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

1937

–  County farmers likely earned more than $1 million for produced, including a million-and-a-half bushels of tomatoes — a record year. With poor crops elsewhere in Ontario, local producers not only filled orders from canners in the area, they also shipped produce elsewhere.

– The Ontario government abolished standardized exams for all secondary school students, except in their graduating year. Teachers would be allowed to create their own exams and decide if students should pass or fail grades.

– Bell announced plans for a common battery telephone service in Picton. It meant callers would no longer have to crank their phones for power to call a central operator.

1957

– News of Art Asbury driving Miss Supertest II to a world record off the county’s coastline reached far around the globe. Maj. Bill Jussup, a former Camp Picton officer stationed in Laos saw the headline in an edition of The Times of Vietnam while visiting Saigon on leave.

– A report in Liberty magazine suggested that one of every two immigrants settling in Canada settled in Ontario. At that time, immigration boosted the province’s population by 200,000 people annually, bringing it up to 3,600,000 people in 1957.

– Arthur Morgan Jr., a teacher in Athol, was lucky to escape alive after placing his car in a ditch at Woodrous Corners. The car came to rest with all four wheels in the air.

1977

– At an open meeting at the Ameliasburgh Fire Hall, about 60 Rednersville Road residents voiced their objections to Quinte Broadcasting erecting a radio tower along the road. The station’s general manager stated the proposed site was the only feasible option for the tower.

-MPP James Taylor used a Remembrance Day dinner at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 160 in Wellington to urge residents to support cutting red tape and government dependence to rebuild Canada’s economy and contribute to a united, prosperous nation-state moving forward.

– Picton reeve Larry Richardson organized another public meeting to gauge support for a community-oriented swimming pool.

1997

– The cost of downloaded policing services from the province was expected to be $1.44 million per year for Prince Edward County. Picton was already paying for its own OPP services, but the amalgamated County would have to pay for services in the other wards. The figure included a 10-per-cent offset for time police spend on provincial matters in their regular duties.

– Mail continued to move as the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Canada Post decided to put off a strike or lockout and keep talking about a new contract.

– The Prince Edward County Board of Education was considering how to dock teachers pay for their 10 days of illegal strike action over the province’s Bill 160.