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the tribune thursday nov 29 1k3 17 town native recalls stouf fville past b v sheila mcleod stouffville at the beginning of the century these old contemptibles the maples of obrien ave were slim young sent inels uniform and erect they stood before the substantial homes of some of stouf fvilles most prominent citizens and lined the road in lnpeccable formation the avenue narrow unpaved and cupped in thick grass embankments carried the imprint of hoof and carriage wheel its north end as it does today keyed with main street commerce at the south the route diffused to a rural setting and the elias hoover farm from her testavilla apartment on albert st era hoover can look across at the familiar fields of her familys former farm its an amusing commentary on the areas changing facade that as a girl she could gaze from the farm to where the apartments are now and see the old stouffville vinegar works later the goldfish factory where her father trundled ap ples for processing born and raised in the farmhouse built by her grandfather in 1855 miss hoover as a young scholar walked the length of the avenue countless times in those days all paths of learning led to the fourroom summitview public school an aging structure later razed by fire which stood behind the site of the present building james hand a stern scottish presbyterian presided over classes which began in the morning with the lords prayer and a bible reading students were never allowed to sing because singing was considered a waste of time mr hands idea of fun was a brisk spelling contest the east end of stouffville liberally laced with taverns in the early days had earned the name brimstone point the queens hotel kamps store was still operating when miss hoover first attended school just east of hudson florist was a favorite store with the ladies of the village in an age when no one was considered dressed without a hat mrs fred wilsons millinery did a flourishing trade there was always a special day when she showed her spring and summer collections recalls miss hoover she had two or three assistants who helped to make the hats and trim them with feathers arti ficial flowers and fruit they were real creations the market was at the present post office location on thursdays the influx of farmers a large percentage pennsylvania dutch settlers was referred to by the locals at the dutch picnic a youngster on her way home from school might not stop to store- gaze if it was wintertime and the toboggan slide built at the east side of the park granstand was freshly flooded and ready for action the stores in any case could wait they stayed open as long as there were customers sometimes past midnight in winter too over at the maple leaf arena off mill st there was skating two evenings a week members of stouffvilles brass band played at these sessions and few will argue with miss hoover that there was nothing like skating to the music of the band the same band played on saturday evenings in summer on the main street almost opposite obrien i remember that old bandstand well miss hoover reminisces saturday was the big night in stouffville the band played and everyone came to town to shop chat and listen to the music a popular shop with the young people on don deacon says still no service everytime i am sitting in a traffic jam on the don valley parkway and gaze upon the almost invariably empty railway lines i boil why cant these rightsofway be used to carry people why dont ottawa and queens park stop fiddling with technical excuses or futuristic dreams and make our existing public transportation systems work until ottawa takes over the ownership of rail rightsofway and stations and operates and improves them as it does airports and waterways we shall never have good competitive passenger and freight service the cp and cn will still be able to monopolize these invaluable and irre placeable rights of way granted them a century ago to serve the public until queens park stops diverting public attention by spending millions on fancy new concepts and concentrates on fully integrating and utilizing existing systems we shall never get people out of cars and using public transit one would think that with the energy crisis facing us today our political leaders in ot tawa would stop wasting time with the cnr and cpr regarding better passenger service and logical freight rates and open up the rail rights-of- way to competition from those who can offer better value and service one would also think that the energy shortage would persuade premier davis to add his voice to that of the western premiers pressing for such action instead of spending his govern ments resources on futuristic systems these systems might make sense after we are making full use of what represented in canada by acadian distillers limited new car in the picture let us help first to the show- room and then to your full service bank its just that simple stop in and inquire about a lowcost automobile loan then picture yourself behind the drivers seat of great new 74- model the stouffville district credit union ltd 96 main west stouffville 6402811 these occasions was dave forsyths ice cream parlor where you could get a dish of ice cream and a small serving of cake for five cents those were the days when stouffville was a liberal hotbed political rallies so spirited that only the singing of god save the king forced protagonists to a standstill provided entertainment for the young folk as well as their parents ratdiff hall south east corner of market and main was the centre of indoor entertainment the bellringers was a favorite touring troupe and concerts featuring local talent were plentiful and popular the chitauqua touring company whose entertainment theme was supposed to be educational came to town about the same time as the first movies it held its performances in a large tent pitched in the park this view looking north on obrien avenue was familiar to folks who once lived on this treelined stouffville street one such former resident is eva hoover now of the testavilla apartments albert street south she vividly recalls the stouff ville of yesteryears in a tribune feature by sheila mcleod the blaze of candle- watts illuminating todays park diamond would have sapped the resources of stouffvilles electric light company smiths welding the plant supplied fitful electrical power to a village still pre dominantly served by other forms of light energy when the plant closed down at midnight so did the electricity new and more powerful services have strung a network of lines across stouffville over the intervening years bringing modernization mechanization and the city to within 30 seconds of local phones many who remember the earlier years like miss hoover will regret that the spirit of community dissipates with the growth of a small village that landmarks trees and pockets of greenery that once softened its features insidiously disappear over on obrien where the maples have grown old and worldly the aura of the past remains bath boutique table linens gifts and gadgets elizabethan house maim st n mark ham ont 2940449 opto im thursday frldly til t pm give your husband a new woman for christmas join a doss licensed by weight watchers international today you con be o new you by december tut kcirinc suoccr saving urenris ate mu for information coll or writ main cintke 44 iiooi si wist toronto ontorlo 4 1 6 94 1 1 340 out of town colt coltoct makkham graco church i v parkway ar mon 730pm nlwmatklj st povfs anglican church 439 oarcy wod 730 pjn wejqfti the worlds most advanced weight control program vw err trvixiw santa claus waiting for little people in his candy cottage at the central court childrens photos our photographer will capture that wondrous moment on santas knee to finayourself christmas shopping hwy40 mccowan 132 stores and services everything you need in toronto for gifts and entertaining own centre giant belltrees on shimmering bases glittering chandeliers colour excitement everywhere toronto open till 10 pm mondaysaturday december 3rd to 22nd