Lost Villages Historical Society & Museum
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Jan/Feb/Mar 2020 Newsletter Lost Villages Historical Society & Museum HAPPY NEW YEAR Welcome to a new year and a new decade with the Lost Villages Historical Society. As in the past, we cherish your membership and friendship, and we look forward to your interest and participation in the activities of the historical society in this new decade. As president of the historical society, I wish to thank the executive members for their dedication and special work for the historical society. The executive members are: President – Jim Brownell; Vice-President – Gardner Sage; Treasurer – Gloria Waldroff; Recording Secretary – Cindy Bickerstaffe; Email Secretary – Ginette Guy; Corresponding Secretary – Tim Gault; Director – Alan Daye; Township of South Stormont Representative – Andrew Guindon. Our first activity for 2020 will be the annual Heritage Dinner Meeting on Monday, February 17 th . More information on this may be found in this newsletter, and it is necessary to have at least 40 members and friends to sign up, or the dinner will be canceled. Let’s not make that happen. The sign-up date is Friday, February 7 th , so why not reserve NOW! Please note that there are no meetings in January or March, as per our constitution. UPCOMING EVENTS HERITAGE DINNER MEETING The annual Heritage Dinner Meeting will be held at Jimmy’s Restaurant, Dickinson Drive, Ingleside , ON, on Monday, February 17, 2020 , beginning with a half-hour social time at 5:30 pm. A roast beef dinner with all the trimmings will be served at 6:00 pm sharp. The cost is $20.00, and this includes the meal, taxes, and gratuity. To reserve your spot, please contact Vale Brownell by Friday, February 7, 2020 , at 613-537-2531 or email the Lost Villages Historical Society at [email protected] . Please make your reservation now. In order to have the dinner, we must have at least 40 reservations, so your attention to this matter is urgent. Please leave a message on Vale’s phone, should you not reach her. Should we not have enough members www.lostvillages.ca Page 1 of 13 www.facebook.com/treasurehistory and friends sign up for the dinner, then the meeting will be held at Sunset Cove Retirement Living, Long Sault, at 7:30 pm. But, let’s make our annual Heritage dinner happen! GUEST SPEAKER: The guest speaker will be Kevin Lajoie, Co-ordinator with Cornwall Tourism . This organization is making great strides to reach out to the attractions in the United Counties, so we welcome Kevin to our meeting. His presentation should be enlightening. BITS AND PIECES -Nancy and Don Hallberg did a fantastic job at cleaning up the gardens and tucking them away for the winter. They have done incredible work to keep the gardens at the museum site attractive and colourful, and we thank them for their work. -In recent weeks, the water in Lake St. Lawrence has been at historic lows, and even old Highway #2 has reappeared in Aultsville. As well, most of the same highway is visible at Farran’s Point. Many sections of the old Grand Trunk/Canadian National Railroad are clearly visible. Many folks have shared their photos and comments on Facebook, as they had never seen many of these sights before. Apparently, the water above the Iroquois Dam, in the Great Lakes basin, is at historic highs, and it is necessary to lower some of that water before spring. The water of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River is controlled through the International Joint Commission. -We look forward to a continuation of the Gospel Music in the Park in 2020. These events, sponsored by Long Sault Pentecostal Church, will be held on Sunday, July 5, July 12, July 19, July 26, 2020, at 6:30 pm. Admission is free, but a lawn chair is required. Many old-time favourites and new contemporary songs and hymns are presented. -The summer bus tours, “Through the Lands of the Lot Villages” , will be back for 2020, and we encourage you to spread the news about them. Are you looking for a special gift for a relative or friend? Why not consider a gift certificate for a bus tour!! The tours will be held on Sunday, July 19, August 16, September 20, and October 18, 2020. The air-conditioned bus leaves from the Lost Villages Museum at 1:00 pm and returns to the museum at 5:00 pm for a Barbecue (No Barbecue in October). The cost is $30.00/person (includes barbecue) and $20.00 in October (no barbecue). To reserve a tour contact: [email protected] or [email protected] or 613-534-2197. -We thank Dave Smith of Know-It-All News for including Lost Villages Reports in his publications. President Jim Brownell has completed eight reports to date, and this has been a great vehicle for our organization to spread the news about the Lost Villages Historical Society’s activities. -In 2019, Jim