Warwick Township film depicts life in the early days

As the film ended and the lights come on, you could hear the positive response of the many people who attended the first public screening of The Township of Warwick: Our Journey Through Time.

The Warwick Community Centre was packed for the premiere on Saturday afternoon, as more chairs were set up to accommodate everyone. Produced by Paul Janes, the film goes through the history of Warwick Township from its early days in 1832, up until the early 1950s.

The large crowd was treated to over 90 minutes of still photography, with the film narrated by Peter Jensen goes through the many happenings of the township’s early history, while giving context of what was going on in Ontario, Canada and around the world.

Paul's wife, Mary, spoke on his behalf before the film was shown, saying her husband became addicted to restoring old photographs. This led to him wanted to put them into film format. The film includes many stories that were taken from the History of Warwick Township book produced in 2008 by a committee of 14. The film follows a fictional family throughout the film, the Thompson family, said Mary. This is in recognition of the late John Thompson Smith, who was a local historian.

The photos featured in the film were also colorized, something which Paul has doing in his photo restoration in the last four years.

Warwick Township Councillor Joe Manning had the opportunity to see the film previously, as Paul wanted to get Manning’s opinion on his work. “You are in a for a real treat today,” said Manning.

Manning met Paul and Mary when he was preparing for the Watford’s 150thanniversary celebration, which was held last summer. You can’t doing anything about the history of the area, without running into Mary and Paul, calling them “the stewards of our past.” Manning is now the chair of the newly formed Warwick Township Heritage and Historical Committee.

“We are so lucky to have people in our community like Paul,” said Warwick Township Mayor Todd Case, as he thanked him for all he has done to preserve Warwick Township history.

Another showing of the film was made on Saturday evening at the East Lambton Community Complex in Watford. Funding was received to assist in the production of the film from Warwick Township and Lamb=ton County’s Creative County Grant Program.

Blake Ellis, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Independent