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

1938

-Picton councillors were unanimous in their support in hiring a third full-time police officer and regulating the police officers to eight hour shifts. Const. John Armstrong would be hired on a full-time basis after providing occasional work.

– Picton town council voted to prepare a bylaw allowing citizens to vote on whether or not they wanted a natural gas carrier to start a franchise in the town. The company, attached to the Maygold syndicate, would pay all costs for polling residents and would get exclusive rights to build pipes and sell gas in Picton if successful.

– Only six students enrolled at the Babylon school in South Marysburgh. It was closed and the students were sent to other schools.

1948

– Picton taxi driver Chester Storms dove into the water at Black Creek while fully clothed to save T. Weldon, who had been swimming alone and was in difficulty near the bridge. Storms, who was in the area to pick up a fare, kept Weldon afloat until a rescue boat arrived.

– Both the Picton Collegiate and the Picton Public School reported increased enrolment and a shortage of space to accommodate the influx of students. The space crunch might have been even greater, but some students were directed to attend rural schools.

– Picton started to turn off its street lights at 2 a.m. Monday to Friday in order to conserve power and meet a provincially set quota of 22,000 kilowatt hours per day.

1978

– A redevelopment planned for downtown Picton to revitalize Main Street, create two parks on Mary Street, and improve parking could cost $200,000, steering committee member Gary Campbell told town council. He believed Picton could finance $150,000 for the project through 10-year loans through upper levels of government.

– Hallowell Township council voted to petition Bell Canada to include the Picton-Bloomfield area included in the Belleville- Trenton local calling area. Picton councillors also supported the petition.

– The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Auxiliary agreed to pay $4,000 to buy a fetal monitor to help the hospital’s doctors monitor at-risk pregnancies.

1998

– County council officially made it illegal to use skateboards or inline skates in certain areas within the municipality. Their use was restricted on any County highway, any sidewalk on Picton’s Main Street, and on municipal property.

– An Ontario Municipal Board hearing into a proposed Loblaws development west of Picton was scheduled for April and expected to last 15 days. The hearing was prompted by the existing IGA and A&P stores arguing there was no market need for a third grocery store in the Picton area.

– Only four of 15 veal calves were saved as a fire destroyed a 1920s-era barn on Corey Street in Bloomfield. Four young people attempting to rescue calves were injured.