80 Years Ago
Sept. 20 1939
Anges Reid of Napanee was in Scotland on Sept. 2, 1939, the day before England declared war on Germany.
On her return to Canada across the Atlantic, her boat was one of a party composed of another liner and several merchant ships. The ships were escorted by British cruisers, one of which sank two enemy submarines and thus prevented an attack on the convoy. A third sub was seen clearly by Reid and the other passengers, but was deemed two far to be a threat. Her ship invoked a zig-zag pattern the whole time the sub was within its vicinity. There was a bit of a scare when a plane flew over their boat, but it was soon determined it was a British plane, which was met with cheers by those onboard.
30 Years Ago
Sept. 20 1989
A 2.16 per cent increase in student enrolment over their previous projection prompted Lennox and Addington Board of Education to hire six new teachers to accommodate for the influx.
As many as 6,613 students were registered in the county education system, an increase of 138 students from the projected figure of 6,475.
-A camera man was credited with having helped capture an escaped Bath Institution inmate. Kingston OPP arrested the inmate, who was serving a two year sentence for break and enter, just a few hours after he escaped. The inmate surrendered before cops arrived thinking a photographer with a camera was actually an officer with a gun.
-In a recorded vote, Napanee town council voted against the purchase of a $33,000 ice resurfacer, despite the fact an order had already been put in for one.
Councillors who voted against it were leery the town would be able to secure the funding to pay for the machine.
-A contract for reconstruction of a 5.6 km stretch of Hwy 33 near Bath was awarded to Dagmar Construction Ltd. of Markham. The work was expected to cost $3.2 million.