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t i 10 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, October 6,1962 Section Two Community Care Holds Party to Mark 5th Birthday LETTER TO THE EDITOR > I The Town of Newcastle's Community Care organization celebrated its fifth year last week with a birthday party at Community Care offices on Temperance St., Bowmanville. For Mrs. Gladstone Gladstone Graham, who is pictured above cutting the cake, it was a double celebration. Not only was it the fifth birthday for Community Care, but also the 93rd birthday for Mrs. Graham. Looking on are Bonnie Reid, (left), a member of the Community Care board of directors, and Karen Rickard, who was one of the youngest persons attending the party. Community Care, which provides assistance to the town's senior citizens, is one of the 37 agencies agencies funded by the Oshawa/Whitby/Newcastle United Way. The birthday party took place on Friday, October 1. Day Nursery Forum Held at Oshawa Will Deal with One of Area's Problems "Daycare Scarce Even For Parents Who Can Pay" Finding good quality, reliable reliable child care is as difficult for "middle class" and "professional" parents as it is for low-income earners. With more and more families forced by inflation and high interest rates to depend on the income of both parents, this problem is growing. Recognizing their common concerns, a number of parents from a broad range of occupations occupations and income levels have joined with day nursery professionals and union representatives to organize a day-long conference on Durham Durham Region's most urgent child care issues. The "Day Nursery Forum" will be held Saturday, October 16 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Faith Place, 44 William St. West, CATCH TED WATSON'S STRAWBERRY EXPRESS PICK YOUR OWN Oshawa. (For information and registration, call Debbie Campeau 725-8455 between 9 and 5. Child care will be available.) available.) Speaking of their efforts to arrange adequate care for their children, over and over parents mention similar problems: - lengthy waiting lists at good daycare centres, both public and private, - difficulty difficulty arranging for daycare to coincide with being hired for a job, - scarcity of sitters or daycare centres within a reasonable distance of home, work, or children's school, - constant scrambling to find a new sitter when the current sitter suddenly quits, toddlers left in cribs all day, with no stimulation, - young children shut in basements watching T.V. all day, - Small, inquisitive children left unsupervised by sitters who are engrossed in soap operas, .- The desperate effort to find a back-up sitter for days when the regular sitter suddenly calls in sick or takes a holiday, - going to work sick, having used up "sick leave" when the children were sick, because there is no care available for even mildly sick children, - overcrowding, with as many as a dozen children being left with one informally arranged sitter, - no daycare at all for shift workers, - sitters who refuse to give receipts for income tax purposes. Administrative assistant, Dale Reynolds, tells of spending spending weeks searching for suitable suitable care for her six-month- old baby. She left one centre in tears when she saw babies crawling on a dirty carpet in a dark, disorganized room. She hired a series of private sitters, some of whom were excellent, but the constant change was unsettling for the children. "I felt like a bus service, dropping off the baby with one sitter and my older child with another on my way to work." She considers herself herself lucky to now have both children happily settled at Hillsdale Daycare Centre, where they participate in an excellent program of crafts and outdoor play. When she was Director of Nursing at a Hamilton Nursing Home, Ann Aguirre and her baby had to take 4 buses every morning and 4 again at night in all kinds of weather. Mrs. Aguirre has found private sitters generally unsatisfactory and was extremely relieved when she .finally was able to get her two children into a good daycare centre, while other children are still on waiting lists. Now working as a public health nurse, she has great difficulty arranging evening or weekend care when she must attend meetings in connection with her work. Life insurance salesperson, Terry Schutt, searched all summer for care for her three children, aged 11, 8 and 18 months, in her own neighbourhood neighbourhood so that the older children would have someone to go to in case of emergency. She feels it is important to find a "mother-substitute" who will treat her children as part of the family. Her experience has run the gamut from excellent excellent caregivers to totally inadequate sitters who had no idea how to discipline children, children, being either overly harsh or overly permissive. Ms. Schutt points out that it can be extremely difficult for any mother to assess a new sitter's skills in one interview. The 18 month old daughter of an Oshawa social worker was moved about between three sitters in the space of two months, when