Mutual Improvement Societies

Today’s post is taken from the pages of the Reston Recorder’s November 11, 1909 edition.  A group of citizens are attempting to reinvigorate the Reston Mutual Improvement Society that had become inactive in the village.  The front page article penned by "A Well Wisher", relates the history of the society going back to 1886.  Trails Along the Pipestone (1981) had photos of 4 of these men as they were former Reeves.     

Looking north up Fourth (Main) Street Reston in 1908

Mr. Editor – With your kind permission I would like to draw attention to the notice of the annual meeting of the R.M.I.S to be held tomorrow evening.

The original society was organized by the early settlers in the Pipestone district away back in 1886 when there were comparatively few settlers except those living along the Pipestone Creek. Those early settlers got together to discuss the benefits to be derived from social gatherings and a library whereby they might pass many long winter evenings and keep in touch with the outside world and also keep their minds from rusting.

On 14 February, 1886 about 30 of the pioneers gathered at the old log shanty on Hawarden farm, the home of William Lothian, (NE 20-7-26) and organized the society then known as the Pipestone Mutual Improvement Society with Wm Lothian president, R. Forke vice president, J. McKinnon secretary treasurer. Committee, A. McKinnon, Percy Roberts, John Ready, Thomas Forke and James Rattray. Librarian James Lothian of Pipestone PO - Whitefield farm (NW 20-7-26).

The initiation fee was $.50 and $.50 per annual membership which some years later was raised to a dollar. As all the proceeds were expended on new books to replenish the library so no one thought to neglect to put in their dollar. Monthly meetings were arranged for the first debate being led by Mr. Willoughby “Resolved that the California Headers would be advantageous to Manitoba” which provided a very pleasant evening’s topic for the first entertainment. Their first order for books was sent direct to Newcastle-on-Tyne, England and the number was about 60 books- quite a credible showing for the small land of pilgrims. As the district got more thickly populated and a new post office opened at Mr. William Bulloch’s, known as the Reston post office, it was thought advisable to divide the books and the even numbered books were kept at Pipestone the odd numbered being sent to the Reston P.O. Once a year the books were recalled and those that had been kept in Pipestone or taken to Reston and vice versa. This kept the new books inside all the time and each district got their share of them. 

The monthly meeting often held often in the Reston School now known as Lanark but occasionally in the farm houses of McKinnon, Forke etc. and took the form of debates, impromptu speeches, papers on various subjects, mixed programs etc. and all looked forward to the meetings. In after years when the railway came in the village of Pipestone and Reston sprung into existence people lost interest in the old society and it was decided to split up and make two separate societies, one in each town. Then, as the towns grew, so many entertainments came, that the regular meetings of the society became a thing of the past and the library has only been very meagerly replenished through the undying efforts of those who recall the benefits derived from the society in years gone by. Many of our prominent men in this country were helped and led to a higher plane in life through just such societies as these. Where are our men of the future? What are we doing for the rising generations? These two questions appear to rise out of the experience of the past of this society. Are we doing our duty? Are we supplying the reading matter that will have a tendency to lead them to higher words, thoughts and actions, even if it seems impossible to hold the regular meetings? Is it anything less our duty to keep a good life library where those who have time may secure the reading that suits them? If the pioneers of this district, if you would wonder, could start with 60 books and replenish regularly by means of regular fees etc., surely we with better facilities could have one of the most up-to-date library in the country. If every one in this district would spend one dollar per year towards keeping up the silent educator it would mean not only 60 books but in a short time and untold number and we would hear no more answers to the question - Are you a member of the Reston MIS? No, I have read every book in the library why don’t you get more new books? The reason for sometime past is because there are no funds available.

   

Tomorrow evening is the annual meeting of the society, election of officers a plan to be worked out whereby new books may be bought. Would you attend and give this old and deserving society a boost? Signed, A Well Wisher

Nov 18, 1909
The annual meeting of the Reston Mutual Improvement Society was held on Friday evening but unfortunately the attendance was very poor. It is lamentable that more interest is not taken in this worthy institution, for, with proper support, its possibilities in developing the intellectual life of the community are great. The officers for the ensuing year are:

President EJ Wilkins

Vice president Dr E Bracken

Librarian EH Berry

Library Committee Rev JG Stevens, Rev AJ Tafts, AJ Manning, EH Berry

A previous post tells that the Pipestone and Albert Municipalities received a provincial grant in 1975 to start a public library and in 1992, our new building was constructed on the site of the first Reston School.  It continues to be a place of learning and sharing in the community for all ages and genders.  

