Birr WI Tweedsmuir Community History, Volume 5, 1976-1984, p. 9

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| By BRIAN CHRISTMAS I of The Free Preéss ABOARD THE MOUNTAINâ€"TYPE STEAM ENGINE 6060 â€" About 750 people went from IIdefton to Clinton Sunday the way they used to many years ago â€"by steam locomotive. _ _ _ ‘The 80â€"mile return trip was the finale of I1dâ€" erton‘s weekend centennial celebration. Centennial reminiscences puff out of lIderton‘s past _ The lIderton céentennial parade was an hour late starting _ were included and the one which drew the most chuckles Saturday, but was worth the wait. Bands.and theme floats . .involved firemen extinguishing an outhouse blaze. 44 feflobe /A xd M ut se oat ""This is what we had a 100 years ago, so we wanted to do it for the kids,‘" said Tom Robson of tht centennial committee, _ Many people dressed for the bccasion, sportâ€" ing 19th century attire and some with full growths of "centennial beards." _ The engine left/an intermittent trail of thick, black smoke as it wormed through wheat and EiE leabe 45 drika OME A, brass band "rolled out the barrel" as peoâ€" ple sang and ate from pienifc baskets. .. . . __... "~‘At Clinton, Dagpipers escorted the travellers to a nearby park where a dplaq_ue was presentâ€" ved to Clinton Reeve Harold Lobb. ; ® Public outery forced its revival in 1973, said Mr. Brewer, a master mechanic at CN. > Allen Brewer, Norm Nicholls and Roy Hick, g‘l)l %%l‘ongt‘;i{xgggmifie%qf_ CN, were. at the ntrols of the ‘‘iron horse." . . _ _ ) . _The engine, bullt in Montreal in J8144, seryâ€" iced we,s'l'ern";‘)‘r(?xfinws un fi%l??%%#ed onto a concrete slab in Jasper, Alta., around 1960. said. Clinton was chosen as the train‘s destination because it has a "Y" track enabling it to turn around. â€"The ‘Ilderton centennial committes paid| $9,000: to ;charter the train, Mr. Robson «_ Those who couldn‘t buy the $10 adult and $5 children‘tickets but wanted to be in on the fun, formed a motorcade in hot pursuit on a road which paralleled the rail line part of the way to Clinton. 1 5 r Some of the 13 coaches offered quiet airâ€"conâ€" ditioned comfort.. > : Many railway crossings had dozens of picâ€" tureâ€"taking and tapeâ€"recording spectators fasâ€" cingated by the olive green hulk. . / vegetable fields. Herds of livestock were sent into a frenzy by the unfamiliar sight and sound. ‘ _ _ Iderton‘s first century es l | i â€" wl t 8 ¢ f es O f f ""*"" l2 & T > t * » " N f A mileâ€"long parade started the celebrations Saturday with four bands and a number of comic and historic floats as an estimated 6,000 people watched. ‘ _The Midlanders: Drum and Bugle Corps from London had the honor of leading the paâ€" â€" But this was not a normal weekend, as popuâ€" lation mushroomed from Friday to Sunday while IIderton celebrated its 100th birthday, By DERIK HODGSON 4 of The Free Press . ILDERTON â€" Normally this is a quiet comâ€" miunity of about 400 persons. _ __._ The Taylor family of RR 1, IIderton, dressed in the garb of the pioneers, put sevenâ€"monthâ€"oldAdam in an, 85â€"yearâ€" The marching band let out a tremendous blatt with their horns and drums. as they passed a group of animals getting ready to join the procession. _ A goat, a dog, a horse and two pigs decided they weren‘t music lovers and headed for the back 40. The parade was the biggest ever held here and probably one of the best in the area in reâ€" cent years. P e i9 e rade and inadvertently «started a small stampede. ‘ Moreâ€" thanâ€" 100 units took part, including Snd $24% Hoeibne on ts old baby bUgIY and mareheq proudly in the Ilderton, cenâ€" tennial p_arade Saturday_ ' Ato eape w 9% Emm Sm Cetenee Bs 1 The celebration actually marks the start of rail service through the community in 1876. Local historians believe the first settlers startâ€" ed to arrive in the area around 1820. > The Strathroy and Iderton fire departments turned hoses on each Other mid way in the paâ€" rade and renewed their battles on the tugâ€"oâ€" war field later in the d8Yâ€" . }_ â€"_, _ 3 Other events Saturday included log:sawing and pole climbing contests _ . | Shriners, bands from Goderich and Ingersoll and dozens of antique Cars and farm impleâ€" ments. Samian o on s t Simes NeR

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