Yarmouth Glenders. Clue # 1

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Photo of team: D.Burgess, J.Jackaman, J.Mansell and J. Erickson taken on Feb 25/22 at Elgin County Heritage Centre, 360 Sunset Dr. St Thomas

Extraordinary Achievement comes from Ordinary People
A Museum for Elgin County

“The distance between DREAMS and REALITY is called ACTION” (Unknown)

This quote describes the story about our choice for the first W.I.S.H. clue.

From 1935 to 1940, Lord Tweedsmuir was Governor-General of Canada. His wife, Lady Tweedsmuir, a published author, was concerned about a lack of records to tell future generations about the past in Canada. She challenged Canadian women to collect histories of towns and villages to have a record for posterity. The Women’s Institutes accepted the challenge and in 1940 began to write the stories and called them “Tweedsmuir Village Histories”.

With written records of communities preserved, attention had turned to the collection of pioneer artifacts. The need for storage and display of these artifacts led to establishing county museums to allow the public to enjoy and learn about local pioneer everyday life in their communities.

In 1954, the DREAM of establishing a County of Elgin museum began when Mrs. Dorothy Futcher, a past president of Federated Women’s Institute of Ontario, felt that there should be something more to let people learn about the history of the County of Elgin. She visited District Annuals of Elgin WI branches to get reactions to the idea. Mrs Young and Mrs Lyle then visited each of the over 30 branches in the county, at that time, and found out that the idea of a museum had their support.

Now was the time for REALITY. A meeting was called to work out more details, including possible locations. A house at 32 Talbot Street was offered for sale at a price of $10,000. $400 was raised for the down payment by holding teas and a display of artifacts at Anderson’s Department Store. Further funding was raised by a letter writing campaign. Because the planners wanted the museum to belong to both rural Elgin and the City of St Thomas, it was decided that the WI canvas the rural areas. The Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE) were invited to assist with the initial fundraising in St Thomas. With this unique partnership, $16,000 was raised and covered the cost to the building purchase and its complete renovation.

Many people were involved (ACTION) in bringing the dream to reality and the Elgin County Pioneer Museum opened to the public on April 15, 1957.

In late 1957, Elgin County Council took over the ownership of the museum to make it eligible for provincial funding. It had a tea room and two live-in caretakers. In 2001, after a fire and accessibility concerns, there were two temporary relocations. After a search for a suitable location, the museum reopened in 2006 on the 4th floor of the County of Elgin Building at 450 Sunset Drive, St Thomas.

In 2018, a brand new museum building “Elgin County Heritage Centre” opened at 460 Sunset Drive, St Thomas. It is an excellent and vibrant part of the County of Elgin and surrounding communities. It annually offers a series of exhibitions and programs based on a permanent collection of artifacts which illustrate the history of Elgin County. The WI members who had the foresight to turn a DREAM into REALITY would be delighted with this museum building and services. Artifacts have been preserved and are stored correctly. The Tweedsmuir History books are stored in the County archives and have been digitized. They are a treasured resource that can be accessed around the world.

PS. The former museum building on Talbot Street now houses the Elgin Military Museum. The heritage of the building is appreciated and respected. As much as possible of the Elgin Pioneer Museum has been kept and Yarmouth Glen WI is being allowed to hold an Open House there in May to celebrate WI 125th anniversary.

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