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TH E JOURNAL. OaJmHewTMrfalgair, Centennial Issue, Jun* 27, 1957 Kings For A Day-- Kids W ill Rule When the youngsters who have been elected to the Children's Town Council take over the town on Children's Day, Wednesday, July 3, they will ride down the main street to the midway iri open Reeve, and Deputy-Reeve, six coun cillors, a fire chief, and a chief of police. They will be sworn in on convertibles, headed by the Milton Children's Day by Mayor William High School Band, and floats and Anderson. gay costumes will feature the rest Barrel staves manufactured in of the parade. Representing every Proudfoot's mill, in old Sixteen school in town, the juvenile ad Village, sold in 1857 for $ 6 per ministrator* will include a Mayor, thousand. Congratulations I OAKVILLE On The Proud Occasion Of Your 100th Anniversary For over 50 YEARS the firm of Hillmers Fuel and Ice have been operating in Oakville and dis trict. We are proud of our asso ciation with the people of OAK VILLE. We look forward to many more years of mutual happiness and prosperity. and the screen would go dark while the audience thundered its annoyance. One of the earliest pic tures shown was " Dante's Infer no," which, for those days, was an artistic masterpiece. " Uncle Tom's Cabin" was another film that thrilled a pre-war audience. In 1918 the famous " Birth of a Na tion" was seen by a packed house. All of course, were silent films. Shortly after the Gregory Theatre was opened in 1923 the show at Victoria Hall was discon tinued. But the building continued to be used for meetings, dances, and concerts. In the years after the Second World War it was used as headquarters for " Teen Town" , a local youth group. For several years the Rotary Club held its weekly meetings ther.e About three years ago it was rented by the Parks Board to Oakville Arts and Crafts as that group centre. LET'S REMINISCE WITH OAKVILLE'S REVERIE CLUB The period when the above pic ture was taken is about 1914, and the plaee is Trafalgar (now Vic toria) Hall, whose interior had been recently renovated. The volu minous gowns o f ' the ladies and the men's swallow-tail coats would look strangely out of place on a modern dance floor." Some older residents of Oakville may be able to recognize most of the members of the Reverie Club, shown here assembled at one of their dances. Among those in the picture are Mr. and Mrs. George Morden, Donald McKay, Mr. and Mrs. James L. Hewson, T. A. Daw son, Campbell Morden, Ed Haga man, Eva Urquhart, (Mrs. S. A. B. McCleary), Mrs. Charles Cox, Mr. and Mrs. Hawthornei, Clarence Keith, W iliam Ezard, Aberdeen Wale*, Mable Holmes, Muriel Mor den (Mrs. Frank Husband) Muriel MeDougall, Alex McKay, Dr. J. L. A n d e r s o n , Orville Husband, Aeneas Urquhart, Dolly Morden (Mrs. Ross Gibson), Charles Hill mer, Harvey Williams, Laura McDougall, Fred Stevenson, Roy McDougall, Jack Smith, S. A. B. McCleary. Some of the members of that gay party of forty-odd years ago are dead, some have been away from Oakville for many years. Several of the young men were killed in the First Great War that was soon to engulf the world. But a few are still in Oakville. Charles Hillmer, who identified a number of the people in the old picture, recalls the occasion quite well, as does Leonard Cornwall who served as a member of the club's committee in charge of arrange ments for the dance. " We formed the Reverie Club for the purpose of holding dances," he recalls. " We had some good times. The dances were formal. I don't think 1 missed any." " I remember the night of that dance," said Mr. Cornwall. " I was there but 1 am not in the picture. With other members of the com mittee. 1 was having my picture taken in another part of the build ing. The Reverie Club held dances at the hall for some years." During its 75-year-old history, Victoria Hall has been the scene of hundreds of dances, concerts, plays, banquets, political meetings and gatherings of various kinds. According to Mrs. Hazel Mathews' " Oakville and the Sixteen," it was built as the Agricultural Hall, and opened with a fancy dress carnival on New Year's day, 1881. It was built without a floor, so it could serve as a skating rink in the winter. Until 1911, when the new fair grounds on ^ e west side were opened, the building was used to house exhibits at the annual fall fairs of the Trafalgar Agricultural Association. From 1914 until 1923 the hall served as the town's first mov ing - picture show. Many citizens will recall the kitchen chairs on which the audience sat, and the sawdust on the floor. Some will have memories of the clamorous applause that greeted the triumph of the screen hero over the villain, the whoops of unrestrained laugh ter at the antics of now forgotten comedians. The writer was among the younger members of the audience present at the show's opening night, when the films shown were " The Prince of Evil" and "The Evil Eyes." The art of the projec tionist was in its infancy in those days, not infrequently something would go wrong with the machine, We of Hillmers have great faith in the future of OAKVILLE and trust that this faith is shared by all. Hillmer Fuel & Ice Co. Phone VI. 5-0861 357 DUNDAS ST. N. OAKVILLE MAKE A WISH... and blow out the candles brate. Y oung, healthy, growing like a teen-ager . , . and 100 years old to t>oot! T hat's the Tow n o f Oakvjlle-- and that's something to cele , A nd since birthday wishes are the order of the day, we at Cana» ·,, dian General Electric want to say " ITappy Birthday" Oakville. M ay the future hold happiness, prosperity, and good health. A ctually we feel like celebrating ourselves because we're lucky enough to be part of Oakville. The Canadian General E lectric Lam p D e partment P lant was built in Oakville back in January 1948. A nd ju st as Oakville has grown in the intervening years, so we h ive grown. R ight now, we re adding a 36,000 square foot addition out on the Queen Eliza« beth W ay. Y es, Oakville is a good place to live, and a good place to work. A nd as we all take a deep breath to blow out 100 candles, our wish is that we shall always be a part of It. C A N A D IA N GENERAL ELECTRIC COM PANY LIMITED (L a m p Department),