Did you earn one of these ribbons at a Shipyard Picnic?

At about this time of year, 50 years ago, the community gathered at Sunset Point Park for a serious event: Tug o’ War.

The gathering was the annual Shipyard Picnic, sponsored by the Local 6320 United Steelworkers of America. According to the archives of the Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin, there were 600 “parents and children” at the annual picnic on Aug. 23, 1969.

This week for Remember This, we’re straying from the Huron Institute archives to bring you an account of the annual picnic.

According to the news report, the 1969 event was hosted by Master of Ceremonies Lorne Hutchinson, union president at the time, and he started the events at 1:30 p.m.

In addition to numerous races, the “Tug o’ War” elimination contest was a big event, with the winning team captained by J. McEwan. The rest of the team included R. Goheen, J. Yatt, C. Johnston, M. Dynes, R. MacNicol, N. Skelton, G. Thomas, R. Lanktree, and W. Seymore. The team lead by J. Diamond took the silver.

A. W. Webster was the general manager of Collingwood Shipyard at the time, and handed out Hudson Bay prize blankets to the Tug o’ War winners and runners up. His wife, “Mrs. Webster” received a bouquet of red roses.

There was bingo for the ladies, and a “Horse Shoe Pitching contest” for the men.

H. Bell provided hay rides, and the ice cream booth was, reportedly, one of the busiest spots that afternoon.

According to the report, H. Cox was the oldest working employee at the picnic, and J. Rowe was the oldest retired employee. Finally, the article also mentions the “largest family present” and the award went to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Caron and their 11 children.

Collingwood museum has some annual picnic ribbons in its collection and provided this photo of them.

Do you have any memories from the annual Shipyards Picnic? If so, let us know by emailing [email protected] or email Melissa Shaw at the Collingwood Museum at [email protected].