Reston Citizen’s Band 1910

This amazing picture from the Reston Museum was the starting point for today’s blog post. The information I have on the band members is incomplete but hoping a relative may stumble on this and learn something new or give the more information.  I'm guessing the photo would have been taken by Saunders & Eaton of the Winnipeg Photo Co. which had a studio in Reston but was based in Napinka.  My copy has the writing very faint on the left side and I will need to pay a visit to the museum in the summer to find what I'm missing.  My knowledge of band instruments is limited so please Music and Band teacher friends, do correct me! 

 

Let me introduce you to the Reston Citizen's Band in 1910, back row first - left to right. 

• Charles A Stevenson - baritone horn (?) * Worked around Reston as a veterinarian 1895 - 1920 and served in WW1
• Thomas Mutter - baritone horn (?) * Was a grain buyer at Lake of the Woods Elevator about 1908-1934 who lived on Second Ave
• George Sumner - euphonium (?) * Tinsmith from England who worked in the Manitoba Hardware 1910- 1916
• Fred Douglas - euphonium * Railway worker 
• Isaac Grayson Mossop - tenor * Farmer, Fire and life insurance salesman and real estate agent with Guthie & Bulloch. Was also county records clerk in the little brick building on second avenue up until his death in 1933.
• E Groulx - first alto * Church of England (Anglican) Minister
• Thomas Moase - solo alto * Hardware clerk perhaps

Second Row left to Right

• W Enns ?  - Only one without a snappy uniform and hat
• Edward Hollowell  ? * son of shoemaker
• AJ Manning - percussion * school principal, former co-editor of Reston Recorder
• T Harold Donnelly-  leader - solo Bb cornet * Gentlemen's clothing store owner 
• Everett James Miller -  solo Bb cornet * postal worker perhaps
• Everett J Donnelly  - first Bb cornet * Gentlemen's clothing shop worker
• Howard M Jackson - first Bb cornet * fuel and implement agent

Front row kneeling/sitting left to right

• P Carpenter - first alto
• Frank Brady - second cornet * son of lumber merchant
• PG Stacombe - percussion

Glancing through the Recorder Archives, I ran across a few tidbits about the band. 

In July 1909 they were featured entertainment at the summer picnic for the  Royal Templars of Temperance at Harpers Grove.  They played also at Pipestone Sports Day.  Band leader Harold Donnelly married Ruby Jane Winter in Souris that summer. 

In February 1910, they provided skating music at a costume carnival at the rink. They may have sounded something like this clip from YouTube. 

In March 20, 1910 it was reported the band had weekly practices upstairs at Manitoba Lumber and Hardware and requested town fathers to construct a bandstand so they could perform in any weather conditions.  Their wishes fell on deaf ears apparently.

No further mention was found of the band after this news item below from July 1910. Harold Donnelly and his wife Ruby moved away from the community and without his leadership (and perhaps sponsorship) the era of the Citizen's Band was over.  I do wonder where the instruments and uniforms ended up and if their lips recovered quickly...

Radio Licenses

 Today being February 13, it is World Radio Day.  That reminded me of the Special Private Receiving Station Licenses from 1943-1947 that the Boultons dutifully kept as advised on the top of the form.  "Portable" was written on each and acknowledged that a two dollar license fee was paid each year to allow use of a radio at home. They were locally issued on behalf of the Canadian Minister of Munitions and Supply in both official languages 

Signatures indicate H. Bulloch and E. Pringle were authorized to issue the licenses. CS on the gray one in April of 1944 may be the signature of Cyril Standring but that's just an educated guess since he was postmaster during those years.  Places that sold radios as well as Post Offices were where licenses could be purchased.  I am presuming these were purchased at Reston Post Office. 

The first year they were required was 1928 and the last was in 1953.  There were Radio Inspectors who travelled the city and country looking for anyone operating one without a license. If these men saw a radio that was not licensed, they can and did prosecute. If the Inspector was spotted in town, word quickly spread and the radios were switched off and hid out of sight!  At one time, battery powered portable radios cost less to license than electric models.  Each radio in the house had its own license and if you had one in your vehicle, that required another.  

Are you curious where the money went? This site, which supplied much of the information for this post, seems to say the fees supported the inspectors but some money was also granted to the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission which would in 1936 become the CBC!  They requested the increase of licensing fees in 1949 and suggested a television license as well although I didn't find evidence in the Boulton Archives!

There's not many weekdays I don't ask Alexa to tune in the radio to Estevan station CJ1150  to see if our #2 son Scott is giving the news, weather and sports.  Long live radio!

