About a year ago, Brad Joseph pitched the idea of doing a column on the Lions Clubs of Newmarket and their history. He arranged for me to interview Tom Gordon from the North Newmarket Lions Club, and this column is the product of that interview and some information I had from a previous presentation. I’ll…
Tag: Oral History
The Neighborly History Of Newmarket And Aurora
In celebration of the launch of AuroraToday, I thought I would dedicate this column to a quick comparison our histories. I think you will find many parallels and some interesting differences between the two communities. The addition of a wider coverage of our local history is a most welcome enterprise and particularity so in the case of our…
Newmarket Old Boys Gathered For 1939 Reunion
Let’s go back in time to 1939 to the Newmarket Old Boys Reunion. I have made mention of this event in a few columns, but I think it was so momentous that it deserves its own column. The 1939 Newmarket Old Boys Reunion was predicated on the fact that many of the children and grandchildren of Newmarket’s pioneers…
George Haskett – Local Sport Renaissance Man
As a child, my parents would often take me to Haskett Park for skating on the outdoor rink located on 24 acres of land, stretching along Millard Avenue west to Queen Street, with ball diamonds, soccer fields, tennis courts, a clubhouse, washrooms and playgrounds. In 1951, the area west of the original town limits had been annexed to the town, including…
Local Family Cemeteries Continued
This weekend on Newmarket Today I have again chosen to continue my examination of the importance of ‘family cemeteries’ in the Newmarket area. This weekend the featured cemeteries may be a bit smaller and perhaps less well known but they are indeed excellent examples of the historical family cemeteries that I have been trying to…
Family Cemeteries Rich With Local History
This is the second in a three-part series on family cemeteries in the Newmarket area, in which we’ll investigate some of our local family cemeteries with an eye to their location, uniqueness, and history. Here is a list of the family cemeteries in York Region I shall examine in this column. You can get a full listing…
Significance Of The Family Cemetery
My topic for this weekend’s article on Newmarket Today will focus on one of my favorite topics, our local cemeteries. I have written a few articles in the past on the subject, focusing primarily on the history of the various public cemeteries in our area but I thought that this weekend we would have a…
Black History Is A Story Of Firsts In Canada
This column continues my two-part examination of our Black history. My goal for these columns has always been to whet your appetite, to encourage readers to investigate further to achieve a deeper understanding of the subject, so I’ve added some additional sources for you to follow up on. Let’s continue to explore the substantial contributions of the…
Black History Month An Opportunity To Celebrate Historical Heroes
I confess that I, like many Canadians, am sadly ‘late to the table’ regarding our understanding and appreciation of both our Black and Indigenous history and its importance in our collective history. Let’s look at how February became the month in which we focus our appreciation of our rich Black history. I will examine a…
Legion Renowned For Sponsoring Sports Teams, Hosting Soapbox Derby
This is another column in my ongoing regular series featuring the history of our local clubs and organizations. The Newmarket branch No. 426 of the Royal Canadian Legion — to which both my father and my uncle belong — was started in 1946. My column on Newmarket’s military camp explains that in August 1946, after the military camp…