one sitter left town and another quit. Because the child is too young to talk and cannot tell her if something is wrong, her mother is constantly concerned concerned about the quality of care. A high school teacher was told the night before school started that her sitter had decided not to babysit after all, and she was reduced to canvassing neighbours she did not know at 10 p.m. in a desperate effort to find someone someone to care for her 7 month old baby the next day. Another mother had no alternative but to resign from her job when she was unable to find a sitter near her child's kindergarten. These parents are unanimous unanimous in recommending the establishment of more high quality day nurseries (for which they are able to pay well) and the extension of programs such as the supervised supervised private home daycare now organized on a limited basis by the Regional Daycare Dept. Museum Hosts Successful Lecture Series The successful Treasure Identification and Evaluations Day held at the Bowmanville Museum on Saturday, September September 18, was the first of the Listen and Learn Series of programs at the Bowmanville Museum. Mr. and Mrs. D & J Ritchie, noted appraisers and auctioneers auctioneers from Toronto, were kept busy from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and were delighted to see the many articles brought to them from more than 50 people who took advantage of having these two experts in our community. The first of the remaining four programs was held Wednesday Wednesday night, September 22, at St. Paul's Church. It was a pleasure for the ladies and gentlemen in attendance to listen to Mr. Peter Kaellgren speak on "Collective Silver." Mr. Kaellgren, a native of Ontario, has a Master's Degree in museology and is a curatorial fellow in the Euro pean Department of the Royal Ontario Museum. He is also a planner of the newly-renovated newly-renovated European Galleries of the R.O.M. 1 The accompanying slide presentation gave visual meaning to his informative talk, showing the audience a wide range of silver, from rare pieces of exquisite delicacy delicacy to the fine articles available available today. A full audience greeted Mr. Donald B. Webster when he came to speak about "Early. Canadian Furniture" September September 29 at St. Paul's Church. Mr. Webster, the second speaker in the Listen and Learn Series sponsored by the Bowmanville Museum is curator curator of the Canadianna Department Department of the Royal Ontario Museum. The speaker this week is David Newlands, also of the R.O.M, He will be talking about Ontario pottery on Wednesday, Wednesday, October 6, NEW CROP REPORTS phone 623-7252 24 hre. a day and get a prerecorded crop atarting date and picking conditions, plus other crop information ALL TO SERVE YOU BETTER! SMALL TREES-No Isdders FREE WAGON RIDES KIDS PLAYGROUND Monday end Friday 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (Also Thanksgiving Monday) 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. QUALITY MAM FRESH PRODUCE ^^^QUAUTY FARM FRESH PR QjgSfrnVkr NR 2,lowmwwSe Urms %U, NR 2.BossmunSg.Ontam LC3K3 1eU4WS23 72M Printing Excellence • Business Cards • Invoices • Draw Tickets • Raised Lettering Printing Envelopes Brochures Booklets Multi-color work Letterheads Programs Wedding Invitations Business Forms Web Offset Newspapers and Flyers • Rubber Stamps James Publishing Co. Ltd. -- Printing Professionals for 128 Years -- 62 King St. W. Bowmanville 623-3303 Dear Sir: In reply requesting information information on the late Samuel Wil- mot's historical site at Wilmot Creek. One mile west of the Village of Newcastle, Ontario St. is the site where the Atlantic salmon was first reared anywhere anywhere in North America. Among one of the first in North America to become intriqued by the idea of artificially artificially breeding and rearing local fish species in the early 1860's was Samuel Wilmot through whose property flowed flowed Wilmot Creek, one of the most famous of Ontario's salmon salmon streams. ~ Samuel Wilmot was an acute student of natural history and became fascinated fascinated by the spectacular runs of salmon which ascended Wilmot Wilmot Creek each autumn and spawned in large numbers on the clear clean current- washed gravel beds of the creek. So with an intimate knowledge knowledge of the spawning behavior of the salmon which frequented the stream which flowed within sight of his farm house, Samuel Wilmot was well prepared to initiate his experiences on the artificial propagation of the species. His initial work was done in the basement of his farm home where he constructed a wooden trough through which he piped fresh water from a spring nearby and attempted to stimulate natural stream conditions as closely as possible. possible. He continued his small experimental knowledge this way and by 1866 he was ready to move the facilities to a small building he had built on the bank of Wilmot Creek just below his house. In 1867, the government of Canada made available a sum of money for the construction of permanent buildings and the excavation of rearing ponds