COMMUNITY NEWS

Farquharson is passionate about learning and teaching residents about the history of their land and how it shaped the community. Founder of Paris, Hiram Capron, was also passionate about Paris and the opportunities it could lead to, especially after seeing the natural resources the land had to offer.

“He [Capron] spotted the beautiful view at the Forks and dreamed of creating a town on the site,” said Farquharson. “He had the land surveyed into streets, developed the grinding mill that Holmes had built, built a dam, dug out a larger mill race, and, by offering free land, brought in a blacksmith, millers for grist and gypsum, a woollen mill…,”

Farquharson will be teaching about the resources that were and still are within Paris that helped its early development and why Gypsum played such an important role in the town’s growth At this speaker event there will also be a multitude of showcases available for attendees to examine at the end of the session, including Gypsum products and a display of the industry that was working within Paris. There will also be artifacts from the Alabastine Company Ltd., such as paint, old catalogues showing stencils for ceiling trim made from the Alabastine and a sample of a stencil used in an old Paris house All ages are encouraged to attend the event and learn the history about the town. The event is expected to have a decent crowd coming out to learn about the rich town’s history and how it affects residents today.

Farquharson and museum staff will be delighted to answer any questions attendees may have and are excited to share a part of Paris’ past.

“We need to understand and show respect and pride for all its [Paris’] features and learn about the character of the people who built it, their personalities and philosophies and the struggles they overcame to be successful,” said Farquharson. “It is an important part of Canada’s history and strong democracy.”

Touring local industry!

County Councillors had the opportunity to tour the Paris production facilities at Tiger Cat Industries this past week. This internationally successful company is on a fast track to growth and with another planned expansion underway (on Consolidated Dr), the number of local employees is set to DOUBLE from 500 to 1000. Tigercat is a privately owned, vertically integrated Canadian corporation with deep expertise in engineering, fabrication and manufacturing. Tigercat has decades of experience in the forest harvesting sector with the expertise to design complex structural, mechanical, hydraulic and electronic systems that perform every day in extreme and adverse conditions. Aside from the Paris location, the company’s head quarters are in Brantford and there are 10 other Ontario locations, along with facilities in the USA and Sweden.