Grand River Watershed 15th Annual Heritage Day Workshop & Celebration Friday, February 17, 2012    8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. South Dumfries Community Centre & Arena 7 Gaukel Dr., St. George, Ontario

Crossroads of Conflict, Pathways to Peace: Divided Loyalties

 

Registeronline by visiting www.brant.caand following the EZReg Register Online links or return a completed form to Krystyna Lazar, County of Brant, 66 Grand River St. N. Paris, ON   N3L 2M2   Email:  [email protected]   Phone:  519-442-6324 ext. 3023   Fax:  519-442-3461














ORGANIZED BY:  City of Brantford, County of Brant, Grand River Conservation Authority, Heritage Working Group of The Grand Strategy

From the McMaster Daily News – November 2, 2011.
McMaster University has become the first Canadian institution to offer full access to videotaped testimonies of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses, nearly 52,000 in all, contained in one of the largest archives of its kind.
Recorded in 56 countries and in 32 languages-mostly between 1994 and 1999-the interviews are contained in the USC Shoah Foundation Institute’s Visual History Archive, which can be accessed either remotely or on campus through secure access to McMaster University Library.
The USC Shoah Foundation was established in 1994 by director Steven Spielberg to collect and preserve the testimonies of survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust.
There are accounts from Jewish Holocaust survivors, homosexual survivors, Jehovah’s Witness survivors, liberators and liberation witnesses, political prisoners, rescuers and aid providers, Sinti and Roma survivors, survivors of Eugenics policies and war crimes trials participants.
Nearly three thousand survivors were interviewed in Canada, with 34 interviews conducted in Hamilton. “The testimonies will serve as a remarkable research tool for our students, faculty and the much wider community,” said University librarian Jeff Trzeciak. “This tremendously rich archive can and will be used across all disciplines at the University, providing scholars with tremendous insight on the Holocaust.”
A special launch event is to be held on campus November 4th, 7 p.m. at CIBC Centre, with keynote speaker Branko Lustig, the Oscar-winning producer of Schindler’s List and one of the founding figures of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute.
His own testimony is preserved in the Institute’s archive. In each testimony, a survivor speaks of life experiences before, during and after the war. Many show photographs, documents and artifacts or introduce family members and friends on camera.
Approximately 150 of the interviews feature walking tours, some conducted at former concentration camps, ghettos, mass graves or in front of a former family home. “Nearly 52,000 survivors and witnesses have shared their voices, shared their messages with the world,” USC Shoah Foundation Institute Executive Director Stephen D. Smith said.
“They are eyewitnesses who have testified about what they saw and experienced during the Holocaust and across their lives. Their testimony is allowing historians to enter the past as never before, and scholars of wide-ranging disciplines are finding the archive to be of utmost value to their research.
The Institute commends McMaster University for making such learning opportunities possible in Canada.” “These unique holdings are a mosaic of experiences that not only speak to the Holocaust in terms of a historical past, but also inform our current and future social and moral obligations,” said Noah Shenker, an expert in Holocaust testimony and post doctoral fellow in the Faculty of Humanities and McMaster University Library.
“This has a tremendous influence on how we document and respond to other genocides, including those in Armenia, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Darfur.” Acquiring the archive is part of a commitment by the University to collect primary sources from the Holocaust, he said, such as the development of the Madeleine and Monte Levy Virtual Museum of the Holocaust and the Resistance.

Who knew learning about your community could win you BIG prizes!? Play an online game for the chance to win weekly prizes, and be entered in to win our grand prize – a $4000 cruise travel voucher! Visit any of the participating museums and galleries below for more chances to win!

http://www.interestingfacts.ca/

This week’s prize is season tickets for the Brantford Blast 2011-2012 hockey season and tickets to the Sun Life Curling Classic!

Campaign partners: Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead, Bell Homestead, Brantford Arts Block, Brant Museums and Archives, Burford Township Historical Society Museum, Canadian Military Heritage Museum, Chiefswood National Historic Site, Glenhyrst Art Gallery, Mohawk Chapel, Myrtleville House Museum, Personal Computer Museum, the St. George Museum and the Woodland Cultural Centre.

The South Dumfries Historical Society presents A Public Talk in honour of Remembrance Day in St. George Saturday, November 12th 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (with time for questions and time for refreshments) At the Memorial Hall, 32 Main Street South FREE ADMISSION Our guest speaker will be LINDSAY HALL Winner of Governor General’s Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History Lindsay Hall sought new ways to connect with her students while teaching them about significant Canadian World War Two battles and contributions. She worked on an approach where students progressed through a variety of lessons and work stations, completing a series of tasks designed to hone their research and historical inquiry skills. Using video games (such as Medal of Honor: Frontline), movies (like Saving Private Ryan and Swing Kids), graphic novels, newsreels and slide presentations students learned about the battles of the Second World War, studied the role that Canadians played in Hong Kong, The Dieppe Raid, The Battle of Britain, The Italian Campaign, the war in the air and at sea, D-Day and The Liberation of the Netherlands. By using media that today’s youth are familiar and adept at, Lindsay Hall builds on these competencies to teach her students how to evaluate the reliability, accuracy and historical authenticity of sources. Her efforts earned her a Governor’s General Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History. Please join us as Mrs. Hall tells the story of her teaching breakthroughs. For more information, please call the St. George Museum at (519) 448-3265. “Make remembrance more than something you feel. Make it something you do.”

