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at the tribune october 8 1981 the mail behind the plow im not so much at speaking as those high faluting chaps my voice it may be husky or a little loud perhaps for ive been aploughin with this lazy team you see and its kept me pretty busy with the giddap haw and gee but if youll pay attention i have just a word to say about a great mistake you make and do it everyday in dealing out yur praises and id like to tell you now that far too often you forget the man behind the plough your painters and your poets they get praises everywhere then well enough to make a show but can you tell me how the world could ever do without the man behind the plough i like your great invention and im glad youre getting smart i like to hear your music it kind of stirs my heart but twill never reach the stomach of a real hungry man and so ill call attention to the kind of thing that can so boys dont be too anxious to leave the good old farm youre fathers strength is failing soon hell need your youthful arm if you are honest in your purpose at your feet the world will bow for the greatest of the great man is the man behind the plow no complaints dear mr thomas friday was a miserable day for markham fair however in spite of the weather i never heard a complaint from a single soul in my opinion its this kind of attitude that makes the community such a wonderful place in which to live mrs helen jones markham rr1 markhw ht rtbune established 1888 james thomas editorin chief andrew p cook advertising manager barry w wallace publisher editorial dept jim holt jim irving greg coates display advertising dept rod spicer bryan armstrong classified advertisingcirculation joan marshman office manager doreen deacon business office eileen glover national advertising representative dan poyntz 3631 051 published every thursday at 54 main st stouffville ont tel 640 2 1 0 1 toronto phone 36 1 1 680 single copies 25e subscriptions 12 00 per year in canada 30 00 elsewhere member of canadian community newspapers association and ontario weekly newspapers association second class mail registration number 0896 the stouffville tnbune is one of the metroland printing publishing ltd group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press ajaxwhitbypickenna news advertiser aurora bannernewmarket era aurora bannernewmarket era weekend edition the bolton enterprise bramp ton guardian the burlington post the burlmton weekend post the etobicoke advertiserguardian the etobicoke consumer the georgetown independent markhamthornhill economist and sun the milton champion the mississauga news the mississauga news weekend edition the north york consumer the north york mirror oakville beaver oakville friday beaver oshawa this week oshawa this weekend peel consumer the richmond hillthornhill liberal the scarborough consumer the scarborough mirror the woodbridge 8 vaughan news guest column memories of my home town by jesse gall 6402100 3611680 editorials success depends on weather the weather can make or break most events particularly those where the majority of attractions are held outdoors markham fair is no exception this year the weatherman dished up a little bit of everything rain sun cloud and cold fortunately saturday and sunday the fairs biggest days were at least bearable and the people responded large crowds both dates the markham fair has now completed five years at its present site only one of these 1979 saw pleasant conditions prevail these kind of odds makes one wonder if a time change is not in order a little earlier or a little later anything to shake the current jinx the fact that the international plowing match widely attended by people from this area falls during the same week adds strength to the need for a switch markhams is an excellent fair one of the best in ontario hundreds planning hours go into its program and thousands of people enjoy taking part because of this total satisfaction is a no 1 requirement this is impossible when fair weather at this season of the year can suddenly turn sour admittedly theres no guarantee that a date change will produce anything different but at least the board can say we tried its our opinion that no one should be prevented from enjoying this marvellous show because of conditions like thursday and friday thats when a fun thing becomes an ordeal plowing capital of ontario whitchurchstouffville the plowing capital of ontario the recommendation comes from reg mackay of maytree avenue mr mackay a former member of town planning board points to the fact this municipality is known around the world for accomplishments in match competitions he feels such feats should be recognized by council in the form of a permanent main street plaque for all to see and appreciate while some not blessed with this kind of skill will consider such expense as frivilous we dont we think its deserving and long overdue in our opinion every town should be noted for something outstanding its common practice in the united states however we modest canadians tend not to toot our horns we even find it embarrassing to sing our national anthem no one will deny the claim that this area has produced more professional plowmen than any other in the province perhaps even in canada according to mr mackay the name timbers for example is as well known in australia as here and plowing is the reason our record is amazing hardly a year goes by that someone from this community doesnt distinguish himself at top level competition only last week near barrie ken ferguson of stouffville earned the right to represent ontario in the canadian championships near lucan in middlesex county this weekeric timbers of rr 4 stouff ville will go against the best in the world at a match in southern ireland hes not the first to make it this far and he wont be the last yes whitchurchstouffville is indeed the plowing capital of ontario lets be proud of it and publicize it jesse gall of woodside trail west bloomfield michigan was born in stouffville although no longer a resident here hes never forgotten his old home town in a series of articles submitted to the tribune mr gall describes the stouffville he used to know the second of these is published this week there were three blacksmith shops in town one was owned by a mr dickson who did general work and the other two by mr todd and mr beebe who also did general work and built horse drawn carts and buggies amos lehman made a fine grade of shoes and also did repairs his shop was