Summer 2007 Newsletter
Don't miss our Second Annual Family Heritage Day
Enjoy a picnic lunch, meet old friends and neighbours you haven't seen in years, bring your children and grandchildren to see a magic lantern show of Peter Pan at our Family Heritage Day that will be held on Saturday, September 22 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Old Palermo Schoolhouse 2431 Dundas (on the north side just east of Bronte Road).
The event will feature costumed actors playing characters from Trafalgar Township’s history and telling stories based on actual events; a display by the Britannia schoolhouse; a display of "woman's work" from the Halton Regional Museum; a blacksmithing demonstration and much, much more.
We also have taken pictures of most of the old homes and farms north of Dundas and would like your help in identifying them and gathering information about them.
Please help us keep the agricultural history of North Oakville alive.
So mark Saturday, September 22 on your calendar and tell all your friends and family about it, too.
Special thanks to the Hudson Bay Company who donated $1000 to this event and to Liz Benneian and her team of organizers. Email Liz Benneian for more information
Palermo Schoolhouse Update
We are presently negotiating a lease with the Town of Oakville for the Palermo Schoolhouse and expect to have it signed shortly.
The Town of Oakville has agreed to replace the broken window pains, repair the evestrough and repair some holes near the roofline.
We submitted a joint proposal with the Bronte Historical Society for restoration work on the schoolhouse through the Community Foundation and Benjamin Moore and are pleased to say we were successful. The Sovereign House will get a new coat of paint and we will be having the floor sanded in the schoolhouse.
Members Social & Scanning day
This scanning will be a social event and we invite all our members to attend and be prepared to reminisce and share stories. Refreshments will be served. Let us know if you would like to bring along some cookies, squares or sandwiches. Please encourage family, friends and neighbours to bring out their photos. We always learn something new about Trafalgar at these scanning days. You can see some of the photos at www.images.oakville.halinet.on.ca We will also have some the beginnings of our archive collection on display.
Wednesday August 8 at Oakville Central Library from 10am to 2pm. The Oakville Library, working in conjunction with the Trafalgar Township Historical Society, would like to give you a chance to add your family's history to a growing archive of Oakville and Halton photos on the World Wide Web, as well as a web-based National Archive of historic photos. The best part is, you can keep the photos, the Library staff will simply scan them while you wait and then hand them back to you. The scanning day is an exciting opportunity to capture local history and the history of the many pioneering families who settled the area.
Oakville Heritage Committee
Our society has representation on this committee and currently summer students are researching buildings to apply for heritage designation. Recently we have lost 21 Dundas to demolition and there is a demolition permit for 2488 Bronte Rd. There is a demolition request for 3369 Sixth Line but I anticipate the committee recommending designation on this property. The Applebee house will remain designated but the developer has been allowed a permit for demolition of the outbuildings. Community members can present reports to this committee to recommend designations. Michelle Knoll is the contact for this committee
Sixteen Mile Creek Bridge at Dundas
Terry Wehland called us concerned about mill ruins being disturbed at Sixteen Mile Creek due to the new bridge construction. We contacted the local and regional governments with no results. We then contacted the Province who told the Region of Halton to stop construction in the area of the mill and requested and archeological report. We hope that what is left of the site can be preserved and partially restored and would like to see a plaque reflecting the importance of this vanished village.
Research Trips to The Halton Regional Museum
We had another successful research day and photocopied 100 pages of information relating to Trafalgar twp. We found documentation between Palermo Hall and the Town of Oakville regarding a donation of $8,500 to the Town in 1974 for the erection of a shade structure in Palermo Park. We have asked the Town to follow through on this promise and build the shade structure in the new Palermo Park. The original shade structure was to have plaques commemorating the Town of Palermo and also have the Palermo War Memorial Plaque.
Waterfront Festival
We had a great time volunteering at the festival, and got to share information on Trafalgar Twp. And listen to many stories. Thanks to the Bronte Historical Society for coordinating all the volunteers. It was a great joint effort!
August Clean Up
Please join us Friday August 10th from and Saturday August 11 from 10-4pm to do some work at the schoolhouse. Depending on how many volunteers we get, projects could include plastering and sanding the one interior wall that needs to be finished, pulling up the linoleum in the kitchen, scraping off the peeling paint on the exterior, some yard work, and cleaning up the basement. If anyone has some perennials that need dividing those could be planted in the front and we could also use someone with a truck to take a load of stuff from the basement to the dump.
Please email Stuart for more information to let us know if you can attend.
Cemeteries
We don’t have a date yet for when council will be voting on designating Palermo & St Judes cemeteries. You can help us by providing letters of support. Your letter could refer to a family member you have buried in the cemetery so council understands there are still people who care about protecting this land.
Remembrance Day in Trafalgar
We are looking for volunteers who can help organize Memorial Day ceremonies at the Trafalgar War Memorial on Saturday, November 11. Jeff Knoll
Other
We have been able to submit research to the Town of Oakville recommending designation on heritage properties in Trafalgar and recently helped connect a heritage Trafalgar home owner with a restoration specialist to do some work on his home. We have done research for a heritage property on Bronte that has just been purchased by Canadian Mental Health and are consulting with them on restoration.
Do you know of sites in Trafalgar that may be hidden from the road or by trees, that should be documented with photos before development begins? Please let us know!
We have notified the developers who own property North of Dundas of our interest in certain sites and have let them know we are prepared to work with them to ensure they are preserved.
