2006 CONSERVATION AWARDS ERCA honours outstanding contributions MONEY MATTERS! Shape up your finances with this week's special section COMMUNITY PROFILE: Local history buff and community volunteer Joanne McMurren See NEWS Page 6 See MONEY MATTERS Pages 9-11 See COMMUNITY Page 13 $1.00 "Serving Essex and Community Since 1896" (GST included) Whole Number 6222 Registration No. 08565 Volume 128 No. 4 Phone: 519-776-4268 Fax: 519-776-4014 519-776-4021 32D Arthur Ave., Essex Wednesday, January 24, 2007 http://essexfreepress.reinvented.net LOCAL HISTORY Ontario Historical Society director of programs and preservation Rob Leverty looks at local voter records from 1893 during the first meeting of the Essex and Community Historical Research Society. The presentation of old artifacts and documents included birth certificates, school records and photographs. PRESERVING History group shows appreciation for local roots BY DANIEL SCHWAB Not many people living in Essex remember trolley cars and steam locomotives passing through, or teen dances at the old town hall from years ago. But for the Essex and Community Historical Research Society, preserving the past was at the heart of their inaugural meeting Jan. 18. The group, whose goal is to collect and document the history of the town and surrounding communities, applied for membership with the Ontario Historical Society. Rob Leverty, director of programs and preservation for the OHS, was on hand at the meeting to accept the application letter, which he'll be presenting to the provincial group Feb. 15. "It's always great seeing a group starting off," said Leverty, who is a member of his own community's Beaver Valley Heritage Society near Barrie. "I congratulate you for what you're trying to do. It's important." Name change issue dropped BY DANIEL SCHWAB Less than a month after it was brought up for debate, the issue of changing the name of the municipality was put to rest by Essex Town Council Monday. For now, the Town of Essex will remain the Town of Essex. After an administrative cost estimate for the name change was submitted carrying a price tag of $76,500, council voted against referring it to budget considerations. "I can see a lot of better places to spend $76,000," Ward 3 Councillor Paul Innes told council. The cost report was compiled by each town department head estimating the financial impacts of changing the name of the municipality. The highest cost came from the Essex Police Service, which estimated it would take $21,000 to put a new municipal name on uniforms, signs, badges, caps, cruisers and other equipment. The cost of removing the name from vehicle registrations, public works vehicles and road and building signs were also included in the report. Ward 1 Councillor Randy Voakes, who asked council to consider the costs of a name change at the end of December, agreed with Innes about the undertaking being too costly. "I would never have supported this if I knew the cost," Voakes said. "I thought it would be less." SEE COST, PAGE 2 The OHS has 450 affiliated societies, including museums, libraries, genealogical groups and individual members. The OHS provides workshops, newsletters and conferences around the province on historical subjects. They also have honours and awards programs benefiting work done by small communities to preserve their local histories. "The OHS can't save the history of this province," Leverty said. "The tradition of this province is, we save it on the local level." Being an OHS member would mean the Essex group would obtain incorporated status immediately. They would then be able to register for charitable status with Revenue Canada and apply for grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. With the funding, they can purchase equipment such as microfilm readers and photocopiers to better serve researchers, said ECHRS president Linda Iler. SEE PRESERVING, PAGE 2