Community Gardens Spring. All participants are most grateful to the Ellis families for their kindness and generosity in making it possible to enjoy the garden. ELECTRICITY Electricity was introduced to O'Leary by Fred Champion who was born in Richmond , Prince Edward Island in 1908. Later that year his father, Dr. W.B. Champion , moved his family to Tyne Valley . It was there at the age of six, that Fred made his first engine from old bat¬ teries he had fished out of a nearby river and a box with a tin can nailed to the top. When the Champion family moved to O'Leary in May, 1918, Fred geared up a small volt power plant, run by an engine and generator in their home. Construction had begun in 1937 and on January 6, 1938, after many months of hard work, electric lights generated by a 26 horse¬ power diesel engine first lit up the village streets (100 watt bulbs in eleven street lights) and the homes of his first few customers. This was a vast improvement over the kerosene lamps used in the early 1900's to illuminate the streets. Fred provided free electricity to all churches in the village. He continued to develop and expand his electric utility, skillfully synchronizing his various engines. Unfortunately, the system was wiped out by a fire on February 16, 1949. 224