We’re looking at two former Milton councillors this week. One made his name off his longevity, while the other made front-page news for comments on the school board.
Each week, we speak with Milton Historical Society President John Challinor II to gather information and details about the namesakes of our roads. If you weren’t aware, he and the late great historian, Jim Dills, wrote the book on Milton street names, writing Milton Streets back in 2007.
Recently, we covered Argall Court and Laundon Terrace. This week, we’re focusing on Day Terrace and Menefy Place.
Starting alphabetically with Day, Challinor says the local street is named after the longest serving councillor in Milton’s history.
It’s noted that in this discussion of Day’s longevity, Milton Mayor Gord Krantz classifies solely as the mayor, despite serving on the Town’s Council.
Challinor served alongside Day on Milton’s Council from 1991 to 2006. In that time, he says he got to Day as a very smart, friendly and humorous man who was always bringing something to the table at Council. He also notes that Day’s wife was Challinor’s French teacher at Milton District High School.
Moving on to Menefy Place, Challinor says the name also comes from a former Milton Councillor.
Menefy’s comments made front-page news on the Canadian Champion at the time, which Challinor says is interesting as he was often regarded as quiet man. The comments stemmed from thoughts that the school board was expanding to quickly, as they developed and renovated Milton schools. All these years later, it’s worth noting that many residents feel the opposite way, wishing the province and the school board developed more space!
If you’re looking to understand how Milton’s streets are named, you should check out the book written by Challinor and Dills. Published by the Milton Historical Society back in 2007, it sold out in about six weeks and has since been long out of print. That said, according to Challinor, you can still find a copy at the Milton Public Library. With nearly 15-years having passed since the initial publication, and the extensive town growth in that time, an updated book is likely to come.
You can also take a walk with the late Jim Dills down Milton’s Main Street in 2002.
If you have a suggestion on what you’d like to learn about next week, let us know! We’re currently working on names that we find interesting. You can message our Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram page, or even email us at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. Otherwise, we’ll just continue asking about local street names that we find interesting.
If you have a news tip or story idea, you can now send us a heads up via email at News1013@LocalRadio.ca. If you’d like to get ahold of me personally, shoot me a message at Cameron.Wilkinson@LocalRadio.ca. We’re in the business of content creation, so no idea is a bad idea.
