1965 - Don Messer Show in Reston

 

Contrary to the name of this blog, todays post is about neither a brick nor a board, just historic. It came about from reading the archived Reston Recorders for the spring and summer of 1965.  Over 57 years ago, the town was abuzz with a huge Canadian performer who was appearing for a show in Reston on Monday, June 28, 1965. The newly rebuilt rink would be the location as no other building in town came close to holding the number of people the Reston Lions Club hoped would attend. 

Don Messer was born in 1909 in New Brunswick in and after learning to play fiddle as a child, he formed a band when he worked in Prince Edward Island at a radio station as a music director.  By 1944, he and his group "The Islanders" were airing an evening show nationally on CBC radio.  Television was in its infancy but beginning in 1959,  Don Messer’s Jubilee was the second most watched show on CBC, right after Hockey Night in Canada.  Their popularity continued through the early 1960’s and cross country tours and albums of the music were fan favourites.  CBC cancelled the show in 1969 to the fury of many fans and a discussion was even held about the decision in the House of Commons. The show did continue to be broadcast through syndication for another 5 years until the death of Don Messer in 1973.  The memory of his heydays and watching the half hour show on on Monday nights from Brandon CKX Channel 5 is one many of my readers will surely recall along with me!

Preparations focused on selling tickets to be sure the club did not lose the "substantial guarantee" they had to pay to get the show to come. Reston was the smallest town visited on this tour and Yorkton, SK was the next stop. Seating for 2000 fans in the newly built rink?  No problem! The Coca-Cola company from Brandon lent wooden Coke crates and planks were borrowed from Beaver Lumber Company in Reston. Volunteer labour was used to construct the seating and manage the crowd. There is no word in the paper about refreshments but a 2 hour show starting at 8:30 pm would have had a crew looking after that as well. Despite poor initial ticket sales, a profit of $400 was realized and the evening was cemented in the memories of over 1500 area residents forever!  The Lions hosted the Messer troupe at a coffee and sandwich party at the Legion after the show before they spent a long day cleaning up. A friend tells me he still has his old autograph book signed by Don, Charlie, Marg, Johnny Forrest and a few others. He remember Catherine MacKinnon went to the bus right after the show and doesn't know if she signed any autographs.  Thanks for sharing your memories!

For anyone looking for a trip down memory lane, here is an hour’s Don Messer Show viewing and listening for you on YouTube for a snowy afternoon! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svYESS3Bg3Y

I'll finish this post the same way the show always ended with the WW1 tune Till We Meet Again sung here by Doris Day. 

Reston's Tinker Jones - Reg Coleman

When I read about a tinsmith, the only picture my mind can find is Tinker Jones from Little House on the Prairie. The episode was about the town wanting a bell for the church and the adults fighting over who would donate it. The children, led by Laura and Mary of course, had all the children of Walnut Grove gather up pails, oil cans, tin toys, dippers and everything else metal from their homes and farms. Tinker melted them all down and made a bell that would belong to them all.  

 





Here's what I found about Reston's longest serving tinsmith. Reginald George Coleman was born in England in 1886, the son of a schoolmaster. He and his wife Hilda Stevenson married in 1913 in Staffordshire, England and then immigrated to Canada.  At first he was employed in a hardware as a tinsmith in Strathcona Municipality, near Belmont and then moved onto Reston in 1917. He was the tinsmith for Manitoba Hardware and Lumber on the northwest corner of Main Street and Second Avenue until it was destroyed by fire in 1921.  I wonder if he was one of the men posing in front of the building in this picture below from the Olenick collection.  

 Reg went into business on his own after the fire and the Trails Along the Pipestone history book written in 1981 says his shop was located in the Baldwin Block, south of the bank where the Hometown Lumber warehouse sits today. He also operated in the Mennie Block at the south end of Main Street for a time until moving to a spot to the east of Lockhart's Garage on Railroad Avenue. He was able to custom fabricate pipes for heating and plumbing and make eavestroughs to fit any house. He was the "Tinny" in the area for almost 4 decades!

 

Reg and Hilda had 2 daughters Helena and Ethel and a son George. The son is remembered fondy by area residents by the nickname "Tinny".  The history book author recalls that Reg owned only a motorcycle and he travelled in it with his wife Hilda in a sidecar. I suppose his raw materials would have come in on the train and perhaps the sidecar was used to move them to his shop as well. Reg's granddaughter tells me that George used the motorcycle as well over the years. 

