Each week, the Gazette looks back on stories from the past. Here is what happened this week, by year…

1909

–  The new $50,000 Picton Collegiate Institute was formally opened with Queen’s University principal Daniel Gordon and Ontario Agricultural College president George Creelman addressing more than 2,000 people.

– Picton hired Martin German as its tax collector for $100, but did not require him to do any work as taxes were required to be paid through the United Empire Bank.  The arrangement actually cost the town half as much as having an active tax collector as the bank didn’t charge for its work.

– Henry Glendenning, one if the world’s foremost experts on alfalfa, was pleased many local farmers took on the crop, which was known to be good for soiling.

1939

– A St. Catharines, Ont. based company planned to open a textile mill in Picton that would employ 30 men and 20 women full time. The formation of the industry was contingent on securing $25,000 investment from prospective local partners.

– The Picton Collegiate junior boys basketball team lost its first game of the season, a road exhibition against Belleville Collegiate they were using to prepare for an appearance at the Ontario championships. The team struggled to adjust to a bigger floor and Belleville’s deep bench.

– County cattle sales in the United States were heating up, according to a man who bought from local farmers and shipped five carloads to Massachusetts for $7,500.

1969

– MPP Norris Whitney told Rotary members in Picton that if the federal government wasn’t prepared to do anything with Camp Picton, the provincial government was ready to purchase the property and develop ing it as an industrial park that would turn a profit within five years.

– The Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office was called upon to determine the service requirements to protect Ameliasburgh after Belleville offered to continue serving the township for $20,000, eight times higher than it had been paying for firefighting.

– County council gave out $14,490 in grants, compared to $12,399 in 1968. The bulk of the increase was in the amount of money offered to promote tourism.

1979

– Supermarket owner Gary Gardiner added his voice to those opposed to starting a business improvement area for Picton. Gardiner said all residents would benefit from downtown improvements, so all taxpayers should pay for them, not just the downtown businesses in the area.

– Some North Marysburgh ratepayers were petitioning their township to have an election to replace reeve Jack Wells,who left his post to take on the clerk’s job. It had been expected deputy reeve Jim Hughes would replace Wells. Both ran unopposed.

– Due to an “epidemic” of venereal disease in the area, the Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit planned to start a dedicated clinic at the hospital in Picton.