The masked writer is unmasked
by Lois Perepelitz

First I want to applaud the Rodeo Committee for paying tribute to our troops in the parade on Saturday.
A lot of us don’t like why they are over there, but the fact is they are there; doing their best to get something good made out of that whole mess, and I think they would really appreciate the gesture made by the town. Kudos to all of you.
The ‘masked writer’ is unmasked.
Ted Bullick phoned me Monday afternoon with the scoop.
Keyhole’s real name is Bob Denison and he was on staff at The Review at the time. Ted says that Keyhole’s columns were all in the spirit of good fun and everyone would have a good laugh over them.
Thanks so much Ted.
In 1942 the Town decided that there were too many young people running the streets late at night, so they passed a curfew bylaw with a 9:30 p.m. curfew.
The plan was to use the town bell, which had not been used for decades, to sound the curfew hour.
The Review had this to report on the first curfew evening:

December 31, 1942
“On the first evening the bell was to ring to announce to the younger generation that it was time to be home, Town Constable Venables gave a hefty jerk on the rope only to have the bell come tumbling down all about him in pieces, shattered by such a sudden awakening.
Fortunately he was uninjured by any of the falling metal.
The following evening the fire siren was to have sounded the curfew hour. This also refused to give the warning, he couldn’t get a whisper out of it. The siren however, was put in working order in due course.”
A Winnipeg paper somehow got the story and ran it, then the CBC radio got hold of it and the story of the bell that didn’t ring was heard across Canada.
Someone in Vancouver offered to sell a bell to the Town, but they decided to stick to the siren.
Hmmm, now what’s that old saying? Something about the best laid plans of mice and men?

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