editorial
6 - Southpoint Sun
Memories of... Kingsville, Leamington Memories of... and Wheatley Photos Kingsville, from Kingsville-GosfieldLeamington Heritage Society 1790-2000 A Stroll Through Time and Wheatley
Cedar Beach Drug Store, Wednesday, July 14, 2021 owned by Red Morris, Photo courtesy of the Kingsville Archives offered drugs, toiletries, china and souvenirs for sale as well as providing a luncheon menu. Speed boat rides were available Mark Ribble from the Cedar was still there, it connected Robson RoadBeach Drug Store for 50 with Point Pelee Drive and at the end ofcents a ride Robson Road sat a small restaurant thatfor summer we called Tina’s. Being raised in a com-visitors renting mercial fisherman’s household, you’da cabin or for think our family would be tired of fish,cottagers not owning a boat. but Tina had the best fish and chips The boats could be taken through the placid canal or out into the rougher waters of Lake Erie. This around back then. Once they moved the photograph of an unidentified family, standing outside the Cedar Beach Drug Store, was taken in bridge and re-designed the roadways, Tithe late or early 1950s. In 1940s partnership with Hubert (Hub) Malott, Carl H. Smith set up his first sawmill on the Huffman
Memories of Leamington south Growing up in the rural area of Leamington, I didn’t spend a lot of time in town, but we did have to venture ‘uptown’ once or twice a week for shopping needs. Living inside the Point, we usually had to travel for most everything we needed. There were a number of gas stations just outside the park, with the closest being Margie’s (or Margaret’s) right outside the gates. This location is now occupied by Ship Ahoy Restaurant. I don’t remember if there was gas at Two Sisters Variety (corner of D), or at Hornick’s Variety (current location of Freddy’s), but I do vaguely remember a gas station at the corner of Noble Side Road, where Paula’s Fish Place was. Further up Point Pelee Drive, things were different too. At what is now Mersea Park, the big attraction was the WillO-Freez. If you think of the Dairy Freeze in North Ridge, the Will-O-Freez was a very similar set-up. You’d think the ice cream would be the main attraction for me, but I lived for their loose-meat chicken burgers and Boston Coolers. It was the perfect location for a drive-in style restaurant, with all of the tourist traffic heading into and out of Point Pelee. Just north of the Will-O-Freez stood Casper’s Pavilion, which later became Starlite Gardens. My childhood school friend, Lee Jackson’s parents ran the Starlite for several years when I was a young teenager. The weekend roller skating there was lots of fun. You didn’t just skate in circles until you were tired. They had challenging games and gave away prizes if you won. The horse races were my favourite, along with shoot the duck. When the old Sturgeon Creek Bridge
RIB’S RAMBLINGS
na’s fizzled out. We had to have Tina’s once a month back then, as well as a visit into town to get what my parents called La Poulette, which was Kentucky Fried Chicken. Now, we weren’t French by any means, but I’ve since run into others, including my wife, who called it the same thing when they were kids. The KFC of those days was located about where the Quality Inn now stands on Erie South. Of course, no trip to Erie South would be complete without getting groceries at the old A&P store, which was located where the Shoppers Drug Mart now stands. I thought I was really cool when I discovered that A&P stood for The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company. I guess that was my first foray into trivia. I loved getting groceries there and then sitting in the back seat when my mom drove the car up to the rollers up front and Wayne Jeffery and the guys loaded up the car with our paper bags. Times certainly have changed, haven’t they? Someone putting groceries in your car is a long-forgotten customer service and something we’ll never see again.
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Sideroad. The mill site moved a number of times and spent a lengthy period on the west bank of Cedar Creek, current home of Camp Cedarwin. The sawmill operated until about A Look at Leamington’ Past courtesy ofworking C. Scott 1963. The components have beensrestored to their original orderHolland and may be seen at the Steam and Gas Museum in McGregor.
Leamington’s Past courtesy of the C. Scott Holland Collection April 1973: Buckingham Real Estate edged Gulliver Insurance 2-1 to win the Midget hockey trophy. At left is captain Ken Dick who scored both goals with coach Randy Critchlow.
July 15, 1987 - Reconstruction of Ellison Ave. was underway by the F. T. Sherk Complex. Crews were installing new sewers, gutters and curbs and the work would cover the road’s entire length. Cost for the project was estimated at $80,000.
Clippings from the Wheatley Journal, May 1989 Clippings from the Wheatley Journal
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July 1991 - The Resident Council at Meadows Manor recently received a New Horizons Grant of $14,427 presented by Essex-Kent MP Jerry Pickard. The grant will be used to initiate a social and recreational program for residents to include gardening, crafts, dancing and a music program. Mr. Pickard noted such funds encourage fellowship, interaction Submarine cycling - Ditches rose foot after foot following the Thursday evening rainfall among older adults and enhances physical and spiritual well-being actually saving on and these young lads wasted no time inventingElmer a new game, cycling”. If health costs. Pictured are Mildred Crompton, Wright, Eva“submarine Present (seated), Annie nothing else,Bertha it’s a quick way to wash a ten-speed bicycle! Wiebe, Ryersee council president, MP Jerry Pickard and George Dunmore.
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