Sunday June 21st, 2009 National Aboriginal Day

Happy National Aboriginal Day. According to the Government of Canada’s National Events List, this day was established in 1996 to encourage Canadians to recognize the cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and their contributions to the development of Canada. Events today are taking place at Marina Park, starting with a sunrise ceremony at 5:30 a.m. It’s a full day of activities, ending with a Powwow at 7 p.m. Hope you get out and enjoy the celebrations.

I’ve already written about the local history collection at Brodie, but I can’t say enough about it. History is comprised not only of big events, but also small events, that were big events to those involved. What other events have happened on June 21? Let’s look at what was happening around town 50 and 75 years ago.

1959

I was curious as to what was happening 50 years ago. We carry old newspapers on microfilm and I’m always fascinated by what you can find. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon, providing you don’t suffer from motion sickness. Looking at the Saturday June 20, 1959 edition of the Times Journal (there were no Sunday newspapers at that time) I found a few interesting things. The sports section featured an article called - Tocheri, Massaro To Manage Stox. This article is about the Lakehead Stock Car Racing Association and mentions local drivers such as Louis Tocheri, Tony Massaro and Barry Kettering.

For more information our Local History file contains various newspaper clippings on stock car racing under the heading LFTB Sports - Automobile

In other news there is an article from South Gillies called – Women’s Institute Members Celebrate 40th Anniversary. It said while chatting over coffee, tea and a birthday cake made by Mrs. C. Maki guests were entertained by a choir and looked at copies of the history scrap book. This intrigued me and I recalled that we carry photocopies of some of the area Tweedsmuir History Books, which were compiled by various Women’s Institutes. I checked and we actually have one from South Gillies. If you’re interested in looking at it, the Local History file number is #170 History – Thunder Bay and District. It contains information on schools, businesses, area photos, obituaries and even histories of some of the local families such as the Couch and Hymers family.

1934

Let’s delve a little deeper and find out what was happening 75 years ago. I checked the Thursday June 21, 1934 edition of the Times Journal. One newsworthy item was the opening of the new location of Lakehead Motors Limited, at the corner of Cummings and May Streets. A quick check in the LF TB – Business – Lakehead Motors file tells me the company began in 1931. Did you know that in 1949 in conjunction with Jim Griffis and the P.A. Board of Education, they introduced driver education?

It’s interesting to see what businesses were advertising in 1934 that were still here in the 50’s, 60’s and beyond. There was Fryer’s Studio, my Optometrist O.G. Snyder, Eaton’s and the Royal Edward Hotel, where you could get dinner from 6 to 8 p.m. for 75 cents.

In Other Local History News

Members of the Local Ontario Genealogy Society have been diligently indexing obituaries, death notices and memorials from very old issues of both the Fort Willliam and Port Arthur newspapers. These invaluable indexes are housed in the Brodie Reference Department and are a great asset to our local history collection.

If you know someone with a big birthday or wedding anniversary coming up, check out our local newspapers to see what was happening on their special day. Here’s a great party idea, one library patron photocopied parts of the newspaper to be used as placemats. What a novel idea.

The next time you find yourself with time on your hands, stop in and read an old newspaper. You never know what you might find.

Karen Craib is a Library Technician