Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal (2017) It has been an apartment building far longer than it was a church, yet it still has that faded hint of theology. The glorious steeple is gone, the majestic grand windows have disappeared and satellite dishes now cling to its aged exterior. But, like [...]
Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal (2017) It was a death that would rock the Sarnia Fire Department. Back in 1933, the department was seven years shy of its 100th anniversary. Over that time, Sarnia firefighters had saved countless lives, rescuing many from a terrible death. But on this day [...]
Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal (2017) She was invariably described as “diminutive” because of her 92-foot length. But the Omar D. Conger, a Port Huron-to-Sarnia passenger ferry, made a sensational exit nevertheless after 40 years of service on the St. Clair River Launched in 1882, the ship seemed plagued [...]
Troy Shantz for The Sarnia Journal (2017) Hidden on the bottom of Lake Huron just north of Sarnia lies a “Ghost Fleet” of shipwrecks being featured in a Canada sesquicentennial project. The book, ‘Canada’s 150 Most Famous Great Lakes Shipwrecks,’ was written and photographed by Windsor-based scuba divers Cris Kohl [...]
Cathy Dobson for The Sarnia Journal (2017) He still takes part in church services 70 years after his ordination. He’s baptized 1,083 people including his own great grandchild. And at age 100, Rev. Gordon Pickell remains a popular and respected leader at High Park United Church in Sarnia where he [...]
Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal (2017) It promised to be the “event of the season.” All across Sarnia people were excited by the news. The beautiful and elegant Northern Navigation Company’s pavilion was set to open that night for a series of weekly dances. With soft breezes wafting off [...]
Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal (2017) One of our “family heirlooms” is a handcrafted wooden liquor cabinet. Growing up, every one of my four brothers (and some of my five sisters) learned to filch a bottle from it, even though Dad always kept it locked. The cabinet was presented [...]
Phil Egan Sarnia has long boasted about its beaches, unnaturally blue water and the magnificent jewel that is Canatara. To view the pitch, you need look no farther than the current Tourism Sarnia-Lambton Visitor’s Guide. But the idea of promoting Sarnia as a seaside resort town, in the image of [...]
Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal I recently spent a few hours perusing the Street Names Project, and believe it or not, the first street I looked up wasn’t my own. This brilliant work by Sarnia historians Randy Evans and Tom St. Amand is the definitive story behind the origin [...]
Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal In the 1950s, the Red Scare was everywhere. It was the age of Joe McCarthy, spy plots, stolen government secrets and bomb shelters. People expressed fear that our way of life was under threat of assault by Communists determined to conquer the world. The [...]
