- he married John MacKay's daughter Gertrude and in doing so, acquired ownership of the Miii for the grand sumn of $1.00. Morden, says Stu Candier, a former Miller at Vanstone's was the type of man "who could swear backwards faster than Most people could swear for- wards. " He was also known as "ýthe colonei"according to Merle Slute, a former teacher at the Vi sual Arts Centre. He described Morden as a man who sported a white goatee and who looked flot unlike Colonel Saunders. Morden, also described by- Candier as "sharp as a tack" was known for bis business acumen. Capitalizîng on the golf craze, he opened up the first golf course in the area. And he took advantage of the burgeoning tourist trade by opening up Cream of Barley Camp which was iocated where the present day Bowmanville Zoo is. "It was beautiful," says Nora Allun, dauighter of the famnous run- ner Alfie Shrubb, himseif a past owfler of the mniii and operator, of the camp. "It had a tennis court, a swimm- ing pool, an archery ran~ge, a quarter mile cinder trac k and cabins for the tourists," says Mrs. Allun. Neyer one to be content with the status quo, Morden tried several promotionai gimmicks ta boost the sale of bis products. He sent Garnet Mutton and Arthur Heari of Bowmanville across the coun- try to plug the product by giv- ing out free sampies. After the illustrious Mr. Morden died, ownership of the miii passed into the hands of Aifie Shrubb in 1946. The former runner moved into Reay Cottage at i i1iSimpson Drive which had been- the homestead of past owners al the way back to John MacKay. As for the miii, it had already seen its heyday and started to, decline under Siirubb's ownership. The new trend towards prepared breakfast cereals didn't heip any. In the late fifties, he sold the miii to Leo Bierman of Czechoslovakia. For a year, Bierman tried to resurrect the business. He had the barley shipped i from Winnipeg but eventuaily took the entire operation there and brought an end to the age of barley at the red brick miii. The old building stood, empty until the local Rotary Club purchased the Mill pro- perty in 1965 and used it as a drop in centre. Finally, in 1973, the Town of Bowman- ville acquired the MilI for the same price as Mr. Morden paid back in 1929 -- $1.00. It was that year that Council agreed toalaIow the building to be used as a visuai arts cen- tre. According to the Charter the purposes of the Visuai Arts Centre are 1) to establish a permanent location for par- ticipation in the visual arts in the Town of Newcastle, 2) to encourage active participa- tion and 3) to promote the visual arts for enjoyment and enrichment. 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