Brownell worked closely with Marie Lesoway, daughter-in-law of Lillian (Winters) MacLeod of Ingleside, to secure photos and other historical documentation from the historical society’s collection for Lillian's book Looking Back on Life – Stories to tell my grandchildren. The book was published in the fall of 2019, and Marie sent two copies to the historical society, one for the historical society’s archives and the other for Jim Brownell’s personal library. We thank Marie and Lillian for their generosity, and it didn’t take www.lostvillages.ca Page 2 of 13 www.facebook.com/treasurehistory long for the historical society’s copy to get into the hands of Art Buckland. While at the December pot-luck luncheon, Art borrowed the book, as Jim Brownell showed it as part of the “Show and Tell”. -Thank you to all those who came out to the December pot-luck luncheon. We thank Gloria Waldroff and Cindy Bickerstaffe for convening the event, and we thank all others who participated. One thing is known from an event like this. We have some excellent cooks and bakers in our midst. Thank you to all! -A large collection of unidentified photographs from the former Ingleside/Osnabruck Rotary Club were donated to the Lost Villages Historical Society’s archives. We thank a past-president of this organization, Pat English, for stopping at the archives on October 29, 2019, and helping to identify most of the people associated with the images. -Thank you to those who provided desserts for our annual Advent Service/Concert, held in the Sandtown Advent Christian Church on Sunday, December 8, 2019. A special thanks to Vale Brownell and Paulette Brownell for stepping to the plate to convene the reception, following the service/concert. Thank you to Ginette Guy for her excellent photos/news story, published in the Chesterville Record. PLAQUES UNVEILED TO THE LOST HAMLETS & 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SEAWAY TREE DEDICATION On Wednesday, October 23, 2019, an impressive ceremony was held at the site of the Lost Villages Museum, when five historical plaques were unveiled and a Royal Red Maple Tree was planted to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the official opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway on June 26, 1959. Historical Society member Tom Brownell presided at the tree dedication. George Gowsell of Long Sault had the honour of unveiling the plaque to the “Quarries of Mille Roches”. His grandfather, also George Gowsell, worked at the quarry and his picture is displayed in one of the photographs on the plaque. The “Long Sault Rapids/Rapids Prince” plaque was unveiled by Curtis and Gail Stephenson, as Curtis’s grandfather, Captain James Peter Stephenson, was the last captain on the Rapids Prince. Arthur Buckland, a former resident of Sheek Island, unveiled the plaque dedicated to “Sheek Island/Ault Park”. He referred to Sheek Island and Ault Park as being like a “Shangri La”, with kids and beachgoers having a great time at the head of the island. He also referred to the micro-climate that existed on the island, and how that region, if still existing, would make an ideal vineyard, today. This micro-climate was due to the influence created by the close proximity to the Long Sault Rapids. Irma (Runions) Cook unveiled the plaque to the hamlet of “Maple Grove”, and commented about her family’s connection to that lost hamlet and Ernie’s (Runions) Hotel. She paid particular attention to Maple Grove’s close connection to hydro in the past, as this was the distribution centre for the power created by the Mille Roches Power House. Rosemary Rutley, a dedicated member of the Lost Villages Historical Society, unveiled the “Woodlands/Santa Cruz” plaque, and recalled her connection to St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church, depicted on the plaque by artist Pierre Giroux. She mentioned that she had an association with this church from the time she was an infant and that she (Rosemary Empey) and Willie Rutley were the second last couple to be married in that church, before its destruction for the Hydro and Seaway projects. www.lostvillages.ca Page 3 of 13 www.facebook.com/treasurehistory The plaque project was sponsored by Cornwall’s “Heart of the City” historical plaque program, with assistance from community partners such as the City of Cornwall, Township of South Stormont, and Ontario Power Generation. Todd Lihou, Centretown Coordinator for Heart of the City was in attendance, as was Brian McGillis, Mayor of the Township of South Stormont. Christopher Clark and Matt Mulvihill represented Ontario Power Generation. REMEMBRANCE 2019 AND DEDICATION OF VIMY OAK This is the presentation given by President Jim Brownell at the November 10, 2019 Remembrance Ceremony at the Mille Roches-Moulinette Cenotaph, Lost Villages Museum.