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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-01383Paperbound booklet, 14 x 21.5 cm., a brief history of the Rouge Hills - Pickering Lions' Club and the area in which they operate, 4 pages. "FOREWARD The writer deeply appreciates the request to prepare a short review of the early days of this municipality, Pickering Township and Ontario County, by the local Lions' Club. I have long now, been associated with our Service Clubs in some manner, and more particularly, those of our area. I have been asked by the Rouge Hills - Pickering Lions to assume this work, and while but very little time has been permitted me to tell what could be a very long story, I will try to describe, in brief, some of the early history of the area, and couple same with the operations of this Service Club in particular. W. C. Murkar" "When one considers the objectives of the several Service Clubs in this nation, we might be justified in claiming that the first ""service club"" in this immediate area was a two-member set-up, the two oft-referred-to Priests, Fathers Fenelon and Trouve, who in 1669 travelled along the north shore of Lake Ontario, from Ganaraske (Port Hope), on mission work with the Seneca Indians, and in that year, are credited with the establishing of the first school in the Province of Ontario (then Upper Canada) and the Seneca Village at Frenchman's Bay, then known as Gandatsetiagon. The two members of the Sulpician Order spent a year or more at the Bay with the Senecas, and evidently accomplished considerable, as it is recorded seventeen years later, the Earl of Dennonville returned to the North Shore following an expedition with the Iroquois in New York State, and was given a thoroughly Christian reception by the Indians at the Bay Village. I have always felt that Frenchman's Bay has been the centre from which the rest of this municipality has developed. In the early days of the last century, the Bay was the local ""hive of industry"", there being four or five shipping companies operating their own docks from several points in the Bay, with that later being followed by a process of elimination by one company buying up the other until only one— the Pickering Harbour Company remained. With this development, the usual took place (when control or monopoly exists) - rates and docking fees began to soar. At that time shipping on the lakes was being conducted with sail and two-masted schooners, most of them privately owned. With the rise in rates, some of these ship owners decided they could not afford that which was being asked by the Harbour Authorities, and proceeded to load from off-shore, moving their cargoes out into the lake and the shallow-draft vessels by means of rafts. Then, the Harbour Company, to combat this ""bootleg"" operation, asked the Federal Government of that day for control of, or the purchase of water-rights out in the lake. This was granted, and an area six hundred yards out in the lake between Lots 15 and 21, came under the control of the Pickering Harbour Co. and the Charter given, which, (I understand) may be seen in Toronto today. Such a grant as this on navigable waters, I have always understood, was one of three such ever granted on similar waters in this nation. Timber and grain were the principle articles shipped from this harbour, and I have listened to some of our older people tell of the line-up of horse-drawn sleighs, solid, from the Kingston Road to the docks at the Bay, waiting to get down to unload. All of the activity, and Frenchman's Bay as a shipping point began to fade with the opening (and the first train) of the" "Grand Trunk Railway in 1856.....the Bay from that year on became little more than a pleasure boat centre, along with the small fishing industry operated by some of our well-known families who have spent their lives at the Bay: the Mansfields, the O'Briens, Hiltz, etc. I must not overlook one other industry which the writer had watched many winters— the cutting and storing of ice in local ice-houses, and too, the Simcoe Ice and Fuel Co. of Toronto obtained much of their ice from Frenchman's Bay. The earliest records we have indicate that Champlain was one of the first white persons who, with his companions, crossed the Northern part of this County in 1615, when returning from an expedition down the Ottawa River to Nipissing, and travelling through the Talbot River which separates the Townships of Rama and Thorah. The first white settler in the area was a Benjamin Wilson who, in 1778, settled on land just to the East of the Oshawa Harbour. His grave and memorial stone may be seen in a small cemetery overlooking Lake Ontario. The same cemetery contains the remains of members of several of our early pioneer settlers. Descendants of the late Wilson are still living in Oshawa. In the same year, 1778, Ontario County formed part of Nassau District in Upper Canada, and following the Constitutional Act of 1791, we formed part of the Home District. Land grants and Deeds given settlers of that day are still in the possession of descendants living in our municipality today. In 1792, Governor Simcoe, then stationed at Newark (now Niagara) divided Upper Canada into Nineteen Counties, we being No. 14, but being comprised of the present York, Peel and Ontario Counties. An Act passed in 1852 divided County No. 14, into three separate Counties, with our first County Council meeting in the appointed County Town of Whitby, March March 11, 1852. Settlers began to arrive from overseas in the 