By Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal Back in the 1970s, before I became a holiday operator in Toronto, I was part of the city’s airline community, comprising all of the airlines that operated offices in the city. Most of these were clustered downtown in the King and Yonge district. [...]
By Carl Hnatyshyn for Sarnia This Week (2015) The Sarnia Historical Society wants to make local history more accessible to the people who live here. The three-member board of the society – comprised of Phil Egan, Ron RealeSmith and Laura Greaves – took over the reigns of the nearly defunct [...]
By Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal (2016) The years from 1860 to 1920 were known as the “golden age of fraternalism.” Like most cities in Canada and the United States, Sarnia was replete with fraternal organizations. The Royal Arch Masons describe themselves as being “the heart, root, backbone and marrow [...]
By Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal (2016) In 1925, Sarnia decided to throw itself a weeklong party. It invited “old boys and girls” from across Canada to return to the city for a week of celebrations, beginning July 18th and running through July 25th. The event was promoted as [...]
By Paul Morden for the Sarnia Observer (2016) Voters at Aamjiwnaang First Nation made history Friday by electing their first female chief. Joanne Rogers was elected to a two-year term, with 431 of the 593 votes cast for chief of the band council for the First Nation neighbouring Sarnia. “I'm [...]
By Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Dave Burwell’s collection of old Sarnia postcards speaks volumes. It’s a collection replete with visual wonders. It takes us back to simpler times, to wooden sidewalks and horses in the road, to stately buildings [...]
by Tyler Kula for the Sarnia Observer (2015) A 135-year-old building bearing the name of a celebrated former mayor has received a facelift from the utility company using it as a substation. Bluewater Power recently wrapped up repairs to the exterior at 101 Water St., known as the Henry T. [...]
By Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal “History is bunk.” For uttering those words Henry Ford was ridiculed as an ignoramus in newspapers across the United States. But what Ford was actually criticizing wasn’t the study of history itself but the way it was taught – the memorizing of dates [...]
By Paul Morden for the Sarnia Observer Hugh 'Bummer' Stirling might rate consideration as one of the greatest Sarnia athletes of all time on the uniqueness of his nickname alone. The current definition of that particular bit of slang certainly doesn't describe what this two-time Grey Cup champion could do [...]
By Phil Egan for The Sarnia Journal (2016) A park forms one of my earliest memories. I was five back in 1952. My two spinster aunts, Frances and Lily, used to walk with me through the grounds of Victoria Park. The old Carnegie Library with its rounded dome was here, [...]
