Letter to the Editor
Dear Friends,
This mild winter reminds me of a story that Vina Ufland told me. Vina had worked for the Meaford Express since 1910, and wrote the column THE SCROLL UNWINDS. In 1957 she became the Town Librarian using a room in a corner of Town Hall. When I began teaching in 1969 at GBSS, I invited her to talk to one of my classes. This is what she told the class.
In December 1911, the weather was so mild that the band played in the band stand in the market square on Christmas Day. In January, however, winter arrived and snowed every day for many a week. The coming of spring brought rain and it rained for several days in early April 1912.
The spring breakup caused severe flooding. The Powerhouse Dam, The Bakeshop Bridge, The Woolen Mill Dam, the Sykes Street Bridge, the Railway Embankment and Todd’s Tannery were all destroyed.
Seasons greetings,
Garry McEachern, Meaford
Local Historian
