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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-06-13, Page 17Peaceful setting made lively by school tours Pioneer days revived at Lambton Heritage Museum As the employees of Lambton Heritage Museum come to work each morning, very little noise is heard. Occasionally a chipmunk will rustle in the long grass, or breeze will move the leaves in the peaceful wooded area. The old buildings and their antique contents sit in silence. But the things of the past fits*.HUSTLE BUSTLE — Museum curator Bob Tremain Donald Campbell with a bustle to show what getting dressed meant for women in pioneer times. soon come to life when a yellow school bus pulls into the yard. About'40 children tumble out of the bus and the museum is filled with young voices asking questions. A little fellow barely tall enough to see inside the old horse’s buggy asks, "Why is it dusty?" His classmate answers him, “It’s supposed to be, it’s old." Museum curator Bob Tremain and assistant curator Chris Andreae say that they are busy almost every day in June taking school children on guided tours of the museum. More than 15,000 people visited the newly opened museum last summer, and Tremain says they are on their way to matching that figure this summer. The museum is located 6n high­ way 21 south of Grand Bend, near the Pinery Provincial Park. The museum’s displays are made up mostly from the collections of the late Peter Eisenbach who had a museum of his own in Grand Bend, and Fred Walden, a Thedford area historian and collector. The two collections were brought together in the new $650,000 building to exemplify the past of Lamb­ ton County. When school children arrive at the museum, they are seated in a room built especially for this purpose, and shown slides of the history of the area and some of the artifacts they are about to see. Tremain operates the slide projector, and Andreae gives the pupils a commentary. Sometimes the children are invited to guess what some of the items I in the pictures might be. An old fashioned foot warmer to be placed in a buggy was shown. One child asked if it was a barbeque. Then if time permits and the teacher is interested, the museum workers will do some demonstrations to put the children in the mood of pioneer life. Tremain is busy dumping small cartons of cream into an old enamal milk pail, as the children come in. The cartons are hidden in the waste basket,and he tells the children that he just milked the cow out back. "They laugh ,’’ he says, "they’re not that gullible." With the bucket of cream, the children use an antique churn to make butter. They are also given hot wax for dipping candles, and they all take a turn at quilting. Later, the museum hopes to set up a loom, so that school children and visitors can do some weaving. But if there’s no time for demonstrations, the children tour the museum, walking in the past. In one room of the main museum building, you’ll find Fred Walden’s collec­ tion of old pressed glass pitchers. Also on display are Currier and Ives prints oil lamps, and pitcher and wash basin sets. In the other half of the modern concrete building visitors are given a slice of pioneer life. In the blacksmith shop you get the impression that the smith has just gone home for lunch. His tools sit on his anvil right where he left them. A wooden horse stands patiently in the harness shop displaying the old pieces of leather. The low prices in the old barbershop look inviting, but the heavy metal clippers look threatening. In the general store, you could choose from a selec­ tion of silk slippers or high button boots. Stiff paper collars or tins of crackers are for sale. An old account book dated 1903 lies open on the counter with entries in it such as three and a half cords of wood for $7, or canned goods, $.37. Every item purchased was charged to an account, a far cry from today’s chargex and computers. In the old one-room school house, lessons on the black­ board await the pupils, and an apple sits on the teacher’s desk. A line of tin honey pails at the back of the room hold the children’s lunches. The curators tell horror stories of how the teacher had to come to school early to start a fire in the old wood stove. Then the pupils had to wait until the ice melted in their ink bottles, they say. Bedrooms with rope beds and parlours displaying ornate silver services are set up the way they would have been in those early days. A penny farthing bicycle hangs on one wall. In another area, a wicker perambulator is on display. The pioneer kitchen is cosy and comfortable, the way it would have been for visitors in those days. The dining room, however, is kept neat and nice with all the "good’’ possessions. Another section of the museum features home entertainment. An old Victrola, and a phonograph bear little resemblance to today’s stereo system. For that matter the early televisions and radios are very unfamiliar things to a group of school children. A selection of stuffed birds give visitors a close look of wild life. Indian artifacts take guests back to pre­ pioneer days, and fossils enlighten visitors about those strange prehistoric times. School children are fascinated by the idea that Lambton county was once a tropical jungle. Behind the main exhibit building, a circular drive takes you to the other exhibits. A modern barn houses a wide assortment of early farm equipment and pioneer tools. Work on a second barn for more large items is just beginning. The Mary Ellen chapel sits serenely in the forest. It was moved to this site from Peter Eisenbach’s