Village Squire, 1976-05, Page 18An ancient cradle is one of the items on display now in Van Egmond House. The museum will be
open weekends during the summer.
A Daffodil Tea will be held in the spring
with strawberry socials, garden parties and
flea markets to follow in the summer and fall.
In June, the Van Egmond descendants will
gather at the house for their second annual
reunion. Some will travel from as far as the
Prairies and British Columbia. In August, the
foundation will sponsor a performance of
"Anne Of Creep Gables" in the Seaforth
District High School auditorium. The musical
by Don Harron will be performed by the
Huron County Playhouse
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Sometime this summer the kitchen roof will
be repaired at a shingling bee, and a pioneer
shingle cutting machine will be operated on
the grounds. Each spectator will be given the
opportunity to buy a cedar shingle and to
have his or her name engraved on it, before
the slab is installed on the Van Egmond roof.
The Foundation borrowed this fund-raising
scheme from the cathedrals of Europe.
A Ciderfest is scheduled for this fall. On a
Sunday afternoon last November, a cider
press, set up at the back door of the house
produced between 300 and 400 gallons of
apple cider. People from as far as London
came to watch cider being made and to buy
jugs of the drink. At the same time, in the
kitchen, a man operating a sausage -maker
sold 100 pounds of meat in one hour. The
success of last year's Ciderfest warrants
another one this year.
This summer the house will be open to the
public during the week. The foundation,
headed this year by Dr. Rodger Whitman,
hopes to complete the restoration in 1977 and
is aiming for an official opening by Ontario's
Lieutenant -governor on Dominion Day in
1978. This date was proposed because 1978
marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of
Colonel Anthony Van Egmond and the 150th
anniversary of the opening of the Huron
Tract, now known as Huron and Perth
Counties.
In the years to come, the Van Egmond
House will function partly as a museum and
partly as a centre for the teaching of pioneer
skills. An Ontario Heritage plaque already
identifies the structure as an historic site.
Moreover, the enthusiastic programs planned
by the Foundation will tune visitors in to the
pioneer way of life, boiling preserves on a
fireplace, extracting honey from a bee hive
and carding wool on a walking spinning
wheel. The demonstrations will begin
unofficially this summer with the cutting of
cedar shingles on a pioneer machine and the
producing of apple cider in a cider press.
What better way to learn about history or to
commemorate the deeds of one of Ontario's
most colourful pioneers than with this "living
museum"?
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