History will be roaming the streets of Oil Spring Saturday.
It’s part of the celebration of the villages 150th birthday.
Petrolia Community Theatre member Carol Graham has written a number of sketches of what life was like when the village first came into existence and some of the more colourful tales of the boom town, which will be performed along Oil Springs Line. It’s called the Chronicles of Oil Springs.
“We’ll be performing right on the streets of Oil Springs,” says Graham. “We’re closing down the street for this production and people will go from building to building and there will be an reenactment at each one of them.”
Some of the buildings where the events took place aren’t standing anymore but others are, says Graham, including the former VanTuyl and Fairbank Hardware store which is now Randy’s TV.
While many will be in the early days of Oil Springs, some will be in the not so different past. “The bank robbery (which took place in the 1950s) takes place right in the town hall which used to be the bank,” she says.
Graham says it was fascinating researching the vignettes for the event. “Oil Springs is really interesting because it was such a fast boom; everything happened so fast they couldn’t catch up with the demands,” says Graham. “There were five hotels there; there was such a demand for the hotel, that people were actually sleeping on the floor using their boots for a pillow and they were sleeping two to a bed sometimes, too.”
Guided tours through the town will start at 2 pm at the Oil Springs Fire Hall. You can call the Oil Museum of Canada to book a start time. The event will go rain or shine and tickets are $10.
