Reminisces

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" New Brunswick Mayor quits after councillors used his office as after hours pub " 
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 In Aurora's early days, when she was a village , there was  no town hall . The  head of the Council was Reeve,  not Mayor. 
Meetings were held in taverns of which there were several. Cpuncil met in each  in turn. 
On one occasion,( the Reeve was teetotal} the tavern keeper was charged  the next day with selling booze after hours .
Even then  ,Aurorans were in the habit of writing letters to the editor. They didn't have to use their names. One regular letter writer  called himself "pro bono publico" 
In my early days,  some  Counillors and the Mayor, were in the habit of popping over to the amouries after the meeting and hoisting a few in the officers' mess.  I enjoyed the conviviality. 
Sometimes,if something particularly stupid had been said during a council meeting, there would be  riotuous laughter,
Bob Buchanan , the editor of The Banner was usually with us.
We didn't think we were doing anything shameful. We certainly paid for our own .
Occasionally, if an employee was retiring, special recognition was  paid to long-term service and a nice little reception was held  in a room above the office.
The clerk held the key to the liquor cabinet.It was unlocked to hoist a glass to the retiring employee. People worked until sixty-five. They were not well paid but they certainly had status .  
Another tradition was  a small celebration, the night the budget was approved. 
The budget was the most significant  event of the year.
All else stemmed from the estimates.
 It didn't mean funds approved for a project meant  approval of the project. . It was  about intentions. 
If something unexpected happened during the year that meant money had to be found, something else might had to be cancelled. 
There were no "reserve" funds. The clerk, also t treasurer,  always recommended  putting  something aside for big ticket items. .Mostly for replacing a vehicles when it just wouldn't
 go any more.
Mostly, we had to use  the money, to replace a vehicle that just wouldn't go any more.
In those days, vehicles were not  replaced until they wouldn't
run any moe. 
The street sweeper was a man named Tom. He made his own  equipment. It was a garbage can on wheels with wooden  handles. He used a brush and shovel to lift the litter 
Tom had to  retire when he went deaf  and  people noticed he couldn't hear vehicles coming up behind him. 
The  Yonge Street core  was swept daily.
Harry Squibb cared for the town hall  until he retired. There wasn't a home in Aurora that shone cleaner
The Council chamber was a large room with a  custom built table with a little brass plaque on the side  bearig the maker's name.
Chairs were high -backed  red leather. I kept sliding from the seat.
Two tall windows were curatined. A small table on the Mayor's ;eft side accommodated the Clerk and  the clerk.
A table behind the door was for two reporters. One from The  Newmarket Era and one from the Aurora Banner. The Banner reporter was also the editor. 
There were three short rows of wooden chairs for  visitors.Two ash tray stands with monkey heads and marble eyes stood on guard. They had also been made  by someone for the Council chamber.  
There were ash trays on the Council  table. 
One term , Councillor Illtyd Harris  (tilted Illtyd) burned a candle at his place to cut  the cigarette smoke.
Illtyd never came to the armouries after meetings. 
He taught choir in the public school.  He was having a dispute with  the public school board about his pension at the time he served as a Councillor.  He didn't run after he got that sorted out.
Illtyd was fairly certain  he was more righteous  than  just about everyone.. 
He made a child cry by rebuking her in front of the entire class for the quality of her singing voice.
He wasn't my favourite Councillor.