Recently, as I sat on my
front porch enjoying a cigar it occurred to me it was October
14th, the fiftieth anniversary of Hurricane Hazel. Mind you
everyone else will tell you October 15th is the date. A few year
ago, I did research on Hazel for an article I wrote in my
historyletter The Grand Dispatch, and was surprised to learn the
date was actually the 14th. Hazel arrived late in the afternoon
and into the evening of the 14th but most of the damage took place
during the night. When those who could sleep woke to the damage it
was already the 15th. Until I did this research, I too always said
Hazel hit on the 15th! A number of years ago one of my employees
came into work in (I believe) August and announced it was her
youngest daughter's thirtieth birthday, and she had been born
during Hurricane Hazel. I made the mistake of questioning her
facts! What mother does not know; the events around the birth of
her children, especially when she relates it to something as
significant as a hurricane. Finding myself in considerable discord
with her for being a know-it-all. I quickly let the subject plunge
into oblivion!
Then on Friday, October 15th a
construction worker at the new expressway in the Red Hill Creek in
Hamilton found himself stranded on his back hole in the middle of
the creek after a flash flood. His rescue was shown on CHTV and
his photo was in the Hamilton Spectator. Both media gave
considerable space to the fiftieth anniversary of Hurricane Hazel
and both said it occurred on October 15th . For time and eternity
this fellow will always remember the 15th of October for Hazel and
his near miss with the grim reaper in the Red Hill Valley!
So
what is my point? As the Chronicle begins a new chapter in its
long history I felt the need to mention two things. They are how
seldom media gets the facts wrong and how important the media is
in correctly recording our history. The problem is once it gets it
wrong, the incorrect detail becomes fact. When I write my
articles, I usually have lots of time to ask many questions of
numerous people and time to check my facts from more than one
source. A daily paper reporting an event which just happened needs
to get the story out now! No good reporter will ever intentionally
compromise their integrity by knowingly printing an inaccurate
statement, but he/she also does not have my luxury of time.
Obviously a weekly paper such as the Chronicle may have more time,
depending on how soon prior to going to press the event
occurs.
Often I have used the phrase "Ain't
history fun!" This usually follows a story where I inform you
of conflicting facts in my article. My greatest disadvantage in
writing my articles is I depend 90% on peoples memories and 10% on
what I find in old newspapers. When I wrote my article about my
memories of Hurricane Hazel, I was soundly challenged by an
old-timer who to this day swears I had it all wrong. He would have
been in his early thirties at the time while I was only six years
old. However, I nearly drowned and I know I am right! You know,
just like my employee was about her daughter being born during
Hurricane Hazel in August!
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