Reston in 1972

This blog post is number 100 on Reston’s Historic Bricks and Boards! Thanks to so many people, near and far that encourage my continued writing. People have been so generous with sharing memories and objects that help tell the stories of the town and area around. Unless otherwise noted, the pictures in this post are thanks to the Pierce/Olenick collection. The RM of Pipestone’s digitization of the Reston Recorder archives has opened up a whole new extensive source of research material. Today’s post is one copied from an article by Mrs. J. D. Ready (the former Helen Manning) who worked at the paper for many years. The article is from the December 14, 1972 edition of Reston Recorder.  If someone wrote another version in 2023,  it is amazing how fifty years later the community is changed again. Her source for the facts (besides memory) was “Pioneers Along the Pipestone” written in 1928 by Ellen Guthrie Bulloch, available in print at the RM office or online here.

Postcard showing the west side of 4th Street about 1910.  Thanks to Ashlea from Toronto.

It is fitting that the 80th anniversary of the founding of Reston should be celebrated on December 7th for it was in December 1892 that the Railway reached Reston. The first station was a box car at the south end of Main Street, later a station was built at the same site which was destroyed when a snow plow left the track and ran into it. The history “Pioneers of the Pipestone” records “shortly afterwards the company (C.P.R.) decided they needed more room for yards and moved to where the present station stands”. The present station? It has disappeared as the trend for demolishing stations on rural lines continues. And where are the trains? We are fortunate to have regular freight service and also in the fact that this line is not a present in danger of being abandoned.

Perhaps 1940's  Bert Pierce second from the left

Two elevators, both with large annexes, serve a large area –The United Grain Growers and the Manitoba Pool Elevator. One of the first elevators was the Lake of the Woods which burned down and was never replaced.

 Picture taken around 1907

The first school is located on Main Street and is used as a restroom. The town and district is now served with two large schools, the Reston Collegiate and the Reston Elementary and pupils are bused in from long distances. Both schools are comparatively new and modern. A four room brick school constructed in 1905 was torn down in 1968 after the elementary school was built. The schools are in the Fort La Bosse School Division. The first teacher was a Miss Viva Giles. There are now eleven teachers in the collegiate and ten in the elementary.

Thanks to Delwyn and Shirley for sharing this picture.  High school on the left, elementary on the right.  Maybe in the 1950's?

First Reston Bank built 1909 burned 1906

The first bank was the Bank of British North America and the late Jackson Dodds, who became one of the top officials in the Bank of Montreal was one of the first managers. The Bank of British North America merged with the Bank of Montreal which still serves the district. An amusing story is told of the first Bank of North America building which was destroyed in the disastrous fire in those early years. It is said that during the excitement the pillars were carried out and the storm windows thrown downstairs! Only means of fire fighting was a bucket brigade and water was supplied by a well at the south end of the street, which has long since disappeared.

Reston now has a modern fire engine and a well trained fire brigade under chief Ross Benzie. Many of the firemen have also received St. John Ambulance training and also serve as drivers for the Reston Ambulance Service. The first doctor to settle in the district was the late Dr. A. B. Chapman who came in 1900. A Dr. Baird had settled at neighbouring Pipestone some years before that. The town now has a modern hospital, complete with laboratory and x-ray service. It has a full complement of nurses and a full-time lab technician and resident doctor. Rated as a 15 bed hospital, it can hold 20 beds and often does.

Dr. A. B. Chapman on his 90th birthday 1953

For years a local constable served as the police but now we have a three man detachment of the R.C.M.P. stationed here in a building constructed on First Street a few years ago. Cpl. Peck is the present head of the detachment.

 Water for the town was supplied from the town well on the west side and in 1962 town water and sewer service became available. The town water is now pumped from a well about two miles north to the pumping station in town.

 The first Church in town was the Methodist and it united with the Presbyterian Church built in 1902 long before Church union. The building was converted into a dwelling now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Fred Paul. The Presbyterian Church is now the United Church and 1972 marks the 70th anniversary of its building. The St. John’s Anglican church was built later and still serves the district.

Anglican Church - postcard from about 1910

1972 also marks the 70th anniversary of the G. S. Munro Co. store. The store was built by the late Bill Pierce and is built of stone from the Kinloss district south of town. Some of the stone can still be found in that area on the farm formerly owned by Geo. Sutcliffe of Penticton B.C. now owned by Lorne Watt. Mr. Munro was operator of the first store in town before building the present structure.

Munro Store 1940's?