Mr. Coleman was a Past Worshipful Master of the Reston Masonic Lodge. He was also Justice of the Peace in Reston for many years. In this role, he would have handed out fines for minor offences like speeding. 

His wife Hilda died in 1948 and after that, he made a trip back to England to visit his family and rest until spring. In the fall of 1956, he sold his plumbing, heating and tinsmithing business to Elgin Gemmil who ran a Hardware in Pipestone.  Reg Coleman was a faithful advertiser in the Recorder right up until he closed. His retirement in March of 1956 was a front page story.  The building was used for storage for a time and then purchased by Leonard Ludlam who combined tinsmith and electrical work there until 1979 when he built a new shop on Main Street north of the gas station. 

After the sale of his home, he planned a trip to Spokane, Washington where his daughter Ethel Sinclair lived. After that, he was off to Vancouver to live with his other daughter Helen McMurchy and his son George.  Reginald George Coleman died on April 30, 1967 at the age of 84. He was buried beside his wife in Reston Cemetery.   Any further information or pictures are welcomed as always.  

In that headline story in 1956, The Reston Recorder said:

Reg was always ready to lend a helping hand and could be depended on to do a rush job at any hour. He will be greatly missed.  The best wishes of the community go with Mr. Coleman in his retirement. 

He was as famous in his own community as Tinker Jones was in his. 

Youngs Harness Shop

Herbert Charles Youngs was born in Norfolk, England and immigrated to Virden with his family in 1911. He was listed on the ship log as an apprentice harness make and 15 years old.  As with many young immigrants, he chose to go back across the sea and fight in WW1 in September of 1914. He served in the 5th battalion until his discharge in March of 1919. He was wounded a couple of times and probably his vocation as a harness maker saved him from a heavy combat role.

In July of 1919, Herbert Charles Youngs took over the harness shop on Reston from W.W. Shippam. The shop was formerly run by E.J. Wilkins and it was where the playground is situated today on Main Street. In 1920 in Winnipeg, he married Lily Kempton. Their daughter Lily Alice Patricia was born in March of 1921 in Reston and on the 1921 census, the family of three were living on 5th street in Reston. In January of 1922, H.C.'s business relocated to the Cates block which is on the far right of this postcard below and is where Hometown Lumber sits today. 

The unique ad for his business from the Reston Recorder in May of 1921 caught my eye and inspired today's blog post is reposted at the top of the page. Most advertisements were text and an outline picture like this is unusual for local businesses. Google helped me find a surprise - you can still buy Bickmore's Gall Cream to aid curing of sores on horses today! Originating in Old Town, Maine in 1882 to tend to wounds, cuts, or sores suffered by horses in the logging industry, it quickly became popular.  Household products for humans followed including Bickmore Easy-Shave Cream, Toothpaste, Cold Cream, Disappearing Cream, Pom-Gloss, and XYZ Skin Ointment.

   

H.C. Youngs had a prominent ad in the paper for the next few years and it is through them that the story of his business remains. The mainstay of his business would be making and repairing horse harness using rivets along with stuffing and patching collars. Harnesses would need to be oiled and some shops had a tank to dip the harness in for this job. Besides harness, he dealt in boots and shoes, skate straps and threshing machine belts. Canvas for binders were made and repaired in his shop. I can only imagine any harness maker's fear when more and more cars and tractors were seen in the mid-twenties and fewer horses clopped down the streets of Reston.  He must have taken his skills to a larger center 

 as the last Youngs ad that I came across was printed the February 28, 1924 of the Recorder. According to an Ancestry tree online, another daughter Phyllis Joy was born in Saskatchewan and Herbert died in Coquitlam, B.C. in 1976.  I'm glad to recognize the contribution made by Mr. Youngs to early Reston.  Further information is always welcome in the comments below.   

Berry’s Allied Hardware - The Clock Ticks On

Today's blog post is lifted right from the pages of the 1965 Reston Recorder. A post here from almost 2 years ago tells the story of that corner in Reston where Reston Drugs now sits. Edward Hanlon Berry, his father Anson and brothers Fred, Harcourt, Lewis D. and Lawrence made huge contributions to early businesses and life in Reston and Cromer. The next generation, John Berry was in charge of the store in 1965 when renovations took place. Berry Hardware was a dependable advertiser in the Reston Recorder and a few from 1965 are copied and pasted below. This article - The Clock Ticks On -  is so was well written, I can just picture the scene!  See if you can too.

