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Cold night, warm memories at Historical Society meeting

February 12, 2014   ·   0 Comments

Despite the record snow and cold, hardy members of the Tecumseth & W. Gwillimbury Historical Society sallied forth in January to share their treasures and stories at our annual Show and Tell meeting. It was a worthwhile endeavour.

Our youngest member, Andrew Melidy, amazed us all with a copy of his family tree. Andrew is a 12th generation member of the Leger and Robillard families dating back to 1602 in New France and it was with pride that he detailed his lineage. More family history was presented by Patricia Blackstock who shared  a photo of her grandmother in a 1905  Home Economics class  at Riverdale Collegiate. Jim Campbell related the lucky escape of his grandfather who was torpedoed on the H.M.S Lion during the battle of Jutland in 1916. Another war memory in the form of a diary excerpt told of the  experiences of June Chamber’s father. June showed some related V for Victory buttons from the 2nd world war.

Lois  Fallis and her daughter teamed up to relate some of their family history. Lois’ great-grandfather was a Methodist preacher in the vicinity of Orangeville in 1862. His circuit included services in surrounding farmhouses and a Camp Meeting in Fergus in fair and foul weather. An antique toy cash register/bank belonging to their family was also presented. And, to round out personal histories, Barbara Northwood recalled a cousin’s achievement of  being one of the first women ministers in the Anglican church circa 1978.

Objects of interest were varied. Hazel Johanssen presented a baby’s layette from the estate of Muriel Reynolds, Isabel Abbott charmed us with a carved bowl from 1879 that was also a delightful music box and Bruce Chambers shared his Sir John A. Macdonald collage. An elaborate candlestick that told of a disposition of a Grandmother’s treasures was presented by Betsy Flood and Don Mossey brought us up to date on the construction of his 1904 Oldsmobile delivery wagon. Lastly Franz Aschwanden amused us with an eclectic assortment of collages of old video, camera and cell phone parts as well as a ‘money slides of outstanding gardens from across Canada and Europe

What a delightful mixture of past and present to warm a January night.

Join us on Monday, February 17 for a preview of Spring when the Northwoods will delight us with their slides of outstanding gardens from Canada and Europe. We meet at 7:30 p.m. at the Tec We Gwill Hall in Newton Robinson and conclude with a social hour.

For more information please phone 905 775-7144 or 905 936-4086.

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