Granting of the Charter at Memorial Park. Photo by Milton Adamson, Toronto
On Monday August 3rd, 1925, Old Home Week celebrations in North Bay opened with a grand pageant parade to Memorial Park where a special ceremony was held in which the charter of the City of North Bay was granted to Mayor McDonald by the Hon. Charles McCrea, Ontario Minister of Mines. The creation of the city was marked by the firing of a cannon There was a formal blessing by both Rev. J. Ferguson and Rev. J. Chapleau. Speeches were made by McCrea, McDonald, H. Morel, M.L.A., Senator Gordon, and John Ferguson. (“North Bay, Past and Present, Celebrates,” The Nugget, August 4, 1925.) A special panoramic photograph was taken of the crowd and the float that carried the OHW Queen. A copy of this photo hangs in the Branch 23 of the Canadian Legion building today. The Legion is located on part of the site where the crowd was gathered.