Fall 2020 NEWS and views Vol. 48, No. 3 The Quarterly Newsletter of the Simcoe County Historical Association ISSN 0700-4427 President’s Report In this issue... I hope that this finds you and yours well. There seems to be a renewed interest in history and the telling of our stories. The fears brought on by President’s Report ….… 1-2 a Pandemic could do that to my generation. The Simcoe County Historical Association has not been able to meet in SCHA Executive ……….. 1 person since the Pandemic started in March, but our board has been quietly working behind the scenes in their organizations and on SCHA Fort Willow … ….……….2 initiatives. We did have a Zoom AGM in July to approve our updated Constitution and By-laws. It is hard to believe it has been six months Last Pandemic …….…....3 already. Fanny’s Journey ……... 4-5 We are still very actively driving the strategic plan that we implement- Barrie Flyers & Barrie ed in 2019: To improve our membership renewal rate (It has exceeded our tar- Collegiate Band ……....6-8 get for 2020). Leslie Frost ………...……9 To improve donations that would be helpful to the continuation of our work in bringing us together through Community Partnerships Indigenous Site ……...... 10 and programming. To improve our partnership with the secondary schools and move TWGHS Publication ….. 10 forward with our Andrew Hunter writing award. Arnold Banting ……..... 11 We have improved the value proposition for organizational members, offering benefits such as: Member Societies .......12 Listing the name and contact information of your organization and promotion of upcoming meetings and events in our newsletter. Contact the editor, Jill Hynes The ability for groups to contribute content to our newsletter and website to promote and share the stories that are important to them. at 705-739-6220 or at [email protected] Providing help from the SCHA and our members at your next event. Let’s Connect! Leveraging our extensive social media reach to promote your up- www.simcoecountyhistory.ca coming event or current activities Facebook Twitter Simcoe County Historical Association Executive Ted Duncan, President [email protected] 705-326-9809 Mark Fisher, Vice President [email protected] 705-728-3825 Donna Wice, Secretary [email protected] 705-436-2578 For memberships: John Merritt [email protected] Preserving the Past, The SCHA acknowledges the in the Present, financial support of the Govern- for the Future. ment of Ontario through the Ministry of Culture. ________________________________________________________________________________ NEWS and views 1 President’s Report … continued We were planning a History Conference for this fall, but COVID-19 came. This was to bring Historical Associations and Societies together to share and promote our common county history. We are hoping it can happen in 2021. It would be a great benefit for us all. By becoming an individual member you: Help support our quarterly newsletter and spread knowledge about local history news, upcoming events, and interesting stories about the history of our region Help the SCHA promote public knowledge of local history through our quarterly history speakers’ series, our support of the County Heritage Fair and our new annual Heritage Business Award and more! We have launched a new website that better positions us for: Improved communications and programming Membership acquisitions and renewals Online donations Newsletter subscriptions, current issues and archives A platform for content delivery: virtual events, exhibits and other programming Our Vision is the promotion, preservation and appreciation of Simcoe County’s history and heritage through the encouragement of communication and cooperation among historical and cultural groups with- in our county. Our Mission is to create forums wherein history can be shared while bringing together the unique areas of Simcoe County, putting local into a county context. Our opportunity during this Pandemic is to leverage SCHA's position on line to create programing and opportunities to tell our stories. Please join us as individuals and groups to make it happen. Ted Duncan, SCHA President Do you know someone who would enjoy receiving the News and Views and other updates from us? They can subscribe here. Re-enactors at Fort Willow Strategically located as a supply will be there to show you what and Trans Canada trails. Plan to depot during the War of 1812, life was like in the 18th century. have lunch at the Fort under the historic Fort Willow area was We’re @Nottawagaca on Bernie Longson Memorial Pavil- also actively used for centuries Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. ion or at the picnic tables around by our Aboriginal peoples, the Follow us for updates! the conservation area. fur trade and French explorers as Fort Willow is a great starting part of a major transportation point to hike or bike the sur- route