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The rueged determination and the unselfish co--operation of the --people of Paisley. and. surrounding »district was amply wepaid on Saturday might, Feb. 19th, when more than 2350 men, wo-- men and children crowded their way into \ithe. WarMemotial: Community Centre 'to «witness the formal opening of" that fine, new structure; . Feb. 19th is, to residents of this area, avdate that brings heart=chilling. memories.. Bor it { was on that date. just one year ago, i that toaring flames razed Paisley's _firsti War Memorial Community Contre--a| $40,000 structure that had been erected largely through local planning and Tas. bor, and by the contributions of local\ and district people who had decided tof pay honor to the dead of World War II by building a community centre »that' would provide clean and wholesome,; all--the--year--round recreation 'for 'the boys and girls, The Centre was. fin--; ally opened officially. on Feb. 14th, and! then, just five days afterward, the fi:ei demon laid claim to the memorial struc-- ture, and in less than: five hours t.here' remained nothing of that proud build--] ing buta mass of tortured and 'twisted steel, great heaps of smoking embers, and an apparently undamaged concrete} foundation. > Dhat» night of 'Feb. 19, 1948, was certainly 'one of the most tragic in the history of this community. Largest Indoor Sports Crowd In History of Bruce County Packs Fine New Building fer Impressive Ceremonies--Weather Favorable to Everything but Ice Surface --Many Notabies Present for Occasion--Additional Government Grant Is Promised. The entire cost of that building had been raised by public subscription--now it was all gone--all but $14,000 of in-- surance. money, -- Could one dare to: voice--the hope that it might be possi-- ble to. rebuild? y F It was--and they did! Within 24 hours after the terrible conflagration it was apparent to ob--, servers that the people of the com-- munity had been thoroughly aroused by the disaster, and urged on by their encouraging comment, members of the committee. which had. supervised the erection of the ill--fated structure, im-- mediately, anoved to secure a igeneral and concrete gpinion of %ffiggplgf{n] SIOTE: There followed public meetings, at-- tended by great crowds iof men and women, not ouly of the village, but of Elderslie, Brice, Greenock, Saugeen, Arran and Brant, The opinion was un-- animous--"Go ahead and re--build {" (And so the detision vga; made--and just exactly one year after that fateful night of Feb. 19th, 1948, Paisley and district's second memorial community centré was officially opened and sol-- emnly dedicated, tor| the abso hnearted. co--ope paisley --@ ad areas. Itds ve neig'hb'?- mnay other c in the drg the.matter. Smoke was'st:é&,vffing frout the (ruing when the first qmof-- DL uiB Awnice t icot 5s sn y' m t 2l ricial gathering of committee men de-- cided to exert their every effort td:re-' building, and as soon as humanly pos--| It has been a difficult job, this mat-- ter of beginning a--new and buildmg all over again. (It was, in fact, a task that would 'have 'b.'efli_hm!'momtable, but sible: ;fly 2400 Persons Attend Formal _ Opening of Paisley and District _ _ War Memorial Community Centre -- unselfish, wholc-- Mwof 'the people.of Surrounding. . rural i¢ that sympathetic 'Grey, Huron and , aided materially --building . funds-- With Tory. Greeg of CKNX acting as master of. ceremonies, the procurd= ings included short addresses by W. s Forrester, Reeve of Paisley, Walter E. lai..., aut. for Gréy--Bruce, Kenzie woster, MLA. for Bruce, W. 'I, Craickshank, general--manazer of CK NX, John H. Stafford, Toronto, as well as a number of Paisley old--voys wack home for the occasion, and including Ang«s P. MacKinnon, O.B.E, Schoi-- field Russell--and. Hugh" McArthur of Toronto, C. Bruce McKenzie of Owen, Sound, and Duncan McArthur of Rip. ley, ~as well <as Jack 'Park, sports editor of the London Free Press, and Chick Appel of the Stratiord Beacon-- Herald. Earl Rushton, manager ot the 'building, and chairman of the general 'building 'committee, voiced thanks to 'all who had helped to build the arena, and paid tribute to N. 0. Hipel Co. of 'Preston, the contractors, and to the engineer, W. C, Beattie, and the fore> man, Jas. Snyder, . Mr. Snyder then presented Mr. Rushton with the key to the building, and it is also fact that some of the )mpst generous . contributions . ware forthcoming from Paisley and district 'ald boys and girls, most of whom had 'previously forwarded 'cheques to assist in building the first community centre. But the driving force behind the cam-- 'paigu was the almost 100 per cent tin-- 'am'mily of the village and: the country folk in supporting the project by ac-- tion, by cash donation, and by their enthusiastic support 'of. the various committees set up