Sat. February 4th - Heritage Day 2012

You will want to mark your calendar for the upcoming Heritage Day to be held on Sat. Feb. 4th at Burlington Central Library. This year the theme is The War of 1812 and it's 200th year commemoration.

An exciting line-up of speakers has been organized:

• 10:30 am Zig Miziak speaking about the War of 1812 and the Six Nations
• 11:30 am Daphne Smith speaking about Burlington Connections to the War of 1812-14
• 12:30 pm Jane Irwin presenting on The Brants in Burlington
• 1:30 pm Fred Blair talks about the 2nd Regiment of York Militia focusing on the Burlington men
• 2:30 pm Jim Taggert will focus on Everyday Life in 1812 : Medicine, Clothing and Values

In addition there will be many heritage displays - Beach Canal Lighthouse Group, Doors Open Burlington, Freeman Station Group and the War of 1812-14 Commemorative Committee to name just a few. Admittance is free! Central Library is at 2331 New Street between Guelph Line and Drury Lane. There is plenty of free parking available.

Burlington's Lighthouse Needs Your Help!

The Beach Canal Lighthouse Group is having a fund-raising street sale, Sunday July 10th from 8am to 2 pm at 871 Beach Boulevard. This lighthouse is the last of its kind left on Lake Ontario. Built in 1858 of white dolomite limestone, it was decommissioned in 1961 and has since been languishing. The Beach Canal Lighthouse Group is hoping one day to see both the lighthouse restored as well as the cottage next to it that the lighthouse keepers lived. The current vice-chair of the group is Sandy Thompson, descendent of George Thompson, lighthouse keeper from 1846-1875. To learn more about the lighthouse and the Beach Canal Lighthouse Group click here.

2nd Annual Doors Open Burlington

Join us for Burlington's 2nd Annual Doors Open!

On June 11 and 12, residents and visitors to the City will be given the remarkable opportunity to learn about places and spaces normally not open to the general public or for which an admission fee is usually charged. The event will help our community celebrate its historical, cultural and and natural heritage. Admission to all Doors Open events and sites is free! Highlights include historical walking tours, the Fine Art and Craft Festival, a chance to see the Burlington Teen Tour Band practice, and numerous behind the scenes tours at many sites. New sites include The DeGroote School of Business, Ron Joyce Centre, Mountain Equipment Co-op and The Halton Mosque. Don't miss this once a year opportunity.

To view all the sites and find out more information click on the Doors Open Burlington website. We could still use volunteer greeters at some of the sites. Interested? Click here.

First Annual Halton Heritage Conference

Halton Heritage springs to life with the First Annual Halton Heritage Conference. The conference is presented by the Halton Heritage Network and takes place Saturday April 2, 2011. The day runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is located at Halton Region Museum in Milton. See below for details of presentations.

Prof. Ken Weber of U of T is presenting The War of 1812 - Why Canada Is Not a U.S. State

Noted local historian John McDonald speaks about In Search of William Halton

Four break out sessions include : Local History and our Schools; Undertaking Oral History; Copyright - what could go wrong? and Writing Local History

If you are interested in attending click here for details. I hope to see you there!

Heritage Fair in Burlington, Sat Feb 12th

In addition to many interesting heritage organization displays, the upcoming Heritage Fair will feature these interesting seminars:

Courtship in the Victorian Era at 10 am
Interviewing Grannie: doing Oral History in your Family at 10:30 am
Who were the refugees to Canada in 1784? at 11:30 am
Crawford Lake Village at 12:30 pm
Early Burlington Medicine at 1:30 pm
Burlington's Buried History at 2:30 pm

Location is Central Library and all seminars are FREE!

Eileen Collard and Her Costume Collection

If you are interested in the history of fashion you will want to head to the Joseph Brant Museum where there is a small but excellent exhibition of women's clothing from the 1920's. Currently there are 10 dresses (with hats, shoes and purses) on display that make up just a small part of the wonderful Eileen Collard Costume Collection. Especially interesting are the flappers dresses heavily laden with beads and sequins. These items don't often come out of storage due to a shortage of exhibition space. I understand that future costume exhibitions from different eras are in the planning stage.

To find out more about Eileen Collard and her contribution to the history of fashion in Burlington click here.

Scanning Day at Burlington Central Library

Next Saturday, Burlington Public Library in partnership with the Burlington Historical Society is hosting an Old Photos Scanning Day. Grab your old photo albums and come to the library on Saturday, September 25 from 10am to 3pm for our photograph scanning marathon!
If you have any old photos of your family or business taken in Burlington's younger days, we invite you to share them with us. Bring your photos in and we’ll scan them for you. You keep the original and get a scanned copy, and we keep a copy for our archives. Some images may be added to our online historical photo collection. Please provide a memory stick or an email address when you come in. No appointment is necessary and scanning will take place in the Burlington History Room, Central Library, 2nd floor.