Leslie T. Richardson- Memories & Other Stories April 9, 1980
There has been such a dramatic change in Caledonia over the years, not only physically but in its people, that for some time I have felt that someone should be recording these changes along with the mass of interesting stories about the town and its people.
Therefore I propose to contribute articles of interest about Caledonia as I have remembered them or have been told by other people, all of whom have had wonderful experiences of the past and have asked me to tell their stories. So I hope that this column will open up a 'flood gate of memories' and that the readers will let me know about their stories, which I will be glad to use as best I can.
I know that I will be criticized by honest citizens who remembered the same occasion as I did, but whose perspective was different. This type of criticism is welcomed because it points out that the readers are interested enough to put their ideas forward and to have them recorded.
The past winter has seen so many of our older people passing on, that already we have lost a vast source of local history, never to be replaced.
Our business area along Argyle and Caithness Streets has changed so drastically lately that any shopkeeper who was there ten years ago has already passed into ancient history. Who, in his life time ever remembered the Clydesdale Building (Bruce French-Merrill-Pro-Hardware Building) and the Roper Building (The Opera House- Color-our-World Building) ever being empty and moreover empty at the same time? In my early days both buildings had businesses which were there from the beginning of time, or appeared so in a child's mind. In those days, no one moved. Today no one stays. So many changes have taken place that I wonder how many of you can name who was in these businesses five, 10 or 50 years ago? I am hoping that this column will help to fill in this knowledge, so quickly forgotten.
