Posts Tagged ‘FYI’

Advocate for Archives: Share your Story on the Usefulness of Archives

Saturday, December 8th, 2012

The Archives Association of Ontario has shared the following request with the research and archival community. As archives are a major source of information for genealogists, you may have a story you wish to share as well. If you do, please send an account of your experience to the President of the AAO at president@aao-archivists.ca .

Here is their unabridged message:

“I have been contacted by the office of NDP MP Pierre Nantel, the Official Opposition Critic for Heritage, in order to gather evidence to advocate for a government commitment to archives. I have summarized the request I received from Mr. Nantel’s office below.

Quebec’s TVA network recently started reporting on the cuts to archives and are covering Mr. Nantel’s related questions in the House. Essentially they are looking to make the issues at hand as understandable as possible to the public. For example, he cites the following story from a TVA news report ” Library and Archive’s website shows internationally-renowned Quebec artists Luc Plamondon accepting a Juno, with a subtitle that says “an unidentified man with a Juno”! (http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/infos/national/archives/2012/12/20121203-210205.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter) This is an easy-to-understand issue for the media and the public, and can be directly attached to the Harper Govt’s cuts.”

Mr. Nantel would like positive examples of historically significant items or documents that have been discovered by archivists or in archives. Things that would not have been discovered or celebrated if it wasn’t for archives/archivists (ie. if we’re all suffering cuts, there won’t be anyone to discover, interpret, or preserve this material). As a bonus, if you can provide an example of something related to the War of 1812 this would allow Mr. Nantel to “demonstrate that the Government’s interest in 1812 is all about show and no substance – and that real investment in our history has to involve the professionals that do the research.”

Please don’t limit yourselves to projects that were accomplished through NADP although these examples are still relevant. You can send me your examples by responding to this email (president@aao-archivists.ca). There is some urgency to the matter as Mr. Nantel’s office wants to continue the wave of support generated from the TVA.”

FYI: More Unregistered Cemeteries sent to Registrar

Saturday, December 8th, 2012

Last week there was an article about current OGS activities regarding the registration of cemeteries across the province.

We have an update.

This week we sent to the Registrar the lists of unregistered cemeteries for the counties of Cochrane, Dundas and Durham so that they can be registered and protected.

Many thanks to all of the volunteers who have worked so hard to prepare these lists.

The Awards Committee Needs You!

Friday, November 30th, 2012

95% of OGS activities around the province are managed by volunteers and we are grateful to all volunteers for sharing their time and talents with the Society and researchers everywhere.

Over the years, we have developed different ways of honouring volunteers and branches and SIGs for their achievements, but, in order to ensure this recognition continues, we need assistance on the OGS Awards Committee.

Members of the Awards Committee do not have to judge who will receive an award, but we need a few OGS members to help in ensuring that the awards are given out when they need to be, so that all the hard work of our dedicated volunteers and the achievements of our branches and SIGs do not get forgotten.

If you’re interested in helping with this committee, please contact the Provincial Office.

FYI: Update on Cemeteries Act Petitions

Friday, November 30th, 2012

There have been some questions as to what happened to the Cemeteries Act Petitions in May 2011 when the Ontario Legislature was prorogued. The answer is: they died!

But – OGS and The Ontario Historical Society (OHS) received a life line from Jim Brownell, then retiring Member of Provincial Parliament for Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry. He arranged for us to meet John Gerretsen, then Minister of Business Services – the Ministry in charge of cemeteries registration.

We presented Minister Gerretsen with a list of more than 1500 unregistered cemeteries across the province and had a first hand opportunity to tell the Minister about the lack of protection and high risk of removal for unregistered cemeteries. As a result, we received a letter of undertaking from the Registrar of Cemeteries, Michael D’Mello. The Ministry plans to register unregistered cemeteries! To this end, we have been asked to submit the data county-by-county and to include modern identifying information such as GPS, street addresses, directions, etc.

It isn’t too late.

The joint OGS and OHS Cemetery Registration Committee has been resuscitated and, with assistance from many hardworking branch cemeteries committees, is working to compile the necessary information and send it to the Registrar. To date the data for four counties – Algoma, Brant, Bruce and Carleton – have been forwarded to the Registrar of Cemeteries. Any new information for these counties will be also forwarded as it is discovered.

The OGS Cemetery Locator is being updated as we move along by county, with the goal of making it as complete a record of cemeteries in Ontario as possible.

None of this can happen without the co-operation of our branches and our genealogical and historical friends who have first hand knowledge of their areas. We ask that people check out the Cemetery Locator to see what is on record for your county or region.

We invite anyone with cemetery information, particularly little known or abandoned cemeteries to contact us. This week we learned about three unregistered small family burial grounds from surprising sources.

Please help the OGS/OHS Cemetery Registration Committee remain alive! We look forward to hearing from the friends of cemeteries. We plan to keep you posted as we send the government further information.

