The Way It Was: Easter Seals Ontario Honours Centennial Anniversary In Its Birthplace, Windsor

100-Year Old Investment Imparts A Windsor Tradition

By Andrea Grimes

There’s something to be said about the value, strength and foundation of family traditions and sharing those timeless memories through each generation.

Were you at the Prince Edward Hotel for Ernest Rennie and his orchestra’s fundraising performances, to support our military in WWII, and did you go dancing at Coral Gables Ballroom because all the lads looked so “dish-y” in their uniforms?

Were you at the train station waving good bye to the Essex Scottish as our lads headed “over there” and how many times did you stand at the Cenotaph on November 11 to remember all who “did their bit for crown and country’ and never made it back home?

Remember when the Volcano Restaurant introduced Windsor’s first pizza and the annual January “Plum Sale” at Birks Jewellers?

Did you catch your first glimpse of Hollywood glam at the Elmwood Casino or perhaps you celebrated your 21st birthday at the Top Hat Supper Club with Mike Drakich in his plaid dinner jacket?

How many times did you and your buddies frequent the Hi Ho on Sandwich Street for Aimee Fortin’s Grumpy Burger?

Do you recall the “One Cent Sale” (buy one get another for a penny) at Rexall Drug Store and did you plan weeks in advance to “be there” for the opening of Devonshire Mall?

Some of those chapters of Windsor’s history were traditions that shaped our lives.

One of Windsor’s most benchmarked commitments was launched on November 28, 1922 when 10 representatives from seven Rotary Clubs gathered to address the needs of children and young adults afflicted with physical disabilities.

That summit resulted in the establishment of the Ontario Society for Crippled Children renamed in 1981 to the Easter Seals Society, Ontario (visit the website: EasterSeals.org).

“To meet the primary objectives of Easter Seals, colourful direct mail charity labels were introduced in Ontario in 1947,” says Robyn Visheau, Easter Seals Ontario Senior Manager, Communications. “The campaign proved to be a resounding success, resulting in $138,396 raised. Later that year, March was dubbed as Easter Seals Month and included the annual presentation of the official ‘seals’ to the Prime Minister.”

According to an article published in The Windsor Star March 25, 1983: “The first Windsor Easter Seals Ontario telethon took place Sunday, March 27, 1983 and was broadcast from CBET’s studios. The telethon raised $77,400 from the Windsor community.”

“Windsor is the founding home of Easter Seals — not only in Ontario, but in all of Canada — and we are immensely grateful for the support we have received from this community throughout the years,” says Kevin Collins, Easter Seals Ontario President and CEO. “Everything we have accomplished has been the result of the remarkable dedication, committed service, and extraordinary generosity of Rotary

Photo depicts the Easter Seals Ontario Camp Merrywood, built in 1948 as a summer camp for kids afflicted with polio. Photo courtesy of Easter Seals Ontario.

and other service clubs, individual donors, sponsors, volunteers, and staff. Together we have built a legacy of changing the world for children, youth, and young adults with physical disabilities, and I am truly looking forward to toasting our shared successes here in Windsor with everyone at our 100th anniversary celebration on November 28.”

Easter Seals survived WWII, the Polio epidemic, the Depression, the 99-day Ford strike and the recession; 9-11 and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.

As such, Easter Seals has made (and continues to make) a dynamic impact by “changing up” how disabilities are defined through the advancement of education, medical research, vocational rehabilitation and advocacy.

Our community’s 100-year old investment in Easter Seals Ontario by generations of diverse families is a Windsor tradition. In quoting Canadian physician Dr. William Osler: “We are here to add what we can to life, not to get what we can from life.” As a civilian Veterans Advocate, Andrea Grimes was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Governor General’s Medal, for her volunteer service to Veterans and a number of non-profit organizations supporting Windsor’s military families’ network.