And so our local paper dated as per the banner above, included a little piece about the planned laying of the cornerstone of the new synagogue. It had been mistakenly remembered as August 24th, but it would appear it was going to be September 14th. Here below is the announcement as it appeared in the paper on this date.
And so the announcement was made. Here is the picture that has long been there only one that was in the possession of the congregation to prove the cornerstone was laid in late summer 1924.
However, a search of the St. Catharines Standard dated September 20th, the Saturday following the ceremony, here’s what was in the paper. And now we have another whole revelation concerning the ceremony.
Unfortunately, the picture is a copy of the microfiche record found at the St. Catharines Public Library. It’s been enhanced for sure but it is hard to see the faces of the men on the right. But the description below the picture explains who is who. Interesting side information is that the benches to both the right and left of the bimah against the wall were where these ancestors sat. R. J. Hoffman sat on the bench to the viewer’s left of the bima and Jacob Cooperman sat on the right hand side along with Abraham Newman and Joseph Levin. It must have been a very exciting time for the congregation.
If any member of those families – Newman, Hoffman, or Levin has an original copy of that photo from above, we would dearly love a copy for our archives.