1830's and 1840's, and the first Land Grant was given a Catharine McGill of 1200 acres located between our Township Lots 16 and 17. To the west of us we have two important waterways: the River Rouge (which Governor Simcoe wanted to re-name the River Nen), and the Highland Creek, so named by the English settlers in that area, it running through the highlands found between Ontario and York Counties. The Red (Rouge) River in the 1830's carried a lot of small-craft traffic, conveying settlers up that river to the Newmarket and Holland Marsh area. The Kingston Road (now Highway No. 2.) played an important part in the settling and development of this area as far west as Ancaster or Hamilton. It was however surveyed in 1796 by Asa Danforth, an American engineer. His only in-" "structions from Quebec were—that this road, then a military road was to be two rods wide, and to be kept far enough away from the Lake Shore that enemy forces could not observe our troop movements. General Sheaffe, after his capture of York (Toronto) in 1813, was able to move his troops along this road without being detected by the said ""enemy"" to Kingston. The Rouge Hill - Pickering Lions' Club Having given a short, brief review of some of the early history of the area in which the Lions operate, let us now look at some of the accomplishments of the Club in that same area. In 1948, Lions were already established and flourishing as the West Hill-Highland Creek Lions' Club, and soon, with what Ted Belt called in that year ""the population explosion"" east of Metro, a ""twinkle in the eyes of a group within that club"" was observed, many of the members of that Club having taken up residence in the Rouge area, all resulting in the creation of the new Rouge-Hill-Pickering Group, with a Charter, incorporating the new Club being delivered in 1952. With forty Charter Members on the Roll, April 28, 1952, the local Club commenced a program, inspired, I am sure, by the third article of the ""Lions Club Objects.....to take an active interest in the Civic, Social and Moral Welfare of the Community"". The progress of the Rouge Hill-Pickering Lions has been watched by both tha writer and many others living in the area. My congratulations to the members of this enthusiastic group on their accomplishments as a service club, devoted to the interests and welfare of their community, and those persons residing there. A wonderful review of the above was prepared for you by Ted Belt in his ""A Decade of Service - 1951-1962"". As a non-member, but a very interested observer of your activities, I like to note some of the projects and activities, which had commanded township-wide comment and appreciation, all of which created a sincere respect for this Club and its place in Pickering Township. While a detailed review of the activities of this Club is not being attempted here, that having been done very thoroughly by Ted Belt, there has been within the past few years a number of projects carried on which have attracted the attention, and created admiration of, and by the citizens of Pickering Township. While we are not over-looking the years 1951-1982, with the Club's developing and sponsoring the many community projects, the Carnivals, Skating Rinks, Bowling Clubs, Eye Clinics, attention given Needy Citizens, assisting the Red Cross, Community Centre etc., have been enjoyed and admired" "LIONS' CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE General Chairman — Lion J. Goss. Lions — J. Clarke, P. Hobin, J. Davidse, J. Buck, J. Hayes and D. Campbell. Ted Belt" "by the neighborhood folks, young and old, and have commanded the respect of all of this municipality. Special attention must be given to Centennial Year 1967, as observed by the Club and Members. The writer is prepared to state that this Club had taken the lead in much of the celebrating in Pickering Township, and I do recall, with pleasure, among other activities ""Pickering Township Lions' Centennial Concert and Tea"", held on a Sunday afternoon early that year. Featured on that very fine program was the Metropolitan Silver Band along with local talent. This program was presented in the spacious auditorium of Dumbarton High School, and was received with enthusiasm by a capacity-filled concert hall. We did appreciate the thoughtfulness of the Lions in providing transportation to and from the School for a large number of Senior Citizens who were able to attend. The concert was followed by a tea in the cafeteria, prepared and served by the Lions' Ladies. On July 1, 1967, the Rouge Hill Lions Club took an active part in Canada's Birthday Celebrations, when Pickering Township and Village held a day-long program at the Village Memorial Park. The Centennial Quilt which won the prize in the local quilt contest, has since been donated to the Pickering Township museum at Brougham, by Mr. Vern Sebastian, the winner. Probably the outstanding project by Lions in Centennial year was the Dedication of the Centennial Fountain erected at the new Municipal Building, Corner No. 2. Highway and Brock Road. In an impressive ceremony at the Municipal Bldg. on Saturday, June 10, 1967, the Massey Winning Award sculptured by Bruce Wilson ""Growth Column"", this fountain was dedicated by Past Lions' International President, Walter C. Fisher, 1949-1950 (one of the two Canadian Lions elected International President). The first Canadian International President, Harry A. Newman, Q. C, and the founder of this Club, Mr. Frank V. Stokvis were honoured and mentioned on the Dedication Plaque."