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WHEN WILL WELLAND BE OLD?
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 27 July 1922]
Welland is a young city.
“Quite obvious,” most citizens will rejoin.
Yet why do we call the city young? When will it be old? Is the municipality to be in its youth, while the brick of its factories and public buildings reflect the recent touches of the workmen? Is it to be known as old, when these same buildings are darkened with age and weather beaten by the passages of time? Shall we say that London, Paris and Rome are old; that New York, Chicago and Montreal are middle aged; and that such places as Brantford, Niagara Falls, Chatham and Welland are young?
Rather an interesting way to determine the age of a city is suggested in that last issue of the Christian Guardian, where Arthur Barner deals with old age and human beings. He says:
“Old age is a psychological, rather than a physical matter. The division is made in words, “Your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.” If we can extend the period of vision until we cross the river, we shall never really grow old. The forward look keeps people young, in spite of physical ailment and weight of years.”
What Mr. Barner says of men may well be applied to cities. Welland is not young merely because a few years have passed since its incorporation. It is in its youth because its citizens are planning for the future, because those who are at present guiding its destiny see visions of a larger, more useful community. Just so long as the future generations keep a vision of something better before them, so long will the city stay youthful and vigorous.
May we never grow old!
A couple years later, Louis Blake Duff would become Secretary and a founding member of the Welland County Historical Society (now the Welland Historical Society). His efforts to preserve the past is apparently matched by his enthusiasm for the future in this editorial letter. Let his words be as true today in our community as they were then, and may we never grow old!
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