Page 13 - Presbyterian Connection

presbyterian.ca
SUMMER 2023
100th Anniversary
of Rocky Memorial
Presbyterian Church
By Gerda Groothuizen, Memorial Presbyterian Church in Rocky Mountain House, Alta.
The 100th anniversary of Memo- rial Presbyterian Church in Rocky Mountain House, Alta., was in 2022, and on April 1, 2023, this occasion was celebrated by host- ing an anniversary tea. The cel- ebration program included a dis- play of memorabilia and greetings from many dignitaries, elders and others. Our MP, Gerald Soroka, presented the church with a 100th Anniversary plaque.
The Presbyterian Church in Rocky Mountain House, Alta., has
Elders (left to right) Harold Magnus, Wendy Wadden, Shirley Tessmer, Connie Madsen, Elaine Blezard (seated) and Member of Parliament Gerald Soroka.
Connection
PRESBYTERIAN
13
a long history, dating back to the settlement of the town. The first Presbyterian church was built in 1922 and named Memorial Pres- byterian as a tribute to those in the district who had died in World War I.
In 1938, the church helped es-
tablish the area’s first hospital, with the women’s group setting out to raise money toward the cost of the building. The Wom- en’s Missionary Society, based in Ontario, agreed to furnish and equip the hospital if the commu- nity could raise $4,000. This was a daunting task in the 1930s, but with support from the community the funds were raised and a 10- bed hospital was opened.
A beautiful stained-glass win- dow was commissioned and dedicated to the community’s fallen heroes. A plaque displays their names. In the 1960s, a new church was built, and the window was relocated. In honour of our new building, a Margaret Suther- land weaving was commissioned, depicting our surrounding area. We are truly blessed with two beautiful works of art.
Birthday Bash in Stouffville
By Bruce Stapley, St. James Presbyterian Church in Stouffville, Ont. Reprinted from On the Road in Whitchurch-Stouffville magazine
A pair of distinguished Stouffville seniors was feted at a surprise birthday celebration in the base- ment hall of St. James Presby- terian Church in Stouffville, Ont., after the April 16 service.
Legendary Stouffville newspa- perman Jim Thomas turned 94 on April 9, with his wife Jean reach- ing the 90-year milestone eight days later. Members of the con- gregation were joined by an array of exemplary senior Stouffville celebrities, including former Whitchurch-Stouffville Citizens of the Year Diane Ward and Marion Wells, and Stouffville Legion Sen- iors’ Chair Rochelle D’Souza.
Adding to the lustre of the event was the announcement that Jim had been inducted into the On- tario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA) Hall of Fame for his 73 years as a journalist in Stouffville and the surrounding area. The award recognizes and celebrates individuals who have made exemplary contributions to Ontario’s community news- papers, and news professionals who have remained passionate throughout challenges, opportu- nities and changes, while helping their papers adapt and grow.
Jim took a posting as a part-
The congregation of St. James Presbyterian Church in Stouffville, Ont., held a surprise celebration for church members Jim and Jean Thomas, following a ser- vice in honour of Jim’s 94th birthday and Jean’s milestone 90th.
moving on to take a feature col- umnist posting with the Stouffville Sun shortly afterwards. When the Tribune and Sun amalgamated in 2000, he continued his column, finally signing off last year.
Fellow St. James congregant Jim Mason, who helped arrange the bir thday event for Jim and Jean, recalls the friendly competi- tion between the two Jims while he served as editor of the Stouffville Sun from its inception in 1982. “I was the new kid invading his turf,” said Jim Mason. “But he was al- ways classy and professional when we crossed paths. It’s no easy task trying to go toe-to-toe with a legend. I was much happier when Jim retired from the Tribune and joined the team at the Sun.”
Standing beside his wife of 63 years in front of a crowd-sized birthday cake, Jim credited Jean for his success and longevity in the newspaper business and his full life in general. “I must say it’s been a wonderful, wonderful re- lationship over the past 63 years, and I owe everything to her,” he said.
Jean, who was born and raised in Pickering Township, worked in the community after graduating high school. Upon marrying Jim in 1959, she was soon busy raising the couple’s six children.
While Jim is best known for his journalistic exploits, his career would go on to have a patchwork
appearance when he stopped working full-time in that field in 1989. He worked as a security guard for several years at Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket and was a greeter at the O’Neil Funeral Home in Stouffville. The past 16 years have seen him employed as a school crossing guard at the busy Millard St./Glad Park Ave. intersection, where his effor ts haven’t gone unnoticed. “One Christmas, a young lad about seven years old proudly presented me with a hand-printed card that read, ‘To Mr. Jim, one of the best- est crossing guards I know,’” he wrote in a March 2022 column.
The St. James knitting group presented Jim with a scarf to help him keep warm while doing crossing guard duty in winter.
Jim’s community engagements have been impressive. While at the Tribune he created the popu- lar Whitchurch-Stouffville Citizen of the Year award, an honour that would be bestowed upon him after his retirement from the Tribune. He also created the Music Town Ontario award and concert as well as the Stouffville Student Music Scholarship and is involved with Strawberry Festival.
We’ll let Jim Mason have the last word: “Jim’s legacy? The mu- sic concerts, his work at the Trib- une, the unofficial town scribe... the lives he has touched.”
Amen to that.
time sportswriter with the Stouffville Tribune in 1949, then was hired full-time two years later. The paper was on the re- ceiving end of 30 awards over the
40 years he was employed there, including the 1962 citation for Best Sports Page in Canada. He had been Tribune editor for over 25 years when he retired in 1989,