A virtual tour – photo slideshow – is available for the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead – a National Historic Site here in St. George and the birthplace of a person of National Historical significance – Adelaide Hoodless. You can take the online tour at http://www.adelaidehoodless.ca/ and also learn details of upcoming events and how to take an actual tour. Say hi to Catherine if you do visit in person!

PRESERVE AND SHARE YOUR HISTORY! The County of Brant Public Library is hosting another SCAN AND SHARE EVENT at the St. George Branch of the Library on Saturday October 29th, 2011 from 10 am to 2 pm. The branch is located at 78 Main Street North. Your family history and our digital scanner can combine to help build an amazing online history collection. We do not keep your originals, but simply make a detailed, archival quality, scan of them – whether it be family photos, old postcards, deeds, letters home, report cards, even artifacts like school ribbons or Fall Fair prizes. We would love to have the chance to scan the items, have you identify them for us and permit us to share them (either now or later) to help tell the story of St. George, Harrisburg, Glen Morris, etc. Your old family photos could have interesting details in the background – of old shops, torn down schools, long forgotten motor vehicles or farm equipment – perhaps even a railway bridge. The process is generally quite fast. If you know someone who has interesting photos or scrapbooks, etc. please pass the word along to them – it is a shame when local history disappears. You will probably have heard of stories of people downsizing and throwing out what could have been valuable photos, papers, etc. You can view previous images at images.ourontario.ca/brant For more information please call 519-448-2433. The County of Brant Public Library has partnered with the SDHS on this digital project, supported by a generous grant from the Trillium Foundation.

Hallowe’en Fun Fair October 23rd, 2011 from NOON to 3:00 PM Come in Hallowe’en costume or just as you are. Save your pennies for our wickedly challenging games and traditional fair activities! Contact Name: Bell Homestead Contact Email: [email protected] Phone: 519-756-6220 Website: http://bellhomestead.ca Where: (COB) Bell Homestead National Historic Site Wheelchair Accessible: yes Accessible Parking: yes

For two and a half years, Americans fought Against the British, Canadian colonists, and native nations. In the years to come, the War of 1812 would be celebrated in some places and essentially forgotten in others. But it is a war worth remembering—a struggle that threatened the existence of Canada, then divided the United States so deeply that the nation almost broke apart. Some of its battles and heroes became legendary, yet its blunders and cowards were just as prominent. The film shows how the glories of war became enshrined in history – how failures are quickly forgotten – how inconvenient truths are ignored forever. With stunning re-enactments, evocative animation and the incisive commentary of key experts, The War of 1812 presents the conflict that forged the destiny of a continent. The War of 1812 premieres Monday, October 10, 2011 at 9pm ET. Check Local Listings to see when it’s airing on your local PBS station.

Culture Days in St. George At the Memorial Hall, 32 Main Street South Celebrate interactive arts and culture in your community! www.culturedays.ca Our contribution to this national series of events is: Saturday, October 1st 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. FREE ADMISSION! LEARN ALL THE BASICS OF PIONEER BARN DANCING With MARTY PULLIN from the Sheffield Settler’s Museum of Rural Life Marty Pullin (as Jacob Sipes) recreates a real pioneer farmer who will talk to you and your children about life as a settler – and the entertainment they enjoyed. This “first-person” presenter will be dressed in authentic period costume, and participants will be encouraged to ask him questions. “Jacob” will show everyone some of his farm tools & musical instruments, and teach everyone some barn dance moves, accompanied with live fiddle & bagpipe music! For more information, please call the St. George Museum at (519) 448-3265. And look for other Culture Days events and activities throughout the Ontario and Canada!

It is Doors Open time again – follow this link to more information on the sites you can visit this year in Brantford, Brant County and Six Nations/New Credit:

http://www.tdgmarketing.com/html/doorsopenbrant/wk4/dob_wk4html_web.html

There are 20 sites in all to enjoy and explore between 10 am and 4 pm:

http://www.doorsopenbrant.ca/

Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead NHS(say hi to Catherine!)
Asa Wolverton House, Paris
Bell Plaque – Mt. Pleasant
Bell Business Centre– Harmony Square
Bell Homestead NHS (say hi to Brian and Sarah!)
Bell Memorial – Brantford
Bell Plaque – Downtown Paris
Brantford Municipal Airport
Canadian Industrial Heritage Centre (CIHC)
First Baptist Church, Brantford
Grand River Employment and Training Centre
Kayanase Greenhouses
Mt. Pleasant United Church
Myrtleville House Museum
Paris Baptist Church
Paris Museum and Paris Historical Society
Riverview Terrace
The Sanderson Centre
Six Nations Public Library
Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. John The Baptist

Admission is free (but donations are gratefully accepted!)

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