70 Years Ago
September 8, 1948
– About 6,000 people attended a Canadian Motorcycle Association racing event at the Napanee Driving Park, presented by the local Rotary club. Perfect weather was reported and there were no accidents on the course. No records were set. Motorcyclists came from Quebec, Toronto, Oshawa, and Kingston to compete.
– Local sportsmen became concerned that a great number of fish were dying in the Napanee River above the waterfalls in Napanee. In one weekend, several bushels of dead fish were removed from the canal leading to the pumping station.
It was also reported that live fish caught in the river couldn’t be eaten because of a strong taste that resembled coal oil. Game wardens were called in to investigate and the Lennox and Addington Fish and Game Association gathered samples of the water and dead fish to send for analysis.
– Napanee police chief T.S. Moore attended a council meeting to express his disapproval that councillor and police committee chairman Clarence Milligan approached two on-duty constables and argued with them about their work. Moore said on one occasion Milligan also used abusive language. The chief said any complaints about police officers should be made to him.
40 Years Ago
September 6, 1978
– Colebrook parents drove past a school bus waiting to take thier children to Odessa Public School and instead took their children to Enterprise Public School as the school year opened. Principal James Zehr took the parents and children into the gym and informed them the Lennox and Addington County Board of Education would not allow him to admit the children as the boundaries had been changed.
That afternoon, a delegation of parents and Camden Township reeve Nelson Kennedy took their fight to Toronto in a meeting with Minister of Education Bette Stephenson and MPP J. Earl McEwen.
– A Napanee OPP constable was in stable condition in hospital for injuries sustained when his cruiser collided with a stolen car at the intersection of Thomas Street and Belleville Road. Police were chasing a convict who failed to return to Collins Bay Penitentiary following a temporary leave. Police finally caught the man on Bridge Street, ending a high-speed chase initiated in Deseronto that saw three cruisers damaged.
– A $500,000 on-site sewage pretreatment system at the Ault Foods dairy on Dairy Avenue was nearly ready for use.The average capacity of the system was estimated to be 60 gallons per minute.