Meet Wellington County's last official town criers

ERIN -- Oyez Oyez gather ye round for a tale of Wellington County's last remaining town criers. Also known as the "tri-county crier," the title of the sole official town crier in Wellington County belongs to Alton resident Andrew Welch, who has served as the Town of Erin's town crier since 2012. The 63-year-old stumbled into the position in 2010, after he was approached by Orangeville's town crier at the time, Betty Kading, following a dramatic reading of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in a pub. "She took me under her wing and conveyed the basics from her experience as to how the whole thing worked," said Welch, who was recently appointed to the town crier position in Orangeville. A position granted by a municipality or agricultural and historical societies, Welch said he contacted the Town of Caledon about becoming its official town crier once he understood the role, going on to serve as the area's town crier for 15 years. Giving his first cry in 2012 for a St. Patrick's Day event, Welch added Erin to his roster after he was approached by former mayor Lou Maieron, who said the town needed a town crier. "I had the uniform already ..., but the cape was red. So I thought, hey, I'll reverse the cape so the other side is green, and I put a shamrock on it (for Erin)," said Welch. But what does being a town crier entail in the modern age? Largely considered a ceremonial function these days, Jenn Olivero, president of the Ontario Guild of Town Criers and Hanover's official town crier, explained the position was historically used to announce proclamations and other news to the community, but grew less common once newspapers became widespread. In Welch's case, he often serves as an unofficial town mascot, wearing a green cape adorned with shamrocks, taking lots of pictures, and telling people where he's from and what makes it a great place to visit or live. Welch's next appearance as town crier will be at the Erin Shamrock Awards on April 22. "One of the reasons this works really well is, not only do town criers have a visual and audio attraction, as well as an ability to get people's attention, but they also don't need an introduction," said Welch. "Everybody looks up and says, 'I know who that is. That's the town crier.'" According to Olivero, the guild, which was established approximately 40 years ago, isn't aware of many town criers in Wellington County beyond recent history. In Centre Wellington, Olivero said Elora and Fergus have had the odd town crier, with Peter Skoggard listed as the last person to hold the role in 2021, although he wasn't a guild member. "The most notable town crier for Elora and Fergus would be 'professor' David S Ritchie, from the turn of the last century," said Olivero. "It was said that he could be heard in Elora if he was crying in Fergus." Holding the title in an "unofficial capacity" since 2013, Skoggard said he fell into the role because he's often asked by the Elora BIA to "go about the streets bellowing" when there's an event in the municipality. "I like to make people feel how wonderful they are, and I think that's a very important thing as the town crier," said Skoggard. To be a good town crier, Welch said one needs four traits: a loud voice, an outgoing personality, a good head for names and writing skills. "My signature trademark is that I like to write in limericks," said Welch. A town crier is also known for their livery or regalia: in Welch's case, this includes a handmade frock coat, period field boots, a reversible shoulder cape and a tri-corn hat. Skoggard is less traditional and said his outfit depends on the event. One year, he dressed up as a Scottish Christmas tree, another year, he was a court jester for the medieval fair; other times, you can find Skoggard dressed as a blue heron or Chinese dragon. "I think the important thing is meeting people and drawing them out into the event ... and certainly, I announce all the events as they happen," said Skoggard. Making one or two public appearances in Erin a year, Welch said what most attracted him to the role was the writing, as most town criers are expected to write all of their own proclamations. A former consultant, Welch currently works as an author for his day job, writing about ecological economics and human value systems, as well as lecturing at the University of Waterloo. "To begin, you gather people's attention traditionally by saying oyez oyez, which is the old French saying for listen up ... I often use all good people gathered here today in my civic cries," said Welch. "The other tradition is to end with God Save the Queen." Considering his legacy, Welch said he'd like to see someone with a historical background eventually take the title, although anyone can be a town crier. "Often people say, ' Who could possibly replace you?" said Welch. "But that being said, once the town has a town crier, a lot of people are exposed to that and think they'd love to try." Isabel Buckmaster's position is partially funded by the federal Local Journalism Initiative program.