The bells are ringing, summoning all criers to the Ontario Town Crier Championships being held this year in Collingwood Ontario. The three days of celebrations starts with a parade on Friday, June 27th and ends with the AGM on Sunday the 29th. It is a three cry competition and the host crier, Ken Templeman, has chosen topics that will challenge the writing skills of every crier.

Among the topics, each attending crier receives a copy of “Glory: a lamentable condition of affairs” by Morgan Ian Adams.











In 1903, 13-year-old Glory Whalen disappeared on her way to school. Her body was found the next day; she had been hit with a blunt object, and then shot in the head. But aside from the fatal shot, the girl was not ‘outraged’, and the few coins she had tucked into the folds of a handkerchief remained untouched.

Her killer was never found, and the tale remains a compelling unsolved mystery and a unique chapter of Collingwood history. It could also be considered one of the oldest ‘cold’ cases in the Province of Ontario and each crier has to prepare a cry based on this true tale.

The other cries include a congratulatory cry from the Crier’s municipality to Collingwood on the occasion of its sesqui-centennial, and a historic cry based on information sent to each crier.


The results