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THE ERA Serving York County Since 1852 DAVID fl HASKELL Jerry carier johh loii j allan marjin 30 Charles St Phone Aurora A vote of thanks for the new Meeting House Newmarkets most historic building the yearold St Friends Meeting House has been painstakingly restored as an historic site 1 1 he same conveniences and new facilities have been unobtrusively added at i total cost of and not a penny of has come from the public purse In this day of government grants for thing from factory expansions to videotape it warms a taxpayers heart to see such a worthwhile project undertaken and hi community owes a vote of thanks to the Friends Meeting to David the young historian whose efforts were the backbone of the project and to the donors who generously provided the funds From St the Meeting House looks much as it must have appeared to a traveller on the muddy colonial trail 150 years ago It has been elevated to its original position in relation to the road and its new coat of paint is as close to the original color as could be mixed Inside the Meeting House paint and crafts manship have also restored the plain pine to its original appearance and an original wood stove of worship for the Friends Meeting it used yearround and will meet the demands of todays families as an historic site it remains a living part of our heritage Olid will In available Traffic lights for Main Queen streets We hate to see those annoying totems of big drivers have as they compete against the cars busier as but it will never sue fewer life the traffic lights proliferating in speeding down Main St hill cars than il has now downtown Newmarket but we cant help The two buildings on the south corners Improving the sight lines on the corner with Regional Councillor Ray which encroach on the normal sight lines up the would obviously be expensive probably cnl is needed at the Main and Queen j make life particularly hazardous at the expropriation and would endanger one of intersection Newmarkets most nineteenth Anyone who uses that intersection regularly Queen and Main already has a reputation as century buildings the monument works of the Queen St entrances knows about one of Newmarkets most accident prone cor- Traffic lights we are sorry to say seem to feeling and one thing we know it may get a lot be the only answer Newmarket station opened 75 years ago Letters to the editor YEARS AGO OCT North York Fall Exhibition took In at At a public meeting Wednesday night a in favor of for waterworks was The Bygone Era Thank you Aurora Through your From The Eras AGO OCT r sale house and lot 650 will buy the twostorey roughcast house and lot in tin south side of St residence of Mrs K House contains seven with large stone cellar 40 ft The Hoi to plant orchards has now launched out line with the like laudable intent He secured head as a nucleus for a herd i liiui from Ireland it is the intention of Mr to benefit the farmers in this way each a sale will be made of the males in conditions as will require licit a portion of the stock remain in York for electric lighting continues Rogers has decided to put lights Alderman has also his residence with a meter figuring the cost of lighting oiled and varnished and the ceilings constructed with handsome effect Being heated with hot water pipes the waiting rooms have a very airy appearance Handsome threelight have been placed in them and the station and platform are lighted by electricity The cooler weather makes a great difference upon demand for domestic water The new pump for pumping the water out of the artesian wells has not been running for two weeks and still the upper reservoir has been overflowing twice during this period over the town bridges faster than a walk may expect to pay for the privilege Monday Chief Anderson laid information before the mayor against 11 or 12 persons for driving over the Huron and Timothy St bridges faster than a walk His Worship ordered that the parties be notified and if it occurs again they will be prosecuted as the law directs The bridges cost the municipality a lot of money and it is donations still necessary that they should be protected This makes OCT total to this da The action of the North York Farmers on ALE Saturday in declining to put a candidate in the field in the forthcoming election and at the same time advising members to support the candidate whom they consider will best serve the interests of agriculture and temperance looks pretty general support for Mackenzie King Especially when the Temperance Meeting Monday gave received a voice to a similar expression The election of the from brother Premier in North York is a foregone conclusion towards mo I stopped the ear and dazed called Economic blackmail possible Complaint about YCH totally the parking is Ins job lo keep The annual shooting match of Newmarket Company York Rangers will take place at Stickwoods brickyard on Thanksgiving Day An impression has gone abroad that the proposed bylaw before town council to license pedlars and hawkers is to keep the farmers from delivering produce at the homes of our people It air warning People in the habit of driving has nothing to do with homegrown produce ml would jntk Una up York Count Hospital As 1 was imlluij hospital brother the wracked by i the because thai nation refuses degenerate into right typical African chaos as The organization of it rested in with South Africa mid tailed chuuluinil in the West are urging that we I he number of jobs submit inn kite Pay hikes for hydro board jHililieal ploy dispensed regionalize a i swipe at the Historical plaque to tell story of Pine Orchard Friends s residence north of Toronto The new as opened Wednesday of last week when en at once commenced pulling down the week the station yards are being graded w platform extended to Huron St inside is finished with Georgia pine PINE ORCHARD A historical plaque commemorating the Quaker settlement here will be unveiled Sunday Oct The ceremony will he at noon at Pine Orchard Union Church The plaque is one of a series being erected throughout the province by the Ontario Heritage Foundation an agency within the Ministry of Culture and Recreation and the Chairman of the Church Hoard David will act as chairman of the Among those invited to attend the unveiling program arc William Hodgson York North Sinclair Stevens York Mayor Gordon of WhitchurchStouffville and Anthony Adamson who will represent the Ontario Heritage Foun dation Mrs Helen Johnston a local historian will summarize the history of the Congregation Mrs S Starr one of the few remaining members of the Society of Friends in this area will unveil the plaque which will then be dedicated by the Reverend Roy The inscription on the plaque reads WHITCHURCH QUAKER SETTLEMENT Among the early settlers locating in this area were a number of Quakers including Samuel Lundy who provided land for the construction of a Meeting House in mil Formerly part of the Street Meeting the Whitchurch Quakers were granted the