It’s a completely renovated interior that visitors to the Berry Hardware here will view on the official opening next Thursday, Friday and Saturday, except for one item – the large pendulum wall clock which has been ticking off the seconds, minutes and hours for over 50 years.
Customers will tread on the new newly laid tile floor, view the wares displayed on new gondolas on the floor and on new shelving on the walls, all ultra modern under the new lighting system while the old clock keeps ticking off the time.
The clock on the north wall towards the front of the store has a massive pendulum suspended from several rods of different kinds of metal, designed so the temperature changes do not affect its accuracy. The design works, for it has been keeping time for all these years.
It was purchased many years ago by the late E. H. Berry, founder of the firm, when he was in the jewelry business here and was the official watchmaker for this C.P.R. He use the clock to test the accuracy of the railroad watches he repaired.
It is fitting that this one link with the past should be retained and it looks right at home in the ultra modern store, hanging in the place it has occupied for so many years.

The clock ticked on in this building that was constructed in 1922 until the mid seventies when the remaining goods were sold by auction and the building was torn down in 1975. I do wonder if that magnificent clock ticks on somewhere?  Perhaps one of my readers will have the rest of the story.  

Square Deal Co-op

Reston Recorder November 1965

The business known as the Square Deal Co-Op began at Ewart, MB in 1929 with farmers pooling their money in a co-operative to start a fuel supply business. E.J. "Eddie" Guthrie was at the original meeting where the goal was to get 57 farmers to sign up at $25 each a share to finance the venture. The first board was chaired by James Stuart Donald with Joe Wood as vice president. David J. Brownlee was the secretary, Ed Walker, Tom McKay and W.J. Hitchcock were on the board with Eddie Guthrie. Joe Wood was hired as the Co-op Manager that summer so Archie Campbell took his spot on the board. A plant was established with storage tanks and pumping facilities and the next year an office was built. Business continued through the hard years of the depression when sometimes members needed to personally guarantee the fuel supplier would be paid to receive delivery.   Much discussion happened in 1944, when it was proposed to move the facilities to Reston. The motion to move carried 26 votes to 15.

A building on the west side of Main Street (which was later Bernice's Fabric Gallery) was the start of the Square Deal Co-Op in Reston.  Expansion came with community support and a fertilizer shed was built in 1963. Lots were purchased from Hugh Buscarlet and Harry Forrest for a new farm supplies store.  The warehouse was built on the north side of the lots where the  Fumerton/Baldwin block had been and the farm supplies service center on the Cates block space.  The lumber warehouse was (and still is) to the southeast of these buildings where Reuben Johnson had previously run a draying business.  Doug Donald was president when the new locations were opened. 

The grand opening of these buildings was just about exactly 57 years ago from writing this post! 

Bulk fuel deliveries were the mainstay of the Square Deal Co-Op and operated for many decades. Lloyd Johnson was in charge of fuel and deliveries from 1959 to 1980 from tanks on Railroad Avenue. Edwin's account above for $6.65 was entered by Fred Paul, a longtime employee as was Bob Clark and Clifford Smith. Hardware and farm supplies were also important goods as is shown in the receipts below from 1962 and 1967. 

The hardware and lumber divisions had separate managers and many names are associated with the Square Deal.  Gordon Bieber moved to Reston in 1970 to be lumber manager.  He boarded with Mary and John MacDonald until he bought his own home just to the east of it.  He and his family lived here until 1976 when he transferred to Melville Co-op.  Please let me know in the comments below or to ssimms@escape.ca if you know of other former managers or employees. The stories of the people of Reston's past are so important to preserve!

Opening Specials 1965 - Clipped from Reston Recorder online

On December 1980, the Square Deal Co-Op  hardware and lumber division was closed and it became T&C Hardware.  Later, it became Stewart Lumber operated and party owned by Brian Zarn. It became part of the Pro Hardware franchise eight years down the road in 1989. Many local homes and businesses were constructed over these 26 years with materials supplied by Stewart Lumber. North American Lumber took over for a time and the store ceased operation in June of 2007. Hometown Lumber & Supply opened in this space in the fall of 2016 and are going strong. Square Deals continue in Reston!

November, 2022 - 57 years after the Grand Opening

Remembering King Edward VII in 1910

Today's post originates from a church service folder that has survived since May of 1910 to help tell the story of a small town on the Manitoba prairies remembering King Edward VII of England.  Edward VII was the son of Queen Victoria and came to the throne upon her death in 1901. After one day's illness, he died on May 6, 1910.  Word quickly spread around the world and as one of the British colonies, Canada was in mourning. It was the end of the Edwardian Era. 

