4 Friday, October 8, 2021brooklintowncrier.com The Patterson Creamery By Jennifer Hudgins "Attention cream shippers - we want your cream! We supply cans and transportation. Phone Brooklin 51." On August 28, 1908, at a meeting of the Brooklin Creamery held in the Masonic Hall on Cassels Road, business partners Ronald Campbell and Ernest Patterson were congratulated on the success of their efforts to organize a thriving creamery in under six months. Located at 58 Winchester Road East, it was the main depot for dairy farmers in Brooklin and surrounding districts. Under the management of John Roblin, the creamery produced 89,035 lbs. of butter in the first ten months of operation. Campbell and Patterson received $20,969.02, in butter sales, certifying the creamery as one of Brooklin's largest industries. Cream to butter Patterson was passionate about producing good cream that would make good butter so he introduced proper hygiene practices by urging suppliers to carefully wash the separator each and every time it was used. At the end of 1908, he bought out Campbell and operated the creamery until 1924 when he sold the business to Citizen's Dairy of Belleville. He bought a farm adjoining the creamery where he and his wife Edna raised their seven children. John Roblin, took over as owner until 1929 when the building was struck by lightning and a fire burned the business to the ground. The Oshawa Daily Times reported that the estimated loss was $15,000 since all the machinery and equipment, including 2,000 lbs of butter, were ruined. After the fire, Roblin relocated his creamery to Ash Street in Whitby and Patterson repurchased the land on Winchester Road. He replaced the original board and batten building with one made of cement blocks and established the Patterson Jersey Milk Dairy. First deliveries With the business flourishing, he opened a second store on Dundas Street west in Whitby and retailed pasteurized milk. It was the first dairy to operate a delivery truck and he brought butter, milk and cream to Brooklin residents and surrounding communities. Patterson's son Arthur took over operations in 1930 until 1943 when the family decided to sell the business to Hillcrest Dairy as it became more difficult to compete with other dairies opening in Whitby. On May 4, 1935, Ernest Patterson unexpectedly passed away at 56 years old. The Dairy building was renovated into a house for his wife where she lived until her death on July 22, 1952. The couple are buried at Groveside. Photos courtesy of Whitby Archives Durham To Test Nuclear Public Alert System The Region of Durham will conduct its fall test of the nuclear public alerting system on October 18 and 19. The system warns people in the unlikely event of an emergency at the nuclear generating stations in Clarington or Pickering. The test will take place during daytime hours, over two days: On October 18, an auto dialer will call listed landline phone numbers, in Durham Region, that are within 10 kilometres of the nuclear generating stations. The calls will show as coming from 905-666-6291. On October 19, outdoor sirens will sound for up to one minute. The sirens are within three kilometres of the stations and will be heard by people who are outdoors and in that area. Learn how you will be alerted by looking up your address at durham.ca/AlertMap. This is only a test, and no action is required if you receive a phone call on October 18 or hear the sirens on October 19. In a real emergency, upon hearing the sirens, you must go indoors and tune into trusted local media outlets or government channels for further instructions. The next test is scheduled for spring, 2022. For more information, visit durham.ca/NuclearPreparedness, or call the nuclear alerting information line at 1-866-551-5373.