on Wilmot Creek property property and in 1866 a full scale fish culture operation was launched and thus became the Newcastle Fish Hatchery, which over the next fifty years produced over 155,000,000 fish of a variety of species. In order to obtain the brood stock necessary for his venture, Wilmot constructed a building which he called the "Reception "Reception Room" over a by-pass channel into which all salmon ascending Wilmot Creek were diverted by a fence placed across the stream. The mature salmon wishing to ascend upstream to their spawning grounds moved voluntarily into the building where they were held until needed. The actual collection of eggs | took place in the Breeding Room, located in another another after eggs and milt had been taken from the parent salmon, the eggs and milt had been taken from the parent salmon, the spent fish were placed in a long trough through which they were able to swim back into Wilmot Creek and out into Lake Ontario. Some of the adult salmon were always held in one of the rearing ponds below the hatchery buildings for public display. The nearby fertilized eggs were placed in a great number of trays which were in turn set in long wooden troughs through which flowed an. abundance of clean water. The young fish which hatched during the winter were fed on ground liver until ready for planting in natural waters. The federal government was so impressed with the Newcastle Hatchery that in a special report of 1868 it was stated that "the exhibition of parent saliilon the adult and the infant fish, should convince convince the most skeptical of the reality of fish culture with which the experiments are connected" and went on to commend Wilmot for his interesting and useful labours, promising extensive benefits for our fishing interests. In order to supplement the collection of eggs from salmon ascending Wilmot Creek, a reception house was built in 1968 to trap salmon in Grafton Creek some 8 miles to the west of Cobourg. These facilities were expounded in 1869 into a semi-permanent structure which was used for several years. The Newcastle Hatchery Hatchery was founded on the optimism which the Canadian government had shared with . Wilmot that plantings of hatchery reared fish would restore the rapidly declining Lake Ontario salmon population population to its earlier abundance. As early as 1870 Samuel Wilmot proposed in writing that fish culture establishments establishments should be established in the Maritime Provinces as speedily as possible. His suggestion suggestion received a favourable response and in the year 1873 in addition to the Newcastle and Restigowche Rish Culture establishments and hatcheries were being developed on the Miramichi River in New Brunswick. Returning to the Ontario picture, increases in the abundance of salmon during the decade following the establishment of the hatchery programme caused jubilation that Wilmot's plan had met with success. Wilmot was appointed Superintendent of Fish Culture for Canada in recognition of his work in 1876, a post which he held until 1895, prior to that he was appointed Inspector of Fisheries in 1863. World recognition of Wil- mot's ingenuity came first when Canada was awarded the Gold Medal of Excellency for a working model of the Newcastle Hatchery displayed displayed at the great International Fisheries Exhibition held in London England in 1883. The design was widely copied and today many of the governments governments and private hatcheries bear a remarkable likeness to the Newcastle Hatchery pioneered pioneered by the late Samuel Wilmot and the Canadian government over 100 years ago. The last Ontario salmon eggs reared in the Newcastle Hatchery came from a pair of adult salmon captured by A. W. Macleod, Macleod obtained obtained 4,000 eggs and hatched 3,600 young salmon which were approximately planted on the old spawning grounds in Wilmot Creek near the hatchery. The hatchery enjoyed more than 50 years of success and produced more than 155 million fish of a variety of species. The hatchery was closed in 1914. It is also interesting interesting to note that one of the first museums of natural history history in Canada was developed at the Newcastle Hatchery. Speciments of native wildlife like moose and sturgeon and other mounted fish species were on display in one of the original buildings of the fish hatchery. This building finally fell prey to the devastating Î «"ogress of the road markers eaving only a row of antiqued but stately willows standing along the creek banks, and Wilmot Creek returned to nature's course. On a rise of land overlooking Wilmot Creek to the west of Newcastle Village on the Newcastle Fish Hatchery road stands the house which bears witness to a greatness that dominated local life in the 19th Century, Belmont originally the property consisted of 400 acres and was owned by Samuel Street Wilmot, descendent of a family dating back to 1640 in North America. In 1816 this Samuel Wilmot constructed a frame house "Belmont" replicating the U.E.L. homestead constructed constructed by his family in New Brunswick after