From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library: On a mid-November evening in 1950 women in ‘glamorous gowns and gentlemen in dress uniform or formal tails’ gathered for the first Sault Ste. Marie Artillery Ball in the ballroom of the Windsor Hotel.
For 11 years, Sault Ste. Marie had not seen a celebration of this magnitude. The war years had been followed by years of repatriation when those who had served came home and searched for jobs and readjusted to civilian life.
Years of shortages and rationing of things like sugar, coffee and gas, and many citizens of Sault Ste. Marie serving overseas or involved in war work did not allow for social frills like balls or galas. The idea for the Artillery Ball belongs to Louis H.
Derrer, the man that our Armoury also owes its existence to. At the time he was the General Manager at Algoma Steel as well as Commanding Officer of the 49 th Sault Ste. Marie Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery.
At that first Artillery Ball, a function of the 49 th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment (RCA), guests were received by Lt. Col. Derrer and Mrs.
Derrer along with Major E. G. Vance and Mrs.
Vance and Regimental Sergeant Major Ken J. Brown and Mrs. Brown.
Responsibility for the Ball rested in the hands of the Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess Committee whose Chairman at the time was Capt. John A. Curran.
As you can see the inauguration of the Artillery Balls involved a veritable who’s who of prominent Sault Ste. Marie citize.