Time capsule from 1924 reminds us of the value of newspapers – Beach Metro Community News

By ALAN SHACKLETON

PUBLISHER, BEACH METRO COMMUNITY NEWS

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of meeting Rev. Greg Daly at Beach United Church and learning more about a time capsule given to the church that tells the story of the seemingly long-forgotten Kew Beach Presbyterian Church Extension Sunday School.

This Extension Sunday School was located in southwest Scarborough on Courcelette Road and it was fascinating to learn more about how it came to be. (For more information about this, see our story on page 2 of the June 25 Beach Metro Community News or visit our website at https://beachmetro.com/2024/06/26/time-capsule-from-1924-remembers-kew-beach-presbyterian-extension-sunday-school-on-courcelette-road/ )

I must admit, however, that it was the May 1924 newspaper copies contained in the time capsule that really caught my attention.

The newspapers were in very good condition considering they had been lying in a tin box for 100 years, and they gave an insight into local life in May 1924.

People always tell me that print media is dead and the future of journalism is all digital, but I guarantee you no one is putting a website link in a time capsule.

Good luck to everyone who has put floppy disks, CDs or memory sticks in time capsules over the last few years. And how anyone will ever put the “cloud” in a time capsule is a mystery to me.

These newspapers from 100 years ago were history you could touch.

One of the articles in the time capsule for Extension Sunday School was for a publication called Smiles. The May 3, 1924 edition of the newspaper was in the time capsule and Smiles reminded me that community newspapers with an emphasis on local news have a long and proud history.

The front page of this issue of Smiles featured the Beaches Soft Ball schedule. Some of the games included Woodbine vs. Kew Beach, Bellefair Beavers vs. Merchants, Silverbirch vs. Capitals, Aquatics vs. Lockwoods, and Corpus Christi vs. Veterans.

You might find it interesting to know that just last week, Beach Metro Community News received an email from a reader asking us to print the East Toronto Baseball Association schedule. It’s like 1924 was just yesterday.

Smiles was published by The Wilson Publishing Co. Ltd., 73 Adelaide Street W. The editor of the paper was Hector DeMers, who lived at 345 Waverley Road, Beach, and I take my hat off to him for being able to read his works 100 years later.