In the BWG Town Council meeting on Tuesday night, it was agreed that the Newton Robinson Hall will be getting an official name change.
The recommendation comes from a letter sent by Pat Wood on behalf of the Tec-We-Gwill Women’s Institute, proposing the name go back to the Tec-We-Gwill Women's Institute Hall (Tec-We-Gwill W.I. Hall).
The Women’s Institute is the original owner of the building, selling it to the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury for $2 years ago. In her letter, Wood noted the women would like to keep their original name of Tec-We-Gwill W.I, as opposed to the new "Newtown Robinson Hall" designation.
“By doing that it would be honouring the donor, our deceased members and also acknowledging the present members who have put many volunteer hours into the community,” Wood wrote.
Changing the name to the Newton Robinson Hall was not part of the sale agreement with the Women’s Institute, Wood noted.
The Tec-We-Gwill W.I branch was founded in 1947 by women looking to make their community a better place to live, by promoting social and family life skills in the rural areas of Tecumseth and West Gwillimbury. Typically, meetings were held in members' homes, and eventually in the Orangemen’s Hall in Newton Robinson. In January 1986, the Orangemen offered the hall to the Women's Institute and they became the official owners.
“We realize that times have changed but the membership today still has that strong volunteering base that will continue to give that same support to the community just as we have done for the last 72 years,” stated the letter.
Coun. Peter Ferragine said he had no problem with the hall keeping its original name. “They initiated it, they created it and have been running it all these years and they deserve the right to keep their name,” he said.
He suggested keeping the Newtown Robinson part of the name, but in brackets.
Deputy Mayor James Leduc liked the idea but was concerned over its length.
“It just makes it so long and our sign is going to be so large,” he said.
Coun. Ron Orr suggested adding the ‘Newton Robinson’ part just underneath the ‘Tec-We-Gwill W.I’ sign.
Council agreed on the friendly amendment for the name change.
