ly spread throughout the community. Someone would tell Central, who would send the alarm on the other lines. Central was always very obliging and was 'central' to the community in many ways, often beyond the call of duty. In 1909 the first telephone office in Tyne Valley was located in the home of Mrs. John Forbes , with Mary Forbes as agent. The John Forbes home was sold in 1922 to Levi Dyment . Mrs. Dyment became agent and operator. Their daughter Dora became agent in 1943, remaining in the position until December 28, 1948 when the exchange office moved to Dr. Stewart 's Drug Store with Miss Eleanor Birch as agent. In 1955 the office was moved to the second floor of the Royal Bank build¬ ing. Twenty years later it was moved to the new home of the agent, Mrs. Eleanor (nee Birch) Maclntyre . There it remained until the dial system was introduced on November 30, 1977—the last of the magneto exchanges in the province converted to dial operation. On December 5,1977 more than 300 area residents packed the gymnasi¬ um of the Ellerslie Consolidated School for the official opening cere¬ monies for the telephone dial system. Dr. George Dewar , MLA, made the first official long distance call to George Henderson , MLA, Minister of Fisheries, who was in The Hague, Holland, on government business. A second call was made to Halifax to A. Gordon Archibald , a former pres¬ ident of Island Tel, who initiated the Service Improvement Program in 1971. At the conclusion of the evening's program, many paid special trib¬ ute and made presentations to the retiring agent, Mrs. Eleanor Maclntyre , with 29 years of service, and the following members of her staff: Miss Phyllis Milligan , Miss Pearl Williams , Miss Darlene Ellis, and Mrs. Arnold Gillis . Electricity Electricity was brought to the area in the early 1950's. On January 7,1956 freezing rain started coating trees and wires. It continued until January 9. Ice built up steadily until it demolished power and communication lines and poles for a distance of more than ninety miles, turning into a disaster area. Almost 1,000 telephone poles were destroyed between Summerside and Alberton . Branches of trees bent down with many breaking off. Electricity was not restored until April 11. Many peo- 84 Roots & Branches