Queen Street south of Ontario Street was part of the land survey by Toronto developers John Arnold and James Lukin in 1853. It was later extended north of Ontario to the river, and then across the river (where it was eventually renamed Guthrie Avenue). Arnold and Lukin brought all their street names from Toronto and this street was named for Queen Street in Toronto. Queen Street in Toronto was named for Queen Victoria in about 1843. By Stanford Dingman

Addendum: The years 1843 to 1853, which spanned the naming of Queen Street in Toronto and Queen Street in Stratford, were one of the busiest and happiest periods in Queen Victoria's life. It included the birth of seven of her nine children and the opening of the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. It attracted six million visitors to marvel at the great Crystal Palace in Hyde Park . Source: Streets of Stratford, 2004

Already established in Canadian theatre, Dora Mavor Moore helped put Patterson in touch with British actor and director Tyrone Guthrie, first with a transatlantic telephone call. Guthrie then made other notable contacts. On July 13, 1953, actor Alec Guinness spoke the first lines of the first play produced by the festival, a production of Richard III: "Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this son of York." Guinness and Irene Worth were in the cast of Stratford's inaugural performance, working for expenses only.

Fundraising to build a permanent theatre was slow, but was helped significantly by donations from Governor General Vincent Massey and the Perth Mutual Insurance Co.  Bob Fairfield designed the the new building. (see Fairfield Drive). The new permanent Festival Theatre building was dedicated on June 30, 1957, with seating for more than 2,200 people, no seats more than 65 feet from the stage. The design was deliberately intended to resemble a huge tent.

The Festival Theatre's thrust stage was designed by British designer Tanya Moiseiwitsch to resemble both a classic Greek amphitheatre and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. It has since become a model for other stages in North America and Great Britain. Source: Wiki 

Note: Tom Patterson's book, First Stage, The Making of the Stratford Festival, provides the full history of the founding of the Festival.

Within the symmetrical parterre are four named gardens containing plants familiar in the 16th century. There's the Witch's Garden with plants such as vervain, considered in ancient times to be a herb with great medicinal powers. In the Romantic Garden are flowers used to make garlands, nosegays and posies. These might include clary sage, used for love potions, dreams and divinations. Of course, in the Kitchen Garden are edible plants and herbs. The fourth section (4) is Shakespeare's Garden, where plants are paired with passages mentioned in his works.

Beyond the Elizabethan Garden, in an expanse of lawn, is a Carpet bed, a style that was all the rage in the Victorian era and is still popular in public gardens. A carpet bed is designed using low-growing plants to present a smooth surface patterned as the name suggests. Source: The Record

* Click to see slides

Holte’s other stainless works include a 40-foot phoenix, commissioned by the Royal Ontario Museum, and  Spirit, a larger-than-life horse that graces the courtyard of the Stratford General Hospital. More recently, he created the Memorial Tree for the Stratford branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.

Skip Manley was not bothered by the enormity of the project. Patterson hailed him as “one of the heroes of the Festival.” He stayed in Stratford the whole summer and solved problems caused by heavy rains and wind and storms that made the ropes creak and strain, and the canvas flap. The tent served the Festival for its first four years. Each year it was taken down, stored and re-raised.

At the end of its life, the tent was put to rest. It was cut into tiny squares and distributed as unique mementoes to Festival patrons.   Sources: Barbara Reid, A Star Danced and Tom Patterson, First Stage. Compiled by Gord Conroy

He served as music consultant at CBC television from 1960 to 1963, was chairman of the music, opera and ballet advisory committee for the National Arts Centre from 1963 to 1966, and in 1965 chaired a government-commissioned committee whose report led to the formation of the National Arts Centre Orchestra.

In addition to winning a Canadian Film Award in 1968 and a Gemini Award in 1989, he was nominated for an Academy Award in 1946 for The Story of G. I. Joe. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1976, a Member in 1989 and a Companion in 1995. He was inducted into the Order of Ontario in 1989, was given a Juno Award for industry achievement in 1995, and received the Arts Toronto Lifetime Achievement Award. He died in 2000 at age 82. Source: Canadian Film Encyclopedia   Photo:  Wikipedia

He was honoured with a Stratford Bronze Star on July 1, 2006. It is in front of the  Avon Theatre.

Gaffney’s decision to keep building was a magnificent one.  In A Star Danced, Barbara Reid said, “No one ever said a negative word about Oliver Gaffney. He was described as 'marvelous,' a 'saviour,' and a 'rock' by Stratford residents.

When rehearsals began at the Stratford fairgrounds (24 Glastonbury Drive), Gaffney built a mock-up stage, just like the Tanya thrust stage. When rehearsals shifted to the tent, he and his men worked at night so rehearsals could proceed during the day. When terrible acoustics of the concrete bowl proved a near insurmountable obstacle, Gaffney called in huge tarpaulins from projects across the country to drape the concrete until coco-matting could be laid to absorb the sound.

One man summed up Oliver Gaffney’s contribution this way. “He came to our rescue, calmly and without a hint of excitement or doubt, over and over again.”

Gaffney was involved with the Rotary Club of Stratford, the Children’s Aid Society and Stratford General Hospital. He was awarded a bicentennial medal in 1984, and was president of the Stratford Festival's board of governors. He received Stratford’s Bronze Star Award for his contributions to the Festival, and it was located near the Royal Bank. Source: Barbara Reid and Thelma Morrison, A Star Danced. Compiled by Gord Conroy.

