Thomas Foster and His Memorial

by Douglas Blanchard:
The children’s picnic that Thomas Foster left provisions for in his will is called
“Thomas Foster Day in Toronto”
“Five thousand children enjoyed a super picnic in the Exhibition Grounds. But what has spread his fame all around the world it the Thomas Foster Memorial Temple north of Uxbridge.
Believe it or not, there’s nothing like it anywhere, with the exception of the Taj Mahal in India”.

“Last time I paid the Temple a visit was when it was dedicated, about seven years ago. The local bigwigs here hadn’t quite caught on to the significance of the occasion. There were plenty of sly jokes about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on your own tomb and dedicating it before you died”.

“Yesterday I drove up to have another look, and now I know that wise old Tom has the last laugh. He knew what he was doing. The beautiful shrine that dominates the landscape for miles has drawn visitors from every part of the world. The registration book gets filled up so fast it has to be changed several times a year. If this building were on a main highway it would be one of the biggest tourist drawing cards in Canada”.