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The Canadian Champion, Friday, April 27, 2007 - B13 Canadian Champion is Milton's community newspaper A lot of îbîngs have cbanged in Milton from the time the town's first newspaper bit the sireets to now. The town's firsi paper, the Haîion journal, was first distributed July 5, 1855 to a population of 905. The journal was started by I iberal MP John White, wbo sent $300 to New York for hundreds of pounds of bandsei type and bired Irisb immigrant Samuel Clarke to mun bis rural paper. Wbite later bougbt the Georgetown- based Canadian Champion. In 1861, James Campbell took over ownersbîp of the Champion and moved it to Milton, wbere it bas remained to tbis day The Champion bas cbanged publisb- ers many times since its inception. More recently, Jim Dilîs took over the Champion in the 1950s and sold iî in 1978 to, lnîand Publisbing Co. [id. Then that company sold the paper to Metrospan Printing, Publîsbing and Distributing Co. L.d. îbree years later. In 1981, Metrospan and lnland Publîsbîng companies nierged, creating Metroland Printing, Publisbing and Distribution I id. Today Metroland Media Croup I id. publisbes the Champion. Tbe Milton papier, wbicb used to publisb weekly, tuîned into a bi-weekly publication in April, 1983. Herb Crowtber followed jim Dilîs as publislier for nearly 10 years and was succeeded by Ian Oliver, wbo continues bis responsibility today on a broader scale as Metroland Media Group pub- lisher. His brother, Neil Oliver, now bolds tbe titie of Champion publisher. Up until uts April 16, 2005 move to Main Street and Tbompson Road, the Champion bad been located at 191 Main St. in tbe downtown core. Lt had been there since 1922, and in 1975 expanded to include the building next door. But the Main Street and Thompson Road location was sbort-lived afier a fire forced the Champion to move once again in late February ibis year. The office is currently located at 555 lndustnial Dr. The I1950s saw some changes to tbe town. New subdivisions started popping up, wbicb didn't please A residenis. In 1954, tbe Champion reporied thai a new four-lane bigbway - tbe 401 - would cul between Milton and Acton. Altbougb items for sale in tbe classi- fied ads have remained relaîively tbe sanie, the pnices sure baven't In tbe mid 1950s, a l0-room brick home in Campbellville went lor $12,900. An acre of larmland sold ai $200, and renîîng a room in Moffat was $25 a montb. Some ads were gender specific. For example, an ad in 1955 asked for mnales between tbe ages of 21 and 46 for guarcl duty ai the Milton jail, while women were wanted for secretarial work in offices. But perhaps one of the most memo- rable events belongs to former Champion puhlisherjim Dilis, who actu- ally had tbe chance to, yell 'stop the presses" more than 20 xca years ago. The hospital board beld its annual meeting on the evening the Champion went to, press andj the board was planning to, refuse the reinstatement of the director of nursing, an issue that divided tbe community. The board reversed uts decision at about midnigbt, whicb Led to a last- minute scramble by Dilîs and late edi- tor Roy Downs - who knew tbey couldn't mun the 'H-ospital board refuses to reinstate director' beadi- fine witbout compromising theÇ newspaper's credibility. "The original edition was neyer released but I kept a few copies lust to prove it actually existed," Dilîs said in an interview with the Champion several years ago. "It was tbe only chance I ever got to say, 'Stop the presses!"" Tbc main issue residents are dealing with today is rapid, massive growîb. A power plant to be buiît near Milton and a proposed energy from waste facility are also blot iopics. QàIl (-tiaîubîai ellaîiplop 315.3 Steeles A ve. West, Unit 3A18 Milton, Ontario L9T 2V4 Richard (Dick) Gilbert Phone/Fax (905) 693-93%13 Purified, Safe Water Conditioning Rentais. Sales. Service & Instal_ The No Sait Water Softneir Easy setup & installation No electrical power required' No drain WQA Goïa weai Lemeu to NSF/ANSI-61, Drinking Watr Componients Model Premium Model