Jan. 6, 2010    Week 2 Issue 27

BAYFIELD HISTORIC WALKING TOUR BOOKLET MAKES HISTORY COME TO LIFE BY MELODY FALCONER-POUNDER The Bayfield Historical Society and Bayfield Archives Room would like to invite everyone to leave their footprints in the snow about town. The Bayfield Historic Walking Tour booklet is now available to act as your guide. The cover of the newly published "Bayfield: Historic Walking Tour" booklet is an image of Edwards' Cash Store circa 1900. (Submitted photo) If a winter’s walk doesn’t sound that appealing people are sure to enjoy taking this stroll come spring or summer. The booklet is based on notes of a Guided Walking Tour composed by Elaine Sturgeon, volunteer archivist from 2001-08. These notes were revised and expanded by Dianne Smith and produced by the Bayfield Historical Society, Ralph Laviolette, current volunteer archivist, and Dave Gillians, historical society president. Its production was funded by memberships, donations and a grant from the Huron Heritage Fund. The booklet takes you on a journey back through time; it offers stops in front of many early structures that are still standing today and provides some insight into what life was like when the village was still in its infancy. The guide is also injected with anecdotes of the people who once lived, worked and played in and around these buildings, making history come to life. The guide is also injected with anecdotes of the people who once lived, worked and played in and around these buildings, making history come to life. Take for example, the description of the Gairdner House at 10 Main St. N. Today this building is home to the business known as, Inspirations. “James and Robert Gairdner built this house in 1855. It is Georgian in style and made from local brick. It served as a residence and store with post office for over 60 years from 1856 to 1917. The Great Northwestern Telegraph office was here from 1880-1892. The entrance portico on the south side of the building marks the upstairs residence, approached through the garden. There are six bedrooms, and a drawing room, and a kitchen, dining room and parlor. The servant’s quarters were downstairs. The building remained in the Gairdner family for 122 years, until 1974. “A story from the early 1900s tells of one of the Gairdner boys having an ongoing dispute with Tippett, a neighbor who raised chickens in a shed across the street. The chickens would run loose and get into the Gairdner’s vegetable patch. So occasionally, the Gairdner boy would climb up to the roof and take potshots at the chickens, then hide behind the parapet. He was later found out when he bragged about it a little too loudly!” The Historic Walking Tour booklets are now available for $5 each at the Bayfield Archives Room on Main Street or by calling 519 565-2454. The booklet is in a 5.5 X 8 inch format and includes a map at its centre. The booklet was created to compliment the Bayfield Historical Society guided walking tours that depart from the Bayfield Archives Room every Saturday morning at 10 a.m. during July and August.   The Bayfield Historical Society also has a limited number of the “Huron Historical Notes – Village of Bayfield” book available. These are selling for $8.00 to cover production and printing costs.  TRINITY TO HOST REGISTRATION FOR TAKE TIME IN 2010 ON JAN. 11 January and February days often seem longer than they are short so once again the congregations of the village’s four local churches have joined together to offer an interesting series of programs designed to combat the winter blahs. The “Take Time in 2010” programs will run from Jan. 18 to Feb. 15. They are a perfect opportunity for friends and neighbors to learn and share with one another. The programs will be held on Mondays from 1:30-3 p.m. Each participating church will host one event. A Registration Coffee will be held on Jan. 11 at Trinity Anglican Church, 10 Keith Cres., for one hour starting at 10 a.m. The cost will be $2 per session. Participants are strongly encouraged to register in advance as some speakers may wish to provide handouts and an accurate attendance number would prove helpful in doing so. Those who wish to participate can learn more about the four sessions at registration. It is not necessary to attend all of the programs. Anyone not able to attend the registration session will still be able to be present at any session they want by simply registering at the door or by calling the church coordinator of the session they wish to be a part of. Want to attend but don’t have the transportation needed to get to the location of the presentation? Rides can be provided, just call the coordinator of that session. Knox Presbyterian Church will kick off the Take Time in 2010 series on Jan. 18 with a program entitled, “Writing Your Story.” Sheila Macgregor This topic will be presented by Sheila Macgregor, of London. Macgregor has been listening to people’s life stories for over twenty-five years. Having trained with one of the pioneers in the Oral History field, her subjects have included everyone from family members, business people, teachers, missionaries, farmers and even a recipient of the prestigious Order of Canada Award. “My talk is about why people should write their life story, hopefully encouraging others to try and write their own,” said MacGregor, in a recent email. "My talk is about why people should write their life story, hopefully encouraging others to try and write their own.” - Sheila Macgregor  Barb Harkins is the coordinator for this session and interested people are welcome to contact her at 519 565-2098 for more information. The following week, Jan. 25, the Take Time in 2010 programs will take a break to encourage everyone to go to the Bayfield Historical Society Dinner meeting to be held at St. Andrew’s United Church at noon. For more details and also for tickets people are invited to call Pat or Bud Langley at 519 565-2894. The Church on the Way will host the Feb. 1 session at the Bluewater Community Centre. Maggie Brennan with the Alzheimer Society of Huron will offer “An Overview on Dementia”. Pat Lewington will also be on hand to lighten the topic a bit with some Fitness Fun. Those wishing to learn more about this session should contact coordinator Mary Schultz at 519 565-2735. Participants at the Feb. 8 session can learn more about “Travel within Canada” as guest Heather Moffat, of Ellison Travel, focuses on Newfoundland as a destination. St. Andrew’s United Church will play host to this session and Shirley McAllister is the person to get a hold of for more information. She can be reached at 519 565-5620. The final session in the series will be held at Trinity Anglican Church on Feb. 15. Participants will learn about “Adventures in Southern Sudan and Beyond” with Janet Tufts. She is currently the Executive Director of The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and is also a very active volunteer. Last year, she traveled to the Sudan with a team representing Canadian Aid for Southern Sudan (CASS) and will share some of those experiences through this presentation. Elaine Scrimgeour is the coordinator of this session and she can be reached by calling 519 565-5544.		