Mar. 3, 1993

25 Years Ago

St. John’s Elementary holds Winter Carnival: Students at St. John’s Elementary school in Campbell’s Bay held their winter carnival last week. Some of the activities included a design your own carnival button contest, “Hat and Shades Day”, outdoor activities including sliding at Pontefract and a dance featuring the royal family: King Gilles St. Pierre, Prince Trevor Dubeau, Princess Lacy Poole and Queen Heather Mahoney.
Pontiac Pride presents proceeds: On Feb. 24, members of the organizing committee of the Pontiac Pride Jamboree presented a cheque for $3,328 to the Pontiac Community Hospital.
This donation will help the hospital purchase two monitors for their step-down unit.
The step-down unit is an intermediate care facility where people who are recovering from surgery or who have been transferred from intensive care, may have their vital signs closely monitored while remaining mobile.

Mar. 7, 1968

50 Years Ago

Dr. S.E. McDowell Elementary School: A new school under new management with a new grading system and even a new name will be opened this year for the children in the elementary grades in Shawville.
The Dr. S.E. McDowell Elementary School will be opened in the beautiful building which has been housing the high school for the past fifteen years on Centre Street, beside the Rotary Park. This school has a large gymnasium, a bright cafeteria with ample kitchen, a sloping floor, audiovisual room, a stage with curtains, well appointed classrooms, girls and boys dressing rooms and washrooms all on one floor, plus administration offices, extensive playground room and off street loading areas for school buses.
Appropriately, the school is being named after the county’s dean of education, Dr. S.E. McDowell who came to practice medicine first in Quyon and has been doctoring in this county ever since.
Collection for fire victims: Joseph Andrew Holland Jr., eight year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Holland of Vinton, died in the fire which destroyed their home and injured several other members of the family last Friday night.
At the time of the fire, Mrs. Holland was in hospital, having given birth to a daughter. Andy Sr. was at work when the house went ablaze. He is a security guard at Pontiac Mill. His father, 84 year old William Holland was in the house and five of the Holland children were asleep upstairs. Four of them jumped to safety and waited below to catch young Joseph who apparently was overcome with smoke and perished. Taken to hospital in Shawville were the grandfather who was badly burned trying to save the children.
Clothing and furnishings of every sort are being collected to meet their immediate needs.

Mar. 4, 1943

75 Years Ago
Local News: Airforce Service Police Hockey team of Rockcliffe headed by the veteran national league star, Frank Finnegan were in town on Wednesday night of last week for an exhibition match with the local Wildcats.
The game was the fastest contest witnessed at the local arena this year and the honours went to the Airforce boys by a score of 11 to 8.
Every Canadian, Australian and New Zealand fighter in enemy prison camps of Europe and the Far East will receive 10 pounds of nourishing food per week under 1943 plans of the Canadian Red Cross Society to ship still more prisoner of war parcels as United Nations’ offensives grow.
Canada has recruited and trained 80,000 aircraft workers of whom 90 per cent had never before worked on an aircraft.
Fighting spirit of true Canadians cannot be beaten by any enemy. Striking in wartime is a dirty business. We think the idea of a steel strike should make every citizen of Canada hopping mad. In fact, over 75 per cent of the steelworkers at the Steel Company of Canada regard such action as treason and want your help in avoiding any such occurrence.
Continued menace of the German submarine and the success of Canada’s fleet of small, fast corvettes in combating it have caused the champions of the small craft to urge its use on a more extended scale.
The records show that corvettes have not only sunk submarines, they also have defended themselves against aircraft and protected many merchant convoys across the Atlantic.
Our troops, says a Soviet information bulletin, displayed great skill in the operation which led to the capture of Field Marshal Paulus of Stalingrad.

Mar. 7, 1918

100 Years Ago
Local News: It is announced that District Magistrates Courts have been established at Campbell’s Bay and Bryson.
A session of the court of King’s Bench will be held at Bryson, this spring, beginning April 9. The docket includes a couple of murder charges.
The Union Services, which were held at the Methodist Church last Sunday, were well-attended and largely representative of the several congregations participating. Rev. Mr. McCallum and Rev. Mr. Phillips assisted Rev. Mr. Tripp who preached a most appropriate sermon for the occasion.
If the report is true that soldiers who have been in training only a short time in Canada are to be sent overseas as speedily as possible to completed their instruction in England, the thought will occur to a good many people that it would be much more economical to have the men finish their training here to the limit of practicability. A great deal is being said and written about the gravity of the food situation in Britain, a situation due chiefly to the shortage in ocean tonnage.
The predictions regarding the result of the overseas vote have been pretty well verified by the returns which are now all in. The vote went very strongly in favour of the Union Government and its effect upon the late election means the transferring of several seats from the opposition to the government column, bringing the majority up to 69.
An order has been issued by the chairman of the Canada Food Board bringing the retail grocers of the Dominion under license.

Mar. 2, 1893

125 Years Ago

Local news: A change in running regulations has been made by the Pontiac Railway Company by which the regular daily train is run on considerably shorter time between Fort Coulonge and Ottawa.
The saving effected in time amounts to 35 minutes on the train going east and 25 minutes on the up train going west, thus the tedious delays at stations will be almost altogether done away with.
We are having beautiful weather after so many storms and really we cannot account for it unless it is as “Dame Rumour” reports, there are to be so many marriages this spring and the sun is shining in brightness over so much happiness.
Quite a number of young folk of this vicinity drove to Elmside to attend Mr. McKechnie’s singing class on Friday evening.
Some of the boys engaged in drawing supplies on the Upper Ottawa state that at some particular place, away up north, they were treated to a snack of ancient horse meat one day for dinner on the pretense that the stuff was beef. The dose nearly knocked the whole crowd out. It is said it affected some of the lads worse than a trip across the Atlantic in stormy weather.
Messrs. P. Gallagher and D. Doherty are busily engaged taking out ties for the P.P.J.R. Co.
Mr. N.H. Clarke is taking out timber for a new frame barn, also J.Y. Morrison is getting out timber for a new house.
Revival services are now going on at Zion, conducted by Rev. Wells and Charlesworth.