Attridge, Ernest Fred, 1908-2005 : Dr. Ernest Frederick Attridge was a major figure in Canadian optometry. He made outstanding contributions not only in his profession but also in his avocation of filmmaking. He was a member of the Toronto Movie Club (and the Toronto Film and Video Club).
He became an optometrist, after graduating from the College of Optometry in Toronto, in 1934. After seven years in private practice, Dr. E. Fred Attridge was appointed to the board of the Optometrical Association of Ontario. Four years later, in 1945, he became its president. In 1955, he was appointed to the Board of Examiners of the College of Optometry. As a board member, he was involved in reorganizing its membership as a "college" similar to Dentistry and Medicine. Dr. Attridge was appointed to the College of Optometrists as its first president in 1963, remaining in office until 1968. Under his leadership, the profession began meeting with the Ministry of Health seeking Optometric inclusion in provincial health insurance plans. He engaged in talks with the University of Waterloo seeking a university program for optometry.
Dr. Attridge championed the idea of optometry as a valued public service, and the most cost efficient route for the people of Ontario to receive vision care. His political activities in optometry had ramifications for the whole country. Other provinces followed the Ontario legislative model, and the financial scheme related to optometric inclusion in Medicare. As the University of Waterloo contained the only English language school of optometry in Canada, candidates from all 10 provinces enrolled. Thus graduates with an accredited university education took their places all across Canada, raising the standard of the profession nation-wide. He continued to serve as an optometrist until the age of 80, retiring from his practice in 1989.
He was also an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma for more than 55 years. He produced two full-length 16mm films telling the story of Casa Loma, one of Canada's foremost tourist attractions. He won the Molson Trophy at the Canadian International Film Festival as the best Canadian Amateur Motion Picture of 1979, for his full-length film entitled, Casa Loma. Other titles he produced as a member of the Toronto Movie Club include: Toronto Skating Club skating carnival (1951); Priceless Possession (1953) -- an amateur film about optometry; Somebody Goofed (1954); Wizard's Club (1954); The Castle (1961); Flowers From Frost; Hail Humberside; Treasures of the Ukraine (1970s); and Floral Fantasy. He also produced a film demonstrating root canal therapy, which was used for instructional purposes in dental schools all across North America.
When he began shooting video with the Toronto Video Club, he used any revenue he could generate in support of better equipment for the senior club members. In 1995, he produced a promotional video for Murray Dryden's Sleeping Children Around the World organization. The last video he produced was the reunion in song of the Leslie Bell Singers that took place in 1996, during the CBCs 60th anniversary program.