An announcement in the May 19, 1910 issue of the Reston Recorder told citizens that a memorial service for the late monarch was set for Friday May 20th at 2:30 pm.  Businesses were to be closed from 1:00 on and the school children would march as a body from the school. The Citizens Band and a Union Choir would provide musical accompaniment. It was reported afterward that the church was filled with citizens showing their loyalty and respect.  

Picture postcard from Peel's here  - Built in 1902

The Memorial Service folder titled "The King Is Dead" below was printed for each person in attendance including the school children.  Thanks to the Olenicks for saving this one in their collection of Reston pictures and memorabilia. What an interesting quest to track down the names mentioned taking part in this service over 112 years ago!

I assume that Rev. A. J. Tufts was the man in charge of the Reston Presbyterian Church where the service was held.  The Methodists had their own building that still stands as a cozy home on the corner of Second Street and Third Avenue until they combined with the Presbyterians and worshipped in the current Reston United Church.  

The reader of the scripture was E. B. Groulx who was the minister of the St. John's Anglican Church, also known as the English Church.   

The address was read by A.E. Smith, a man prominent in local municipal affairs along with being a businessman.

Reston Citizen's Band 1910 - Picture from Reston District Museum

George Sumner who gave a solo appears in the above picture of the band in the back row behind the drum with the moustache.  He  was a tinsmith in Reston for a short time, working for the Manitoba Hardware Company. 

Rev W. Reid was pastor of the Reston Baptist church.

The service ended with The Dead March in Saul, written by Handel in 1738.  You may recognize the tune here played on an organ the way it would have been in 1910. Miss May Jackson was the 20 something daughter of Thomas Wesley Jackson who was a prominent businessman in Reston's early days. 

George V King 1910-1936

Son of Edward VII, George V was now the new King and the following quote was found in the Recorder. 

Rev. Tufts spoke briefly on the new King and the bright prospect of his being a worthy successor to Edward VII

He would lead the Commonwealth through World War 1 and he along with his wife Queen Mary witnessed the rapid changing of times for almost 3 decades.  On the death of George V in 1936, his son Edward VIII was King for less than a year until he abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. His brother Bertie, known as George VI took the throne in December of 1936.  His daughter Elizabeth became Queen in 1952 for the next 70 + years.  Quite the change from 112 years ago - her passing wasn't marked with a local memorial but we could all tune into as much coverage as we wanted through the media.  King Charles III is now the monarch and the anthem played at Remembrance Day services was once again - God Save the King. 

Reston and Area Residents at War

Remembrance week gives us an opportunity to think back about the veterans that chose to leave the streets and farms of our community to fight overseas.  In the past, emphasis has been placed on those who did not return but with the passage of time and programs like No Stone Left Alone  the soldiers who survived and came home are remembered. 

The pride of Reston! Picture below is of eleven young men standing in front of the train station on their way to World War Two.  Identified men are in the front row starting on the left are John Milliken, Wilf Ellis, ?, Jim Milliken.  Other names associated with the picture are Bill Bulloch, Lew Watt, Don Bulloch, Neuf Olenick, Dave Zarn, Reg Low, George Cheyne and Tom Low but I don’t know which is which.  Please send me a message at ssimms@escape.ca if you can help with this. I see a few grins and a few grimaces and notice the variety of cap badges which denote the branch the men were returning to join. 

Picture courtesy of Wendy (Milliken) Bulloch

Past blog posts list the information behind the names on the Reston Cenotaph from the First World War here and Second World War here . Two of those men from WW2 who made the ultimate sacrifice are in the hometown picture below.  Andrew Glenn Caldwell and Kenneth Cameron McMurchy .  So sad to think this was likely their last visit home and how the others carried the memories with them of those days.

Thanks to Kay and Bonnie Guthrie for sharing this photo. 

James Burton (Burt) Pierce is identified on the photo below as the man on the far right. I wonder if the other soldiers are buddies from Reston or those he met on duty.  Burt was well known in the Reston area for having the G.S. Munro Company Ltd Store on Main street for many years after he returned from the war until selling it in 1977.  He and his wife Alice are also remembered for their philanthropy, leaving generous bequests to several local places. 