Recreation is an important part of the rural life so it was natural that rink would be constructed early – the first one being of wooden walls with canvas top. Now we have a fine modern structure with the curling section having four sheets of artificial ice. This is the 4th rink for the town. One of the early curlers was veteran Clyde Caldwell now 85 who still curls with the men’s senior club.

One of the first houses erected in Reston was the one owned by Mrs. Margaret Bulloch. The next year the house on Railway Avenue now owned by Mrs. Harcourt Barry was built by a Mr. Jackson. The Jackson family lived there for some years and conducted a fuel and implement business.

Postcard from about 1911

One of the first blacksmiths was Mr. H Geen, father of Art Geen, a former resident here. Other blacksmiths we recall are A. Majury, Hugh Dunbar, Mr. Jones, J. Cronk and then Mr. I. B. Buan who recently retired due to ill health, and for the first time since those early years the town has no blacksmith.

 The Reston hotel it was erected by Mr. Alex Robertson of Antler. Other owners that we can recall are George Chapman, Andy Sutton, R. V. Cusack, John Bondar, and Ed. Gulas. There may have been others as well.

Thanks again to Delwyn and Shirley for this picture of Reston House which stood on the NE corner of 2nd Avenue and 4th Street. 

Most of the facts concerning the town’s early history were obtained from Mrs. T.A. Bulloch’s book “Pioneers of the Pipestone”.

Wooden Curling Rocks, a Rink that Blew Away and Prizes

Curling began in Reston in 1897 according to a history in the December 17, 1964 issue of the Reston Recorder.  The history of the 4 Reston Rink  buildings can be found in a previous post here. The January 15, 1948 Reston Recorder is quoted below: 

Do you remember when the Reston curlers used wooden blocks instead of rocks? What they did in the days when curling first started in Reston, when the rink was situated on Railway Avenue, back before the turn of the present century. Tom Mutter was one who curled in those days and he is still at it. In mentioning these days, Tom stated that not only did they curl with wooden blocks, but the members of the club turned out and assisted in the manufacture of the blocks. They were made on a wood turning lathe, which was hand powered and each member of the club helped the club provide the power in turning the lathe. The blocks were about twice the size of our present day curling rocks and were made of cedar. They were hollowed out and lead was poured in the depression to give the blocks weight. Fitted with ordinary curling handles, the wooden blocks made acceptable curling instruments. One of the advantages was that a follow through shot could be made. With a fast rock and a square hint it was possible to end up on the ice even though the hit rock was in front of the house. Tom said we had more fun with the wooden blocks than we ever had with our present day curling stones.

Wooden curling rocks were used that first year until as guests at Pipestone, the men saw they had granite ones.  Not to be outdone, some individuals purchased their own the next winter at a cost of $18/pair. Apparently, the old wooden curling rocks are buried in the lot where the old rink was which is now a garden.  Careful when you are rototilling Kenny!

Private granite rocks were used and kept in locked wooden boxes between games until the 1930's when the curling club offered to have those rocks sharpened if the owners would agree to leave the locks off the boxes.  Apparently, the offer was accepted by many.  With the building of new facilities, club rocks were among the purchases and two different colours of handles were possible.  Interesting to think this was not needed previously!  The price of the new 1964 rocks was $94/pair. A quick google search tells me Scottish granite curling rocks can cost $700 each today. 

Thanks to Bonnie and Kay for this undated picture of the club at nearby village Ewart. 

The town of Ewart is the true definition of a railway town. Settlers were living in the area since the late1880’s - Eisner, McMunn, Nolan, Ryland, Zarn, Gudmundson and Stone to name a few. The settlers patronized the centers of Reston, Virden and Sinclair and mail delivery was in Bardal. Everything changed in 1905 with the building of the Reston-Wolseley railway line. Ewart was the first stop after Reston on the way northwest and soon stores selling groceries, meat, lumber, harness, gas and oil, a blacksmith, a post office and two elevators sprung up. Social needs were met with a hall for dances and the building was used for church services, meetings, quilting bees, whist drives, fowl and oyster suppers and so much more.  A curling and skating rink was at first a temporary winter structure which was disassembled come spring and the lumber reused. By the 30's, a permanent structure was in use. Curling brooms were wide like the ones in the picture until the 1950's according to this source.  By the 80's push brooms were taking over from corn brooms and have been covered with various materials since then. 

The summer of 1948 saw the end of the hall and also the rink in Ewart from what was described as a windstorm but may well have been a tornado. The townspeople pulled together and had a rink up and ready right after the new year arrived in 1949. 

Thanks so much to Dale for sharing this little prize list from the 1955 Reston Bonspiel with me!