Dave Thomson, an SDHS member and famous for his role as a “medal detector” on e-Bay, found war medals that belonged to Frank Berton, Pierre’s father, on e-Bay recently.

Dave notified Pierre’s son, Paul, editor in chief of the London Free Press, and also spoke with Brian McKillop, our guest speaker on Berton last weekend.

I received an email to follow-up that the medals had been withdrawn from eBay and secured by Paul Berton, Frank’s grandson.

At the South Dumfries Historical Society meeting in March, a new Board was elected by the membership. Well, a “new-ish” board….

Joann MacLachlan, one of those people who is far too busy in retirement, submitted her resignation from the board which was reluctantly accepted given that she has been a great help to us (and despite not coming on the board initially, she has been with us in a support role since our founding meetings).

She will find, of course, that we will continue to lean on her for help now and then, but we wish her the best in all her other activities.

At the same time, David Judd agreed to stand for election to the Board and we are delighted to have him as part of the team now.

David has a great deal of experience as a newspaperman, but he has also worked with the Brant Historical Society for years and helped them in many ways. He has been involved as part of their Board of Directors, as a member of their publications committee and as an annual guest speaker for their December meetings.

He is already excited about our upcoming Jane’s Walk and is helping us to organize this first time event. Welcome aboard, David!

Betty Ames, Gwen Hunter, Cliff Jones and David Simpson return as Board members for this term.

Actress Maja Bannerman will be reprising her role as author Nina Moore Jamieson on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at McFarland House in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The performance will start at 2 PM.

“Tales from Hillside House,” was first presented at the Cobblestone Festival in Paris three years ago. Joann MacLachlan of the Historical Society helped to edit and re-arrange sections of the book “The Cattle in the Stall” by Nina Moore Jamieson for the production.

Mrs. Jamieson grew up in Dundas and moved to St. George after her marriage.

She contributed regular columns and poems to Toronto newspapers about the life of a farm wife.

When she died young after a battle with cancer, friends collected together and published her works as “The Cattle in the Stall.” Mrs. Jamieson is buried in the St. George United Church cemetery.

The pieces in her book have such a nice, conversational quality to them that they translated very well into a one-act, one-woman play – especially when brought to life by a talented actress like Ms. Bannerman.

McFarland House is a historic house operated by the Niagara Parks Commission. It is located at 15927 Niagara Parkway, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario – just a short distance south of Niagara-on-the-Lake on scenic Niagara Parkway. The main floor and the tea garden of this historic building are wheelchair accessible.

For more information on McFarland House, visit:

http://www.niagaraparks.com/heritage/mcfarland.php

For more information on Maja Bannerman, visit:

http://www.parasollane.ca/

The Brown Dog Cafe is on board for our upcoming Jane’s Walk.

Owner Curtis Chandler is enthusiastic about the Cafe being a stop on the walk.

He has suggested the walk end at the Old Mill on Main Street South.

He’ll talk about the building and the renovations that were done to convert it to a coffee shop, veterinarian’s office and other offices.

He’ll also provide a couple of plates of freshly made apple fritters for the folks on the walk.

Plan to join us on Sunday, May 3rd at 2:30 pm, starting at the Museum.

The Woodland Cultural Centre is partnering with Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre to bring Planet IndigenUs events to Brantford between August 14 – 23, 2009.

Planet IndigenUs is a multi-disciplinary arts festival showcasing professional Canadian Aboriginal artists in an international context. Providing a unique and provocative experience of the contemporary realities that define indigenous artistic expressions, the guiding themes of this festival are Identity, Rights, and Continuity.

Music, dance, visual arts, craft design, theatre, literary art, film, performance art, and an international indigenous art and food market fill this exciting two-weekend event. Interactive performances, workshops, and hands-on artistic/community collaboration projects help advance artists’ careers, develop local, national and international links, and build new audiences of indigenous art.

Weekday activities include artistic residencies, master classes, workshops, lunchtime concerts at Harbourfront Centre’s SIRIUS Satellite Radio Stage, presentations of new work, screenings, readings, receptions, panel discussions and debates.

http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/planetindigenus/index.cfm

Announcements of events and headliners for this festival will begin next week.

In the meantime, you can visit the Museum at the Woodland Cultural Centre. Museum Hours are Monday to Friday 9 am until 4 pm, and Saturday & Sunday 10 am to 5 pm. Admission rates are: Adults $5.00; Seniors (65+) S4.00; Students (ages 6-16) $3.00 and those 5 & Under FREE.

Also at the Woodland Cultural Centre:

First Nations Art 2009: This Exhibition run from May 1 – July 5, 2009.

OPENING RECEPTION – FRIDAY, MAY 1st at 7 PM.

Established in 1975, this exhibition is one of the longest running annual exhibits that provides established and emerging First Nations artists an excellent opportunity to exhibit and sell their work in a fine art gallery setting.

http://www.woodland-centre.on.ca/

The Canadian Military Heritage Museum in Brantford has a new, updated website that will provide on-line visitors with a better idea of what is available at the Museum. You can find the website at www.cmhmhq.ca

They will be hosting a Giant Yard sale in their parking lot on Saturday, June 6th, 2009.

The collection itself is huge and fills a large building on Greenwich Street in Brantford.

Take the Wayne Gretzky Parkway south to Colborne Street. Turn left (east) at Colborne Street to Locks Road. Turn right on Locks Road and follow it to Greenwich Street. Turn Right on Greenwich Street and look for the sign.

Hours are Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm (Closed Mondays).

At a meeting of the Corporate Development Committee last night, the councillors present voted to accept staff’s recommendation that the St. George Memorial Hall (home to our Museum) and the St. George Old School “be declared surplus to the needs of the County.”

Staff is further “authorized to work with interested parties to transfer ownership of these properties; and further that any offers of purchase and sale or agreements to transfer ownership be brought to Council for approval.”

The Northfield Hall and Bethel Hall were also declared surplus by the Committee. Other halls and community centres will be dealt with at later meetings.

According to the staff recommendation, “This is the first step towards disposal of these properties which could result in a lowering of ongoing operational costs.”

Also on the Agenda last night, and a surprise to me, was the Historical Grants.

Without any heads-up to the SDHS (or the Brant Historical Society I am told) several grants were cut by over half.

Our grant went down from $3,500 to $1,500,

The Brant Historical Society went from $28,400 to $14,000,

The Brant OGS (Ontario Genealogical Society) went from $3,000 to $1,000,

Salt Springs Church Heritage Society went from $1,000 to $500;

and the Paris Museum went from $32,500 to $27,000.

The total budget was reduced from $68,400 to $44,000 “with the intent of further reductions in future years.”

The Recommendation was passed by the Committee.

On Friday, April 3rd, the students in Mrs. Stoner’s and Mrs. Radke’s Grade Two classes had a visitor from the Bell Homestead, National Historic Site.

The students learned about “Boats that Float!”

Did you know that Alexander Graham Bell built hydrofoils in his later years? This two hour session introduced students to the exciting world of water through hand-on experiments.

The students explored the properties and behaviours of various liquids and solids, and then the children built a floating boat.

All this in a historical context with a local angle.

This week will also see the return of GEM Fest to St. George-German School – in which classes will learn from a variety of presenters from local galleries and museums.

Good stuff!