right to hold their own meetings two years later A schism in the Society of Friends occurred in and this building com pleted in 1830 was used by the faction of the Society By 1900 the various Whitchurch Quaker groups had come together to form the Pine Orchard Union Church Both buildings continued in use until the earlier Meeting House was moved to Aurora in A year later the Society of Friends sold this building to the Pine Or chard Union Church By the beginning of the nineteenth century two organized groups of Quakers or Society of Friends had been established in Upper Canada one at and one at Adolphustown In Timothy Rogers of Vermont came north lo Upper Canada and secured a fairly large grant of land near Newmarket Lieutenant- Governor Hunter showed himself favorably disposed toward the Friends By 1804 the Quakers on St were granted a Preparative Meeting by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting In Street Meeting was set off from Meeting though it remained directly under the jurisdiction of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting The Yonge Street Meeting consisted of Street and Whit church This Meeting erected a Quaker Meeting House in 1810 the earliest church erected in the region north of York Toronto II is still stan ding on its original site and has been com memorated by a provincial marker In the Township of Whitchurch a number of Quakers had been holding a meeting since 1805 In they requested recognition as a regular Preparative Meeting This request was not granted by the Yonge Street Monthly Meeting until Meanwhile in 1814 the Whitchurch Quakers had received land from Samuel also a Quaker on which to erect a meeting house The property was part of lot 31 con cession of Whitchurch Township The first trustees of the Meeting were Henry Widdifield Watson Plityter Peter Williams and James The first Meeting House was erected about and continued in use until 1827 when a proposal was made to build a new Meeting House In 1828 however the Separation divided the Quakers at Whitchurch The new building completed by was used by the faction while the other Quakers con tinued to use the original Meeting House- The early building was used until when it was moved to Aurora The new Meeting House completed in 1830 was sold to the Pine Orchard Union Church in by the Society of Friends and is still in use today The original burying ground lies nearby The Pine Orchard Union Church is a union of the three differing forms of the Society of Friends in Canada It began to function as a united congregation about the beginning of the twentieth century Get the churches out of Xmas its too late to change it now By ROY GREEN the churches going to get 1 was looking through a magazine the other and I came across the first mention of the great annual tribute to materialism The was dated September and Im glad I saw the ad or I might never know the Thank heaven for merchants retailers and advertisers who are quick to tell us when the l im seasons arrive The churches dont start about Christmas until December and then its too late to get into the buying binge with the proper spirit The churches clutter up with church- goings virgin births nativity scenes that does it have to do with buying and sending hundreds of cards to people we Very day Or keeping a list at home of the who didnt send you one this year What docs the birth of Christ have to do with receiving your first card on a cool autumn morning Or bumping shoulders with people and fighting for the specials in a toy store that is only open for the season The only thing religion and the churches have contributed to our modernday Xmas is the noble tradition of the three wise men They of all those people centuries ago in Bethlehem had he right idea They brought gifts Expensive ones for that period Just think what would be if someone hadnt exploited their idea Why wed have nothing but a few prayers going to church on Christmas day and not a trace of Boxing day Thered be no mistletoe frosty the snowman Santa parades office parties flashing Xmas lights on pink and blue plastic trees canned snow on our windows and millions of dollars of batteryoperated toys under the tree Try and match that religion may have had its start in religious belief but weve done a little bit of promotion to make it what it is today The churches cant take any credit for that Left to them or Christmas as they insist on calling it would be as obscure as any long weekend holiday in the summer Lets face it The churches just havent been doing their job in promoting Xmas and we should get them out of the business The average church today has little more than a homemade Nativity scene down near the altar Is that proper promotion Let Eatons or Simpsons handle Xmas Now those people know how to handle a holiday as as Ill bet the churches never would have come with an idea like TOYLAND Imaginative retailers took an obscure little guy with a white beard who hung around with elves moved him to a production line at the North Pole land was dirtcheap and made him a national institution Churches for the most part actually IGNORE Santa Claus What kind of spirit is that want to return to some silly idea where the only Hunt wt have to celebrate is the birth of Jesus Christ A lot of people would find it tough get drunk at an office part if WO didnt have flashing neon signs and packed stores to remind us of the festive holiday season Ive got nothing against the birth of Christ mind you Some of my best friends believe in that kind of stuff But the annual celebration of another birth even one as unique as this shouldnt be allowed to interfere with some peoples enjoyment of Xmas I dont think the churches would have any problem moving their annual celebration to another day If they moved it to February or March when we dont now have any type of holiday we could all take an interest in it If we got a day off work or something The churches should keep one eye posted on the marketing calendar and take advantage of those months where sales generally drop off because no one has been able to come up with a good national promotion Im sure the advertising people would be glad to help them get some kind of Birthday Celebration promotion on the road It might even help to bring people back to the church Thats what theyre trying to promote right The churches represent probably the last stronghold against smart marketing practices Thats why they have had a drop in clients recently Its time they hired a smart public relations company to make church sound more attractive Play down the hellfire and brimstone because no one likes to think of that kind of stuff Accentuate the positive Play down the sin and add a little fun to church Im sure it would help The first thing we have to do is get the out of Xmas Im afraid its too late to change them on that Lets find them a good day in March turn it into a long weekend and with a little bit of subtle per suasion wed get a good percentage of people coming back to the church But leave our alone