museum in Grand Bend. Inside, the knotty pine walls provide a background for the hard straight pews and an or­ nately decorated pipe organ stands in the corner. Museum carpenter Harm Douma recently finished building a picket fence along the front of the little white church and it looks very comfortable in its new wooded setting. An old slaughterhouse and a smokehouse stand along the pathway in the trees. A pioneer shanty or "first home” was moved to the museum this year. It was built in 1857 in Bosanquet Township by Mrs. James Tudhop and her son Daniel. Thp lumber came from the Archibald Donald sawmill at the town of Widder, later to become Thedford. In 1869, Mrs. Tudhop’s son-in-law James Walden bought the farm, and in 1879 he built a new brick house and moved the old pioneer home up to the back door of the brick house to be used as a sum­ mer kitchen and wood shed. The farm remained in the Walden family until 1955 when it was sold to Earl Hilborn. In 1976, Peter Van Riel bought the farm, and on November 27, 1978 fire destroyed the brick home, but the pioneer shanty survived. It is now 121 years old, and is being restored at the museum. CRACKERJACK SAFE CRACKERS - Scott Hayter and Doug Campbel! turn to chain in an attempt to open an old safe in the General Store at Lambton Heritage Museum. Price Per Copy 25 CentsJUNE 13, 1979 Chamber meets at zoo, enjoys Burgerfest preview PEACEFUL AND SERENE — The Mary Ellen Chapel in the wooded area at Lambton Heritage Museum provides a quiet setting for visitors who want to take a moment to relax. NOT QUITE A SUPERMARKET — Assistant curator Chris Andreae shows the pupils of Grand Bend Public School all the things that could be purchased in a pioneer General Store. This ‘ ‘ . T-A photo w store has everything from marriage licenses to tinned crackers. ORNATE AND ELEGANT — Olden days come alive af Lambton Heritage Museum with mannequin^ and life like settings. Here is a typical parlour which housed the family's "good" possessions. T*A Photo Police lay many liquor charges Charges under the liquor licence act continue to keep policemen in the Bluewater Country area busy. Grand Bend detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police laid 35 liquor charges during the week of June 3 to June 9. Pinery OPP charged 23 people for liquor offences. Two impaired drivers were charged by the Grand Bend force. Two people were charged under the narcotic control act by the Pienry detach­ ment, while Grand Bend charged one person . The Grand Bend detach­ ment charged 24 people under the highway traffic act, and Pinery OPP laid 10 traffic charges. Three very minor accidents occured in Grand Bend during the week. Grand Bend police charged two drivers under suspension, while Pinery force charged one person for the same thing. The Pinery detachment charged one person with theft, and laid four charges under the provincial parks act. Swim plans FREE SAMPLE — A mountain lion at Pineridge Zoo has a sample burger courtesy of Gene Grenier to put him in the Burgerfest spirit. The Chamber of Commerce met at the Zoo to make plans for the fest. T-A photo By MARY BLEWETT If the way that Chamber of Commerce -members gob­ bled up burgers at their last meeting is any indication of how sales will go this weekend, then they’re in for a good Burgerfest. The chamber met Tuesday evening at the Pineridge Zoo. The highlight of the meeting was a sampling of burgers, to put chamber members in the mood for the annual burgerfest. About 30 members were present for the meeting which opened with a tour of Ted Relouw’s Zoo. Chairs were set out in a grassed area, and the meeting was held outdoors.PresidentNick Carter thanked Relouw for opening his zoo to the chamber, and spoke on behalf of other members when he said he was ashamed to admit that he had never been to see the selection of animals before. Carter said the chamber enjoyed their visit, and they felt the zoo was an asset to Grand Bend. Relouw welcomed everyone, and said he hoped he could host a meeting again next year. The meeting was in­ terrupted frequently by roars from Sheba, the zoo's lioness. Occasionally curious turkeys listened in as the executive spoke, and a plumed peacock strolled about the meeting area. Cool weather forced chamber members to hunt for blankets in their cars. Things warmed up after the meeting when Ron Landry cooked the famous burgers over a gas barbeque. Bob Simpson showed the meeting the tokens and pins which will be available for Burgerfest. The Burgerfest logo — a picture of a buffalo with a beer mug and ham­ burg in his hands — will be on the pins and tokens. The tokens will be sold for the purchase of beer, and Chamber members hope tourists will buy the tokens as souvenirs. President Carter requested help on Thursday night for ' preparations. The Grand Bend Swim Committee held registration last Saturday, and will be ready for more swimmers to sign up again this Saturday. There are still a few openings in the first section of lessons which runs from July 3 to 13. More classes will be held July 16 to 27, and July 30 to August 10. Tony Relouw, Jack Eagleson and Jerry Eagleson have donated their pools for morning lessons. Afternoon sessions will be held in the lake. If there is enough interest classes for adults will be held evenings in the lake. The swim committee also hopes to have canoeing lessons in the old river bed. Registration will take place this Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Grand Bend municipal hall. Mary Morrice is co-ordi­ nating the program. Have you noticed that you can spend a life-time