Paris’ rich industrial history on display at Queen’s Park until December

By Casandra Turnbull

There’s a little bit of Paris, Ontario history at Queen’s Park right now The Paris Museum & Historical Society is one of many museums who were selected to set up a display in Ontario’s Legislative Building showcasing the history of the town and the industry that led to its growth today.

Communities from across Ontario are participating and the timing couldn’t be better as Museum across the province are celebrating Ontario Museum Month in May. However, plans for this multicommunity project have been in the pipeline since before the pandemic, explains Paris Museum Curator

Tina Lyon

“Queen’s Park put out a call in December 2019 for community museums to install exhibits from the first week in April 2020 to August 2020. One of our volunteers saw this and mentioned it to me,” shared Lyon on how the process all started three years ago. After a brief conversation with the PMHS display team, the plan was in motion. They created an outline for the printed explanation for the exhibit, they submitted a list of photographs and artifacts to accompany their written submission – and the rest is history as they say! Their submission was approved and they received the good news in

December 2019. What followed was five weeks of planning, pulling photographs and artifacts from archives and preparing a presentation that would showcase the early industry in Paris, Ontario: The Alabastine Company, Penmans and Mary Maxim Ltd. When the display team was certain they’d produced an accurate picture of early life in Paris, and how industry led to the town’s eventual growth, they photographed it to recreate it in the spring at Queen’s Park and carefully tucked away the pieces Then Covid hit and derailed all those plans.

“March 23, 2020, we got an email stating that the exhibits would be postponed indefinitely,” recalls Lyon. It was an unfortunate change of events, one of many that would follow during the twoyear long pandemic.

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Fast forward to this past February, members of the Museum received a phone call asking if they were still interested in install the exhibit in the West Wing of Queen’s Park Legislative building.“Thank heaven for the photos we had taken,” said Lyon The display team was back at it once again, recreating the exhibit they planned three years earlier, carefully reproduced by photographs they’d safely stored. On April 27 they disassembled the display, packed it up and delivered it to Queen’s Park on May 4th . It only took an hour to put it together in the display at Queen’s Park thanks to meticulous planning

So, what was the display all about? Lyon explains. “We would like to show the wonderful town we have and the strong people who made us that way.” Within the case, visitors will see the three industries that put Paris on the map. The Alabastine Company, Paris, Limited, operated from 1886-1959 and was a major manufacturer of Plaster of Paris, from which Paris got its name. They also produced Gyproc and wall paint from ground up gypsum mixed with glue. Without the gypsum mines, Paris may never have existed.

Penmans Textile Mill because Canada’s largest suppliers of cotton and woolen knit goods and operated in town from 1868 to 1968. Penmans was the town’s major employer and in the early 1900s almost 1/3 of the town’s population worked for the woolen knitting mill and approximately three quarters of the workforce was comprised of women who travelled from surrounding arears and even emigrated from

This display will remain at Queen’s Park until December. It’s one of many community museum displays which showcase the history of the communities in this Province. The display plans have been in the works since late 2019 but were sidetracked when the pandemic hit.

England to work here. Without a doubt it’s an example of the strong women who helped shape our town The final industry with a big impact in our town, and still operating today, is Mary Maxim Ltd. It opened in 1954 at the town’s iconic Old Town Hall (where the new Paris Main Library Branch will be constructed this year) and is the largest mail order catalogue sales of yarns, needlework and craft kits in North America. Through their mail order business, Paris became a household name.

The display will remain at Queen’s Park until December If you’re in Toronto and you stop by Queen’s Park to check out the many monuments and memorials, venture into the West Wing and see how Paris’ story compares to other communities across Ontario.

If you want to learn more about Paris visit the museum on Elm Street located in the Syl Apps Community Centre The Museum’s newest exhibit honours the King’s recent coronation by examining artifacts from past coronations of King George V, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and King Charles III

PMHS is also preparing for its third presentation of its Speaker Series. On May 28th James Christison, curator of the Waterford Heritage and Agricultural Museum will speak about the necessity, ingenuity, skill and beautify of repaired household wares in a series titled Pottery Make-Dos: TheArt of Repairs.

GrandBridge Energy IBEW members vote to accept Collective Agreement, return to full service

Mounties Report

MEDIA RELEASE (Issued on May 12)

GrandBridge Energy announced yesterday that members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 636, representing 69 GrandBridge Energy employees, voted to accept an Offer of Settlement for a new collective agreement.

GrandBridge Energy employees who are IBEW 636 members will resume their services as of May 12 at 3:00 p.m., ending a labour disruption that began at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, April 23, 2023

The IBEW represents GrandBridge Energy employees in Operations, Metering, Field Services, and the System Control Room. The offer was presented by the IBEW to its membership on May 12, followed by a ratification vote where IBEW members voted to accept the offer.

“We are pleased that we reached an agreement that is acceptable to the membership and the company,” said Ian Miles, President & CEO, GrandBridge Energy. “We appreciate our customers’ patience during the labour disruption and we are happy to be back to a full complement of employees. We apologize for any inconvenience and delays in service that the labour disruption has caused. We expect there will continue to be some service delays while our crews work through the backlog of rescheduled appointments and requests.”

To learn more about GrandBridge Energy visit grandbridgeenergycom

Horticultural Society installs Kingsward Park donation

Members of the Paris Horticultural Society were caught beautifying a local park again this week! You might have noticed a new park bench donated to Kingsward Park (by Paris Central School)? The local garden club donated and installed the bench as part of their ongoing efforts to beautify Paris. Proceeds from the group’s annual plant sale (happening today!!) help support projects like this one.