Mar. 16, 1994
25 Years Ago
Hydro Pontiac project at Chutes ahead of schedule, no accidents: The Hydro Pontiac project at Coulonge Chutes is moving ahead quickly and safely.
Marco Del Cuchetto, project manager for Kiewit, the engineering firm that is building the generating plant for Hydro Pontiac, reports that construction is well ahead of schedule.
Kiewit now plans to take the turbines for their first test run on May 2. They plan to begin producing power on May 20, nearly two months ahead of schedule and only 13 months after work began.
On March 9, the 600 metre long tunnel was filled with water for the first time.
The tunnel, six metres in diameter, draws water from above the head of the falls and sends it to the powerhouse below.
Bryson community fun day: Oscar Torangeau and his seven-year-old Belgian mare took local children on sleigh rides March 12 as part of the fundraising day put on by the Bryson Lions and the local Fire Brigade.
A ski-a-thon, euchre tournament supper and dance rounded out the day’s events with proceeds going to help buy equipment for the firefighters.
Mar. 19, 1969
50 Years Ago
County Council quarterly meeting approves Pontiac industrial survey: Twenty two mayors and Art Labelle, secretary-treasurer met at the county building on March 12 for the regular quarterly session of the municipal council of the county of Pontiac.
The first item of business was the re-election of William Burke, Mayor of Quyon as warden of the county.
Father T.G. May spoke to council of the recent information of an Industrial Committee comprising himself, Lester McCann, Orla Young, the late Edgar Lance and Remi Fortin whose aim is to induce industry to locate in Pontiac. For the most appropriate motto, the county has put up a prize of $25.
County council also decided to invite a specialist to a meeting in April with a view to a preliminary industrial survey of the county.
Pentecostal Youth at Montreal Convention: Last Friday, thirteen young people from Bethel Pentecostal Church in Shawville boarded a chartered bus for Montreal. Their destination was the annual Christ’s Ambassadors Youth Convention of the Eastern Ontario and Quebec District of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. Stops were made at Pembroke, Renfrew and Arnprior to fill the bus to capacity with young Ottawa Valley delegates.
The services were held in Evangel Pentecostal Church in the heart of Montreal with crowds ranging from 1,000 to 1,400 people in each service. One of the highlights was the Sunday afternoon Missionary Rally in which an offering was received in the amount of over $5,100.
Our young people attending the convention were: Barbara Cone, Sandra Cone, Connie Crouse, Judy Hynes, Marilyn Lemay, Sharon Lemay, Margaret Marks, Sue Richardson, Shirley Sayle, Marilyn Sparling, Wendy Towell, Neil Tubman and Marilyn Wallace. Gains in depth of spiritual experience and the enjoyment of Christian fellowship will not soon be forgotten.
Mar. 16, 1944
75 Years Ago
Local news: Wednesday night of last week was hockey night in Shawville in a big way when a double-header attraction was staged in the local arena.
The first game started at 7:30 and was between a young ladies’ team and the married men “Old Glories” and some that never had much to do with the game. The second attraction was put on by a group of young bachelors and a group of benedicts, some still active in the sport and some now considered “has beens.”
The event was promoted especially for the benefit of the Red Cross parcels for Prisoners of War Fund which raised $111.00 from the gate receipts.
Invasion of Europe from west impossible without air supremacy: A clearer perspective of the war, one which holds out high hopes for the future but also reveals how narrow a margin the Allies may have escaped catastrophe is provided by two reports just published, says the New York Times. One is the review presented to the House of Commons by Air Minister Sinclair in which he declares: “There lies before us now clearly attainable, the glittering prize of air supremacy, a talisman that can paralyze German industry and war transport.”
It has become a military axiom that while the airplane can no more win wars than can any other single weapon, nevertheless, supremacy in the air is the first condition of victory and especially of a victory which depends on the success of amphibious operations of unprecedented dimensions.
The course of the war has shown that victory in Europe is impossible without a mass invasion from the west.
Ad: Get ready for spring with that new suit you have been planning to buy: shades and patterns to suit the most exacting taste. Blues, browns, greys in tweeds and worsteds and priced to suit your budget: $22.50 to $35.00. Morgan quality hats to top your wardrobe in the smartest styles and shades: $3.95 and $5.00.
Mar. 13, 1919
100 Years Ago
Local news: On Tuesday night, St. Paul’s Church Choir and immediate relatives of the members to the number of about thirty foregathered at the rectory to participate in a banquet which was the fist of what in all probability will become an annual event, so successful and harmonious did everything pass off in connection with it.
Rev. Mr. Phillips made a short introductory speech and then proceeded to carry out a feature which did not appear on the program. This was the presentation to Dr. Powles of a handsome rocker in behalf of the choir members as a token of their appreciation of his painstaking services since he became choirmaster.
The Shawville employees, clerks and mechanics are agitating for 6 o’clock closing on Tuesdays and 5 o’clock on Saturdays.
The Shawville Milling Co., R.G. Hodgins’ planing mill and the Brick Yard have been closing at that hour for the past year or two.
What clerks are saying: “What about the Saturday afternoon holiday for June, July and August?” All railways and factories in Canada give their employees an 8-hour day. All miners and iron workers are agitating and striking for a six-hour day. Eatons close at 5 o’clock and give every Saturday to their clerks since Jan. 1. In a short time, other big stores will do likewise. If the clerks of Pontiac form a union, we can get anything we ask.
Notice re: cow testing: I have been authorized by the Department of Agriculture to do the work in connection with cow testing and keeping dairy records in this section. To those who have their outfits, this work is done free of charge. R.A. Dennis, Shawville Creamery.
Mar. 15, 1894
125 Years Ago
Local News: A hot sun and a strong wind from the southwest on Sunday last almost wound up the sleighing in this locality. Except here and there where drifts formed in the hollows or against the fences, the fields were entirely dismantled of their white covering before evening.
It is said the thaw necessitated the breaking up of Gillies Bros. shanties on the Coulonge.
At the meeting of the ratepayers of the upper end municipalities held at Chapeau on the 3rd inst., for the purpose of appointing a delegation to go to Ottawa to interview the Minister of Railways with regard to the completion of the Pontiac Pacific Junction Railway through the county, there was a large and representative attendance. About seventy-five gentlemen were named to go on the delegation to Ottawa. The delegation will go strongly armed with petitions from the people interested which set forth the importance of compelling the company to take up the work of completing the road without delay to carry it through the county at least as far as Ferguson’s Point in Sheen township before crossing the Ottawa River.
Lumber and other materials are now on the ground for the erection of the Anglican Church which it is proposed to erect near Clarke’s Station during the course of the present summer.
Mr. S.J. Armstrong, son of Mr. Robert Armstrong of Clarendon who has spent the winter months in this neighbourhood, left for Michigan on Wednesday to engage in some of the lumber mills in which he was previously employed. Despite the tough times on the other side, Sherwood has little doubt of securing employment. When Uncle Sam wants a good, honest day’s work done, he knows that young Canada can fill the bill every time.
