On January 14th 2013 an idea that have been floating around for almost a year started to see the light of day. The idea was to celebrate the history of the birthplace of Municipal Town Council in Newfoundland. That place was the former town of Windsor on Tuesday November 1,1938. I tried to sell the idea in 2012 to some individuals but more or less was told we are one town and it would be dividing the community. I responded by saying we were one in 1991 and 14 years later we celebrated the 100 anniversary of the Mill and former town of Grand Falls.


To make a quick summary of how we got here this is how it went. In 1905 two Harmsworth brothers arrived at Grand Falls Station to begin construction of a paper mill for it publishing properties in England during the War, in what became known as Grand Falls. If you had no residence or invited in to setup business you were not welcomed by the (A.N.D.)Company. You then had to go to what was known as the Station along the railway track and live in substandard conditions. As time went on local residents led by J.P. Spencer went to St. John's came back and setup a board to manage the Station's affairs in 1937.In November 1938 the Station Community was Incorporated and became known as Windsor, run by a board of management. In 1942 the Windsor Act was proclaimed and affairs would be run by what was known as a council with a Mayor and elected Councillors.


It was in the spring of 2012 that i noticed that the former town of Windsor would celebrate 75 years as Newfoundlands first Incorporated Municipal Town Council. I started talking to people over the next few months but nothing happened and it was getting no response from anyone. I felt brushed aside by the town at the time and was toiling with the idea of giving up on it. I then said to myself, I be dammed if I will give this idea up so i forged ahead.


On January 14th I setup a facebook group to gauge public interest. I started to post comment and pictures etc and the public especially former residents loved the idea. The facebook page was doing well and along comes now Councillor Tom Pinsent and wanted to know what was going on and got involved. We had our first meeting on Tuesday Febuary 19th at 7 Pm at St. Joseph's. Only one or two people showed up but we went ahead with planning a small celebration. We got together a couple more times after that and decided we would go with a barbecue on July 6th sponsored by Main Street merchants. As time went on we toiled with the idea of free swimming and skating. I found a sponsor for the swimming in former Windsor resident Leo Power who now lives in St. Johns. It took place on August 11th at the former Windsor Pool now run by the YMCA. As for the skating we were having a problem getting a sponsor so I enlisted my sister and her husband from Nova Scotia who were glad to take it on for our September event. There was an ecumenical service booked to go ahead as our October event but was cancelled by Ministerial Association. This now takes us up to the main event.


On September 15th tickets for the main event the Incorporation dinner and dance went on sale at a price of $40.00 double or $25 dollars single.