east of the town firehall mrs fred wilson had a fine millinery store and made all her own merchandise the town creamery was situated behind the auditorium down civic street the farmers supplied two markets one under the auditorium hall on civic street and the other beneath spof fords hall on the corner of market street and main which has since been destroyed by fire the two main dry goods stores were warriners and spoffords which supplied the town and surrounding community stouffville also had two fine drugstores boadways and collards two bakeries worts and arm strongs two hardware stores silvesters and buttons and two barber shops owned by len vanzant and wilmot shankel there were also two funeral directors who also operated furniture stores one was located in the center of town on church and main streets and was owned by mr burkholder the other was in the east end on main street opposite montreal street and was owned by phil davis mr davis was noted for his team of black pran cing horses that drew the hearse jack mckinnon on montreal street dug all the graves and looked after the maintenance of the cemetery two auctioneers nelson smith and mr silversides were available for all sales of homes and farm equipment there were also two veterinarians mr widdefield in the east end of town and mr story in the west they took care of all the animals of the town and farming community to my recollection mr tate ran the only butcher shop there was also just one laundry which was run by a chinese chap named mah wat who was very highly thought of by the towns people this and the tailors shop owned by mr monkhouse were located just west of beebes carriage works there were two fine dentists practising in the town dr barker and dr smith there were five medical doctors the freel brothers the sangster brothers and dr dales behind the railroad station isaac and ed barkey started and ran a machine and manufacturing plant here i served four years apprenticeship for which i am very thankful as that gave me my start in a suc cessful career they repaired all the threshing machines for william pipher and pete wideman who threshed all the grain on the surrounding farms barkeys also manufactured the haggis water elevator for railroad locomotives and a lumber measuring device for planing machines when the first railroads were being built there was no way to fill the locomotive water tanks at this stage of the railroads there were no pumping stations or water tanks to service the locomotives so they would stop on a bridge over a stream and lower a large hose into the water and turn on the steam that would in ject the water through the haggis elevator into the tank car a large number were built and shipped throughout canada on the other side of the railroad tracks was an iron foundry which melted iron one day a week and the barkey employees would help them pour the metal our town was called stouffville junction in those days because of the rail service we enjoyed mr hodgins was the station agent at that time there were several trains daily except sunday a mixed train arrived daily at 830 am from sutton jacksons point mt albert vivien and made connections with the two mail trains one from toronto and one from port hope which arrived around 900 am and then returned to sutton and jacksons point the next mail train to arrive in stouffville junction was from port hope at 1100 am a mixed train from the north with toronto as a destination arrived in stouffville junction at 400 pm at 530 pm the mixed train from sutton returned to meet the 620 pm mail train from toronto which delivered the newspapers for my paper route at 800 pm the passenger trains one from toronto and one from port hope passed each other there was also a way freight each way daily which took care of the freight needs for the town and surrounding area the mixed train from sutton during the summer months carried several cars of ice from lake simcoe for the ice boxes in toronto which was pre- refrigerator days the engineer on this particular train was william dalby for many years there were two fine hotels one was located just west of the car tracks called the mansion house operated by frank miller the other hotel was called the queens hotel and was run by a mr martin it was located east of church street just east of the hotel was a livery stable that had a bus which met all the passenger trains and brought the commercial travelers to the queens hotel or visitors to their destinations for those people who needed transportation other than railroad there were two livery stables that furnished horses and carriages one stable was run by olie forsythe and the other by ed pennock near the station were two grain elevators one was owned by mr stiver and the other by mr cook a great deal of grain was shipped by rail from these elevators they also im ported soft and hard coal for the stoves which replaced some of the wood stoves that heated our homes to be continued editors mail who are we to believe dear mr thomas who are we to believe a few months ago waste management inc spokesman painted a very piacid picture concerning the sanitary landfill site north of the bloomington road all is fine nothing to worry about they said now we learn that all isnt fine and theres a good deal to worry about by the companys own admission deadly poisons lie at the base of this property for how long no one knows it would seem that all kinds of horror stories are coming to light is it any wonder then that residents are becoming increasingly skeptical and cynical of statements by either york sanitation or the environment ministry im not saying either party is trying to mislead us its just that both are so bureaucratic and so impersonal they dont really know much about anything sincerely lorne buckner rr2stooffviile dear sir a page l story in the sept 30 tribune surprised me your paper quoted mayor eldred king as saying our town could possibly grow if council wished to make ap plication to the province through york region for it to do so if this is so why doesnt council do it the mayor is right in suggesting we dont want to become part of metro toronto however we shouldnt stagnate either and thats what weve been doing for the last few years i for one appreciate mr kings honesty in revealing this fact but id appreciate him and others on council even more if theyd make a more ob vious effort at getting the municipality back on the rails and moving in a more positive direction raymond currle albert street stouffville h