HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1971-08-25, Page 20,.rh. ..r n.,F •. .,t^I
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,Goo CH SHCNAL-STAR, THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1971
von Pioneer Museum
Growing, growing, --grown
BY LIZA WiLJLIAMS
The Huron County Pioneer
Museum was not always the •
Inge establishr1tent we see today
buzzing with activity. H.ow did it
grow to what it is now? s
J. it Neill was the founder of
the museum. A collector of
antiques.„...since _ the ..19,10'.s, he
'finally needed a place to put
,e:tn, and.. -on July 4, 1951, the
14useum opened. Mr. Neill had
collected, about a thousand
articles to start the museum, and
today there are 11,000 an
average of over 500 acquisitions
every year,
Mr. Neill's museum was 'the
love of his life. He put his
, energies and resources into it
whole heartedly ,until 1964,
when he gave up curatorship rat
the age of 79.
His collecting trips took Mr, "
Neill all,, across the continent,
and the old- Essex car, he had
fixed up for the purpose is as
efficient as a modern-day
camper. It is now one of the
exhibits in the _museum.
He also built a trailer to. carry
exhibits around to fairs and
plowing 'matches — any place
where great crowds of „people
were gathered. .
The- Huron County Co.uncil
was responsible for obtaining the
100 -year-old public school
W4. Denomme
FLOWER
SHOP
Phone
524-
$132
DAY
OR
NIGHT
Agent for 24 -hr.
FILM DEVELOPING
TANKS
'f 7504x WNE5E
lis BEST FOR
SERVINGYou,
WE BEAR.
N MIND THE
QRAINAGE,
Too
TA kr,Mati., low
UMBING
& HEATING •
--- - 55 KINGSTON ST.
•
buildahg which houses the
museu,at.
At first, Mr. Neill lived in the
small room at the front . of the
building which now holds the
exhibit op salt. His workbench
was along the wall where the
clocks and exhibit,on time are.
,Howeverawishing• for a little
stili cwoclted on models until he
passed away w the spring of
1969.
„ In 1968 Mr. Chisholm and
Mrs. Nanz, with the help of
various workmen, transformed
the log cabin . into N ,the
old-fashioned display it is now.
privacy and space, klectric�fy was taken out, and
more
. he the upstairs storage...' space
moved in the",fall of 1902 to the transformed into a pioneer
little log eabrn-en the museutn bedroom.
property. The cabin• had been Mr. Chisholm retired as
moved there from near Bluevale. Curator of the Museum, October
It had been built in 1875_, and •" of 1968, •and in April,. Mr.
bought for the musuem for
Raymond Scotchmer took over,
x'100, with Mrs.'Nanz still the assistant.
Sir. Neill worked every day .In .1969, ten •gl.rides were
on the models which can be seen introduced• to the museum. This
throughout the museum. He also, was the idea of the County
built' the floral clock which is a
great attraction to the museum Council, and ehey were' not sure
grounds. He had begen working how it would work out, or
on the clock in his hothetowrn of whether it would be better to
have girls or boys. But girls it is,
.Gorrie, before the -museum was • 'of' high school 'age, and they
even an idea..
Another point of interest on continue today . to provide,
the museum grounds are the expert assistance 'to' the
museum's visitors.
cannons, which look a little ;bit In 1970 Mr. Scotch•
mer
like' huge thimbles, or enormous adopted as his first project the,
olives with the ends sliced off,
• ,� outfitting of a .school bus...
Nobody seems to know' `what provided by the Cotinty-•Council
these mortars °were used for, to take around to fairs and
although they lined'.. -'""the exhibits. �r
courthouse square until 1.954. fa
His second project, this year,
when the ;Courthouse !Darned to build a storage place for the
down. bus, and also to build a new
• They were made in 111 by a ' structure to serve as a workshop
cannon works in Scotland.. for the museum, which is
which now makes such things as alf d f
v
ornamental railings. It is guessed
that they were used on ships,
because they are heavier than
the same type of land cannons:"
In 1962 Mrs. Friedel Nanz
came to the museutn to help fix
it up, and give it the woman's
touch of neatness, and order.
Mrs. Nanz,' 'who is now the
museum's assistant Curator r 'is a
great source of lrnform,ation,
addition to being a war•rti and
pleasant person.
James Chisholm 'was the
assistant to Mr. Neill for about
two years, until in 1964 Mr.
Neill gave up his curatorship.
Through the C,ouhty Council Mr.
Chisholm became curator.
Although Mr. Neill's influence
and character were still actively
evident in the museum,' - he was
getting old, and Mr. Chisholm's
curatorship .and
blood..
