Page 12, Whltby Fre Pmss, Weckiosday, June 21, 1995 PATRICIA Miller Rohrer of Lindsay was one of several artists whose works were on display at the 125th anniversary show. and tea held at St. Thomas' Anglican Church May 27. At Ieft is a 125th banner and at'rïght one of the church windows. There have been several changes, both to the exterior and interior, of the white board and batten struc- ture officially opened 125 years ago. The country church, ocated at Anderson'Street and Winchester Road, was dedicated in a service on Dec. 19, 1869. Photos by Peter Nilas, Whltby Free Press Bell crash part of church'S hiestory By BÊijma Winte Tolmwa atb7Archivisi On Julyl1and2gthiepublicise inie opai -eitn tJh. 25th anniýebration cf St. Thomas' Anglican Ciiurch' n Brooklin. Altiiougii the.churcii was open.d inu Dcember 1869, the. f-tSunday * iJuly was ciiosen for the tionsbecaumit ip St. Thoomeay. Tis quait fime country ciiurciwh ina popular subj.ct fe artiste, vies design.d b~y tii. noted Tooto ciiurch arciiitect, Henry Langl.yLange a origina plans for St.,Tomas' urciiare preserv.d un the, Archives cf Ontario i Torto. The ciiurch was constructed by Georg Conway of Ashburn, at a ccst cf $%,000. Thomnas Lumaen, a local fermer, dcnated two acres of hie land for the. ciurcii and rectory in 1866. On the. soutii wall of the. ciiurch in a marble plaque in m.moey of Lumeden, wio died- at St. Francis Xavier, Manitba, in 1885.- The. building committee, in charge, cf tiie churcii's comstructicon conisted of John D. Howden, Herbert Spencer, Dr. Frank Warren, WMH. Browne and Peter Francis. Bey. James Mockridge, of St. PauI'a Anglican Ciiurch nm rColumbus,ý was the driving force behind the. coeistructioe of. St. Thomas' Church, and uerv.d as its first rectoe. St. Paul's Ciiurcii, the. oldestminthe.area, was destroy.d by fire in 192. Until 1965N St. Thonmas'Ciurcii was part etfa parishthat included Columbus, Ashurn, Manchiester, Uxbridge and otiier localities. A bell for the church tower1, whicii was east at Tory N.Y., was installed in .1873, and for years has been the s ubject of a story that could have ýended in tragedy. On New Yearé Ev., at the. turn of tii. century, a crowd had gathered at the. Brooklin railway station opposite the. churcii to welcome in tiie new year. When the. rector began to ring the. bell nidx %4tllfromthestroke -of midnghtit ell romits place in the tower and crashed te tthe ground outaide the. churcii. Th.eectoer, wiio b.d hma hand wrapped ini the loop at the, end of the. bellrope, was iiauled up tu the. roof of the. ciurch, let go, and feil te tthe floor. Scm. of the. parishioners found hum, seriously ùxýured, on the. floor of the. ciiurch. Fortunatly, he recovered. The bell, damaged by its fal, had te b. replaced. In 1874, a driving shied was built for the. cariages of parshoners using the church on Sundays, and in 1879, a brick rectovy was bufit eas of the. churcii. Tii.r.ctory was soid te, the, Bailey fiamily in 1951 and a new rectory was bufit soutii of tii. ciiurcii in 1966. Otiier misfortunes befeil this littie ciiurcii over its 125 years. In 1883, tiie foundation shifted, and the. plaster ceiling fell. Fotunatély a servce was not in progreas at the. time. The. greateet crisis cccurred in 1901 when a Mr. Piierrill used ail the. churcii funds te, purchase a marble baptismnal font. There was no money left in the. treasury, so tiie wardens had te, close tiie ciiurcii for three years. This was notthe. only time the, ciiurcii had te, close. In the, winter of 1917-18, duning a sever. coal siiortage, tiie churcii was closed and its parishioners wershipped witi the. Presbyterians in their ciiurcii where Mitchell Brothers' store is new located. lIn 1905, afier tiie ciurch was reopen.d,. Rev. Bennett Anderson wheeled cernent and did other manual labour with the, work crew that installed a stone foundation under the, frame building. A full basement for choirand Sunday achool rcoms was provided in 1952. Also un 1905, thei« interior walls and c.iling cf the. church wer. covered with metal siioeting from the, PedIar People plant in Oshiawa, atacoet of*$65. Tii. higii point un the. histouy cf St. lhomas' Churcii was the. visit. of the. Arciibisiiop of Toronto, Derwyn T. Owen, in September 1939, to dedicate a large selection of memorials. flues. included leaded gas windows, donated b ýMms Jh Moorein memory of her husband, a ciiurcii warden for xnany years. Fred W. Browne donated an Homecomi*ng As part cf tii. l2Sti annivers- ary celebrations at St. Thomas Anglican (Jiurcii in Brooklin, a «Hom.coming Weekend' will b. iield July 1-2. A 'Strawb.rry Social' will b. iield Saturday, July 1, 2 te, 4:30 p.m. There wfil b. a historical slid. show and talk by Whitby archi- viat Brian Wint.r, and the. Wliitby Brans Band will perform from 2:45 te 3:15 y. An <Old Tyme CService'l b. iieId on Sunday, JuIy P2 10:30 a.m followed by a parae, and lnciMémorial Hall. At. 4 p.m., ther. will b. a parisiipîniincludinggme and rides hi a hot air elo (w.ather permitting). electiric organ and a chancel Screen designed by the. noted Toronto architeet, Prof. Eric Arthur. The damask usq4 to cover the front of the. altar was specially woven for use in Westminster Abbey for the coronation of KingGeoMgeVin 1937. In 1987, a legacy from Toronto lawyer Rbrt Gowan Ferguson provided a spaclous parish hall, deaigned in the saine style of architecture as the church. On July 1, at 2 and 3:30 p.m., I shail provde a tallc on the. histozy of St. Thomas' Church and a sfide show of old photographs of Brooklin in the church as part of the. 125tii anniversary celébrations. DID YOU KNOW That Ferguson Avenue in Brooklin is named after George ý Ferguson, a Toronto law~,r home builder and u uilic servnt Whio bufit the eadowcrest subdivision in the westernp art of tiie village in the 1950s. He was a caipion skater and footbalpayer until stricken with polio at the. age of 14. He served as president of the. Society for Crippled Civilians, in Toronto.