Sunday, November 1, 2015

The Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport (MTCS) will be holding province-wide meetings


The Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport (MTCS) will be holding province-wide meetings so as to
establish a vision for culture across the province, and they want to know which aspects of Ontario’s culture are valuable to you and your community.

The press release says “One of the most valuable cultural resources in Ontario is our heritage sector. All across the province, not-for-profit organizations such as historical societies, museums, archives, and other heritage organizations and institutions are working to preserve and promote our diverse history. Activities such as cemetery tours, historical walks, community bike tours, plaque unveilings, archaeological digs, and visits to museums and historic sites are just a few examples of how Ontarians participate in culture by connecting with their heritage. Many of Ontario’s grassroots heritage organizations also work tirelessly to protect our natural history—which is a vital part of both our cultural identity, and our tourism industry.

Since government funding to heritage organizations was both cut, and frozen, in the mid-1990s, the groups who provide these services to their communities have been forced to do more with less. These are the people restoring our train stations, preserving our lighthouses, defending our cemeteries, protecting our genealogical resources, and telling our stories through lectures, films, publications, and exhibitions. Despite all their valuable work preserving our historical landmarks and cultural landscapes, government funding to these not-for-profit organizations remains incredibly low”.

The deadline for public submissions to the MTCS is December 7, 2015, and they are looking for your ideas.

Go to https://talk.ontario.ca/culture/?_ga=1.252357641.1845137880.1418760706 for more information.

And to see the places where the meetings are to be held, go to https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontarios-culture-strategy?_ga=1.214450967.1845137880.1418760706

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Check the Canadian Week in Review (CWR) every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed last week’s edition, it is 
 
It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!
 
It has been published on a continuous basis every Monday since April 2012!

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Do you know that Halloween has Celtic origins?



In pre-Christian times, many people believed that spirits from the underworld and ghosts of dead people could visit the world of the living on the night of October 31.

To avoid beimng taken back to the underworld by the spirits, people started dressing up as ghosts and spirits if they left their homes on October 31. They hoped that this would confuse the ghosts and spirits, and they wouldn't be touched.

Now, I am not so sure when that get confused with the children knocking on doors and asking for treats, and if not received, then there would be treat visited upon the house, but the Halloween traditions were brought to Canada by Irish and Scottish immigrants.

Happy Researching!!

===========================================================================
Check the Canadian Week in Review (CWR) every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed last week’s edition, it is 
 
It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!
 
It has been published on a continuous basis every Monday since April 2012!

Friday, October 30, 2015

Only 2 days left to become a member



There are only 2-more days left to enroll in the half-year membership to the Ontario Genealogical Society. The closing date is 31 October 2015, and the price is $37.00CDN

This is an introductory offer for brand new members that allows you to join right away rather than waiting for the next calendar year (this category is also available to those who have not been an OGS member for the past two years and would like to come back.

To see what you get for the money, go to https://www.ogs.on.ca/membership.php

The website is https://www.ogs.on.ca/integrated/integrated_account_new_step1.php

Happy Researching!!

===========================================================================
Check the Canadian Week in Review (CWR) every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed last week’s edition, it is 
 
It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!
 
It has been published on a continuous basis every Monday since April 2012!

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Look at what I have found in the Saskatchewan Archives!


In the early 1950s, the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan distributed a series of questionnaires to early settlers of the province. There were eleven different questionnaires which covered the following topics - 
 
Pioneer Diet
 
General Pioneer Experiences
 
Schools
 
Churches
 
Recreation
 
Social Life
 
Farming Experiences
 
Folklore
 
Health
 
Housing
 
Local Government
 
Christmas
 
The 3500+ replies which were received are located in the Saskatoon office of the Archives of Saskatchewan. They provide a sample of each questionnaire. 
 
The questionnaires may be searched by the name of the pioneer, the nearest community, or the year of settlement in Saskatchewan. 
 

To access the questionnaires, you can contact the archives at https://www.saskarchives.com/emr/?q=website-enquiry-form
 
This is a gold mine of information for those who had people who went to Sasatchewan during the early days. The information here is astounding!
 
Happy Researching!!
 
===========================================================================
Check the Canadian Week in Review (CWR) every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed last week’s edition, it is 
 
It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!
 
It has been published on a continuous basis every Monday since April 2012!

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

1921 Canadian census


Dwayne Meisner has sent me notice that the 1921 census for Inverness County, Nova Scotia is now fully transcribed and available to view at http://www.dwaynemeisner.com/census/novascotia/inverness1921/index.php

As usual, if you are not already a member of his site, you will have to complete a free registration form.

His site is at http://dwaynemeisner.com/index.php

Happy Researching!!

===========================================================================
Check the Canadian Week in Review (CWR) every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.
 
If you missed last week’s edition, it is 
 
It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!
 
It has been published on a continuous basis every Monday since April 2012!

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Here Comes the Train! The Ottawa Valley Railway Story



Here Comes the Train! The Ottawa Valley Railway Story, the latest hit musical from Stone Fence Theatre, is coming to Smiths Falls on November 7 for two performances at the Station Theatre.