In 1965 the office was built,rid'
a, also the addition where the,
grocery store, and chapel now
are. a •
Mrs. Nanz <was' ppointed in
1,966 through the County
Council as Assistant Curator to
th a museum.
In 1967, Mr. Chisholm built •
another .addition, w}tere the
washing machines and
wheelchairs are .to be seen now.
The , rmmber. of exhibits grew
and grew. Most all of them were
donated.. People: would go to
visit the museum and then say to
the curator,"I :have something
at home which you don't have.
Would' you 'like it?" 'says •Mrs.
Nana. They always Said yes, and
went to •pick up the article.
Mr." Neil left the museum in
1967 and went to live at
Huronview in Clinton, where he
ways ting an re urbrshing
displays. The present workshop
will be cleared out and opened
ups as an extension . • on the
• muse'u•m', to house more
exhibits.
The gounds are a beehive of'
activity. now. and the worrkshop
is beginning to take shape:
What are some of the recent
acquisitions to the museum? Mr.
Scotchmer replies that two
printing tnachines are
interesting. 'one a- Babcock. roll
press from London, and' the
other a Linotype • machine from
Seaforth:
An' old ' wheel chair, a china
doll, a church lamp are alt. items
fairy new to the museum. .And
one outstanding addition is the
_.painting of Mr. 'Neill_ by G. W.
McLaren of Benmiller, The letter
accompanying -the painting'
,describes Mr. Neill as "An
Astonishing Christian
Gentleman."
Save now—
enjoy later
Saving is the secret of `how to make
,�e
money wor, for you instead of you
working for money..
The money youy save today at Victoria
and Greyomay double or, triple by the
time you need it.
Watch your money grow -- and grow
when you buy Victoria •and Grey
Guaranteed Investment Certificates
paying a magnificent eight per cent —
now, at Victoria and Grey.
VG
The senior Trust Company .1
devoted entirely to serving
the prbpk of Ontario.. •
VJCTORL4 GREY
'TRUST COMPANY SINCE 1889
ava
9:00 to 5:00 Monday to Thursday
9:00 to 6:00 Friday
.:,":8244381-4')
1 and', Kingston S� treets, Goderich
John Spittal, an admirer of
the_,rn.useum from Westminister,
London. donated some lovely
scroll 'work in praise of the
museum. It is beautiful work. tn,
honor of an . "astonishing"
'museum.
n�.
Boer War vet celebn"tes'
great grandson's birthday
F.Our generations of Barnetts
celebrated David Colin Allen's
second births- ST in the dining
hall at Sunnybrook Veterans'
Hospital in Toronto, August 2.
G reat-grandfather. Herbert
William llarnett, recently of 133•
:Merrill Ave. E., Toronto., was'
born in Southwick, England. on
February 13, 1 879. He. enlisted.
with the Royal, Sussex Regiment
and served with tile British
Forces in the South African
poer.War. •
Hr and his Fife .and two
children migrated to Canada and .
lived at Midland,, Ontario, for
some, time before )novin" to
f ti. ger cu
Toronto where he liarrer- i. r, resided
for the last 5'2 years.
Until just before Christmas of
last Year,. \lr. Barnett was 'very
active and an ardent walker,
.never .missing a `'Warrror'sDav
Parade" at the Canadian
National Exhibition, proudl\
wearing his 'cam pain naedaT o,f~
the Boer War. Unfortunately,
follo'a-ing 'a bout with
pneumonia earl•this year. he
will notbN iF1 the parade ..this
year,
„ His iecond eldest on. Allen
Harry Barnett.. pow residing it;
Goderi,c,�^h, Township. was born in
Midl•a.nd. In 1939 he toiile•d tht
Royal Canadian, :lir Force and
spent the next five and one -ha::
years overseas during World
1I. He served another 23 year •
-
Canada's permanent Arr.'.,•n
Forces. retiring two \ears
this Autut,' as a .Chief «`ager
Officer.
•
'randson, Douglas Brian—
.Barnett, second - eldest son of
A Isaa.,,llarry Barnett, was born in •
Toronto and is now residing.4in.
W illuwdale. Although Douglas
. w;t, one 'of the • fortunate
' generation who did nothave to
don a uniform for military
ser\ ice, he spent the first 18
ars of his life very close to the
R�I�:tl Canadian • Air Force,
'.+1,4401ing t'rom base to base with
his • parents. ,In 1953 he joined
the Rank of•Montreal •and is now
manager of a branch of this bank
at \\ tllowdale.
