By Rev. C.J. Barry Kentner
The ‘Christmas Town” of Ontario has really become a place to explore. And so it is that a new slogan…”Explore Dresden”… has arisen. And the town is building on it. Already there is a patio behind the Municipal Building with inviting tables and benches…and gaily painted. By next year there will be lights and other things. And this is just one of the places to meet.
The Post office is three doors down, and around the corner is the main business section. Most of the businesses are in this block.
On the side of the Municipal Building is a colorful sign detailing night and day the events of the week.
What is really surprising is the fact that Dresden really is a place to explore. This community has
a history of connections. The very first trade school in Canada was founded here. There is a
connection to the marine industry and the Great Lakes as well as the Josiah Henson Canadian-African Museum.
A Trillium Trail winds through the parks that border the Sydenham River. It has within it’s 5.8-kilometer
length, 53 historical markers, which tell the stories of the men and women who helped build the town.
NOSTALGIA
The steam whistle’s wail
Down the old steel rail
Brought a flood of nostalgia my way;
As a boy, that sound would excitingly pound
In my head, Oh bygone day,
When puffs of white smoke,
Flecked with black bits of coke
Would fly from the stack, passing by,
With a lingering smell,
Like the clang of the bell
Which was donging in tones
Far from shy.
A Hot rush of steam
In a long, white stream
As the wheels went clattering by
Filled with memories of haze
Those special days
Of an era that did not die.
Rev C.J. Barry Kentner
