by Connie Tabbert
Editor
BEACHBURG — Ask Del O’Brien who the founder of Beachburg was and you might be surprised at his answer.
While he doesn’t have all the information, he believes it was Tom Harris, and that’s just from his association with the man.
Mr. Harris was a military police officer in World War II.
“He was stern, he was big and he was a teetotaler,” Mr. O’Brien said. “He chased a lot of young soldiers out of the bars at night, much of while on his horse.”
When he returned from the war, Mr. Harris settled in Stark Corners near Shawville. The farm he built is still there.
He eventually moved to this area.
Mr. O’Brien was invited to tell the story of Tom Harris at Monday night’s Beachburg Lions Club meeting.
“Tom was a very intelligent man,” Mr. O’Brien said. “Tom had great vision.”
He farmed about 400 acres in the area and was a member of Westmeath council in 1957.
Two years later, Beachburg was incorporated and Mr. Harris was the first reeve, a position he served until 1976.
He operated a mill in Beachburg and for 10 years, from the ages of 10 to 25, Mr. O’Brien worked there. He earned $1.05 an hour, which came to a reasonable sum back then.
“Tom allowed me to get my education,” he said.
Mr. Harris wanted certain things for Beachburg before it was incorporated. He was frustrated at not being able to get things for Beachburg he thought Beachburg needed, Mr. O’Brien said.
When he was successful at getting Beachburg incorporated, he proved himself a builder.
“Tom built a mill, Beachburg and his farm,” he recalled..
There are people in every community who gets things done… and Tom was one of those people, he said.
“He had a vision for Beachburg and he realized, and I can’t emphasize this enough, that growth was absolutely fundamental,” Mr. O’Brien said. “Growth will look after all problems.”
If there is growth, taxes will roll in and there will be a new generation at all times, he said.
When you look at Europe right now, Mr. O’Brien said the problem is there hasn’t been growth which means big debts and no one to pay.
“In Canada, we’re very lucky,” he said. “We have the best of all countries in all of the G8.”
Going back to Mr. Harris, Mr. O’Brien said there was real growth because of him.
“If there is growth, the amenities will follow,” he said. “If you have growth, business will come.”
Beachburg’s plan was 100 years old and bureaucrats wouldn’t let a resident have a well and septic tank on the same lot .. which meant no building lots, Mr. O’Brien said.
Mr. Harris knew what had to be done and decided a water plant was needed – but there was no money. He knew he could get a grant and he did.
“He had many people working with him to put the system in,” he said.
“A village with no money had a water system and the lots could now be sold,” he said. “The lots were sold for $200.”
Houses then began being built, he said. It was easier to get a house in Beachburg at a better price than in Pembroke or the surrounding area, Mr. O’Brien said. However, no bank would put a mortgage on a home in Beachburg. In the mid-1960s, Victorian Gray put the first mortgage on a home in Beachburg.
The next problem Mr. Harris faced was fire protection, Mr. O’Brien said.
“The town’s coffers were empty,” he said. “It was a young village. What did he do? To get a grant from the government he needed a pumper of a certain size.
“He checked the possibilities out and there were pumpers for sale, and reasonably good, but they didn’t have a big enough pump,” Mr. O’Brien said.
What did Mr. Harris do?
“Tom hopped into his Oldsmobile and drove throughout Ontario until he eventually found a truck with a big enough pump,” Mr. O’Brien said. “The problem was, it was a ladder truck with no cab.
“It really should have been in a museum,” he recalled. “Tom bought it for $400. Barry Davis went and got it in the middle of winter.
“Now, imagine this, Barry Davis, with goggles on, sitting in an open truck, snowsuit on, scarf on, driving down 401 in a blizzard and people were virtually going in the ditch, because they were driving up and taking pictures of
this.
“It was a spectacle to behold,” Mr. O’Brien said, bringing laughter from the crowd.
Mr. Harris cut the truck in half, welded it back together and it passed inspection and he was given the grant money.
“That’s the kind of ingenuity that’s critical in getting a village built,” Mr. O’Brien said.
