durhamregion.com The Citizen May 23, 2014 3 Letters uncovered from Brooklin's past I've slowly been going through the archival backlog in the basement storage area and I keep discovering interesting mini-collections that haven't seen the light of day in many years. It's a good thing I can use this column to unearth some of Brooklin's history and share it with you. A couple weeks ago I came across a file labelled Brooklin Boy Scouts. After processing its contents and adding them to our subject files, I knew I had to highlight this material for May's column. The small collection (it's only 3 cm of material; archival collections are measured by length) consists mostly of correspondence from Edgar T. Jones, field secretary for the Boy Scouts Association Provincial Council for Ontario, to Matthew Agar between 1939 and 1945. Matthew was born in 1917, the first son of William Agar, a Brooklin beekeeper and fox farmer who was prominent in Canadian apiary circles. The first letter in the collection was written to Matthew on April 24, 1939 and in it, Mr. Jones is scheduling a time when he can visit the troop in Brooklin. After reading the first few letters it becomes apparent that Matthew fairly recently took over leadership of the Scout troop. Mr. Jones signs off with the following sentiment, "Wishing you abundant success, and hoping that you will produce a Troop in Brooklin second to none." The letters are mostly all supportive, except for the not-so-gentle reminders from the provincial council concerning Matthew's oversight in failing to send in the annual quota ($5 in 1941) and troop registrations. As early as 1942 it appears that Matthew was writing to Mr. Jones to see about having someone take over leadership of the Brooklin Scout troop, to which he received a reply stating the chances are "pretty slim." Matthew was asked to store the group's equipment, records, badges and funds until a suitable replacement could be found. When Matthew was able to secure his replacement we can't know for sure, as the letters become less frequent after this. In 1945 he received a letter from Charles Nunn, secretary-treasurer of the Old Scouts Association, asking him to register to become an alumni of the Boy Scouts but I don't know if Matthew ever followed through. Matthew's letters with the Boy Scouts Association Provincial Council for Ontario provide an interesting snapshot into the life of a young man living in Brooklin in the early 20th century and his connection to the national Scouting movement that continues to play a role in the lives of many children throughout the world (I was an Elf in Brownies and a Rose in Girl Guides). I hope to come across more folders like this one in the coming months. Sarah Ferencz is the archivist at the Whitby Public Library. Contact her at archives@whitbylibrary.on.ca SARAH FERENCZ Whitby Public Library Archivist History WHITBY -- This is Brooklin scoutmaster Matthew Agar's membership card from 1940. The card is in a collection at Whitby Archives. IMAGE COURTESY OF WHITBY ARCHIVES Pitching in for Brooklin WHITBY -- Sandra Stewart and JP Lutz helped clean up around Memorial Park in Brooklin during the 11th annual Pitch-In Brooklin recently. SABRINA BYRNES / METROLAND