The Scarecrow Invasion is Here!

Every year Meaford has a fall Scarecrow Festival, and it's here now.  Scarecrows dot the downtown and are clustered in groups, large and small.  Here's the first group of photos, enjoy them and imagine the number of volunteer hours that go into creating them!

I came upon volunteers putting some of the scarecrows in place, with two still lying on the ground.  I couldn't help myself, I blurted "are they dead!"

This fellow in intended to be Gordon Lightfoot, who played in the Meaford Hall several times in the past.

And at the corner of Sykes and Collingwood St. is the big party!

More to come.  But sorry I'm having enormous difficulty with my computer which has clogged up and is operasting VERY slowly most of the time!

Colour in the Garden un September

 Even though it's now October, we have plenty of colourful flowers in the garden at this time of year.  Here's a collection for your enjoyment.  There seems to be an orange and pink thing going on here.

This is a bright orange Calendula, sometimes known as a pot marigold.

This Mexican Sunflower just keeps on blooming.  For a couple of weeks it was favoured by our Monarch butterflies.

Just a Marigold of sorts, but its bright orange blooms have ben looking great for at least two months now.

We have a big patch of white and pink Cosmos.

And one of my favourites, the Fall Anemones.

Finally, I just love the seedheads of this Clematis.  The flowers on this one are very small, so these seedheads are better than the flowers!

J

September Days

 We've had glorious days here in late September, and I've been out and about as a result, both at home and further afield.  That is until today!  It's raining and I'm stuck inside.

Down in the harbour it was looking sunny and bright.

The sailing school was getting packed up for another season.  All the boats have been stored inside, soon the docks will coe out.

Beyond the harbour I had a good view of Cape Rich across the blue waters of the bay.

In the spaces where it could, New England Aster was blooming, the last of the summer wildflowers., and one I look for every year.

Here at home the past several weeks have been devoted to canning and seed gathering.  These red peppers were canned shortly after the picture.

The garden, at least the view out the living room window, is turning green again, with the spreading hosta leaves dominating.

But a few flowers still disrupt the green, among them some Canna Lilies.  Can you spot this yellow one in the picture above?

A few red Zinnias and a white Phlox are new to the back garden this year.  And that's an overview of our lives these September days.

In Memory of the Children.

Today we stop and remember those indigenous children who were forced to attend residential schools here in Canada.  For over 100 years children were removed from scattered indigenous communities (forcibly if necessary) so they could be stripped of the culture and language, 'beatting the Indian out of the child'.  Several thousand died in the process and were buried in unmarked graves.

The story I remember, the story that makes today 'Orange Shirt Day', came from Phyllis Webstad, of the Dog Creek reserve in northern B.C.  Like many 6 year olds, she was excited to attend her first day of school, and her grandmother had purchased a bright orange shirt for her to wear.  But when she arrived at the school she was stripped, bathed, and her long hair shaved off.  She was not allowed to speak her own language.  Presumably all the clothing was burned.

It took Phyllis 40 years and years of therapy before she spoke out about this, which she did at a gathering in 2013.  The image immediately caught on, and the orange shirt became a symbol, while 'Every Child Matters' became the slogan.  I have loved this image since I first saw it.  The federal government formalized this as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation/

 So take a moment to remember, not only the children who died, but the thousands more who lost their culture, language and connections to family.because of the residential school system.

Unrecognized History

After all my digging, I found several other places that in my mind merit a historic plaque, or at least an information board to explain who they are.  There are two parks, one statue and then there's Beautiful Joe, a special case if there ever was one!  I'm sure the stories behind these names would be of interest to most residents, but I only figured them out with the help of Wikipedia and the museum staff.

The first is Fred Raper Park.  Fred was one of Meaford's early settlers, and lived for a time on the shore where the park is located now.  He and his wife worked to have a park established here.  His son was involved with the 31st Grey Regiment, and was one of the first to volunteer when WWI started.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

McCarroll Park was purchased by the McCarroll family, and was named after Tom McCarroll specifically.  Tom was a pharmacist in Barrie, but came to spend his weekends in Meaford.  He had a passion for trees, and planted most of the trees in the park.

Down in the corner of McCarroll Park is an old millwheel.  Museum staff report this comes from one of the mills in Walters Falls.  Judging from the millwheel itself, I'd say this is from the grist mill, which is a fascinating story in its own right.  The Walters Falls mill is one of the last water-powered mills in Ontario.

I'm sure many people have wondered about the story behind Schubird!  This is a 4 foot statue created and donated by Gunter Neumann in recognition of the long-running Scarecrow Festival, which over the years has attracted an enormous volunteer effort.  The name comes from Meaford's apple orchard heritage, and means 'schoo bird'!

Right beside Schubird is the famous Meaford 'Big Apple', now used as a tourist information booth during the summer months.

