Unrecognized History

After all my digging, I found several other places that in my mind merit a historic plaque, or at least an information board to explain who they are.  There are two parks, one statue and then there's Beautiful Joe, a special case if there ever was one!  I'm sure the stories behind these names would be of interest to most residents, but I only figured them out with the help of Wikipedia and the museum staff.

The first is Fred Raper Park.  Fred was one of Meaford's early settlers, and lived for a time on the shore where the park is located now.  He and his wife worked to have a park established here.  His son was involved with the 31st Grey Regiment, and was one of the first to volunteer when WWI started.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

McCarroll Park was purchased by the McCarroll family, and was named after Tom McCarroll specifically.  Tom was a pharmacist in Barrie, but came to spend his weekends in Meaford.  He had a passion for trees, and planted most of the trees in the park.

Down in the corner of McCarroll Park is an old millwheel.  Museum staff report this comes from one of the mills in Walters Falls.  Judging from the millwheel itself, I'd say this is from the grist mill, which is a fascinating story in its own right.  The Walters Falls mill is one of the last water-powered mills in Ontario.

I'm sure many people have wondered about the story behind Schubird!  This is a 4 foot statue created and donated by Gunter Neumann in recognition of the long-running Scarecrow Festival, which over the years has attracted an enormous volunteer effort.  The name comes from Meaford's apple orchard heritage, and means 'schoo bird'!

Right beside Schubird is the famous Meaford 'Big Apple', now used as a tourist information booth during the summer months.

Then there's Beautiful Joe.  Beautiful Joe Park is located a few blocks away from downtown, on the Bighead River.  Unfortunately it is not wheelchair accessible, so I've relied on the website for these two pictures.  Because it's located elsewhere I'm not sure many tourists realize it's there either.

The story of Beautiful Joe is amazing.  It's based on a novel by Margaret Saunders, a book which contributed enormously to awareness of animal cruelty.  And it's based on the story of a real dog of the same name, here in Meaford.  To underscore the popularity of the book, this was the first Canadian novel to sell over one million copies!

Beautiful Joe was abused severely by his owner, and rescued by a Mr. Moore,  Saunders learned of the dog while visiting Moore daughter, Louise, and wrote the book as autobiography, as Beautiful Joe talking.  It was published in 1893 and was an immediate best seller.  Beautiful Joe Park was established along the Bighead River, Beautiful Joe should be celebrated by Meaford,  but I'm not sure we do.