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tmfotfc t wrw siouftillesimtnbiinewbutfsday nov 3 from ie land for markham stouffville hospital to the gallery and community centres bearing his name stouffvilles artlatcham left a legacy of giving by hannelore volpe staff writer arthur latcham whose good actions live on after him in stouffville really appreciated a good audience but thats when he was being a magician he was a little quieter about his role as philanthropist and his interest in magic led to the organization of a magic festival that put stouffville on the map in the early 1980s from about the 1950s mr latchams generosity led to the building of the latcham gallery and latcham hall the towns outdoor pool the tennis courts and main ball diamond in memorial park he put in the bleachers and the first outdoor lighting at the diamond his friend ted cadieux recalls it was the early 1950s and ball players such as mr cadieux were there to appre- see jim thomas video tribute to art latcham go to yorkregioncom ciate the difference the lights made mr cadieux operated a photography business on main street for many years the pool was the only one in town for around a half cen tury until an indoor pool was built in the lebovic leisure centre in 2001 mr latcham was also instrumental in building the picnic shelter in memorial park which has since been replaced by the lions club and others in the commu nity mr cadieux would later become one of the admin istrators of the art latcham foundation along with wes clarke and mr latcham through which many dona tions were made until a number of years after mr latchams death in 1979 theres another connec tion between the cadieux and latcham families as well mr cadieuxs mother-in- law laura hutchinson was an inlaw to art latchams mother also a hutchinson he was just an unbe lievable human being with common sense mr cadieux said mr latcham married elaine who had two sons robert and larry while he never dressed swanky mr cadieux recalled mr latcham liked to drive cadillacs and smoke a pipe and cigars sleight of hand he was very good at sleight of hand harry schell former president of schell lumber said mr latcham wanted the audience right around him onthespot magic was his forte he wouldnt sepa rate himself from his audi ence by going on stage mr latcham purchased a good deal of lumber at schell lumber for many of his projects which include latcham halls in port perry and zephyr mr latcham also donated halls other communities in stouffville he funded and oversaw the entire build ing process for latcham hall as an honorary member of the stouffville lions club he made many of his donations through that organization he was very involved with the lions club joe cote past president of the stouffville club said he donated buildings and facilities that could be used by seniors to play cards or hold other activities and for children and young adults to engage in sports mr schell described mr latcham as more as a man of action rather than a talker he lived in stouffville from around 1950 until he died almost 30 years later in 1972 the town hon oured mr latchams gener osity by declaring dominion day art latcham day he was also awarded the order of canada and the queens silver jubilee medal mr latcham certainly didnt start out rich he was born april 8 1895 in the farming community of glasgow in uxbridge town ship a few minutes east of stouffville he had four sisters and two brothers he worked on a neigh bours farm when he left school and homesteaded in saskatchewan the long dark prairie nights were an ideal time to practise and repractise sleightofhand tricks with coins and cards he joined the army at the start of the first world war and trained with 10th cana dian mounted rifles he spent four years in france until he was wounded in 1918 his skills in buying real estate soon became evident after he moved to toronto he began amassing his for tune through land purchases and acquisition of golf cours es such as meadowbrook rolling hills and whats now bushwood golf club he was quite the entre preneur mr cote said he had the foresight to purchase 50 acres at hwy 7 and ninth line he donated the land which later became the site of markham stouffville hos pital the hospital recently cre ated the latcham society of donors willing money to its foundation he also funded the 1973 trip of the stouffville bantam hockey team to switzerland future nhler keith acton was on that team not all the money was used by the club there was interest generated by those funds which grew to 1100 this money was used to defray an upcoming trip by the stouffville clippers major bantam team to the czech republic and austria for a series of exhibition games i hope the town doesnt forget him mr schell said he has done a lot for stouffville and the commu nity around a festival in latchams honour the first magic festival was organized throughout stouffville from may 6 to 9 1982 in honour of mr latcham who was a member of the prestigious magicians asso ciation the hat and rabbit club magic was done on the street by con jurors jugglers mimes escape artists and clowns it was organized by the towns librar ian george schlukbier who felt such an event would help counteract the publicity stouffville was getting at the time for its dump at hwy 48 and bloomington road and bad water mr schlukbier asked for funding from the latcham foundation to establish a rare magic book collection in the library the art latcham magic collection was dedicated during the first magic festival on may 9 1982 the festival only ran for a few more years afterwards former local magician dave houston who was known as the shakespeare of magic called mr latcham his mentor he recalled how mr latcham would walk around some of the golf courses he owned with a deck of cards or doing sleight-of- hand for golfers hannelore volpe poster promoting festival held in stouffville in honour of local magician art latcham in the early 1980s stouffvili dehtal o e- nt- r e toronto 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