Then there's Beautiful Joe.  Beautiful Joe Park is located a few blocks away from downtown, on the Bighead River.  Unfortunately it is not wheelchair accessible, so I've relied on the website for these two pictures.  Because it's located elsewhere I'm not sure many tourists realize it's there either.

The story of Beautiful Joe is amazing.  It's based on a novel by Margaret Saunders, a book which contributed enormously to awareness of animal cruelty.  And it's based on the story of a real dog of the same name, here in Meaford.  To underscore the popularity of the book, this was the first Canadian novel to sell over one million copies!

Beautiful Joe was abused severely by his owner, and rescued by a Mr. Moore,  Saunders learned of the dog while visiting Moore daughter, Louise, and wrote the book as autobiography, as Beautiful Joe talking.  It was published in 1893 and was an immediate best seller.  Beautiful Joe Park was established along the Bighead River, Beautiful Joe should be celebrated by Meaford,  but I'm not sure we do.

A Few More Historic Plaques

 As I've looked around downtown Meaford, I've found more historic plaques that were in place before the Tidbits project even started.  These ones all provide the information we might need to know to appreciate them.  There are five of these, so let's go!

The first of course, and the best known is the Cenotaph, the war memorial.  A ceremony is held here every Remembrance Day, and a number of wreaths are placed in memory of the men who gave their lives in service.

Down the street is a provincial historical plaque recognizing the founding of Meaford, though unfortunately the plaque itself is in poor shape.

Beside this plaque are three information panels that describe the building of Meaford Hall, which became at an early stage the 'heart of the community', then was restored and renovated starting in 2003.  The new hall opened for business in 2006, operating largely as a concert hall.

Closer to the bay, in McCarroll Park, is a second provincial historic plaque, in recognition of Sir Lyman Duff, who was born in Meaford and served as Canada's Chief Justice from 1933-1944.  He was on the Supreme Court for a total of 37 years, the longest serving Supreme Court Justice in our history, though he did leave Meaford while still an infant.

Some distance down the shoreline is a substantial monument to William Stephenson, Meaford's first Postmaster.  This monument was erected as a Centennial project by public school teachers and pupils in 1967.

William Stephenson was not only Meaford's first Postmaster, he also opened the first inn and tavern.  The settlement was commonly know as Stephenson's Landing before it was incorporated as Meaford in 1874.

Finally, this large boulder sits in Fred Raper Park, and holds a small recognition plaque.

It's for the Apple Harvest Craft Show Committee, recognizing the enormous effort put in by these volunteers to hold this popular event every year.  The show has donated funds to support a number of causes in Meaford.

Sorry it has taken me so long to get this posted.  I'm enjoying this historical research, but it's taking awhile.  Thanks to the Museum staff who have been very helpful.

Credits to the Tidbits Project!

The other day I finally found the GUM Gallery, that's 'Gallery of Unsellable Masterpieces;'!  It's a store inside a store sort of, but it is accessible and I enjoyed looking around.  This is the headquarters of the Tidbits Project, spearheaded by 

I have to give enormous credit to these two, who have pulled together an enormous amount of information about Meaford's historic past and found a unique and creative way to share it with the community.  I can only say 'Well done!'

My eyes were immediately drawn to four scale models, what a museum would call dioramas I expect.  These are actually three dimensional models, painstakingly created by the artists (or are they architects?).  This is the hardwood flooring factory run by Stanley Knight, who also published 'Pictorial Meaford', and at one point was the popular mayor of Meaford.

The second factory around that now long gone railway was Mclagan's Furniture Factory, which made a wide range of high quality furniture for outlets such as Eatons.  Only a small portion of these buildings remain today.

And the third factory was Meaford Steel Products, which made wheelbarrows and all sorts of other metal scoops such as road grader blades.  About half of these buildings remain.

The people leading this project obviously enjoy making scale models!  Here is a model showing the former grain elevator, a lake freighter docked beside it, and the former train staion in the background.

Wnndering the downtown and reading the Tidbits website I found two other bits of history.  One is a plaque about Andrew Gawley, who lost his hands in a shop accident when he was 17.  Undaunted, he created prosthetic hands and went on to a career as a machinist and bicycle shop owner, as well gradually improving the prosthetics themselves.

Finally, the information on the Tidbits site also highlights disasters.  in the case of Meaford these were fires and floods.  This is the Royal Hotel which stood where the TD Bank is now.  It burned down in 1883.  Rebuilt, it as later demolished in 1921 to become the bank.

The Bighead River has been reasonably peaceful for the past few years, but has certainly flooded in the past.  The worst flood was in 1912, when a number of buildings and a portion of the old wool mill were destroyed.

All in all I have to give a lot of credit tot he Tidbits Project.  I've learned a great deal doing this, and I hope you've enjoyed it.