From John and Vera Olenick photo collection

Access to the back issues of the Reston Recorder here allows for some great insight of Reston and area  during both wars by just choosing a date and reading.  The district correspondents from Hillview, Belses, Kelvindale, Braeside, Huston and so many more kept readers up to date on the young people overseas.  Letters home from the boys (and girls) were printed along with reports of wounded missing and killed.  Recorder editor and publisher Russell Manning was serving in the Air Force and he was a strong booster for memorial projects in the area such as the Reston Memorial Theatre after the war as well.   

 

A stanza from the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon                                                                                                                                 They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.


Source: The London Times (1914)

 

People of Our Past - Reston Girls Club

Is it by Google searching the name of your mother, grandmother or great grandmother that landed you on this blog post today?  Maybe it was another female ancestor and maybe this is the first time you've seen their face?  Mission accomplished!  I receive emails occasionally from someone who stumbled across one of my family history posts who is connected and the internet hits I've found myself over the years make me think this my be an important post today. No one will find connections to the pictures that I have on the hard drive of my computer, I need to post them!

Picture supplied to the Reston Recorder by Alex Milliken of Penticton, B.C. sometime in the 1980's (?)

 Top row - left to right Jessiemen Prentice (Mrs. Gordon Mathews), Nellie Brown, Mabel Hales, Unknown, Polly McDougall (Mrs. J. Cadham), Mary Milliken (Mrs. J. Jardine), Marion Robertson (Mrs. Art Manning), Elsie Prentice, Jewel Brown (Mrs. Peach), Grace Shippam, Mae Jackson

Bottom row - left to right Lizzie Bulloch (Mrs. Jos. Robertson), Edith Bulloch (Mrs. Lloyd Fumerton), Ida Rankin (Mrs. Merv Evans), Annie MacLachlan (Mrs. Clyde Bulloch), Ethel Hales (Mrs. Ralph Shippam), Edith Munro (Mrs. Herb McIntosh), Zel Collins, Ida Rankin (Mrs. Godin), Marie Burge (Mrs. McLean)

Text of clipping - Does anyone know when the above picture was taken?  It came courtesy of Alex Milliken of Penticton, B.C. And it came via the Berry collection from Burton Berry, who rescued the picture from an old granary on his farm.  

The girls are from left to right Vera Cavanaugh, Christine Guthrie, Grace Shippam, Jessie Prentice, Myrtle Evans, Elsie Prentice, Polly McDougall, Helen Brady, Dee Bulloch, Vicki Brown, Ethel Bingley, May Tanner, Janet McDonald, Ruth Morris

It is beloved that Christine Guthrie (Mrs. Christine Brinkworth of the Good Samaritan Nursing Home Southgate 4222-107th Street, Edmonton) is the only living member of the group. 

There are a few clues to date the photo.  The modest high neck style and hair-dos remind me of the Edwardian era - the early 1900's.  A check of Find a Grave for some of these ladies show they were born 1884-1887 era.  So I’m guessing the pictures were taken before 1910.  Leslie Eaton was one of the photographers of the Winnipeg Photo Company during this time.    

I am not able to supply much more information about todays post but it is really just a chance to share these photos. My hope is someone searching for one of these ladies will find the picture of her and that it might be the only one in existence. I did make links for the women to Find a Grave if I found them.  As always, I'd love to hear any more information about the ladies who called Reston "home" over a century ago. 

Anglo Oil Service Station

 1964 was a year of frenzied building in Reston.  After the disastrous fire in November the year before, a new rink was being built along with a post office, another gas station and at least one private home.  The first to be opened was the current Petro-Canada station on Main Street. The property had been a tennis court when it was owned by the lawyer who lived across the street, Kippen Cates. 

Anglo-Canadian Oils Ltd was established in 1939 and was very committed to small town service stations in 1964, the company had 384 employees, according to an interview with president J.L. Valena and half of that number were employed in towns in rural Manitoba.  They also a refinery in Brandon, where the Canadian Tire stands today where a million barrels of oil were processed in 1963. Crude came to Brandon from Alberta and Saskatchewan via the Interprovincial Pipeline. Manitoba crude was not suited to the equipment at this plant, apparently. 

Bob Peel was the first manager of the station and Don Benzie drove the bulk fuel truck and was a salesman.  Fred Paul's name is also connected to the early days of the Anglo Station. 

In 1966, the business  was rebranded as Royalite.  Bob Froese was manager in 1972 and along with Jim Pringle, had the business called B &J Gulf.  Other names associated with the garage over the years are Dale Mayert, Jim McLenehan, George Pringle and Vernon Cook.  In 1986, Petro-Canada took over Gulf as a crown corporation and Barry Caldwell was installed as the manager of Caldwell Sales and Service with operations in Melita and Reston on December 8, 1986.  Jack Smith was hired as a driver salesperson for bulk fuel.  Petro-Canada became a private company again in 1999. 