When looking at the leadership in Westmeath and Beachburg, it was totally different. Westmeath had a health clinic, doctor, covered rink, change rooms at the beach, a large blacksmith shop, a farm dealership and four churches, Mr. O’Brien said.
“These were things that Beachburg did not have,” he noted.
Westmeath had 20 per cent of its taxes paid for by cottagers that never used a single service, he said. But, a new clerk was hired and she imported urban left-wing ideas.
“She brought in a city planner and planned Westmeath, they brought in zoning,” Mr. O’Brien said. “No severances were allowed except on a municipal road.”
La Passe was zoned agriculture, which meant there was no building in that village, but Mr. O’Brien fought that and won.
“Izett (McBride) and myself changed that so severances were allowed on non-municipal roads,” he said.
“These people come in with these zoning ideas from the cities knowing nothing about the area,” he said. “They zoned everything agriculture, which meant no severances.”
This meant no growth and that shut down the area because there was no one to support the schools, churches or businesses, he said.
Mr. O’Brien said Beachburg depended on residential growth, because the farm and wood industries were static.
“Our business is residential growth,” he said.
Those people in the cities will come here and spend $65,000 to $75,000 on a toy tractor, which is nothing to them, he added.
“It was these people who didn’t want subdivisions,” he said.
Mr. O’Brien recalled sitting at a Beachburg council meeting, and told them that at every second house there was someone who was working as an electrician, or plumber, carpenter or drywaller … that’s where the jobs are, that’s the area’s industry.
“It’s nonsense when they turn down severances for silly, little things,” he said.
Rural subdivisions are important to the survival of Beachburg, Mr. O’Brien said.
He recalled when Delmar Lavallee was going to have a little subdivision built with a road off the main road so the school bus and garbage truck could get off the road.
“It works perfectly in all the rural areas,” he said, adding, “but the planners wouldn’t allow it.
“The idea of the planners is to have, and the village is facing this problem, they want a subdivision of 20 lots, fully serviced. That’s impossible in a rural area,” he said. “You are only going to sell two or three lots a year.
“If you have to put in 20 or 30 lots, you are going to be bankrupt,” Mr. O’Brien said.
Planners need to be re-educated for rural living, Mr. O’Brien said.
Knowing he was supposed to be talking about Mr. Harris, he said when the Weedmark Dam needed fixing, it was Mr. Harris who got it done.
The development of an airport was dear to Mr. Harris.
“He was one of the most aggressive friends of mine when I was putting together the airport,” Mr. O’Brien said. “Tom knew the importance of that airport. He was one of the most visionary persons on the airport commission.”
The medical centre to serve the whole area was something Mr. Harris worked hard at getting in Beachburg.
Mr. Harris was also successful in ensuring that people could get a building permit at 10 a.m. and be building by 1 p.m. In Westmeath, it would take thousands of dollars and a few weeks before you could even get the building permit.
“I told people, go to Beachburg, and they did, and that’s why Beachburg has grown,” he said.
“It happened because of leaders that knew growth was critical and how to stop the log jam, and the log jam are those planners,” Mr. O’Brien said.
Property standards was brought into Beachburg. As a matter of fact, it was the second property standards in Ontario, Mr. O’Brien said.
If there is a property that is not kept up in a manner that is good for the area, the owner was told to clean it up or the township would clean it up and put the cost onto the tax bill, he explained.
“Tom was very religious, very stern, very straight-forward and had a bit of an excitable temper, but not a mean one,” Mr. O’Brien said.
“He had a great impact on careers,” he said.
Mr. Harris gave Barry Davis the money to buy his first truck; he got Darwin Bennett a job in Alberta; Mike Johnson, was clerking in a lumber camp in Timmins, and was eventually the top clerk at Renfrew County.
“Tom could pick winners,” he said. “He was very good to me. Every year he phoned me at the university, he knew when to phone. Delbert; Tom calling. When’s your last exam; Friday; Oh well, we’ll see you at 6 o’clock Monday morning at the plant.