An active member of the Stratford community, Gaffney is a past chair of Stratford's economic development agency, (InvestStratford) and the Stratford Public Library. In 2011 was campaign chair of the United Way Perth-Huron and helped raise $1.2 million. Within the broader arts community, she has volunteered with the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, and provided marketing and administrative support to Culture Days Ontario. She currently serves on the board of Destination Ontario.

In 2008, she was selected to participate in the Governor General's Leadership Conference, and in 2006 she received a business excellence award for personal achievement from the Stratford and District Chamber of Commerce. In 2010 she was named Woman of the Year in the Arts by Optimism Place Stratford. Source: Broadway World

Anita Gaffney has been executive director of the Stratford Festival since 2013. She leads all administrative and operational business activities and, with the artistic director, sets the strategic direction for the organization. Since that appointment, she has guided the Festival towards financial stability by posting an operating surplus in each year of her tenure. She has also supported a number of new initiatives including the Stratford Festival Forum, the Laboratory, the HD film series and the Stratford Direct bus service. Her leadership has also led to the launch of a $100-million campaign to support the construction of the Tom Patterson Theatre Centre  Sourced by Gord Conroy

On June 29, 1998, Queen Elizabeth, on her wedding anniversary, visited Stratford once again, arriving by a helicopter which landed on the baseball diamond behind the Festival Theatre in Lower Queens Park . She met with Tom Patterson for a few minutes and then christened new construction on the theatre. She stayed only briefly, but was able to see a 10-minute excerpt performed for her from The Taming of the Shrew.  Sourced by Gord Conroy from Tom Patterson, First Stage: The Making of the Stratford Festival.      

 *  Watch YouTube video of the visit below:

* In 2011, he was inducted into the Stratford Sports Wall of Fame. See YouTube Wall of Fame. He was also honoured with a Stratford Bronze Star in 2005. It is located near the entrance to the William Allman Memorial Arena.

Personal note: Don played a choirboy in the Festival's Merry Wives of Windsor, 1956 (see Falstaff Street).

See vidoe below.

John Jr. managed the business while his father travelled by train and boat to logging camps and sawmills in the Gravenhurst-Muskoka area, which he supplied with his pork products. He also regularly went to the Red River Colony, which required trains from Stratford to Sarnia, Chicago and St. Paul, Minn. From there he went by boat up the Red River to what is now Winnipeg to sell his products.

In the late 1890s, the Whyte Packing Co. was one of the largest such companies in Canada. After  John Jr. went to England and established a network for their products there, he convinced his father to move their operations to Stratford, which had better and more diversified rail links. In Stratford, they hired some of the best architects and engineers from Chicago, the hog processing capital of the United States, to design and build the largest and most modern processing plant in Canada. 

The plant, which opened on July 1, 1900, was on a 6.5-acre site ust off Erie Street, at 78 Linton Ave., where the city now has a bus garage. The Whytes also built a plant in Brockville and established retail stores in Toronto, Montreal, Mitchell, St. Marys and two in Stratford – one at 42 Downie St., the other at 174 Queen St. to serve the expanding east end of the city.

John Whyte Sr. died on Oct. 13, 1907, and his wife Margaret in 1911. They are buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Cromarty, Hibbert Township.

In 1966, facing bankruptcy, the firm was sold and in the 1970s, the city bought the site and demolished plant. The last vestige of the Whyte Packing Co. in Stratford is the building that once housed its butcher shop, at 174 Queen St. Source: Historic Plaque Properties

About when he turned 16, Ken dropped out of school and began touring with Hawkins, leaving The Revols behind. After a decade,  he joined Ian and Sylvia and helped form their band, Great Speckled Bird. 

By 1970, Kalmusky was back in Stratford, where his children were born, and started the Stratford-based band Plum Loco with a former bandmate from the Revols, John Till. He also continued to tour, record and play. In 2020, Kalmusky and Till were honoured with Bronze Stars by the City of Stratford. 

* Read further career details in the article with pictures here:  Ken Kalmusky-Wikipedia 

Also read Stratford's John Till, Ken Kalmusky, original members of the Revols, honoured with Bronze Stars | Stratford Beacon Herald 

Stars for Ken Kalmusky and John Till

The City of Stratford awarded 2020 Bronze Stars to Stratford-born musicians John Till and Ken Kalmusky, both of whom had stellar careers in the music industry.

In the late 50s, Ken Kalmusky was a bass player with the Revols, a Stratford band that included Till on guitar, Richard Manuel on piano and lead vocals, Doug Rhodes on vocals and Jim Winkler on drums. Kalmusky later joined Ronnie Hawkins’ band, The Hawks, and Ian and Sylvia's Great Speckled Bird.

John Till also started with the Revols in Stratford before joining Ronnie Hawkins’ band. He later became a member of Janis Joplin’s Full Tilt Boogie Band.

The musical legacy of Till and Kalmusky is recognized in other places in Stratford. In Allen’s Alley (see Wellington Street) there is a mural featuring the Revols, and on the Kiwanis bandshell at Upper Queens Park there is a plaque honouring the band. Source: City of Stratford - The Municipality - Posts | Facebook