GHS - Newsletter
June 2008 Issue #54
We could start this letter off with a question and give you the answer next time but that wouldn't
be fair. The question would be: where, in Glabrook, is the house pictured in our masthead? A hint
is that it's in Binbrook. Another is that it's on Cemetary Road. The third is that on the back
is written "possible Clough house." The answer is 3470 Cemetery Road and one might not recognize
it for a number of reasons: the porch is gone, the chimney is gone, the landscaping is different
and without the Clough reference, we would never have found its location. Even with the inventory
books of 1984, comparing photos, it was missed. Just some of the amateur historical sleuthing that
we do from time to time.
For those members that weren't at the April annual meeting, there have been a couple of changes in
the Society. Ron Sinclair is now our new president and Frank Brittain has been elected to the
Board of Directors for a three year term. New faces, fresh ideas and all that.
Summer is not a slow time for hertiage, especially for the Society. Although the office is officially
closed during July and August, things are still going on, behind the scenes so to speak. One of the more important projects is the maintenace of the 1984 hertiage building inventory. Some progress was
made last summer when a visual drive-by of the listed properties was done. Between sixty and
seventy buildings have disappeared but the good news is that a section of Homestead Drive, Mount
Hope, was missed when transferred to the city's list. This added thirty or more so we're still at a
net loss on the original numbers. As a note of interest, Heritage Canada uses a 40-year progressive
time span for buildings to be considered of heritage importance. That now ones built up to 1968!
It's strawberry social time again and this year we've moved again. The date is Monday, June 16,
7:00 pm at Orchard Court Apartments, Binbrook. We can use the lounge and the patio for the event and
we've invited the Court residents to come and join us for the social. Please remember to bring a
lawn chair. "Family" strawberries have been guaranteed!!
The final bylaw designating Binbrook Memorial Hall as a heritage building should be passed some
time this month. No guarantees, but the 30-day waiting period for objections was up in mid-April,
so we're anticipating finalizaiton soon. Some sort of ceremony is being talked about locally but
only at the preliminary stages so far. Suggesions are welcome. For new members here's a photo
of the hall c. 1967.
A couple of events where we'll need help from our members are coming up in the fall. The Binbrook
Fair will be from Friday, September 12 to Sunday September 14. We'll need sixteen to twenty people
to host our display. It's two people for a three hour shift. General hours are Friday 4 pm -7 pm and
7 pm -10 pm. Saturday 10 am to 1 pm; 1 pm to 4 pm, 4 pm to 7 pm and 7 pm - 10 pm. Sunday is 10 am - 1 pm and 1 pm to close (between 5 & 6 pm).
The next event is the Waterdown Book Fair on Saturday, November 22. It's at St. Paul's United
Church, Parkside Drive, Waterdown and runs from 9 am to 3 pm. Four to six people are needed to
take a two to three hour turn at our display table.
Personal hobbies are interesting, both subject-wise and windfall-wise. Our president Ron is a
collector of local postmarks. If a stamp is included, that's OK but it's the cancellations that
interest him. As a bonus to the Society, Ron has found two postcards containing photos that we've
never seen before. The era of these cards is 1900-1920. We have them scanned and here's one. We can
show them, thanks to a personal hobby.
This is not a hobby, but more of a pet project that Al Rumbles has been working on for a number
of months (we won't reveal how many!). This year is the 100th anniversary of the construction
of the present Sinclairville United Church building. For its celebration in October, Al is putting
together a booklet on the true and fictious story behind the beginnings of the church in the
1850's. It's based on the Hewitt family emigration from Ireland with generous dollops of fancy
thrown in as to "what might have been." The Society has been helping in a small way - it's amazing the ideas our memebers come up with.
Social meetings for the next year are listed below. Topics of interest are being put together
will be published in the September newsletter.
Monday, October 20, 2008, 7:30 pm at Orchard Court, Binbrook.
Monday, November 17, 2008, 7:30 pm at St. Paul's Glanford Anglican Church, Mount Hope.
Monday, December 15, 2008, 7:00 pm at Orchard Court, Binbrook. Annual Christmas Social.
Monday, February 16, 2009, 7:30 pm at Orchard Court, Binbrook.
Monday, March 16, 2009, 6:00 pm at St. Paul's Glanford Anglican Church, Mount Hope. Annual
meeting and potluck supper.
Monday, April 20, 2009, 7:30 pm at Orchard Court, Binbrook.
Monday, May 11, 2009, 7:30 pm at St. Paul's Glanford Anglican Church, Mount Hope.
Note that there are no January, July, August or September meetings.
The next time you read about a committee and its findings, reports or recommendations, thing of the
following:
A committee is twelve people doing the work of one person.
A committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours.
A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
From the Mount Hope Fire Department files, we offer this photgraphic item.