FYI: Upcoming Festive Heritage Events

Sunday, November 25th, 2012

Get a taste of how our early Ontario ancestors celebrated the season by visiting one of the many excellent Pioneer Villages around the province.

Lang Pioneer Village, Keene:

Christmas by Candlelight

“Delight in the sight and sounds of the most wonderful time of the year with a traditional Pioneer Christmas.”

Admission: Adults $10, Students/Seniors $9, Youth (5-14) $6, Under $5 Free.  Family (includes 2 Adults and up to 4 Youth) $30

Dates: Saturday December 8th & Sunday December 9th, 2012

Times: 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm each night

Location: Lang Pioneer Village, 104 Lang Road, RR 3 Keene, ON (map)

Click here for full details on this event

Contact Info:

Telephone: (705) 295-6694

Toll Free: 1 866 289 5264 (LANG)

E-mail: info@langpioneervillage.ca

Black Creek Pioneer Village

Christmas at Black Creek

There are different activities for each weekend throughout this event.  Click here for a list of highlights.

Dates: November 17th until December 23rd, 2012

Hours of Operation: After Labour Day to December 21st, 2012

Weekdays: 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Weekends & Holidays: 11:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

For details on other heritage Christmas events, contact information, admission prices and how to purchase tickets, please follow this link to the Black Creek Pioneer Village website.

Doon Heritage Village

Country Christmas

“Enjoy Christmas in the country from the early 20th century! Take in the sights and sounds of a Christmas past with horse drawn wagon rides, music and Father Christmas. General Admission rates apply.”

Dates:

Sundays: Dec. 2, 9, 16, 23,

Time: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Location: Doon Heritage Village, 10 Huron Rd., Kitchener, ON (map)

For details on this and other festive heritage events, contact info and admission rates, please follow this link to the Doon Heritage Village website.

FYI: Upcoming Festive Heritage Events

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012

Victoria County Historical Society: Candlelight Christmas House Tour

Date: Saturday, December 1, 2012

Time: 1:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Location: Lindsay, ON (map)

Tickets go on sale the first week of November For more information call: 705-324-3404

2012 Candlelight Tour Poster

Are you a fan of Jane Austen and the Regency period?  Join JaneAustenDancing on December 16th for a Christmas Ball.

“Join us as we celebrate the season and Miss Austen’s birthday with a ball at this very elegant venue. The day will include a Regency clothing and hair workshop, dance workshop, and tour of this lovely 19th-century building. Evening ball with refreshments, non-alcoholic punch and live music, in the beautifully decorated West Hall.”

Date: Sunday, December 16, 2012

Time: 12:00 pm – 9:00 Pm (doors open at 11:30)

Location: Enoch Turner Schoolhouse Museum, 106 Trinity Street, Toronto (map)

Ticket Information:

Purchased by December 3: $55 for adults, $40 for students and seniors

Purchased after December 3: $65 for adults, $50 for students and seniors

Ticket price includes admission to the afternoon workshops, a tour of the Schoolhouse, elegant light refreshments and the evening ball with live music.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the JaneAustenDancing website: www.janeaustendancing.ca, or contact the Enoch Turner schoolhouse at: enochturner@heritagetrust.on.ca or 416-327-6997.

FYI: Upcoming Festive Heritage Events

Saturday, November 17th, 2012

Santa is coming to town and that can only mean one thing: It’s officially the Christmas Season!  Time to put up the lights, dig out the decorations, and of course, enjoy all the festive activities the season has to offer.  Newmarket gets into the spirit this weekend with their annual Santa Claus Parade on November 17th.  This also kicks off the Elman W. Campbell Museum‘s Gallery of Festive Trees. Whether your style is Victorian, Edwardian, or Retro, there’s something to inspire everyone!

The Gallery opens on November 17th, the same day as the Santa Claus parade.  Admission is Free.

Contact Info:

Phone: 905-953-5314

Fax: 905-898-2083

E-mail: elmanmuseum@rogers.com

website: http://www.newmarket.ca/en/elmanw.campbellmuseum.asp

Santa must really like Newmarket because he’s making a return visit.  On December 1st, the Friends of the Museum will be hosting Breakfast with Santa! Admission to this event includes a Continental Breakfast, Photo Opportunity with Santa and Museum admission.

Breakfast will be available at 8:30a.m. and 9:30a.m.

Tickets are $10.00 per person.

Tickets must be purchased in advance.

This is a popular event, please make your arrangements early to avoid disappointment.

Don’t forget to bring your camera!

Contact Info:

Phone: 905-953-5314

Fax: 905-898-2083

E-mail: elmanmuseum@rogers.com

website: http://www.newmarket.ca/en/elmanw.campbellmuseum.asp 

Map

Eldon House in London is also hosting a few festive events:

Victorian Christmas

Beginning on Saturday, December 1, 2012 and running through to Tuesday, January 1, 2013,
enjoy the sights and scents of the Victorian Christmas tradition. Visit London’s oldest family residence and experience the beautiful holiday decorations of the past. A special Christmas exhibition of family artifacts will be on display upstairs.