known as the Nine Mile rounding trail network, including Portage. If you’re lucky, our vol- the Ganaraska, North Simcoe unteer War of 1812 re-enactors Rail 2 NEWS and views ________________________________________________________________________________ The last pandemic: Simcoe County and the Spanish flu of 1918 by John Merritt From our current perspective caught in people in one day and 36 the following palities in other parts of Simcoe Coun- the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, the day; one nurse attended to 20 cases in ty took similar measures to Barrie in thought of a global pandemic shutting one day. A shortage of medical assis- trying to curb the spread of the virus in down economies and societies around tance was reported in the villages of their communities. In Flos, the local the world certainly seems unprecedent- Stroud and Churchill, where there was Board of Health ordered all schools, ed. But just over 100 years ago, people only a single doctor available to attend churches, picture shows and halls to be around the world, across Canada and to all cases in both communities. closed and banned all public meetings. even right here in Simcoe County To aid the doctors, the Barrie branch of In Collingwood, local women formed faced a similarly unprecedented crisis: the Red Cross organized an their own Sisters of Service group, and The Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. “Emergency Health Auxiliary” which local health authorities closed public Spanish influenza was a strain of the consisted mostly of women volunteers places like schools, churches and the H1N1 flu virus which was unusual in who were trained in basic care by four public library and commandeered the that it affected normally healthy adults graduate nurses. These volunteer nurs- local YMCA building as an emergency in addition to the flu’s traditional vic- es, nicknamed “Sisters of Service”, hospital. By early November, Barrie’s tims, the very old and the very young. also assisted the sick at home by Royal Victoria Hospital was overflow- Initially presenting typical flu symp- providing them with meals and clean ing with flu patients and extra cots had toms, the illness could turn serious lit- laundry. to be brought in. erally overnight as severe immune re- As a precaution, all picture shows, Despite a string of tragic deaths during actions or secondary infections caused the last half of November, local potentially fatal respiratory distress in representatives of the Ministry those infected with the virus. of Health assured the public The first cases of Spanish flu were rec- there was no cause for alarm. orded on army bases in the United By the end of the month, the States in early 1918. By the summer of average rate of new cases across that year, an initial, mild form of the Simcoe County had fallen to virus had spread across the US, Europe about one new case per doctor; and into Asia. After a brief hiatus, in two of the new cases had come the fall of 1918 the virus reappeared in from outside the region. There a deadlier form that swept the globe, were only four patients being reaching every continent except Ant- treated for the flu at the Barrie arctica and killing tens of millions of hospital, all of them reportedly people worldwide. In Canada, which at pool rooms, and other places of amuse- doing well. As the number of active that time had a population of only ment in Barrie were closed and all cases in Barrie declined drastically, the eight million people, the death toll Sunday evening church services were Sisters of Service quietly disbanded. numbered 50,000. In Ontario, 300,000 cancelled, although local churches Barrie was declared almost free of the cases were recorded, including 8,705 were still permitted to hold services on flu by mid-December, though there deaths. Sunday mornings. were several cases reported around The first cases of Spanish flu in Barrie By the end of October, numerous cases Craighurst, Minesing and Utopia up to were reported in the last half of Octo- of the flu were reported in every mu- the end of the year and in one tragic ber 1918. The virus was allegedly nicipality of Simcoe County except case, a Tecumseth man lost both his brought into the town by returning Nottawa, which had no confirmed cas- wife and daughter to the flu within the travelers who brought the virus home, es, and Alliston, which had only a few. same week in early December. By Jan- where it infected their families and The epidemic seems to have struck the uary 1919 the epidemic was essentially spread into the community. Cases in- Midland and Penetanguishene areas over for Simcoe County, though the creased throughout the last half of Oc- particularly hard, perhaps because at virus periodically reappeared in other tober 1918 to about 300 total, mostly the time both towns were important parts of the world until well into 1920.