Each week, the Gazette looks back on stories from the past. Here is what happened this week, by year…
1937
– Luther Alyea was filling his truck with gravel in Victoria when the pit caved in on him. His calls for help went unheard. He struggled for an hour to free himself from the stone, then crawled to his truck and drove home. Alyea was later treated for a broken hip at Belleville General Hospital.
– Shannon’s Store night watchman Louis Young scared off three men who were trying to carry a safe out of the store at 3 a.m. Police chased the men, who were driving a stolen car, but couldn’t keep up as they drove away.
– J.D. Munro, the president of the Canadian Seaman’s Union was to be in Picton organizing a local labour union that would fix prices for each line of work.
1957
– The Wellington Bantam Cubs baseball team ended a long season, losing a best-of-three Ontario championship to Wheatley in two games. The final game, a 14-4 setback was plagued with snow flurries.
– The Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan, the first of its kind in Canada, was introduced. Premium rates were to be $2.10 a month for singles and $4.20 a month for families. Participants were allowed standard ward care and a number of services under the coverage.
– A former Picton chiropractor was charged with manslaughter in Belleville upon police questioning following the death of a 16-year-old woman during an abortion procedure at a Toronto hospital.
1977
– South Marysburgh Central School parents asked the Prince Edward County Board of Education to consider expanding the size of the school’s gymnasium. The board indicated it would make the project a top priority, but cautioned it was unlikely money would flow from the province.
– About 25 county residents met and drafted a resolution in opposition to forming a regional health council as they believed it would just add another layer of bureaucracy and cost without actually improving health incomes locally.
– Prince Edward County Board of Education director John McNeil, a former PECI principal, was set to retire after a 40-year career including 10 years as director.
1997
– PECI principal Dave MacKay organized informational meetings for his students to talk with MPP Gary Fox and Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation local president Mike LaRose on the eve of a province-wide teacher’s strike.
– That strike, regarding changes to working conditions under the proposed Bill 160, opened with 1,000 teachers rallying in front of Fox’s office. Schools in the county remained open, staffed by administrators, but students weren’t in the buildings.
– After celebrating his 1,006 lb pumpkin a year earlier at Wellington’s first Pumpkinfest, Bill Greer won the first weigh-off at the annual event with a 727-lb entry that was the biggest among 31 entries.