It was Websterville Day! proclaimed The Creemore Star’s headlines in the July 21, 1976 issue. And indeed it was. Websterville was 100 years old and celebrating in grand style, Saturday, July 17. Now in 2026 it is 150 years old with no celebration in sight. But we have the memories.
No sign on County Road 9 announces that you are entering the village of Websterville such as you see for Creemore and Dunedin. You may recognize it from the cluster of homes starting about a kilometre west of Creemore and ending at the bridge over the Mad River. The western boundary extends further. Once there was a saw mill beside the river but no more.
When George Webster had news that a railway was to be built through the valley on its way to Glen Huron and beyond, he had lots, large and small, surveyed on part of Lot 9, Concession 6, Nottawasaga. That was in 1876. At that time many lots were bought and houses built.
Now, let’s return to 1976. Plans were underway for the centennial celebration for several months. A pasture field was chosen for the celebration site, described as a stream side glade in the local paper’s report. The grass was cut, a large stage was set up, shelters were set up for the food booth, and for visiting musical groups. A plywood dance floor was constructed and set up beside the river. A heavy duty extension cord ran from a neighbour’s house to power the loud speakers.
The event started at 2 p.m. with a parade. Some 30 floats and parade entries made their way along the road to the celebration site. Judged the best entry was one from Dunedin’s Women’s Institute depicting the early days of the Noisy River Telephone Company. The best original float went to the Ten Hill Cuties, the Cuties being Karen and Peggy Hughes, and Lorna Falls.
There followed formal speeches from the stage. George McCague, MPP, presented a plaque with an inscription detailing how the village had grown and flourished. This brought a big laugh from the crowd as Websterville had grown smaller. Edgar Currie, reeve of Nottawasage spoke and Gordon Webster spoke of the history. John, George and Francis Webster sang a newly composed song, “Websterville, Websterville, between the hills... We’re one hundred years old.”
Until 2 a.m. some 400 or 500 people enjoyed the day, visiting, listening to the six musical groups, enjoying refreshments from the food booth. There were games for children and pony rides. Most of all, there was dancing. When the dance floor was filled the people danced on the grass.
My living room was set up as a museum. The line to enter extended from the front door all the way to the road. In the house the history book of Webstervillewas for sale. The title, The Rising of the Moon, refers to an uprising in Ireland when the Webster family almost lost their lives but escaped.
The whole valley was filled with music like some magical place.
My most enduring memory is of Kenny McBain from Dunedin playing the mouth organ filling the valley with his music somewhere around 1 a.m. By 2 a.m. all the people had left and went home.
A week later a letter to the editor appeared in The Creemore Star from Don and Elsa Wilson of Collingwood. They wrote, “The musical entertainment was super and dancing under the stars and tree setting will be an unforgettable evening of my life. I would like to dream that this could be renewed yearly with a dance and countless musicians in this very setting.”
Just the memories remain.
