Each week, the Gazette looks back on stories from the past. Here is what happened this week, by year…

1923

• That Picton was especially favored in securing the visit of the Michigan Pikers Association on their ninth annual tour was the statement of Dr. P. E. Doolittle at Friday’s luncheon at the Royal Hotel. Dr. Doolittle is the veteran Canadian Good Roads enthusiast of Toronto.
• Last week’s sugar weather brought a plentiful supply of maple syrup on Saturday’s market. It sold at from $2 to $2.50 per gallon but the most of it went at $2. Maple Sugar brought 20 cents a lb. There were large offerings of eggs and butter but they held firm in price. Eggs sold at from 25 to 28 cents and butter from 40 to 45c.
• At a meeting of the County Executive it was decided to hold a convention to select a candidate to contest this county in the Conservative interests at the approaching provincial elections. There are thirty-eight polling sub divisions in the county.

1943

• Now available at the post office are the new four-cent stamps. In design they are almost identical with the familiar three-cent stamps, but the head of the King faces right in this stand instead of to the left as in the three-cent stamp. The postmaster said that new 14-cent stamps for registered mail and special delivery air mail have not yet arrived.
• The Canadian National Institute for the Blind will hold its annual Tag Day in Picton to raise funds in support of its work. This tag day is being planned and conducted by the Institute’s Picton Committee of which Mr. Colin Carter if chairman, Mrs. S. J. Collier secretary, and Mr. E. L. Bronskill is treasurer.
• Ameliasburg, 3rd Con. (Special) — Practice on the new bombing range is progressing each day. A target has been erected in the centre of the danger zone and planes are dropping smoke bombs from high alititude.

1973

• A two-man student team representing Prince Edward Collegiate won the 1973 Chrysler Trouble Shooting Contest Regional Contest held at the Quinte Mall in Belleville. They are: David Leslie, 17 and Randall Tarzwell, also 17. The Picton team, which also won a special trophy for the highest mark in the written examination portion of the contest, took first place in the regional contest for the third straight year.
• Additional grants for municipalities in Prince Edward County are calculated to total $330,000 for 1973, based on the recently announced  Ontario budget for this year. The figures were supplied by James A. Taylor, MPP for Prince Edward-Lennox, through the office of Ontario Treasurer John White.
• The old church of St. Mary Magdalene in Picton, restored and renovated to serve Prince Edward County as a County Museum, will open its doors for the public’s inspection early this month. Even empty, the interior is attractive and imposing.

1983

• A new club in the county has incorporated into its logo one of the most famous moments in Picton’s history. The newly formed Prince Edward Stamp Club has chosen for its emblem the rare inverted Seaway stamp, worth about $17,500 at today’s prices.
• The Village of Wellington hopes James Taylor, MPP for Prince Edward-Lennox will be able to help them gain permission to drill test sites for wells on provincially owned land. At a recent council meeting a letter to Mr. Taylor was drafted which says “It is now several months since a request for permission to drill for water on land owned by the ministry of natural resources adjacent to the village was made.”
• A project proposed by Northern and Central Gad Corp. Ltd., was approved by Sophiasburgh Township Council at its meeting but an amendment limiting its scope was included. Robert Rhodes, vice-president of the Willowdale based gas company approached council accompanied by Steve Light, advisor.