to--carry on the pre-- liminary planning, . This achievement was realized only because Paisley and }its tural friends and neighbors made up such a co--operative alliance as was impossible to deny. Now the task is almost complete in every detail--and as an achievement, is a magnificent ong, Indeed, ~Paisley and district can be intensely. . proud--not _ only because of what they have accomplished, but because they have in their midst, the finest Memorial Community Centre in 'this part of Ontario, The" official opening. of Paisley's War--Memorial Community Centre was favored . with excellent weather for travel, and with roads bare all over the district, the crowd came from almost every centre in this part of Western Ontario, while scores--reached. Paistey from Toronto, London and even--more 'distant points.-- The mild weather did 'not assist the ice--makers and it was1 found necssary to abandon plans for gaily. decorating the big sheet of hock-- ey ite. Tt was almost too soft for the two. performing teams, while the Owen Sound figures 'skaters ~erformed mir-- acles in providing a hali--hour program of fancy ice capers. But nobody cared about theice, and by: the time the cere-- monies began at 8:30 p.m., the ticket 'office had sold 2264 tickets! There was another group of guests, and 'with news men, hockey players and 'fancy skaters, the attendance was ac-- ually in excess of 2350. sF. was popped in with only seven seconds| left to play in the final period. The Graup 5 goals were scored by Thren-- \dyle of Kincardine, with Schrank tak-- ing Dudgeon's pass to count the only goal for Group No: 3. Referees wers Harry Doughty of Walkerton and Wan. \McArthur of Owen Sound. f \ Aubrey Stauffer of Waikerton, who donated the fine $700 public address system to. the building, was also a \speaker during the opening ceremonies.. Following the hockey game, Jack H. Stafford of Toronto,, former Paisley and Saugeen Township boy, was fiost to the Community Centre executive; members of both teams, the referets and a number of gttests, at a fowl sup-- per held in the Central Hotel dining room. Mr. Stafford also presented each of the players with a box of the \fine sundae, sauces which is one of the specialties of" bis manufacturing company. Tory Gregg acted as chair-- man of the informal tall--fest Shat followed the dinner, and 'among those who were heard speaking briefly were Mr. Stafford, W. T. Gruickshank, R. G. Grant, Pelt McCoy, Angus Mac-- |Kinnon, Chick Appel, S. F. Ballachey and W. 5. Forrester. The plague, in honor of the Paisley and district men who died during. the Second World War, will be placed at the entrance to the Community Centre, Tt was not ready for the opening of (the building, but will. be put in place, later, when an unveiling ceremony will be held. ?he names. of, the: following men will be inscribed on the plague : Paisley--Lloyd Dudgeon, Fred Haw-- kin, Wilfred Rolston; Elderslie Town-- ship--Nelson Howe, Ray Jackson, Dan-- ald McKillop, ) Robert. McGill, George Nicoll, Gordon Powell, Leslie Thomp=' 'son;. Greenock Township--John Clark, Frank Cooper, Roy Leeson, Victor Lemont, Edward Lehman, Earl Reid, \James .. Steffler; -- Bruce Township-- Robert McDougall; -- Saugeen Town-- 'ship--Gordon Weeden,-- _ es PAISLEY & DISTRICT WAR MEMORIAL COMMUNITY CENTRE | Members\ of the Georgian Figure \Skating Club.of Owen.Sound present-- ed a half--hour performance of fancy :;skating, which was thoroughly enjoy-- 'ed by the, crowd. & Following the opening cermonies, the dedication of the building: took place, Led by Pipers--Stewart Muir and Wm. MacDonald, fifty members of the local branch of the Canadian Legion, parad-- ed on to the ice, with a color guard of three ex--servicemen in full uniform; --Malcolm McNeill, the army, Laur= ence Stark, the air force and Lloyd McNeill the navy. ~ The brief, but impressive dedication ceremony was conducted. by. the three ministers, Rey, H. C, Linstead, Rev._W. H. Chambers and Rev. D.°G. Archi= baid. Mrs. Wim, Rolston, whose son, Pte. Wilfred Rolston, was iilled: at Dieppe, assisted with the "raising, of the large Canadian. Ensign donated: to the Community Centre "by Vancouver Bruce County Old~Boys and Girls As-- sociation:. 'Iwo minutes'. silence was observed by the buge gathering and Last Post and Reveille were sounded by Ken Ites of Chesley. The sports' feature of the evening was a hockey game, with an all--star team from Group No. 3 of the W.O. AcAt taking on al all--star club select-- ed from Group No. 5. George Grant, veteran Paisley ice star, was in charge of the former, and also took his turn on the ice, while Pelt McCoy of Luck-- now, handled the No. 5 club. Despite the--heayy ice, the players turned in a sparkling prformance, with the team from the southern group, No. 5, taking a 2--1--verdict when the winning goal PAISLEY, ONTARIO, FEB. 23, 1949 cermonies, the