AUSABLE BAYFIELD AND MAITLAND VALLEY WATERSHED PUBLIC MEETINGS Bayfield is the location for the first in a series of public meetings related to the unveiling of draft proposed assessment reports for Ausable Bayfield and Maitland Valley watersheds. There will be three public meetings in each watershed for public review of the documents and to ask questions and provide input between Jan. 5 and March 12. The first of the six public meetings will be held at the Bayfield Town Hall on Jan. 21. This open-house format public meeting is open for the public to drop in and talk to staff between 3-5 p.m. and between 6-8 p.m. Public delegations are welcome at a public meeting in Blyth on Feb. 18 from 7-9 p.m. To reserve a time to present at this more formal public meeting call the Ausable Bayfield Maitland Valley Drinking Water Source Protection Project (see numbers below). For more information on the Bayfield open house or the delegation-format public meeting in Blyth visit sourcewaterinfo.on.ca or phone 519-235-2610 or 1-888-286-2610.   TOWN HALL It has been 20 years since a committee was formed to save the Bayfield Town Hall from demolition. Since that time a number of fundraising efforts have been held in an effort to preserve it and make it a vital part of the community social scene. Now The Bayfield Town Hall Heritage Society is looking to improve the entrance to the building to make it more visibly appealing for weddings, festivals, concerts and business meetings. The latest fundraiser will be the sale of commemorative bricks to be installed in the front walk, at the hall entrance and a new walk leading to the property’s “great lawn”. The paving stones can be engraved to showcase a family name, honor loved ones or celebrate a special occasion such as a wedding or an anniversary. They could even make a unique family Christmas gift. According to the fundraising brochure, “These stones will be placed along the walkway so that generations to come will enjoy this wonderful legacy left in honor of the revitalization of the town hall.” There are three stone styles to purchase: a large stone, 8X12, with two lines of engraving up to 12 characters per line, $250; a medium stone, 8X8, with one line of engraving up to 12 characters, $100; and a place holder, 4X8, no engraving, $50.  Tax receipts will be provided. Cheques can be made payable to The Bayfield Town Hall and mailed to PO Box 2078, Bayfield ON, N0M 1G0. Further information can be obtained by contacting Margo Robeson at 519 565-2827. Organizations, school classes, businesses and corporations are encouraged to be part of this worthwhile community project. The society hopes to have the brickwork installed in the spring of 2010. FITNESS FUN The exercise classes held at the Bayfield Community Centre have begun for 2010.  The scheduled classes are: Dancefit and Toning, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9 a.m.; and Sit and Get Fit, Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:15 a.m. Badminton will resume on Tuesday, Jan. 12 at Huron Centennial School near Brucefield. Organizers state that it is basically backyard badminton, played inside and is great exercise and lots of fun. The games are played from 7-9 p.m. For those looking for something to exercise the mind – Mah Jongg will begin again on Thursday, Jan. 14 at the Bayfield Lions’ Community Building from 1-3 p.m. If Mah Jongg isn’t your game bring one that is – Scrabble or Crib anyone? BRIDGE CLUB The Wednesday Evening Bridge Club will hold their first card games of 2010 on Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Bayfield Lions’ Community Building. All are welcome to join in the fun.   GIRL GUIDES Welcome the New Year by hanging a limited edition calendar on your wall. The Centenary Celebration Calendar 1910-2010, created by members of Bayfield and Clinton Guiding, and for sale in Mid-western Ontario, is still available.  The calendars are selling for $10 each. Locally, calendars are available for sale from members of Bayfield and Clinton Guiding as well as The Village Book Shop, Bayfield Village Inn, Interior Trends and Drs. Haney and Van Maanen’s Dental Office in Clinton. EDITOR'S NOTE Winter storms - as Canadians we may love to hate them but we live with them. Jan. 20 marks the 38th anniversary of the Great Snowstorm of 1971 but there have been other signifcant storms over the years. Subscribers are invited to share there memories of the storm of 1971 and others as well. Were you stranded, stuck or snowed in? Tell us your tales and send your pictures too. A selection will be featured in the Jan. 20 edition of the Bayfield Breeze. A recent trip to the Bayfield Archives uncovered this gem of a photo taken during the winter of 1970 - subscribers are invited to check their photo albums and send the Bayfield Breeze scans of their own winter photo treasures to share. FEBRUARY 26, 1970: Leslie Clemens, pastor of Bayfield Baptist Church, enjoys his own slide which he built in his front yard for the youngsters of the village. The slide, complete with a banked curve at the bottom, has been a big hit with local residents. (Photo by Audrey Bellchamber)
REMEMBER ME? There are countless photographs of people in the Bayfield Historical Society’s Archives collection, but sadly their names were never recorded. In this section we will showcase an image with the hopes that one of our subscribers might be able to identify the individual(s) in the photo. Please email your information to the Editor’s attention at the address listed near the bottom of the page in “Submissions”. In Issue 26’s “REMEMBER ME?” we showed a photo of two young ladies taken at what was referred to as 'the swimming hole' in Bayfield circa 1915. Anyone remember them? This week, one of several postcards available for viewing at the Bayfield Archives Room is featured. Two ladies are shown standing in front of the entrance to what is believed to be Orlagh. This home, at 41 Main St. S, was built by Dr. Ninian Woods. Does anyone remember these women?		ISSUE 26   Does anyone remember these two young bathing beauties? ISSUE 25 Does anyone remember Viola and Nettie?