Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge
Hi-Tech Community of Laptops + Lederhosen (Leather Pants)
Community
- Oktoberfest
For info about the biggest Oktoberfest outside of
Munich, Germany.
Civic Divisions
Name Change Coming Soon? Maybe, Maybe
Not.
Background:
- In 1916 during World War I, Berlin Ontario was under a
virtual occupation by British soldiers so the mostly German citizens wisely decided
to rename Berlin to something else. During a public vote, Berlin citizens
chose the name "Kitchener" (after British Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener
who was also "Secretary of State for War")
- The neighboring cities of Kitchener
and Waterloo grew together over the years (early 1960s?) so that only only one community
was
visible from the air
- By the 1970s the villages of Doon and Bridgeport
were absorbed by Kitchener
- To coordinate common services like
policing, fire departments, maintenance and snow removal on common roads, a new layer of government was
formed in 1973 called the Regional Municipality of Waterloo
Thoughts:
- I do not want to sound anti-British but need to point out that even
modern Brits shift nervously while reading the historical accounts
of
Herbert Kitchener during the Second Boer War. So I would feel
more comfortable if we changed the name from Kitchener to anything else
- Many citizens think we need to get rid of one layer of local government.
- We could dissolve the cities and transfer everything to the regional
government. This will mean less duplication (good) as well as less
representation (bad). To see how this could go wrong just look at the
problems in Toronto with the GTA communities
- If we dissolve regional government then we will need to develop a
method to split the costs of services. For example, the Regional Municipality of Waterloo
also provides services to towns like Elmira, New Dundee and Saint
Clements to only name a few.
Various Proposals (mutually exclusive):
- Rename Kitchener to New Berlin
or
but keep everything else the same. We already have neighboring communities
with names like New Hamburg and New Dundee so New Berlin would fit right in.
Alternatively just change the name back to Berlin.
Ontario already has cities named Paris and London so this might be a more
natural choice.
- Rename Kitchener to New Berlin
but get rid of the regional government. I'm sure that a reasonable
arrangement can be made with neighboring communities to share costs.
- Merge the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo then call the resulting city
Waterloo. Why this name? Almost no one outside of our community knows the name Kitchener
but people around the work know the name Waterloo because of the University of
Waterloo. Get rid of regional government.
- Dissolve the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo. Defer everything to the
regional government called Waterloo.
Movie
Theaters etc.
Berlin (Ontario) Gets Commercial Electricity
OPG MARKS THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF POWER IN KITCHENER
Town then known as Berlin was electrified
October 11, 1910
TORONTO, Oct 7
/CNW/ - While Ontarians enjoy their holiday turkey and residents of Kitchener
Waterloo take in the annual Oktoberfest Parade, a
historic event, the "electrification" of what's now known as Kitchener will also
be marked.
A century ago, on October 11, 1910, future Prime
Minister Mackenzie King, Premier James Whitney
and Sir Adam Beck, the father of public power in
Ontario, joined local dignitaries and hundreds of people to "switch
on" the town with electricity from Niagara Falls, 180 kilometers away - an
incredible achievement for the time.
Ontario Power Generation (OPG), Hydro One and Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro are
honouring the event with a commemorative ad in local newspapers and
Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro has developed an exhibit that can be seen at the
Kitchener Public Utilities building at 191 King Street
West in Kitchener, on Monday, October 11
between 10 am and 2 pm;
it will then move to the main branch of the Kitchener Public Library for the
remainder of October.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
- In the early 20th century, Adam Beck, the
father of public power in Ontario and founder of Ontario Hydro, staged a
series of "switch-on" ceremonies throughout the Province to showcase the
power of electricity.
- The first city selected for this honour was
Berlin (now Kitchener).
- Berlin was chosen because it had been
the site of the so called "Berlin
Convention" in 1903 in which delegates representing major municipalities of
southwest Ontario met to discuss the transmission of power from Niagara
Falls to cities and towns in the region.
- The Berlin Switch-On took place on
October 11, 1910 and was held in the town's
largest indoor space - a hockey rink.
- The "switch-on" transmitted for the first time 110,000 volts of
electricity over 100 miles of transmission line from Niagara Falls to
Berlin - realizing the vision developed
seven years earlier at the Berlin
Convention.
- Dignitaries attending the "switch-on" included
- :Waterloo MP and future Prime Minister,
Mackenzie King
- Ontario Premier Sir James Whitney
- Members of the Ontario Cabinet and Provincial Legislature
- A young girl, Miss Hilda Rumpel, wearing
a red, white and blue outfit, carried the switch and its key on a pillow and
presented it to the Premier.
- When the time came to turn on the power, instead of turning on the
switch himself as planned, Premier Whitney graciously took Adam Beck's hand
and placed it on the switch - allowing Sir Adam
to be the one who turned on the power.
- As the switch was pulled, the auditorium in
Berlin was flooded with light from hundreds of light bulbs. Dozens of
electrical devices, which had been set up ahead of time, started to operate.
Outside the auditorium, the town's main street blazed with light.
Miss Rumpel wore a specially designed crown
of electric light bulbs that lit up as the switch was pulled.
- Following the switch-on, a number of speeches were delivered - both in
the auditorium and later that evening at a banquet in the
Berlin Market House, attended by over 500
people. Every dish served at the banquet was cooked using electricity.
- During the Switch-On ceremonies and banquet, "Oh
Canada" was played by the band on at least
four different occasions. At the banquet, the band also played "See the
Conquering Comes" four times - usually whenever Adam
Beck rose to speak.
PHOTOS OF THE EVENT ARE
AVAILABLE AT:
http://images.ourontario.ca/kitchener/results?grd=876
Colleges +
Universities etc.
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Neil Rieck
Kitchener - Waterloo - Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
