Photo/DAN PELTON THE STATUE OF ORANGE LAWRENCE looks on as Mr. Lawrence's great, great, great grandson - David Lawrence of Milton, Ont. - addresses the 40th annual Lawrence Family Reunion Sunday outside the Orangeville Town Hall. In 1844, an unassuming, yet enterprising, chap named Orange Lawrence arrived in the Township of Mono, purchased 100 acres of land and proceeded to build a tavern and a store.

In 1857, he brought two of his brothers-in-law, Thomas Jull and John W. Reid, to the area and flour mills were built.

In 2007, Orange Lawrence is acknowledged as the founding father of Orangeville and the official unveiling of a statue of him took place in front of Town Hall last Saturday.

The event coincided with the 40th annual Lawrence Family Reunion and drew 136 of his estimated 2,000 descendants from around the region and as far away as Weyburn, Saskatchewan.

The statue, sculpted by the husband-and-wife team of Donna Pascoe and Peter Turrell, shows a hardworking man with his jacket slung over one shoulder and holding a set of town plans at his side.

There is no bravado sculpted into the likeness because - according to Lawrence's great, great, great grandson David Lawrence of Milton - Orange Lawrence always saw himself as just an ordinary guy making a living.

In a speech to approximately 200 people on hand at the ceremony, David Lawrence spoke of how his entrepreneurial ancestor built his first businesses.

He then turned to Deputy Mayor Warren Maycock, who was presiding over the ceremony, and pondered aloud: "I wonder how long it took him to get his permits?"

For sculptor Peter Turrell, the statue was not only a tribute, but also a vital reminder of the community's historic roots.

"Towns or nations that do not recognize their roots suffer a form of social incest from feeding only on current events without a mind to where we come from," figures Mr. Turrell.

He also feels the landscaping efforts on Broadway - of which the Lawrence statue is a key part - is "important to the sustainable future of Orangeville."