100 YEARS AGO Thursday, March 12, 1908

• Reports the TORONTO GLOBE of last Saturday: "Several guests who were coming down from Orangeville last night for the annual banquet and at-home of the Dufferin County Old Boys' Association, held in the Temple building, were unable to reach here on account of the trains being stormbound in that district. Nevertheless the attendance of members who are now residents of Toronto eclipsed all former occasions. W. A. Porteous, the president of the association, was toastmaster, and the various toasts were honoured in good style, the speakers being Messrs. Hewitt, William A. Algie (Alton), John Robinson, James Reith and Capt. Smith. The speeches were interspersed with musical program, the artists contributing being Mrs. Bennett, H. H. Bradfield and the Crescent Male Quartette."

The storm of last Thursday night prevented a number from Shelburne attending the banquet, and quite number who were in the city for the express purpose of attending the banquet on Friday evening came home instead of waiting for it, as they were afraid of another blockade on the Owen Sound branch of the C.P.R.

• Towns may be represented in the County Councils by their mayors, instead of their reeves and deputy reeves if the bill of Lieut.- Col. Hugh Clark (Centre Bruce) meets with approval at the present session of the Legislature. This method of representation will be optional, and will be decided by resolution of the majority of the municipalities in each county. A second clause of the bill provides a new system of voting in County Council on all principal expenditures of $1,000 or over. In such cases, a member's vote will be valued according to the assessment of the municipality he represents, At present the vote of the representative of a municipality with a small assessment is of equal value to that of one who represents a heavy municipal assessment in the passing of money grants or expenditures.

• Shelburne Public Library Board met Friday evening last. Rev. J. A. McKenzie was appointed chairman for the year, T. F. E. Claridge secretary-treasurer and Miss Jessie Galbraith librarian. The Board put on record its gratification at the increase in membership from 154 in 1906 to 200 in 1907, and in the increase in reading, especially in the heavier lines of literature, among the members. Improvements will be made in the reading room, both as regards lighting and reading table accommodations. A couple of hundred new books were added recently, bringing the total number of volumes in the library up near the 3,000 mark.

• Seven carloads of livestock were shipped from Shelburne station on Tuesday by Messrs. Skelding & Bates and Richardson & Rosevear. This is one of the best shipping points on the owen Sound branch of the CPR/ Messrs. Skelding & Bates alone paid to farmers during the year 1907 the sum of $200,000. We have not been able to secure the figures yet for same year from Messrs. Richardson & Rosevear and John Hodgson but the whole amount paid by all the dealers would represent a large amount of money for the year.

75 YEARS AGO Thursday, March 16, 1933

• Orangeville is the latest place to join the ranks of one-paper towns, the Orangeville Banner announcing last week its taking over of the business of the Orangeville Sun from the estate of the late John Foley. Following the death of Mr. Foley, the amalgamation is a logical one, and as a matter of fact the late Mr. Foley had more than once expressed the opinion to the editor of the Free Press & Economist that Orangeville should be down to one newspaper. The average weekly newspaper has hard enough sledding where there is only one newspaper in the place. Orangeville is assured of good service from Mr. McKitrick of the Banner, and he has our best wishes for success as publisher of "Orangeville's Newspaper."

50 YEARS AGO Wednesday, March 12, 1958

• With a record of 33 years representing the riding of Dufferin Simcoe to his credit, the Hon. Earl Rowe, PC, last week won his 13th nomination as Progressive Conservative candidate before a recordbreaking convention assembly in the Alliston Arena Auditorium. No other names were placed in nomination and Mr. Rowe was chosen by acclamation.

• Shelburne's old hydro sub-station on Main Street East is now an empty brick shell and destined to become a municipal storehouse. Equipment in the 43 year old building has been moved to a new substation on Main Street West.

25 YEARS AGO Wednesday, March 16, 1983

• D-Day, or rather M-Day, is approaching for local grocery stores, which are required to convert their scales to the metric system by the end of March. But Shelburne butcher Bill Besley adamantly refuses to consider making the conversion.