The story of the show goes behind the scenes of life in the railway steam era, with much of it based on stories from Smiths Falls, collected with the help of the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario.
The show looks at the lives of the people who worked on and around the trains and the impact railways had on the Ottawa Valley and Canada as a whole.

Most of the play is set in the 1950s, with a five-piece band and musical styles including bluegrass, blues and country/folk.

The show will be performed at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Station Theatre on November 7. Tickets are available online at www.stonefence.ca or by phone, toll-free, at 1 866 310 1004."

The website of the museum is at http://rmeo.org/

Their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/RMEOsmithsfalls

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Check the Canadian Week in Review (CWR) every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed last week’s edition, it is 
at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/10/canadian-week-in-review-cwr-26-october.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been published on a continuous basis every Monday since April 2012!

Monday, October 26, 2015

Canadian Week in Review (CWR) 26 October 2015



I have come across the following Canadian genealogy, history and heritage websites, social media, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too.
 
This Week in Canadian History
 
Men Wearing Masks During the Spanish Flu, Alberta Fall 1918 
 
Library and Archives Canada
Photographer: Unknown PA-025025







Spanish Influenza Sweeps the Globe


In 1918-19 influenza pandemic was a global catastrophe that killed more than 3 percent of the world’s population. Over 50,000 Canadians died. 
 
Social Media
 
(Photos) HANTS HISTORY: Oct. 22, 2015 edition
 
 
Newspaper Articles
 
Nova Scotia
 
Yarmouth building renovation unearths interesting family history

 
Clifford R. Hayes was the signature written on a piece of wood that workers unearthed during renovations at the new location for Surette’s Jones Gym at 345 Main St.
 
Absolutely nobody wants to be Halifax’s town crier
 
 
Council votes to leave ceremonial position unfilled due to lack of applicants.
 
Ontario
 
TORONTO ROOTS: Beyond the grave: Don’t overlook the cemetery registers when searching for your family’s history
 
 
There's nothing quite like the instant thrill of brushing aside shrubbery or tugging away overgrown sod in a cemetery and uncovering a name you recognize – the feeling of connecting with an ancestor you may never have met in person.
 
Sarah Mushtaq: Islam's 144-year history in Canada
 
 
According to the 1871 Canadian Census, four years after Canada’s birth, there were 13 European Muslims in this country. 1882 saw the arrival of the first Arab immigrants — both Christian and Muslim — who were mainly Ottoman Syrians fleeing conscription.
 
This eventually led to the construction of the first Canadian mosque in 1938 in the city of Edmonton.
 
The Amateur Genealogist: Where there’s a Will – There’s Genealogical Gold
 
 
Many beginners do not look for wills -- “My family was too poor to have a will.”  There are many more wills than people suspect, so you should always look for one.  Furthermore, if a person died without a will (died intestate) someone often had to apply to the courts for permission to administer the estate. These Letters of Administration – loosely called Admons – are indexed with the wills.
 
Statues to memorialize Canada’s prime ministers would be ‘culturally insensitive’: university
 
 
More than a year after Kitchener, Ont., rejected it, a proposal to install statues of all 22 Canadian prime ministers at nearby Wilfrid Laurier University is once again facing accusations that it is “politically and culturally insensitive” to memorialize Canada’s heads of governments.
 
Celebrating women's history
 
 
Women's History Women's Month is a national celebration each October highlighting the contributions of women and girls to Canada’s rich history.
 
House of Refuge
 
 
Passion for the past inspires a young historian in Cornwall, Ontario, to memorialize inmates who died at a local ‘poor house'.
 
Manitoba
 
Manitoba Museum gets $10M from province for renewal.
 
 
The Manitoba Museum is embarking on its largest-ever renewal and received a big boost Thursday with a $10-million donation from the province.
 
Alberta
 
Day in History, Oct. 21, 1925: Telephone service links Alberta to rest of Canada, U.S.

 
Alberta took a big stride forward with the introduction of direct telephone service linking the province with other parts of Canada and the United States.
 
Lougheed House exhibit explores Canadian women's roles in WWII
 
 
A new exhibit at Lougheed House showcases the lives of Alberta women who served in the armed forces during World War II.
 
Eamon's building may get moved from storage to High River
 
 
The city is negotiating with a High River group that wants to buy the Eamon's gas station, a 1950s building the city bought three years ago to make way for the park-and-ride lot at the Tuscany LRT station.
 
British Columbia
 
In what kind of shape is your ‘Stop of Interest?'
 
 
Heritage BC wants to give Central Okanagan residents the chance to shape what ‘Stop of Interest’ should look like to commemoratief historic people, places, and events.
 
There are many ways to participate in this process and prizes can be won.
 
And that was the week in Canadian news!
 
=============================================================
Check the Canadian Week in Review (CWR) every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.
 
If you missed last week’s edition, it is 
 
It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!
 
It has been published on a continuous basis every Monday since April 2012!