Oxford municipalities celebrate golden anniversary

SWOX – South West Oxford held a Township Fare event on May 24 to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman presented mayor David Mayberry with an official proclamation. (Contributed Photo)

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It has been 50 years since Oxford County restructured into the exact two-tier system we see today.

On January 1, 1975, the county underwent a significant municipal reorganization through amalgamation, which was part of a broader provincial initiative during the 1960s and 1970s to streamline local governance across Ontario.

The Ontario government was looking to improve efficiency in service delivery, reduce administrative costs, clarify responsibilities between local and county governments and encourage urban-rural integration. Before 1975, Oxford County consisted of numerous small towns, villages, and townships, many with overlapping or inefficient governance. Each had separate councils, services and tax structures.

Oxford County Warden and Zorra Township Mayor Marcus Ryan said any community should celebrate its anniversaries when they occur and he sees it as looking at the past while understanding the present.

“Everybody gets caught up in their day-to-day lives all the time and rightfully so. But it’s an opportunity to focus on, ok, who are we, how do we get these services, how do we all collectively decide how much tax we pay and what do we spend those taxes on?”

Ryan added he knows from experience that a lot of people don’t know the answers to those types of questions. He and other members of council along with Zorra staff, are holding a free barbeque with live music at the township’s administration building in Thamesford on Tuesday, August 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to mark the occasion.

“This is an opportunity to talk to people we don’t always get and I’m always a big fan of talking to constituents as much as possible about how things actually work.”

The number of local municipalities in Oxford County was significantly reduced in 1975 from over 20 to just eight. East Zorra and Tavistock were combined, North Norwich, South Norwich, and the Village of Norwich were merged into the Township of Norwich and Zorra was created by West Zorra, West Nissouri and North Oxford joining forces. Other municipalities are Woodstock, Ingersoll, Tillsonburg, Blanford-Blenheim and South-West Oxford.

The Township of Blandford-Blenheim and the Drumbo Heritage Society celebrated the 50th anniversary during this year’s Canada Day festivities at Drumbo Park.

“The displays you curated were a wonderful way to highlight the rich heritage of Blandford-Blenheim, and the cake was a sweet touch that added to the sense of unity. We were thrilled to see both former and current mayors, as well as members of council, and former and current township staff, come together to commemorate this significant milestone,” said a post on the township’s website.

Kenn R. Howling was the inaugural mayor in 1975.

South-West Oxford celebrated the milestone on May 24 with the “SWOX Township Fare – 50th Anniversary Celebration” at the Mount Elgin Community Centre. George Jakeman was the first mayor of the township in 1975.

Oxford County became a two-tier government system where the upper tier handles region-wide services such as waste management, long-term care and planning. Lower-tier municipalities are responsible for local roads, parks, fire protection and more.

The 1975 amalgamation helped create more balanced municipal governments and better-aligned urban-rural service delivery. However, like many such reorganizations, it was not without controversy. Some residents felt and still feel a loss of local identity, and not all efficiencies were realized immediately.

East Zorra-Tavistock (EZT), while not holding a specific event to mark the milestone, did acknowledge the anniversary at the grand opening of its new administration building in Hickson. Mayor Phil Schaefer shared a personal memory he has from half a century ago.

“I was 15 at the time and I remember when the restructuring happened. My father Walter was the clerk of the Village of Tavistock at the time, and he became the deputy clerk/tax collector for the Township of East Zorra-Tavistock,” he explained. “The initial council of the amalgamated municipality was quite large as it consisted of all members of the predecessor municipalities.”

The first mayor of EZT was Harold Vogt while Robert C. Matheson, who had previously served as the last reeve of the former West Zorra Township, held the inaugural role in Zorra.