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Acknowledgements There are literally dozens of people to thank when it comes to putting a history book like this together. Without their enthusiasm for the project and their willingness to entrust us with priceless photographs and documents, the book would not be as rich a tapestry of our past as we would have wished. The members of the 150th Anniversary Book Committee would like to thank the ladies of the River Valley Women's Institute for the wealth of local history gleaned from their Tweedsmuir Histories; service clubs including Stirling Royal Canadian Legion Branch 228, Rotary Club and Women's Institute branches; local churches; Stirling News-Argus newspapers from years gone by; Township of Stirling-Rawdon; Bayside Secondary School for allowing us to reprint several items from Sidney: Portrait of a Township; Ann Striker for assisting with the index triple check Special thanks must go to Mariel Rollins and Donna Russett for a wealth of photographic memories entrusted to us. I thank Peter Zandbergen for his diligence and keen eye when he collated the index. I also owe him for the countless number of times he has steered me through the intricacies of computer programs with which I'm really not familiar. I'd also like to express my heartfelt thank-you to my wife Denise for her patience and understanding as I spent many weeks doing nothing else but working on the book and for her unwavering belief that the project would be completed ... some day. She also spent endless hours assisting me entering notes, working on the index and brewing untold pots of coffee. Lewis Zandbergen Stirling, Ontario April 20, 2008 / • -• M :.. . ■ . •<; ■ - ..... ii