Editor:
Yes, John Wiggins was a visionary. He was also a gentleman who fostered loyalty from his employees and friends. I got to know John in 1998 when he shared his idea to resurrect the local newspaper. He saw it as a bridge between the growing population of weekenders and entrepreneurs to the local population. He didn’t want the people who had roots to the settlers of Creemore to lose their voice. His affection for the bygone ways was as genuine as his savvy for forward thinking.
His no-nonsense but fun-loving approach fostered a desire for creativity and quality in anyone he mentored or employed. John was an example of a man with quiet determination. He may have always been a “weekender” to some, a firebrand of change to others, but his stalwart attitude towards the town was representative of the generations of residents that have called Creemore home.
Settlers start towns but founders help towns thrive. Times change and with each era a town experiences new founders to take them into the future. John Wiggins didn’t meet the Petun families, he didn’t sit down with the pioneers of 1842. He may not have witnessed the hay stubble and burnout marks on Mill Street (a recollection from my childhood summers and tales regaled by “old timers” from the late ’60’s!) but I think of him as a founder to the town we know and love today. This is a town still attracting creative entrepreneurs solving problems and meeting the needs of growing families. And, as John would say, “that’s the good stuff.”
Michelle Matthews,
Creemore.