Great-grandson, David, was
born at Peterborough, Augtjst 2,
1969, and is now "Captain of .
int, Ship" at 22 Threadneedle ,
Cresvent, Willowdale, - .
Let's hope this is the only
un;i'ornt he will ever don.
Arqa couple mark
silver anniversary
• A seriatise dinner was given
bN Mr. ' and Mrs. Donald Harris
and Mrs. atria t1rs Bud Talbot in
the dining room, of the Zurich
'Hotel alt Saturd.aa , August 7 in
honor of Mr. •iand M. Ross
Peatgan, 13 '13,2, Chilton, ern t hr
oecactan• of their 2501 wedding
a u n t veri,arN . 'i vs. ent \ t wU
Mat iYes attended.
Ftalto vi ig. -the dinner which
was aaf .•I•3t1,p.iu an were rn\ited
to ,the lignin of Mr. 'and Mrs,
Donald Harris, RR Bayfield
where, open house was held.
A 'prostmately , 160 l'rieeds
and neighbours signed the guest.
book which wars'in'the charge of
\1iss Donna'Haggart, Clinton. As
well as those attending from they.
Ideal arta , t'r•iends came t"ro—t
London, 14' indoor, Sarnia,
l'cront,o; tlakville, ' Niagara Fa! 1.s.;,
tlarristoii., Collingwood and Port,
Colborne. ' '
'-1'b0 dining room; , was
.tastefully . decorated for the
occasion with„ pink and white
TOWN
TALK
Harold and Charles Breckow
have just returned from a tour of
East ' and West Germany,
Copenhagen, Denmark and
Ariiheim, Holland. While there,
they , contacted Breckows in
Germany. . •
Make Sure You Check On The
HUGE
SAVINGS
Available on all '71 models at
McGEE
PONTIAC—•BUICK
For Octogenarians'-
. . . a
The'
Goderich Signal -Star is pleas
birthday greetings to the following
Octogenarian Club:
MRS. JENNIE McGRATTEN, •33 Essex St., Goderich, who
celebrated her .91st birthday on I ugust 23.
N
it those older
to extend• happiest
ew, . member of the
I.
you' know of someone whd will be celebrating an 80th
birthday or better i,n the near futu a and would like to have his
or 'her name mentioned in this\ column, please telephone
524-8331 giving the name, address: age and birthday of the
•
celebrant. . \
There is absolutely no charge for this service' and we"arr
pleased to hear from all of you. °
Astreaniers, The table waa centred
with a three -tiered- wedding cake
which , wasa. flanked- by silver
candelabra with white and silver
candles
During the evening, tea •was -
poured by --.Mrs. Les Jervis, Mrs.
'Sybil Palmer, Miss' Maude
Beacom, Mrs. Phoebe Young,
M rs, Jim ' t" gaga n and Mrs.'
'Douglas Feagari. ---
Serving
Serving the guests were-Misses—
Jane - Harris, Brenda Talbot,
Brenda -
and' Debbie Osborne,
Marilynne and Karen Wise, and
Jai3 Feagan:
Those who helped in the
tearoom were Mrs. James
Durnin, f.,ondt n, Mrs. Harold
Tyndall • and Mrs. Alvin Wise,
Clinton, and Mrs. Dick Carter,
Windsor. "
'The guests were welepmed b'y
Mr. and Mrs. Ross Feagan, Mr,
and Mrs. ,Donald Harris, Mr, and
Mrs. Bud Talbot and' Dennis
Harris.
THE
• 5 E PARATE•"'
SHOrPPE, r
Main Corner ' - Clinton
OPENING SEPT. 2
BLOUSES-
,
* PULLOVERS
* TOPS
* PANTS
* SKIRTS
We Sell
MATERNITY WEAR
Open 2-6 ' Closed ' Weds.
"
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Your
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HURON RIDGE
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DESIGN
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AL C A N "
A SUBSIDIARY
OF A.LCAN •
ALUMINIUM LIMITED
Huron -Bruce Progressive
Conservative Association
NOMINATING
MEETING
.Wetdnesdlay, September 1
8:00 p.M.
'WINGHAM TOWN HALL
Guest Speaker:
The Honourable Eric Winkler, Minister of, Finance
WE FEEL IT WOUIrD
BE WORTH YOUR WHILE
TO LOOK AT OUR
YOUN.G
JUNIOR
RANGE
SIZES 5 to 15
PRICED FROM
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• Fur Trim W®OI Coats „
•'• Sumptious Pur Trim Coats
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Oh
GODERICH
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a
OPEN FRIDAY NIGHT TILL 9
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