Sunday, July 7, 2013

Brant OGS Golf Fundraiser

This is a really neat idea!

On Saturday, August 31, 2013, there will be a golf fundraiser held at a local club called Fescue’s Edge, 18 Hagan Rd., Brant at 11:00 am Shotgun Start.

The cost will be $80 and it includes cart, lunch and donation to Brant OGS (Receipt for donation will be provided), and the deadline to register will be August 20, 2013.


You can contact brantogsgolf@gmail.com, or go to the web site at www.ogs.on.ca/brant

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Winners of the Canada Day Brick Wall Contest

The four winners of the Canada Day Brick Wall Contest held by GenealogyCanada, and sponsored by ELRS at www.elrs.biz on Canada Day are –
  • Lois E.
  • Phyllis C.
  • Heather K.
  • Jennifer L.
There were dozens of entries in all, with the four winners being picked by random.

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to send in their brick walls, all of which were interesting and daunting. It was a pleasure to have had the chance to read them.

Elizabeth

Reminder: Check out Canadian Week in Review every Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Historic Acadian Families of Summerside, PEI

If you have Acadian roots or connections in Summerside, PEI, your family may go back several centuries, and you should attend the Historic Acadian Families of Summerside, which is a summertime series of talks by Jean Bernard (presented in English). The eight most familiar Acadian family names of Summerside are Arsenault, Aucoin/Wedge, Bernard, DesRoches, Gallant, Gaudet, Poirier/Perry and Richard.

Genealogist and author Jean Bernard will speak on these family histories at the Lefurgey Cultural Centre, 205 Prince Street on Wednesdays July 10, 17, 24 and 31 and Thursdays July 11, 18, 25, and August 1. All presentations will be in English and begin at 10:00 a.m. lasting for 60 to 90 minutes with lots of time for questions and answers.

Each talk will feature a 'primary concentration' on a surname and the talks will be presented in 'alphabetical order'. Invariably the discussion will 'stray' onto other connected names, but the intention is as follows:

July 10 is primarily about Arsenault

July 11 is primarily about Aucoin/Wedge

July 17 is primarily about Bernard

July 18 is primarily about DesRoches

July 24 is primarily about Gallant

July 25 is primarily about Gaudet

July 31 is primarily about Poirier/Perry

August 1 is primarily about Richard

Space is limited. Please contact Fred Horne at 432-1332 fredhorne@wyattheritage.com for more information or if you wish to reserve a seat. Admission is by donation.

Presentations hosted by Culture Summerside's MacNaught History Centre and Archives in response to Mr Bernard's generous offer to share his knowledge of Acadian family history


The Culture Summerside's MacNaught History Centre and Archives is at  www.wyattheritage.com/mainsite3/macnaughthouse.asp

Save Our Heritage Lighthouses

                                Seal Island Lighthouse Replica

Lisa Bastien—the Constituency Assistant–Outreach of the Office of Malcolm Allen, NDP M.P. for Welland, Ontario—asked for my help yesterday in spreading the word about saving out heritage lighthouses.

The message says, in part - “In 2010 the Conservative Government identified nearly 1000 lighthouses across Canada as surplus – meaning that these lighthouses are not active or they could be replaced by a simpler structure such as pole with a light on top as a cost-saving measure.

The Department of Fisheries & Oceans gave the provinces and communities groups 2 years to send in petitions and submit business plans to save their local lighthouses. As of May 2013, only 128 plans have been received, and the future of over 800 lighthouses are unknown. There are lighthouses in every province and territory at risk."

We think that the Conservatives need to stand up and protect our Maritime Heritage and work with the provinces/territories and local community groups to ensure that these lighthouses remain as beacons of navigation and history along our coastlines rather than downloading the coast onto others.

If you would like to know if there is a surplus lighthouse in your riding, please contact our office at 905-788-2204, or at malcolm.allen.c1a@parl.gc.ca".

A PDF copy of the petition is available by writing me at genealogycanada@aol.com. (I received a copy of the original Word file, but I can't post it for download from my blog.)

Personal Note: Lighthouses are dear to me because my great-great-grandmother spearheaded the project of building the lighthouse on Seal Island off of the southwest coast of Nova Scotia. Her name was Mary Hitchens.

In later years, her descendant, Walter Hichens, from Bethel, Maine, spent many summers on Seal Island, and eventually had one lighthouse built at Barrington Passage. You can visit it today, and learn the story of Mary Hitchens.

And, I'm pleased to note, the Canadian Coast Guard named a ship after her.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Family History Conference


The LDS Family History Centre in Brampton, will hold their  4th Annual Family History Conference called One World - One Family — Discover Your Family Roots. The conference will be held on Saturday, August 24th 2013, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

The cost: $20 (includes box lunch).

It will be held at the LDS Family History Centre, 10062 Bramalea Rd, Brampton, Ontario

To see who the presenters will be and their subjects that they will talk about, go to   www.oneworldonefamily-theevent.com


Wednesday, July 3, 2013

The St. Lawrence River

Retrace this river’s historic path with the exhibition Moving with the River at the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa from June 21, 2013 to March 23, 2014.

When one thinks of the settlements along the river from Quebec City to Montreal, to Brockville, and to Kingston, it is the “Birthplace of the first colonies and passageway to the Great Lakes and the Canadian West for millions of immigrants, the St. Lawrence River played a fundamental role in the building and settling of Canada.

 The exhibition retraces the river’s historic path with the Iroquois' thousand-year presence on the land, Franco-Aboriginal alliances, growth of a French settlement in the St. Lawrence Valley and multiethnic European immigration for which Québec served as a gateway”.

An exhibition developed by Parks Canada and presented in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

The audience is open to adults, children, family, youth, young adults, and teens.


Reminder: Check out my Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada

Historica-Dominion Institute to be named Historica Canada.

A press release has been released by the Historica-Dominion Institute of Toronto, in part it says -

TORONTO, July 2, 2013 - Stephen Smith, Chairman of the Board of The Historica-Dominion Institute, announced today that effective September 3, 2013 , the organization will change its name to Historica Canada.

'The new bilingual name will clearly and concisely reflect our focus on building awareness of our history and the values of Canadian citizenship, " said Mr. Smith. "These continuing priorities have formed our mandate since our two founding organizations, The Historica Foundation of Canada and The Dominion Institute, merged in 2009, and will continue to do so."

Based in Toronto with activities across the country, the organization's programs include the making of the popular Heritage Minutes - 60-second vignettes on Canadian History; The Memory Project, which provides audio, video and live platforms for the country's war veterans to relate their experiences; Passages to Canada, which gives newcomers to Canada a similar platform; the annual Aboriginal Writing and Arts Challenge; and Encounters with Canada, which brings more than 1,000 high school students from across Canada into Ottawa each year for a week of learning about their country. The organization is also presently building new interactive enhancements to its widely-used Canadian Encyclopedia, with those features slated to be unveiled this fall.

The new name will not take formal effect until the fall in order to allow for legal and logistical steps to be completed. In the run-up to the change and beyond, the present phone numbers, e-mail addresses, website and overall contact points for the organization will remain the same.