*READ ABOUT THE COURT CASE BEHIND THE WRIGHT HOUSE STORY

Just click the above link

Click the above "Court Case" link line to see a new special page added to this site...dating back to Fairport settlement days in the mid 1800s.

The Wright House on Sydenham Street

YOURS FOR THE CLICKING

OTHER DRESDEN RELATED BLOG SITES: YOURS FOR THE CLICKING
*DRESDEN: A PERSPECTIVE ON RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN MY HOME TOWN

*THE WRIGHT STORY": IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS HENRY AND MARY WRIGHT

*WRIGHTS LANE

*THE GAME I GREW UP WITH

*DRESDEN JUVENILES ONTARIO CHAMPS 1953

*THE PERRYS: MY OTHER HALF

*TRIBUTE TO DOC RUTTLE

Monday, June 1, 2015

MAYOR, FORMER MAYOR DISCUSS DRESDEN IN A WIDE-RANGING 1945 RADIO BROADCAST

Walter Weese
Harold McKim

I insert the following item as an introduction to this web site because it is a first-person(s) account of the 1940s Dresden in which I grew up. Then Mayor Harold McKim and former Mayor Walter Weese were featured guests on "The Kent County Family Almanac" program aired by CFCO Radio Station in Chatham. The program was broadcast weekly, placing the spotlight on Kent County communities. What follows is the transcript from a broadcast on Thursday, March 22, 1945. I apologize for the poor quality of the transcript reproduction (a magnifying glass may help). You may also click your cursor on the images to enlarge the type.
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I sense that Harold and Walter were just starting to get on a roll when they were typically and abruptly cut off by the announcer.  Had time permitted, I'm sure they would have given mention to Dresden merchants who not only served the town, but the neighboring rural area as well and the churches and service clubs that formed the hub of community activities.  It was good, however, that they gave prominent recognition to the contribution of Blacks (colored) in the early and current development of the town, even at a time when the racial discrimination issue was starting to rear its ugly head.  

They don't make 'em like Harold and Walter anymore...The imposition of amalgamation put and end to all of that!

Aerial view of south and central Dresden, circa 1957.


Downtown Dresden of my dad's youth.

Dresden Fire Brigade in front of their Fire Hall, circa 1900. 

Original Dresden Town Hall, 1906, located on Market Square (today Jackson's Park).


This is one of the earliest photos of Dresden in my collection. It is believed to be a gathering at the downtown four corners near the end of the Second Boer War in the Spring of 1902 and to witness the arrival of farm equipment by lake steamer (see photos below). Note the corner clock indicating the time as being  9:00 a.m. on a rainy day that turned the as yet unpaved road surface into a river of mud and muck. 

The Green Mountain Hotel (above), well-dressed citizenry on hand for arrival of farm implements by lake steamer.

The Dresden, Wallaceburg & Sarnia passenger vessel docked in front of The Green Mountain Hotel, circa 1910.


There is a great tradition of Old Boys Reunions in Dresden.  They were even having them in the 1940's when I was growing up.  Here is a photo of  Old Boys princesses from the summer of 1906.  Back row l to r,  Grace Turner (Mrs. Fred Zimmer), May Cuthbert (Mrs. Ern Sharpe); middle row, Stella Steeper (Mrs. Roy Baxter), Mabel Steeper (Mrs. Joe Wilson), Florence Graves ; front row, Jean Slater (Mrs. Art Hoyles) and Sabra Merrill (Mrs. Bill Prangley, later Mrs. Dr. Welch).  I remember them all! 



DRESDEN IODE:  This is a photo of the founding members of Dresden IODE chapter in about 1925.  Charter President Catherine McVean is sitting at the table (far left).  The only other women that I can identify are Mae (Cuthbert) Sharpe, third from the right and Estelle Jackson, standing in the back. The chapter would later be named the Catherine McVean Chapter, in honor of the first president.

A walk down Memory Lane, 1938-1956

Here's a very familiar downtown site for me -- Kay's Cafe flanked by Farnsworth Meat Market) and Dutch Ellis' Barber Shop, circa 1950.

The downtown Dresden of my youth.






Dresden Fire Department, 1951

Summer time (1941) and the livin' was easy...So was the fishin' for Ken and me.  Note Crisco can for worms and bamboo fishing polls. 




Gerald "Elmer" Cook
Roy Holmes






With his baseball days behind him and after retiring from Union Gas, Francis "Red" Brewer became manager of the new Lambton-Kent Memorial Arena in Dresden.


DRESDEN WOLF CUBS AND LEADERS, 1945



Ken giving his boss and mentor Faye Craig a trim in 1917.
Ken's tools of the barbering trade, 1917-1950.

THE TALE OF OUR ONLY CAR

The keys to Old Betsy with 1948 license tag.
My mother Grace and Old Betsy.




*THERE'S STILL MORE...
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