in Grand Bend, and still never be just the right age for it? When you are very young, your mother takes you to the beach and puts a pink and blue creature around your waist that has a "Dumbo the elephant” head on it which bops you on the chin when you wear it. And out you go to float in the lake. Even though the words right under "Made in Japan" read "Not to be used as a life preser­ ver" you figure you’re safe, because you can’t read anyway. Suddenly there’s a big commotion on shore, and you hear your mother screaming "She’s just a pink and blue speck on the horizon;" You find yourself being dragged by "Dumbo the elephant" back to shore, Little does your mother know that she came closer to drowning you when she swamped you in her wake, than when you were out on your own. You’re told you are too little to go out beyond the second sand bar, and you long for the day when you’ll be big enough to swim across the lake. Several years later, you figure you’ve got it made when you discover the roller rink. (Are roller skates still the standard gift for passing out of grade six?) Unfor­ tunately, at 11:00 p.m. as the dying strains of "Love is Blue" crackle over the loud speaker and the home waltz ends, you see your parents drive up the roller rink. Your father honks and waves, and your friends snicker when you have to be the first to go home. And you long for the day when your parents will be the last to arrive for pick-up, and you envy the kids who live in town who can walk home, pretending that curfews don’t matter. When you’re 15 you get to know guys who are 16 who even have driver’s licences. If you beg and plead and do the dishes without being told for a couple of days, your mother will probably let you go out for a drive with a guy. And you figure this will be just great because he’s driving his father’s new LTD. Then you find out that his father has given him strict instructions not to drive down Main Street in Grand Bend, because he never learned how to parallel park, and he’s never driven in so much traffic before. So you park the car in a safe place where it won’t get scratched in the IGA parking lot and walk downtown. Next week end your date is a little more daring, and he goes to the Bank of Montreal to park the precious big car. But you’re still on foot, and you long for the day when your boyfriend will have his own car. So the next year he gets a car of his own. But it’s a rusty old Chevy II, and now you park at the IGA parking lot, not because of parental orders, but because of embarassment. And you long for the day when you’ll have just the right car to cruise up and down Main Street and impress your friends. And finally, years later you get just the right car for driving in Grand Bend--a Triumph TR-6. You put the top down, and turn up the tape deck and cruise down Main Street, But where are the friends you wanted to wave at? You look at the crowds walking down the street, and they seem so young-justkids, not even old enough to borrow their father’s cars yet. So where are your friends? Well, they’re married with kids of their own that they take to the beach, and put plastic floating toys on, and send out to play in the lake. And suddenly you’re too old for Grand Bend. Brunch on beach served by Playhouse The Playhouse sends out a reminder that they will be participating in this year’s Burgerfest celebrations, in Grand Bend. A "Pancake Brunch, featuring the culinary talents of chefs Leo Morningstar and Bruce Shaw, will be located in the Burgerfest tent, on the main beach, Sunday, June 17. The "Brunch" begins at 9 a.m. and includes sausages and pancakes served with a variety of toppings. Chan- pagne cocktails and Bloody Mary’s will be available for those who wish to enjoy a prelude to Brunch. Orange and tomato juice will be served, on the house. The cost of each meal is $2.98 for adults and $1.98 for children. During the Burgerfest weekend, the Playhouse Youtheatre will be per­ forming Chris Wiggins’ "Sleeping Beauty’’, on the Playhouse stage. In this production, the Purple Witch squares off against her cousin, Mother Pink, in a battle of calculated to thrill people of all ages. Performances are p.m. Saturday, June 16 and Sunday, June 17 and prices are $2. for adults and $1.25 for children. A special bus has been arranged to take playgoers from the Burgerfest tent, on the beach, to the Playhouse prior to each show, at charge. magic young at 2 burgerfest "We’ll need some muscle,” he said. Lee Thomas is in charge of the food preparation for the burgerfest, while Carter is looking after the bar. Brad Page, Judd Bum- stead and John Aselstyne were welcomed to the ChamberofCommerceas new members. In other business, the Chamber decided not to endorse Grand Bend council’s request for money to be put towards a study of the need for recreation facilities in Lambton County. Chamber members felt that the $80,000 study recom- meded would not be wor­ thwhile. even though half of that cost would be covered by a government grant. It was also decided that the chamber would do more advertising of Grand Bend and its attractions. The possibilities of advertising in more newspapers, and on radio will be considered. President Carter asked chamber public relations spokesman Len Hume if he would take the position of advertising chairman. Bob Simpson reported that flags were flying from street light poles on Main street in Grand Bend in preparation for Canada Day. Plans for a fireworks display are progressing. Gene Grenier is looking into the possibilities of having a golf tournament for the fall meeting of the Chamber of Commerce. 1