Huron Expositor, 2007-08-08, Page 10Page 10 The Huron Expositor • August 8, 2007
News
Visitors come from Toronto to Windsor to Doors Open
Out-of-town visitors liked what they saw and wanted to get inside more buildings
Susan Hundertmark
They came from Toronto to
Windsor to see Seaforth's historic
buildings as the town participated
in Doors Open for the third year in
a row.
And, while many of the 300 visi-
tors liked what they saw, a number
said they wished they could see
more.
Jerry and Susan Dick, of
Mississauga, who decided to visit
Seaforth's Doors Open event over
the weekend because they were
impressed by what they saw driving
through to a cottage in Grand Bend,
said they were disappointed at the
number of "drive-by" buildings that
were featured but not open to the
public.
"I thought driving through, 'Such
a beautiful town.' I thought I'd see
some of the beautiful buildings from
the inside," said Susan.
She added that they loved viewing
Seaforth's town hall and Cardno
Hall.
"This is fabulous," she said while
viewing Cardno Hall's stage. "It
really takes you back in time. You
can just see the show going on."
Jerry said he hopes Seaforth con-
tinues to offer Doors Open every
year because he has a number of
friends he'd like to bring back.
Girourard and Wilda Jacques, of
Wiarton, said that after being to
Doors Open events in Owen Sound
and Shelburne, they were hoping to
see more buildings from the inside
in Seaforth.
Girourard said he was wowed by
the Doors Open in Shelburne where
the town held the event on a
Saturday when all the shops were
open, there were food stands in the
streets and music was playing on
Main Street, adding to a festival -
like atmosphere.
"I am a retired shopkeeper so I
understand it's a holiday Monday.
But, I'm a little disappointed the
antique and gifts shops are not
open. There are so many beautiful
buildings here - there's a lot of
potential," he said.
His wife Wilda said she was really
impressed by Cardno's Hall.
"Can't you just imagine. the war
years and the dances? The ghosts
are still walking around here," she
said.
John and Dianne Clements, of
Lucknow, said they had never come
across "drive-by" exhibits before at
other Doors Open events.
"I thought there would be more
open," said Dianne.
"It's Doors Open - the doors
should be open. I thought the whole
point was to get inside," she said.
Dianne, who went to high school
Susan Hundertmark photos
Irvin and Marilyn Bruce, of Guelph, take a close look at some of the garments dis-
played at the Van Egmond House while below, Jean Lawson, of Harpurhey, checks
out the -stained glass windows at St. Thomas Anglican Church during her first visit
to the Seaforth church during the Doors Open event over the weekend.
sive booklets detailing the history of
many local buildings because the
small population of Seaforth causes
volunteer burn -out.
"We are tailoring our resources to
fit our circumstances. If we had
line-ups of 50-60 people at each
building, we'd need volunteers," he
said.
Laviolette said 3,000 booklets
were published for the first Doors
Open event in Seaforth and that
number is down to a couple of hun-
dred.
"We have been very applauded by
visitors that we give out so much
information about our buildings and
we've put a lot of effort into publish-
ing those booklets," he said, adding
that other booklets exist detailing
information about pioneer cemeter-
ies for visitors working on family
genealogy projects and about the
histoiy of farming in the area.
He said the booklets are being
given out free to out-of-towners,
while locals are being asked to pay
$6 each for them.
"It's an inexpensive way to learn
what our local buildings were used
for in the past," he said.
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in Seaforth, said she was excited to
be able'to tour the Lorne Villa man-
sion (currently the Huton Perth
Mental Health Assocation offices).
"They've retained a lot of the
woodwork and the fireplaces. It was
nice to see it," she said.
Huron East's economic develop-
ment officer Ralph Laviolette said
that Seaforth had 12 buildings open
for the Doors
Open event and
"that's more than
a lot of places."
Laviolette said
the town made
the decision to
offer drive-by
exhibits and sev-
eral comprehen-
rlving
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