Friday, November 20, 2020 7 Brooklin Town Crier Brooklin Heritage Society When Brooklin Hosted "The Littlest Hobo" By Brad Moore "The Littlest Hobo" was one of Canada's most endearing and successful television series. Ask Canadians over the age of 30 about the show and they will likely recall the amazing dog and the catchy theme song. The show revolved around an intelligent German Shepherd that wandered from place to place, befriending and helping people in need. When troubles were resolved and the Hobo's mission was complete, he would move on down the road despite his newfound companions' pleas to stay. Suitable look The show ran for six seasons (1979-85) and was produced out of CTV's CFTO Studios in Scarborough. Nearly all of the 114 episodes were filmed within a 50 km radius of CFTO. Whitby and Brooklin were filming locations with Whitby appearing in seven and Brooklin in three episodes. Like Stouffville and Claremont, two other communities used on multiple occasions, Brooklin had the ideal small town look that suited many storylines. The episode "Fast Freddie" was the first one filmed in Brooklin during the week of Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 1980. Scenes were filmed on Baldwin St. between Campbell and Roebuck Streets, and also on Roebuck Street, just east of Baldwin. The Baldwin Bistro building featured prominently as a real estate office. The Royal Canadian Legion on the corner of Baldwin and Campbell Streets served as court offices in the episode. Three weeks later, the production crew was back filming "Ghost Rig," which was shot primarily at the old Brookstone Motel/Diner on the northwest corner of Baldwin Street and Columbus Road. The building still stands today, vacant and boarded up as a date with the wrecking ball is imminent. Even Grass Park The final episode filmed here was in 1982. The Baldwin Bistro was used again, this time as a sporting goods store, for "Happy Birthday Mom" while Roebuck Street and neighbouring Grass Park were used extensively. "The Littlest Hobo" was one of the first productions to film in areas that have since become popular shooting locations such as Queen Street East in Toronto and the communities of Stouffville, Uxbridge, and Whitevale. Brooklin has also been used for other notable filming projects. "The Famous Jett Jackson," a Disney Channel TV Series, filmed 65 episodes over three seasons from 1998-2001. In 1996, The Tragically Hip filmed the music video for their hit "Ahead by a Century" in town. It won the award for Best Video at the 1996 MuchMusic Video Awards. Our Brooklin Kids By Leanne Brown Believing in - the magic It wasn't long ago that the minute I pulled out the boxes of Christmas decorations, my daughter would get super excited. She'd unpack them with reckless abandon while I cringed, waiting for something to get broken. And it inevitably happened. One year it was a box of heirloom glass ornaments; another time, I saw our Christmas village people flying through the air in an imaginary snowball fight. Despite the mishaps, I was always happy to listen to her chatter about Santa and her recommendations on where decorations should go. I never minded that each one we owned had to go up even though they made the house look more like a mall Santa's village than home for the holidays. It made her happy and it was part of our Christmas magic. This year though is different. The magic isn't the same. Because - she doesn't believe anymore. Two weeks ago, while loading the dishwasher, we were chatting about Christmas when she declared, "I know he's not real. You can just tell me it was you and Dad. " My heart broke. I'd known this day was coming soon because, after all, she's 11 years old. I was hoping to squeeze out one more year. But I had to come clean. I started by asking her what she knew and what she suspected, hoping to maybe save some of the childhood magic. She was too smart. She'd figured out everything. She wasn't mad about us "lying" to her, but rather disappointed. So I turned it around. "Ok, now you're one of us. The ones that share the magic of Christmas for others. You can teach your little nephew all about our traditions. He's just learning about Santa and elves. And there are many ways outside of our home to share Christmas spirit, too." I saw a flash of the little girl again as she found elves in a Christmas box this past weekend. She asked, "Does this mean I won't get to keep my elves (on the shelf)? Do they go away for good now?" "Do you want them to stay?" "Can I?" she asked, brightening up as the magic tingled in her once more. "Of course we can. How about we bring them out on December first as usual, and this year we all take turns in the elf mischief?" She likes that idea. So while she may know the truth, in the end, she still believes in the magic. I'm content knowing that while some of our traditions will change this year, some will stay the same.