Each week, the Gazette looks back on stories from the past. Here is what happened this week, by year…
1928
-Bernice Young Warrington, a former Prince Edward County resident, was the first female pupil to receive lessons at the Toronto Flying Club. She regularly attended courses at the Leaside Aerodrome toward receiving her pilot’s licence.
– Struggling to fit news articles into a once-weekly paper, the Gazette announced it would begin publishing twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, in an effort to better serve the community. It also announced additional staff and equipment to meet growing demands.
– The Prince Edward County Board of Trade resolved to urge the post office to collect first class mail for Picton from Bloomfield nightly, except for Sundays.
1948
-The Department of Agriculture reported wet spring weather conditions would result in lower acreage of peas in Prince Edward County. Tomatoes were unaffected, but alfalfa was also expected to be down. Egg production also dwindled.
– Some avid gardeners in Picton were concerned children were picking their flowers without asking. They called on parents to discourage their children from ruining flower beds without permission.
– John Irwin, a Prince Edward County resident who rose to prominence in business and politics, died in Victoria, B.C. at age 78 after being ill for five months. He had served as a manager at the Hudson Bay Company and was once Calgary’s MPP.
1978
-A scuffle between a resident and a staff member that broke out during a floor hockey game at the Prince Edward Heights Complex was under investigation. The resident was reported to have sustained a black eye. Administration interviewed everyone present for its report.
– Wellington was poised to connect a new well to its water line within a month.Reeve Doug Marvin said testing showed the new well possessed almost instant recovery. It would supply between 100 and 150 gallons a minute to the village’s water users.
– The 1,799 residential and 453 water users hooked into Picton’s system were using more water than ever before, pumping 200,000 gallons more daily than in 1976.
1998
– It appeared Prince Edward County would be going with the OPP as its policing provider. Council adopted a recommendation to enter into a five-year deal with the police force, pending the legality of agreeing to a deal beyond its term in office. The contract value was higher than the $2.695-million it had been budgeting.
– Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board chair Ernie Parsons said the board would not layoff any teachers as normal attrition would reduce the number sufficiently to meet budget requirements.
– With an unseasonably warm spring, the general consensus among local farmers was that most crops in Prince Edward County were about two weeks ahead of schedule.