“And every year I had a job.”
“That’s the guy who made this village grow. He did everything to remove the roadblocks. He did everything to promote the village and he believed in the village.
“His monuments are all around,” Mr. O’Brien said.
He recalled when Beachburg needed a covered rink.
Mr. Harris made arrangements to get funding to build the rink. However, when two trucks arrived with the steel girders, the driver said a certified cheque for $10,000 was required before anything was to be unloaded.
“The bank wouldn’t loan Tom the money,” Mr. O’Brien said.
“What did he do? Tom got on the phone to Bing Ross and said meet me at the bank.”
They each signed for $5,000, which is $40,000 in today’s money, and the certified cheque was given to the driver and the trucks were unloaded.
“That’s the kind of thing that Tom did on a regular business,” he said.
Following that, Wilf Bennett put the seats and boards in, most of it donated lumber. Ross McLaughlin was another person who worked hard on getting the arena constructed.
“These people worked hard and should be remembered,” Mr. O’Brien said, “because they made this village what it is.
“So, I’m very happy and pleased to speak to you about the legacy of Tom Harris.
“This village must respect and honour his legacy. He was a builder and builders are important.
“John A. was a builder of Canada.
“Premier Frost was a builder of Ontario.”
There was another builder who was good for Beachburg who followed Mr. Harris, Mr. O’Brien said.
“This may be embarrassing, but because I’m going to croak before he does, this is the only time that I’ll be able to say this.
“It was Art Jamieson. He was a reeve. He was a builder as well.
“Shortly after he took the office, they slapped severance laws everywhere and in Beachburg the old lots were used up.”
Severances weren’t being granted, he said.
Mr. Jamieson knew decisions had to be made for Beachburg, not for cities. Mr. Jamieson and Mr. O’Brien worked together and without revealing the secret, severances are now allowed, he said with a smile.
“We were able to do it for all the developers, we sprung all these lots without planners,” he said.
“Art carried on the growth policy, he had motivation, he had vision for the town. He built morale.”
He was the principal of the school and the reeve. While schools throughout the county were closing, Beachburg was getting additions because the population was growing, Mr. O’Brien said.
“People want to live here,” he said. “It’s a nice place to live. We have the will and devotion and commitment of builders.
“We need to say to the councillors, you make the decisions,” he said.
You don’t ask a builder how to build a house, he said. Mr. O’Brien recalls being told, “The best, the most exact basements I’ve ever inspected were done by Martin Vereyken in Beachburg.”
Mr. O’Brien said, “I really believe in the legacy of Tom Harris.
“I really believe in the legacy of Art Jamieson.
“This town was blessed for many years, they had wonderful leadership and that’s why you have such a wonderful community.”
Mr. Jamieson stood to thank Mr. O’Brien.
He said he enjoyed the stories he has heard from Mr. O’Brien and wished there was some way of capturing those stories for the future.
Mr. Jamieson came to Beachburg in 1964 from Renfrew and shortly thereafter joined the Beachburg Lions Club.
“It was a great place,” he said. “People were excited, they were hard workers. The kids came from the country.
“I began getting interested in the politics of the area and decided to run for council.”
He was elected in 1976 and four years later became mayor.
“I got to know Del O’Brien and if ever there was a son who met a father for advice, it was this gentleman right here.
“I enjoyed sitting down and enjoyed him going on.”
He recalled how difficult it was to get a severance or build a home.
“What is wrong with people here? You need people to come,” he said.
And that is the legacy of Del O’Brien.
And not just to Beachburg, but to Whitewater and other municipalities.
“He was the go to man,” Mr. Jamieson said.
For 20 years, there was no bill from Mr. O’Brien, but we got a million dollars worth of advice over the years.
“This village can’t begin to thank you for what you have done, not only for this village, but for the people in the village, the interest you take.”
Mr. Jamieson then presented Mr. O’Brien with two framed projects created by Lion Ralph Martin. One was with the list of names of all past presidents and charter members.
The second was a frame that had all the pins of the past from the Beachburg Lions Club.
