Bedeque Area Historical Society
Hello everyone! We are excited to be open again for the 2021 season! The museum will be open until September 6th for the summer season! Check back for updated information. We have new posters about Freetown and Acadian History on display this summer.
Bedeque Area Historical Society
Hello everyone! We are excited to be open again for the 2021 season! The museum will be open until September 6th for the summer season! Check back for updated information. We have new posters about Freetown and Acadian History on display this summer.
2021
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Newsletter 22 can be downloaded using the following link:
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Bedeque Area Historical Society Newsletter 22
June 2021
A Message from the President of the BAHS
Members and Friends of Bedeque Area Historical Society,
History is repeating itself! As last year, I am again sending you this Newsletter from Belfast in Northern Ireland where I spend my winters. I would normally have returned to Prince Edward Island in the first week of May, but this year with the increased restrictions on entry into Canada due to the covid pandemic, I have not been able to return, and unlike last year, when flights restarted in July, I am less hopeful of being able to get back.
Because of the corona virus, the summer of 2020 was a very unusual one for the Bedeque Area Historical Museum. As reported in our Fall Newsletter our total visitations fell from 889 visitors in 2019 to just 135, and we are not expecting numbers to be any higher this summer. As was so last summer, we will not be able to hold the four new exhibits we had planned, nor our Monday evening history talks, our fund-raising strawberry and ice-cream social, or our seafood raffle.
This is once again going to have a severe effect on our income for the year. Last year, as reported in our Fall Newsletter we managed to raise the $10,500 needed to remain solvent – and $1,130 of this came from the support of you our members in the form of the renewals of your annual memberships, supplemented by an additional $1,166 in private donations from members. We also received another $720 in business and personal sponsorships of the Museum’s work. Especially welcome was a covid-related grant of $5,000 from the federal government’s Museum Emergency Assistance Program and an additional $1,667 from Young Canada Works in support of student wages, plus $420 from provincial refunds related to covid. This additional $7,087 coming from government has prevented us from becoming insolvent! We especially appreciate all of those individuals who contributed through membership subscriptions and by making special additional donations.
However, as of April 30 we have entered a new financial year and have to start all over again to raise another $10,500 for the current year. And, as was so last year, we will not be able to rely on our usual fund-raising events (paid entrances to the museum, donations at talks and other events, our strawberry social and our seafood raffle).
Despite these difficulties, the Board has again decided it is important to keep the Museum open this summer. We have already received funding from provincial and federal sources for two student employees – though we still have to make up 25% of the wage bill from other sources.
There will be some new additions to our exhibits this summer and of course our permanent exhibits will be on show, and so we encourage you to come along to support the Museum. We will keep you informed by email of any changes that may occur in our program, should restrictions be eased, such as to allow gatherings.
All best wishes,
Doug Sobey
President,
(on behalf of the Board of the Bedeque Area Historical Society)
A REMINDER: Your membership is renewable in July of each year (except for those who have already done so since January). In past years most people have renewed their memberships at the AGM (which this year falls on July 19) or at one of our Monday evening talks. However, this year it is again unlikely that we will be able to hold the AGM in the normal way due to the restrictions caused by Covid-19.
We thus ask you to please renew your membership either by stopping in at the Museum during the summer or by posting a cheque made out to the Bedeque Area Historical Society to the address on the first page of this newsletter, along with your name and contact methods, including email, or by PAYPAL (see below). The annual subscription is $20 for individuals and $25 for families or households. These subscriptions are an important source of our income enabling us to carry out our programs and they are especially important this year when other methods of fund-raising are restricted.
We also greatly appreciate any additional donation that you are able to make. We are able to give tax receipts for donations of $20 and above.
The PAYPAL option is on the museum website contact page: http://www.bedequemuseum.ca/contact.html Click on the yellow “DONATE” button which then brings up a page where you put in your email, the amount, and state whether this is for a membership, a donation, or both. There is also the option on that second page to donate by debit or credit card which takes you to another page asking for your card number, etc.
