Each week, the Gazette looks back on stories from the past. Here is what happened this week, by year…
1938
– A Supreme Court grand jury met in Picton to review a conviction in the manslaughter trial Rex. v. Deline. The jury returned a true bill supporting the conviction against a driver who struck and killed a pedestrian with his vehicle.
– The Prince Edward County judging team returned home from the Royal Agricultural Fair in Toronto after placing fifth among 33 counties. Picton’s Don Thompson was a particularly valuable member of the team, placing second overall in points.
– Taxi driver Elmer Dunkley saw the interior of his Chrysler car burnt out and all its paint burnt off. He told police he was summoned to pick up two strange men at about 10 p.m. but didn’t have any further details.
1948
– For the fifth time in as many years, the Picton Collegiate had more graduates. Some 330 people walked across the stage at commencement. Principal R.L. Perkin said the school was more frequently taking in students from outside of Picton. He said they’d use space in the attic and cellar if they had to in order to educate people.
– On Remembrance day, a Prince Edward County veteran reunited with his sister for the first time since childhood. Both were born in England and wards of the Oshawa Children’s Aid. The veteran had spent 15 years tracking down family connections.
– Royal watchers celebrated as Princess Elizabeth delivered a healthy baby, Charles, who became second in line for the throne.
1978
-The Prince Edward County Ministerial Association planned a public meeting and a series of pickets to denounce daytime adult entertainment at two Picton hotels. Mayor Don King also denounced the shows and promised to investigate the legality of a regulating municipal bylaw.
– Incumbent Hillier reeve Allan Pettingill was considering recount options after Lewis Wight defeated him by 15 votes. Meanwhile, Picton elected three women — Joan Brant, Bessie Ward, and Marilyn Robins — to sit on its nine-seat council.
– The 40-year-old Standard Church of Bloomfield building was moved several hundred yards to a new location. The structure would be renovated and expanded.
1998
– Wellington councillor Robert Rutter brought a motion to County council calling for staff to write to MPP Gary Fox and MP Lyle Vanclief to seek their help in attracting new jobs in the wake of the closure of the Prince Edward Heights complex.
– A man who abducted a Picton boy in the 1960s pled guilty to a single charge of kidnapping in Ottawa court 38 years later. In 1995, his victim investigated and found the man in an Ottawa retirement home before contacting Ottawa police to investigate.
– Local hospital workers gave their union a strike mandate and were poised to walk off the job as early as Nov. 23 if negotiations between their unions and the Ontario Hospital Association did not improve.