80 Years Ago
March 29, 1939
–The final service at St. Andrew’s United Church was held Sunday, March 26 with Rev. A.J. Wilson officiating. Wilson, the pastor at the church for 23 years, spoke about keeping faith in the face of change. He argued a move for his congregants to either Trinity or Grace should be an opportunity for a spiritual reawakening instead of an ending.
-Canadians would be able to commemorate the King and Queen’s upcoming visit with special postage stamps designed to hit post office shelves upon the royal couple’s arrival in Quebec May 13. Stams would be in one-, two-, and three-cent denominations, available at any post office. The one-cent stamp would be green with portraits of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. The two-cent stamp would be brown and black, featuring the National War Memorial to be unveiled by the King May 18, and the three=cent stamp would be red and black and depict full face portraits of King George and Queen Elizabeth.
-The Napanee Collegiate’s junior girls basketball team played in the Central Ontario championship in Toronto, but they were outmatched by Midland in a 66-39 semifinal loss. The Midland team was reportedly much taller than Napanee and it demonstrated keen passing ability. Kay Kent led Napanee with 27 points. Helen Pidgeon had 12.
30 Years Ago
March 29, 1989
-The Napanee OPP charged a Toronto man with robbery, break and enter, and dangerous driving after $100,000 in cash and jewelry was stolen from the home of the owners of a Napanee jewelry store. The thieves briefly struggled with the store owner before taking two suitcases of inventory and cash from the home. About two hours after the robbery, the Durham Regional Police identified a car matching an OPP bulletin and made an arrest, recovering the stolen property.
-With two confirmed rabies cases as of March 1, the Kingston-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington Health Unit expected it would be a bad year for rabies. After those stats were released, Roblin-area residents Ron and Darlene Kimmerly had two incidents on their own farm. A fox bit one of their horses March 13 and a week later, another fox entered their barn. Both were shot and both were confirmed rabid. Their horses’ shots were up-to-date, but they were kept in quarantine for 60 days as a precaution.
-Ontario’s skills development minister Alvin Curling toured NDSS’s technical department with Goodyear plant manager K.B. Kleckner. Kleckner the school’s programming was among the reasons the company chose to locate its plant in town.