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128th Yea! No. S2 Wednesday, December 29, 1982 Waterloo, MWWNeweund Cornelius Martens (right) may be celebrating his 90th birthday "but he still has a gleam in his eye and a smile for all of us," say his friends at the George Street Senior Citizens' Residence. Martens, who was Born in the Ukraine in 1892, emigrated to Canada in 1924 and worked as a shoe and harness-maker in the Tavistock and New Hamburg areas until he and his wife Maria (left) moved to the senior citizens' residence in Waterloo when it opened two years ago. The oldest resident of the complex, Martens still takes time to enjoy his woodworking hobby. All of the 45 tenants of the building joined in the festivities to make the occasion, as Martens himself described it, the best yet. “I‘ve never had a party like this before with all the big commotion." "qtodqq ummui. photo BIRTHDAY NO. go AND THE BEST YET.' THIS WEEK INSIDE Puppets come to Arts Centre - SEE PAGE " Paul’s exec of the year - SEE PAGE 2t On Thursday. Jan. 27 at a p.m. in the com- munity room of Albert McCormick Arena, the city will be officially recognizing all those volunteers and city staff who worked on the numerous anniwr sary "vents. Last month. certificates were presented to more than 100 organi- A New Year's Levee held at the start of this year to kick off the 125th. Erb said, "was such a terrific success we wanted to do it again." More than 500 signed the guest regis- try at that get- together. In fact, Erb said, city officials and the Water- loo Inn plan to make the levee an annual event in the city. Aid. Jim Erb. who is co-ordinating Satur- day's reception said, "we hope everyone will show up at the levee ... it's a Come-as-you-are, mingle sort of thing." The New Year's Levee at the Waterloo Inn will mark the om, cial end of the 125th. The reception, held from 2 to 4 p.m., will be hosted by Mayor Mar- jorie Carroll, city coun- cil and members of the 125th anniversary co- ordinating committee. Refreshments and food will be provided Cour- lesy of the Waterloo Inn. "l've had a lot of positive response to the events and people have come to the realization that we've got a pretty great city," Carroll added. By Melodee Martinuk Chronicle Staff When the candles on the city's 125th birthday cake are blown out for the last time at a levee being held on New Year's Day, it will be a bittersweet moment for the many individuals who planned and participated in the city's 125th anniversary celebrations. As Mayor Marjorie Carroll put it, "I'm .' ad, yet glad" that the party is over: glad because the celebration has meant a lot of additional work for the organizers: sad because "It's been a great year for the city - a lot of fun. -. SEE PAGE 9 Course studies women as a finale to city's 1 25th Levee planned The highlight of the year was the May 27th Founder's Day colo- bration, attended by Lieutenant-Governor John Black Aird. Min- ister of Municipal Af- fairs Claude Bennett. city dignitaries and more than 2,500 ole, mentary school stu- dents and hundreds of residents and core of- fice workers. Follow, ing official ceremo- nies. as many as 3,000 people attended a free noon-hour luncheon, In organizing the 125th celebrations. Carroll said, the goal of the coordinating com- mittee was to "not only celebrate the city's an- niversary but also to review what the city has accomplished in the past 125 years - to set out the good and the bad in order to get a better sense of direr, tion for the future." It has been a busy year for those involved With the anniversary celebration - events varied from parties to parades and concerts to dances. City birth, day celebrations were tied to anniversaries being held by other local institutions: the l0th anniversary of Bluevale Collegiate im stitute, the 25th birth- day of the University of Waterloo. the 30th an- niversary of Waterloo Legion. Branch 530 and the 25th year of Piller's Sausages. rations and companies in recognition of their contributions to the celebrations. In the evening. ap proximately 250 people attended the Founder's Day dinner for former civic officials and mayors of municipal- ities of Waterloo Re- gion. Waterloo's musical heritage was captured in a play written by a noted Canadian play- wright that was jointly commissioned by UW and the city dealing with the Waterloo Mu- sical Society Band and the life of Charles Frederick Thiele, its most fa us leader. The Nagyenlitled. I, The Parade. premiered in November at UW's Humanities Theatre. Other events through the year included a mock council meeting with aldermen and city officials dressed in 1980's garb. a parade in the summer featuring some 20 bands and a fall street dance. at- tended by more than 6,000 students and city residents. As well, two books about Waterloo were published; the, first a history of the commu- nity written by three local historians 31nd the second an art book dealing with the Water- loo works of artist Wol- demar Neufeld. As for the thr‘ee- tiered birthday cake that has appeared at all anniversary special events. once its candles are extinguished on Saturday it will be re- tired. now too, a pa rt of the heritage of the peo- ple of Waterloo.