Contact Info:

Tel: 519.661.0333

website: http://www.eldonhouse.ca/

Christmas Centre Piece Workshop

On Sunday December 2nd, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, the Eldon House Interpretive Centre is holding a Christmas Centre Piece Workshop. Learn how to create a Victorian table centerpiece using nature’s gifts. Take your masterpiece home to decorate that special spot.

Cost: $20 (includes supplies)

Call 519.661.0333 to register.

Map

We will have more Seasonal events for you tomorrow!

FYI: Upcoming Heritage Event: Great War Forum and Militaria Auction

Wednesday, November 14th, 2012

Date: Saturday, November 17, 2012

Time: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Location: Caradoc Community Centre, 565 Lions Park Drive, Mount Brydges, Ontario (map)

The Sir Arthur Currie Memorial Project is sponsoring a Great War Forum and Militaria Show. Forum speakers include, Dr Jonathan Vance of Western University, Arnie Kay lately of Library and Archives Canada, Al Lloyd 21st Battalion historian and Timothy Dubé Chairman of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society. Vance, Kay and Lloyd are well versed in using on-line resources to research WW1 soldiers. Folks wanting how to information on finding out about their military history will gain greatly by attending.

Cost is $8.00 at the Caradoc Community Centre in Mount Brydges.

Along with the Forum, a militaria show and sale is available next door with a great number of displays by WW1 organizations and students. Find out about Middlesex’s Finest the 135th, St Thomas’s 91st Battalion and Oxford County’s 168th Btn along with other historical groups.

Militaria, books, medals, badges, etc will be on sale by various vendors.

On the evening prior to the Forum, November 16, Corring Auctions will be holding a militaria auction. Material from all conflicts will be on offer. If you’re trying to replace grandpa’s lost WW1 medals, this is probably a good spot to be.

More details are available on the event website: http://currieproject.ca/the2nd

FYI: Upcoming Heritage Events

Friday, November 9th, 2012

Event

Playing the Past: The Officers of the London Garrison and the Theatre Royal

London’s military garrison left a legacy not of war, but of culture — painting the first views of London, organizing balls and steeplechases, and building London’s first theatre, the Theatre Royal. Join Mark Tovey and friends for a richly illustrated history of London’s garrison and its theatre, with theatrical embellishments, and a behind-the-scenes peek at what is involved in re-enacting productions from the past.

Date: Sunday, November 11, 2012

Time: 2:00 pm 4:00pm

Location: Eldon House Interpretive Centre, 481 Ridout Street North, London (map)

Contact Info: http://www.eldonhouse.ca/

Admission by Donation

Event

Campbell House Museum and the Culinary Historians of Canada Lecture: Food Will Win the War

In this special lecture, presented a few days after Remembrance Day, Ian Mosby will discuss the importance of food and eating to Canadians’ everyday experience of the war on the home front. He will look at some of the different ways in which ordinary Canadians mobilized food to both show their support for the war effort and also to deal with the ever-present reality of rationing and shortages. At the same time, he will explore the contradiction between popular memory of the war as a time of austerity and the reality that, throughout the war years, Canadians on the whole were eating more – and better quality – food, than they ever had before.

Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Time: 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Location: Campbell House Museum, 160 Queen Street West, Toronto (map)

$12 regular admission; $10 CHC members. Includes war-time refreshments!

To pre-register, contact:

Campbell House Museum

By email: @CampbellHouseTO

Phone: 416 597-0227 ext 3

Website: www.campbellhousemuseum.ca

Event

Anishinaabe First Nations in the War of 1812

Alan Ojiig Corbiere, former Executive Director of the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation in M’Chigeng, Manitoulin Island, comes to Toronto to detail his research, including interviews with elders, to uncover the names and experiences of Anishinaabe combatants in the War of 1812 – often left nameless in historical records.

Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Time: 7:00pm – 9:00 pm

Location: Native Canadian Centre 16 Spadina Road (west side, north of Bloor)  map

Seating limited to 75 people. RSVP to rostep@toronto.ca.

FYI: Update about our facebook page

Friday, November 9th, 2012
 
Thanks to the Kitchener Public Library for the heads up about this:

If you like to follow our Facebook page but have noticed that you don’t seem to be seeing our posts in your news feed as often these days, here’s why and how to fix it.

Facebook now requires page administrators to pay to promote their updates, which means…you’re seeing less and less of the great content we’re posting in your news feed!

To keep RECEIVING ALL POSTS from us, you have to click on the little gear button next to the “Like” button on our page. Select “ADD TO INTEREST LISTS” from the drop-down menu, then create an interest list to add us to, such as all of your favourite pages.

Now, when you select that interest list, you will see ALL of our posts and you won’t miss anything important!

We recommend that you follow these instructions for any Facebook page you care about, so you can continue seeing all the posts from the pages you love!