70 Years Ago
May 5, 1948
– Napanee council held a special meeting to approve 25 new houses in the town. The homes were expected to be built on land north of Thomas Street near the Driving Park. Two different styles of homes would be built. One would have three bedrooms with a basement. The other would have two bedrooms and no basement. The homes would be rented for between $33 and $37.50 a month. The land was purchased for $1,200 and it would be available to the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation at a price of $1 per lot.
– Town council also approved the issuing of debentures in the amount of $61,000 to cover the cost of building a new East Ward Public School. Several councillors expressed concern the cost came in $10,000 over budget and stated they couldn’t see the value in the building. Council instructed a motion calling for the school board to offer a detailed cost analysis report for the build.
– Arden’s J.A. Pringle was chosen as the Progressive Conservative candidate in Frontenac-Addington for the June 7 provincial election. Pringle ran against Edgar Drew, of Moscow, and won handily with 473 of 522 votes cast. Pringle was the incumbent MPP for the riding.
– The Newburgh Athletic Club secured a field free of charge from Hubert Cook for use as a ball park after using William Wilson’s land for the two previous summers.The club expected to have another team in championship contention.
40 Years Ago
May 3, 1978
– The OPP was seeking a masked rapist they said entered a North Fredericksburgh home around 11 a.m. and sexually assaulted the woman who lived there. Police gave a detailed description of the man and hoped the public could offer assistance.
– A move by the Greater Napanee Water Supply and Pollution Control Board to hire Salvatore Gelbomino as an engineering technician left the status of the board’s manager Roy Lawrence in doubt. It was suggested Lawrence could see reduced duties and salary reductions. Lawrence was three-and-a-half years from retirement.
– Richmond Township announced Allied Door Systems Ltd. would begin production of overhead doors its industrial park Aug. 1. Allied invested $1 million in its plant and it expected to initially have between 30-35 workers assembling product on site.
– Napanee council decided to defer a motion to consider a smaller council size for one month to allow councillors to give the question more consideration.