January 2026 One of Canada’s most decorated military veterans, Major-General (Ret’d) Richard Rohmer, OC, CMM, OOnt, DFC, CD, KC, was honoured by the City of Barrie, with a memorial at Military Heritage Park on the south shore of Kempenfelt Bay in September 2024. Rohmer, a Collingwood native, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force at the age …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/barrie-honours-one-of-canadas-most-decorated-military-veterans-with-memorial-rcaf-roundel/
December 2025 The southern Ontario city of Barrie has grown considerably since it was founded as a village in 1854. As with many older cities, there are many historic homes and buildings near and over the century mark. One such home is a 19th-century house on Miller Drive in the west end of Barrie, a …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/miller-road-farmhouse-once-the-home-of-early-simcoe-county-resident/
December 2025 While many over the decades have come to the Hamlet of Woodbourne and surrounding area for a relaxing summer vacation in the Catskills region of Upstate New York, entertainment was also a big part of experience. One of the venues for entertainment was the Center Theater. The two-storey Art Deco/Streamline Moderne-style theatre, designed …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/ghosts-of-the-borscht-belt-center-theatre-in-woodbourne-a-silent-reminder-when-theatres-were-glamourous/
November 2025 Known as the “Doctor’s House,” it was the last building built for what was once called the Ontario Hospital for the Insane. It’s now just a memory. The hospital, now known as Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, opened in 1913 in the Town of Whitby as a new, progressive facility for …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/the-last-remnant-of-the-ontario-hospital-for-the-insane-demolished/
November 2025 On 24 July 1980, Terry Fox came to Brampton, Ontario, during his cross-Canada Marathon of Hope. Now, 45-years later, Mayor Patrick Brown, members of council, Fox family representative Jessie Alder and artist Christiano De Araujo gathered in Chinguacousy Park to unveil a monument Terry Fox, not far from Terry Fox Stadium. The monument …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/brampton-pays-tribute-to-terry-fox-and-his-marathon-of-hope/
October 2025 A new transit terminal opened in Barrie, Ontario, on 21 September, replacing the now-closed downtown transit terminal. The location of the new Barrie Allandale Transit Terminal has a long history of transportation, occupying a portion of the former Canadian National Railway lands on the shore of Kempenfelt Bay, once a large, important railway …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/barrie-allandale-transit-terminal-opens-in-a-historic-transportation-location/
September 2025 The National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, is a 1,120,000 square feet museum dedicated to telling the story of the United States Air Force and its predecessor services, starting with the Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps in 1907. The museum dates to 1923, when the Engineering Division at McCook …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/national-museum-of-the-united-states-air-force-showcases-military-aviation-in-america/
September 2025 For nearly 170 years, there had been a church on Nottawasaga 33/34 Sideroad in Clearview Township, in southern Ontario. Geographically situated at Part Lot 33, Concession 9, in what was then Nottawasaga Township, the West Nottawasaga Presbyterian Church had been in existence longer than Canada has been a country. The land for the …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/west-nottawasaga-church-carries-on-in-spirit-through-a-unique-monument/
August 2025 Today, it’s an empty, overgrown field. However, just nine short years ago, this was the sports field for Barrie Central Collegiate, in Barrie, Ontario, as it had since 1951. Known as Red Storey Field, the sports field named after Canadian Sports Hall of Fame winner and Barrie native Alvin “Red” Storey. Generations of …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/sports-field-dedicated-to-barrie-born-canadian-sports-hall-of-fame-inductee-now-just-a-memory/
August 2025 Sullivan County in south-eastern New York State is known known for being a significant part of the Borscht Belt, the vacation land for New York City-area Jewish families prior to integration. The county also has a collection of historic iron bridges from an age when bridge construction was transitioning from wood framed construction …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/the-golden-age-of-the-iron-bridge-in-sullivan-county/
