Elora firemen hosted huge convention in 1934

For the past 15 years, people have enjoyed Elora’s old-fashioned Dominion Day celebrations on July 1.

Those festivities are a re­surrection of the elaborate July 1 programs of the 1950s, which were the major activities of Elora’s Lions Club in those years. There were earlier Do­mi­­nion Day celebrations in Elora, but just as often the day passed, unmarked by any pub­lic activities.

During the 1930s, Elora was quiet on July 1, with no service club stepping forward to plan events, and a tight-fisted council unwilling to spend a dime if it could be avoid­ed. The one exception was 1934, when Elora’s vol­un­teer firefighters staged a huge convention that included many public events.

In the 1930s, the Elora vol­unteer fire brigade was a mem­ber of the Ontario West Fire­man’s Association, a group that included many of the brigades in the small towns be­tween Toronto and Lake Huron. Be­ginning in 1930 the group gath­ered annually – usu­ally on the July 1 holiday – for a con­ven­tion in one of the member com­munities.

The events consisted of par­ades, sporting events, con­certs, and socializing. It was some­thing of a misnomer to de­scribe those events as con­ven­tions. There were some busi­ness sessions, but they involved only a small portion of those attending. They met several times, beginning on the Sat­ur­day evening, and continuing through the weekend, discus­sing organization affairs and ar­ranging future training ses­sions. 

In 1933, the Elora force vol­unteered to host the event in 1934. Planning began 14 months before the event. By early 1934 some 19 brigades had stepped up with commit­ments to come to Elora on July 2 – July 1 fell on a Sunday that year, so the holiday was pushed forward a day.

Public participation was both welcomed and sought by the firemen. In June they re­ceiv­ed aid from editor Samson of the Elora Express, who printed hundreds of large post­ers which the firemen distribut­ed widely. They also mailed out illustrated promotional folders, advertising both their conven­tion events and Elora in gen­eral. Surviving copies are valued collectors items today.

The convention was a big event for Elora. There had been no large celebration of any kind since the Old Home Week reunion in 1919. The events be­gan on the Sunday afternoon, with a parade of firemen to Knox Church, where Rev. E.A. Thomson preached a special sermon.

The big crowd did not ar­rive until the next morning. Many out-of-towners rose at an early hour for the drive to Elora.

Twenty years earlier, most of the visitors would have come by rail, probably on a special train or two, but in 1934 car pooling was universal.

As they came into Elora and up the main street, the visitors were dazzled by the elaborate decorations of flags, bunting, and evergreen branches. Most of the merchants pitched in, with special displays in their windows.

The day began with a par­ade, which formed shortly after 9am around the Armoury Hall (now the liquor store), and proceeded up the main street, and then down David to Irvine Park. That venue was then a race track, and it included grounds for field lacrosse, bleachers for spectators, and a baseball diamond.

The parade consisted of floats, cars with decorations, many carrying local dignita­r­ies. Local children participated, dressed in grotesque costumes. The firemen offered prizes for the best floats, which went to Burt Brothers store and the Beatty factory of Fergus. There were prizes for the oldest car and the oldest horse-drawn carriage. The list of prizes was a long one, and some were awarded by popular ballot. A half dozen bands marched in the parade, the award for the best of them going to the Guelph Bugle Band.

The morning featured com­petition in various field events, but the most popular event was a girls’ baseball game between Owen Sound and Burlington. It was an intense nail-biter until the twelfth inning, when Owen Sound broke a 12-12 tie.

More people poured into Elora during the morning. The afternoon began with a second parade, featuring firemen and firemen’s bands, led by the Burlington Fire Drill Corps. A prize for best equipment in the parade went to Fergus. At Ir­vine Park there was a round of competitions for firemen.

Elmira took first prize for the hose reel race, with second place going to the Tavistock brigade.

The rescue race was also taken by Elmira, with Mil­verton the runner-up. The win­ner of that competition received the Bickle Trophy, donated and named for the leading manufacturer of fire trucks in the 1930s.

There were relay races, a tug-of-war, and a fire chiefs’ foot race, which was won by Chief Moore, of Fergus, followed by Chief Conrad of Elmira, and Chief Omand of Wellesley.

Foot races for rank-and-file firemen were divided into under-30 and over-30 classes. Other awards went to the oldest firemen participating, the old­est equipment, and the best maintained equipment. Mem­bers of the public enjoyed look­ing over the equipment and hearing explanations from the proud firefighters who main­tained the trucks. 

After the competitions the Burlington brigade gave a rescue demonstration in the park, and repeated their per­formance in the evening. In late afternoon, the Owen Sound girls, after their morning vic­tory, took to the diamond again, this time against Dundas. Marj Rayner, the pitcher for the Owen Sound team, held the mound for both games, pitch­ing all 21 innings. Then, bat­ting in the ninth inning, she secured the second game with a home run, breaking a 9-9 tie. It was a performance that im­press­ed the most chauvinistic of the men in the crowd.

During the afternoon there was a continuous program of music, featuring brass and pipe bands from Fergus, Tavistock, and Guelph. The MacGregor Concert Band of Caledonia gave the final musical offerings at the park, assisted by a sound amplification system, the first ever used at Elora for an out­door performance.

 MP Paul Munro, who had donated the trophy for the most successful fire brigade, had planned to present the trophy himself, but he was killed in a tragic motor car accident the day before. Elora Reeve Art Badley filled in at the cere­mony in front of the town hall. Chief Conrad, of Elmira, laid a wreath at the cenotaph to the memory of the popular MP.

Then, as now, most Domi­nion Day programs end with a fireworks display. This one was different. At 8pm firemen erected barricades to keep traf­fic off the main street for a huge street dance. It was a warm and clear summer even­ing and few wanted to go home. The music continued until 2am. For the hardiest in the crowd it had been a long day.

There was no registration of attendees, and people came and went during the day, making an estimate of the crowd difficult. Several people put the number at 3,000, a huge turnout at a time when Elora’s population was not quite 1,200.

The 1934 firemen’s conven­tion served Elora as a model for the Lions Club 15 years later, when that group began its run of successful Dominion Day jamborees, and it is the ancestor of the continuing July 1 celebrations in Elora. It is fitting that Elora’s firefighters continue with a major role, ser­ving breakfast to hundreds of local residents and visitors to the village.