Yourway
August 20, 2015
Vol. 15, No. 33
$1.00 incl. GST.
The
Building Centre
Furnace Broker 8109 Hwy 38, Godfrey ON
Northbrook 613-336-2195
All Your Canning Needs Available In-Store Now! Open Sundays 10am-2pm
Dual Fuel Models Available
Your independent community newspaper since 1971
Circulation: 9159 households
South Frontenac Museum opens in Hartington F
or members of the Portland District and Area Heritage Society, August 15, 2015 is a day that will go down in history and one that marks a new era for history buffs interested in the history of the Township of South Frontenac. The day marked the official grand opening of the brand new South Frontenac Museum in Hartington, an idea that was birthed by the Portland District & Area Heritage Society and which has been in the works for over a decade now. Members of the society, dressed in historical garb, along with numerous dignitaries and history buffs, gathered on the lawn beside the new museum for its official ribbon cutting ceremony. The museum is located in Hartington’s former oneroom limestone school house, which for years had been the home of the clothing depot Community Caring – Hartington. The building is newly restored and is now home to a diverse collection of historical artifacts and archives from the four former districts of the township. The wide collection is meticulously organized and displayed and will be enjoyed by visitors into perpetuity. South Frontenac mayor, Ron Vandewal, opened up the celebrations by congratulating South Frontenac staff, past and present members of council who supported the idea, the County of Frontenac whose accessibility grant allowed for the building to be made wheelchair accessible, and members of all of the local historical societies in the township whose efforts have “preserved the township’s history”. Barb Stewart, president of the Portland District and Area Heritage Society, also spoke, thanking former mayors of the township, Phil Leonard, Bill Lake, and Gary Davison as well as the current mayor and members of council, most of whom were in attendance, and the many members of the local heritage groups who also contributed to setting up the displays and preparing the building for its opening day. Public works manager for the township, Mark Segsworth, also spoke recognizing the work of architect David Jefferies of Norr Architects, lead contractor Wemp and Smith and the two sub-contractors NCDD Wood Working of Inverary and Christmas Steel, the latter of whom did the steel railings, David White of D. J. White Restoration of Hartington, who built the new large vintage windows for the building, and the township’s public works staff who worked on the project. Following the ribbon cutting, Barb Stewart recognized the original charter members of the society, Bill Asselstine, Inie Platenius, Enid Bailey and Jim Reynolds, who first met at a cottage in the area in 2001 to discuss a possible museum and who formed the Portland District and Area Heritage So-
613
or
374-2566 1-888-674-2566
by Julie Druker
Members of South Frontenac Council and staff along with members of Portland District and Area Heritage Society cut the ribbon at the official opening of the South Frontenac Museum ciety later in 2002. In June 2008 the society became a committee of the council of the township and in September 2012 was contracted to manage the soon to be restored museum. Since forming, the society has fundraised for the project and also approached the township for financial support. Stewart said members of the group feel “just great about all that we have accomplished.” The displays included a chesterfield and chair from the former McMullen house in Verona, a typewriter and books by Verona writer, Mrs. Dorothy Sliter, including a first edition of her book about Verona titled “The Friendly Village”. Other displays included one titled “Frontenac County at War”, a detailed display from the collection of Doug Love-
grove, which was also arranged by him. Other displays included a historic school display, a historic post office display, historic furniture, various name quilts, adult and children’s clothing, a wide variety of kitchen utensils, old clocks and radios, an old clothes wringer, as well as old books, signs and photographs, toys, a gorgeous wooden spinning wheel and much more. The event was attended by long-time members of the community, many of whom came from as far away as Sarnia, including three sisters of the Genge family who made the trip to Hartington especially to attend the event. The museum will officially open again on August 28 as part of the County’s 150 anniversary celebrations, which will take place on August 28, 29 and 30.
Agnes Thomas - a long , good life of farming in Donaldson and Lavant A
gnes Morrow is 101 years old, and when she was born on March 9, 1914, World War One was still six months away; oil had not yet been discovered in Alberta; and James P Whitney was the Premier of Ontario. When historians look at the 20th century, 1914 is seen as a pivotal year, because it was the start of the war that profoundly changed the political landscape around the world and in Canada, and left millions dead and millions more displaced. But in the community of Donaldson, where Agnes Morrow was born in the farmhouse of Louis and Julia Morrow, the third of eight children, world events had little impact in those years. Donaldson, which is now merely an access road to a small number of properties, was at that time a community made up primarily of Morrow family farms. “There were around 39 Morrows living within five miles of one another. Uncle Neil had a farm; Uncle Louis had a farm; Uncle Henry had a farm; Elmer Morrow had a farm; they were all little farms,” Agnes recalled when interviewed this week from her home near Lavant Station, a few kilometres from where she was born. Among the first things that Agnes remembers, besides the death of her sister at the age of five, six months after an appendicitis operation left an incision that did not heal properly (the rest of the family lived into their 80s and 90s), was the day in 1919 when her father got his first team of horses,
greatly expanding the family’s prospects. One of the things her father did with the team was clear a swamp on the farm in order to create a small hay field. “But like a lot of the work done to clear land it has gone back to the way it was over the years,” said Agnes. When Agnes was very young, six or seven years old, she started helping to milk the 13 cows that her father, Louis, kept. The cream was delivered to a cheese factory at Lavant Station or the creamery at Snow Road, and in the 1920s there was a bread truck and a meat truck that came around on a weekly basis. Some of the other memories that Agnes has are about the food that her mother, Julia, prepared for the family. “Mum and dad were good providers, and mum was an awful good cook. She could take an old hen and make it taste like a spring chicken, and she made the best apple pie. We had an orchard and we picked berries in season, but the apple pie was the best. I made pies all my life, many pies, but never like she made.” In addition to the orchard, the Morrows grew fields of turnips and beans and other vegetables for fresh eating and for winter storage. “My oldest brother Alfred was very good to us little ones as well,”Agnes recalls, recalling one event in particular. “One day mum and dad were off to Perth and Alfred was home with us. A storm came up and it was a bad one. Hail
came with it and was laying on the ground in sheets, there was so much of it. Alfred had the little ones gather it up and he got a ten gallon syrup pail and had them pack it with the hail and added salt to keep it frozen. He put a pail of cream in the middle and I flavoured it with vanilla and we started stirring it and shaking it one way and another. It never quite made it to ice cream but it tasted good all the same. We cleaned up and put everything away and thought that was the end of it. But at supper time my little brother John said he wasn’t hungry and mum asked him what was wrong. He said he was still full from the ice cream, and then we had to answer for it.” Agnes attended school at both Mundel’s school near Donaldson and at the Lavant School. When she was 17 she met Archie Thomas at an event at
Continued on page 16
Inside this issue 2015 Frontenac News Phone Directory
We install & Service
Oil & Propane Furnaces
Financing Available. OAC
Oil & Propane Delivery Available
Leonard Fuels Ltd. Hartington • 613-372-2112 • 1-800-543-7884 Since 1948 leonardfuels@persona.ca
8109 RD. 38, Godfrey, ON K0H 1T0
Tel: 613-374-5604 Fax: 613-374-5263 sales@ldpowersports.com
Heavy Chain Oil 3.79L
8.99
Sale $
Reg $13.89