their arrival in Canada from the United States. One of this Samuel ,Wilmot's three sons was named Samuel. He inherited the property and was responsible for creating Canada's first fish hatcheries 1 on this site during the 1860's. The original frame homestead homestead burnt late in the 19th century and Samuel rebuilt Belmont of brick on the original original foundation in 1897. Another feature of the Newcastle Newcastle Fish Hatchery was the dam above it from which the Village of Newcastle drew its first electric power. In the year 1896 Samuel Wilmot installed an electric generating generating plant in connection with the Fish Hatchery, he secured a franchise from the municipal municipal council of Newcastle to serve the ratepayers with ! electric energy. That same year the first electric power was delivered into the Village of Newcastle. In addition to a street lighting system of 10 lights there were approximately 80 domestic services. The street lights were of 32 candle power and cost $1.00 per light per year for consumption. The house service was on a flat rate of 40 cents per month for each outlet, and the power was supplied from dusk until 12 o'clock midnight. Samuel Wilmot died in 1899 and Mr. D. J. Galbrath, son-in- law of Samuel's succeeded to the ownership of the system which he operated until 1911 when the system was taken over by the Seymore Light and Power Company, which in turn was taken over by the Hydro Electric Commission of Ontario in 1916. The Hydro Electric Commission of Ontario carried on operation until 1937 when the system was transferred to z the municipality municipality of the Village of Newcastle, Newcastle, the H.E.P.C. supervised supervised the operation by the Public Utilities of Bowmanville from Paddy's Market Under New Management Taunton Road, Hampton Used Furniture ind Appliances OPEN Tuas, to Sat. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 263-8369 1937 to 1938 when the entire system was formally taken over by the Hydro Electric Commission. There were many changes of the Commission Commission down through the years. In 1961 on authority of law No. 744 of the Corporation of the Village of Newcastle, the Newcastle Hydro Electric Commission was changed to Newcastle Public Works Utilities Utilities Commission as it is known today. This is a part of the history of electric energy in the Village of Newcastle which developed from Belmont Belmont Electric works, another of Samuel Wilmot's contributions contributions to this municipality. The picturesque Wilmot Creek and the grounds around it have served as an outside recreational centre down through the years for the young and the old is there is something very fascinating about a creek watching the gentle rippling of the water over the stones. It was also a nice place for picnics. Many will recall the nappy memories memories spent there in the old swimming hole, many learned to swim there, and many will recall the odd dip in the nude (after dark of course). Belmont has had several owners since Samuel Wilmot's death. The present owners are Alfred and Lena Graham, both lifetime members of Clarke Township farming community and they have lived in Belmont since 1939. Although the fish hatchery has long since disappeared, Belmont evokes many memories of the past. Within the 24 acres the Graham's have retained against the onrush of highway projects are the springs, which Samuel Wilmot tapped in order to bring water to the house and hatchery. Pipes from the same springs still carry fresh water to a basement basement tank in the area in the basement where the first fish experiments were conducted. This proves the wonders of nature. Mr. Graham always kept the grounds around the creek banks clear of overgrown brush and weeds, /and fallen trees and limbs were cut up and removed for firewood when he pastured the land, the cattle kept the grass cut (in other words, chewed off). It was always a picturesque sight along the creek banks and the side of the road beside the creek. , On September 13, 1967 the Council of the Corporation of the Township of Clarke in co-operation with the Ontario Archaeological and Historic Sites Board held an official unveiling of a plaque erected to commemorate Ontario's first full scale fish hatchery established by Samuel Wilmot and known as the Newcastle Fish Hatchery. The unveiling was done by the late Miss Olive Thome, granddaughter of Samuel Wilmot. They also erected several historical fish hatchery site signs along No. 2 Highway east and west of the Wilmot Creek bridge and on the comer of the fish hatchery road leading to Wilmot Wilmot Creek where the historical historical plaque was erected. A few years ago Alfred Graham sold the fish hatchery land south of the fish hatchery road to the Department of Lands and Forest. Since then, the grounds have gradually grown into a wilderness and are no longer a picturesque sight, but a shameless sight. Believe me, I say this without malice, but in all respect, for what and whom the property stands for. There the historical site plaque stands surrounded by overgrown brush and weeds