October 2022

Do you recall Power Toboggan Races and Potatoes?

 

April 2, 1963 was a historic evening in the Sportsman’s Room of the Reston Hotel.  Reston Lions Club was officially formed with Henry Claussen elected president. Sixteen members signed up that evening and the club soon grew with many more energetic Lions. They planned to meet the first and third Tuesday each month with one of those being a supper meeting. 

The Reston Lions Club was a very active group in Reston in the 60's and 70's.  Many projects were taken on by their crew of fundraisers and builders.  Mentioned previously in this blog include The Alstone Lodge, The Reston and District Museum, and the basement of the Reston Memorial Theatre.  They were instrumental in installing artificial ice in the rebuilt 1964 Rink now known as the Rec-Plex.  The Reston Lions playground on Main Street beside the bank was their centennial project in 1970.  It was at their push that got the Willowview personal care home started in the mid 1980’s. Tennis courts in the Park and Skeet Shooting at the fair grounds were supported financially.  An annual Seniors Christmas supper was another of their projects. Along with their projects, they are fondly remembered for their unique fundraisers starting with a dunk tank at the fair that first year of 1963.   

Power Toboggan Races were held for the first time northeast of Reston at Burton Berry's farm in 1969.  Ads reprinted below from the Reston Recorders online tell the story. Alex Watt was also advertised in the classifieds looking for a copper boiler to make coffee for the event.   

Profits from the day were pegged at $200 with 36 machines entered in 11 races. Three Sno-Sport machines were entered by the factory in Winnipeg and a number of Sno-Jet machines were shown by Art Belisle of Antler, SK who was a dealer for the machines. Classes included Children' 12 and under, Children 18 and under, Powder Puff (women drivers), classes by horsepower, open classes, Fat Man's race (?) and Cross Country.  Archive papers from 1970 indicate the race will not be held that year and may not ever be held again.  Hmmm - so many questions!

Reston Lions Club members were fundraisers were often ambitious and their potato crop was one that is well remembered. It was first tried in 1969 and the Recorder notes that thousands of pounds were grown in an area of just over 2 acres on 55 rows. It was a challenge initially when every family had their own idea for how the seed should be cut and the best way to tend the plants! Lions Club members and volunteers were assigned their own row or rows and competition took over to encourage the biggest harvest possible come October. All work was done by hand and shovel but as the fundraiser continued and grew, planting and harvesting machines were purchased by the club.  

Sometime in the past 20 years, the Reston Lions Club ceased to exist although some of the members joined the active clubs in Sinclair and Pipestone.  However, their mark was made and their contributions to the community are remembered!  

The Matter of Privacy at the Hospital

Welcome back for another fall and winter of Reston, Manitoba history.  Do you have any ideas or pictures for future blog posts?  I'd love to hear them!

A previous post about the Reston District Hospital is here but browsing through archived issues of the Reston Recorder this summer (https://rmofpipestone.com/p/reston-recorder-archive) turned up some more information and pictures.  Photos from the scanned microfilm and not very sharp but it’s something! These 3 were taken by Verne Glass on grand opening day when the public was invited in to look around and have tea. 

Reston hospital was officially opened on December 15, 1951. Community donations toward the building amounted to $4212.20 including $2000 from the Reston Memorial Theatre and $712.20 from the Masonic Lodge. A donation of 2 scales was made by Jim Sing of the Modern Cafe. The Reston Unit of the Hospital Aid was tasked with furnishing and buying equipment for the new hospital. It had 4 wards each having 2 beds, a case room, a nursery and nurses beds, staff dining room and kitchen on two floors. 

The community, and especially Dr. Chapman, had been promoting the idea of a community hospital since the flu epidemic of 1919 but homes and hospitals in surrounding communities were used instead. Finally in 1951, construction began at the far west side of town along the highway.  Reading through the past issues, listing of names of patients admitted and released were printed weekly.  it seems strange and lacking privacy according to today's standards although I recall seeing similar in the Minot, N.D. paper.

The hospital admission and discharge lists stopped in early 1969 and I was curious at to why.  Luckily, my questions was answered in the two Letters to the Editor below!

Lastly for today, the clipping below from 1970 certainly has a familiar ring to it.  I guess history is indeed bound to be repeated!