with the neglected fish hatchery grounds in the background, background, what was once a picturesque beautiful creation of God and man now a freak of nature, a wilderness. It really puzzles me and I am sure it does others why these historical historical plaques are erected if they are not going to be cared for to respect the memory and as to why they were erected. The Gray family homestead bordered the Wilmot farm to the east, three generations having farmed it, for nearly a hundrediyears, in later years it was operated by Frank and David Gray, known as the Gray Bros. I, being David's wife, naturally, we have always been interested in the history of the Wilmots who contributed so much to this municipality, including the first full scale fish hatchery in North America, also first wildlife wildlife museum in North America and to think they were right next door to where we lived, also the fact that Samuel Wil mot was responsible for the first electricity in this community community the Gray farm being among the first to receive electricity in this district. I feel this is something to be very proud of and feel we all should be in this municipality, this is why I was concerned and interested when I saw the piece in the Statesman on information about the " Wilmots. Wilmots. I am also concerned as to the neglected grounds around the historical plaque, also fish hatchery grounds, I have dared to be devil and speak out as to this with tiie hopes that something will be done about it and make it a place to be proud of instead of ashamed of, in all respects as to what and whom it stands for. I live on the Fish Hatchery road and see the many people who are attracted to visit the grounds through the signs along the highway. I, also have a chance to talk to many of these people, many of them tourists to Canada. In all fairness fairness to these people, shouldn't we give them something better to view than a neglected wilderness? By so doing, we can show our respects to the Wilmot family and their contributions contributions to our municipality. As to descendants of the family there are some who spend their summers at the Newcastle Beach, I don't like to give out this information without their permission but I am sure you won't have any trouble finding them. I am sure there are many other people interested in the history of the Wilmots. This is why I have attempted to put what information .1 have in print, maybe others can add to it. By Mrs. Marjorie Gray, Newcastle Pioneer Thanksgiving To Be Celebrated at Lang The pioneer activities ,of harvest-time will be celebrated celebrated at Century Village, Lang, on Sunday, October 10. Visitors Visitors are invited to step bajek in time and recapture some of the spirit of the pioneer Thanksgiving at this living museum village on the banks of the Indian River near Peterborough. From 1 to 6 p.m., men will thresh sheaves of oats by steam power, the harvest of apples will be pressed at the Cider Barn, fresh cheese curd will be made at the Cheese Factory, vegetables and fruit will be prepared for winter, winter bouquets arranged, and much more! In the small white clapboard church, decorated with the fruits of the harvest, there will be the annual "Bringing in the Sheaves" at 3 p.m. Everyone of all ages is invited to enter the spelling bees in the log school, taste newly-made apple fritters, ride around the Village by horse and wagon, and more. For the hungry, there is ham-on-a-bun with fried apple and onion along with mulled cider in the Keene Hotel, fresh cider by the glass or bottle at the Cider Barn and cheese at the Cheese Factory. It's all happening on Thanksgiving Sunday, October October 10 from 1 to 6 p.m. Century Village closes after a very successful season on Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Day, October 11 at 5 p.m. Century Village is -10 miles south-east of Peterborough Peterborough and 2 miles north of Keene at Lang (witch for blue and gold museum signs). Admission is only $1.50 for adults, $1.25 for senior citizens, citizens, .75 for students and .50 for children, parking is free. For further information, please phone: Dr. Margaret MacKelvie, Curator (705) 295-6694 or 295-6256. This AD COULD BE ALLTHAPS STANDING BETWEEN YOU AND A FOSTERCHIIHl On the surface, it's not difficult to have a mistaken mistaken impression about foster care. And if you never take the time to crack the surface, and find out the facts, you might very well be denying yourself, and a foster child, a very rewarding experience. Your willingness to care may be all the qualification qualification you need to be a foster parent, Financial assistance, guidance and support are available to foster parents. The personal rewards of sharingyour love with a child or young person who really needs you are very great. Please contact your local Childrens Aid Society or Family and Children's Services, and find out more about foster care. The children need you now, more than ever before. And maybe you need them too. Ministry of Community , and Social Services ©Ontario 1 Frank Drea, Minister William Davis, Premier