SUMMER OPENING HOURS 2021
This summer the Museum will open to the public from Tuesday 29 June to Sunday 6 September. Our hours are the same as last year: Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, Sunday 1 pm to 5 pm (closed Mondays). The Museum can also be opened by special arrangement outside these times, and off-season, by contacting members of the Board (see below for their names). We will be following the government directives for social distancing for visitors to the Museum.
SUMMER STUDENT WORKERS
We have received government grants to enable us to employ two students to staff the Museum this summer: a federal ‘Young Canada Works’ grant for eleven weeks, and a provincial ‘Jobs for Youth’ grant for eight weeks. However, as of the date of this newsletter, interviews are still ongoing for the posts and so we aren’t able to name our summer workers at this time.
THREE NEW EXHIBITS PLANNED FOR 2021 ARE POSTPONED DUE TO COVID
We had planned four new exhibits for this summer (all previously postponed from 2019) and their official unveiling would have been held on Saturday 3 July, but due to the continuing restrictions caused by Covid-19 we have not been able to complete the preparations for the new exhibits, nor are we able to hold an official opening, nor are we likely to have many visitors to see them. The Board has thus reluctantly decided to postpone completely two of the four exhibits to 2022, and part of a third exhibit. The exhibits completely postponed are listed on the next page.
THE THREE EXHIBITS PLANNED FOR 2021 POSTPONED TO 2022 ARE:
(1) A major display of antique clocks ranging from the 18th century to about 1930. The clocks were to be selected by Wendell Feener of Summerside from his large collection. In 2019 we displayed three of Wendell’s long-case clocks all in working order and Wendell also gave a demonstration on clocks and their workings at the free opening day in August. We will thus have to wait until 2022 to see the story of clocks through a display of more than fifty different styles and types.
(2) An exhibit telling the story of the Mizuno family in Bedeque – The Mizunos were a Japanese family interned during the Second World War in British Columbia. When the war ended George and Kimiyo Mizuno with their four children came to Central Bedeque where from 1946 to 1952 they farmed on land provided by the Callbeck family. After they moved to southern Ontario they retained an affection for and contact with their Island friends. The posters for the exhibit have been finished but we wanted members of the Mizuno family to be present for the opening, which is impossible given the Covid travel restrictions and so we will hold this exhibit in 2022.
(3) An exhibit on the history of Freetown was to coincide with a Freetown Community reunion initially planned for July 2020, then postponed to July 2021 because of Covid, and now postponed again. We intended to show again the Freetown signature quilt dating from 1928 (belonging to Katherine Dewar and containing 147 names from the Freetown area) and there were to be four new posters connected with the history of Freetown. The one on the history of Freetown and on the first farm in Freetown, belonging to the Burns family have not yet been finished.
However, two components of the exhibit will be on show this summer: one is a poster telling the story of the Freetown Royals, a champion hockey team from the 1930s to the 1950s, for which we already have a display in the Museum (see further on). The other tells the story of Jacob Gould Schurman, a Freetown- and Summerside-educated boy, who went on to play a role on the world stage. We feature elements from the Schurman display later in this newsletter. We hope to have a more extensive display on Jacob Gould Schurman and on the Freetown Royals in the full Freetown exhibit in 2022.
The new exhibit added this year is on ‘The Acadians at Bedeque’.
2020 was the 300th anniversary of the beginning of French and Acadian settlement on Prince Edward Island in 1720 and we had planned a poster display to coincide with the event, telling in particular the story of the Acadian presence in the Bedeque area, both before and after the deportation of 1758. The four posters will now go on display this summer instead. We cannot show the supporting materials we had planned but will leave those till next summer, as well as any talks connected with the exhibit. We give you a taster of this exhibit later in this newsletter.
THE PERMANENT EXHIBITS CONTINUING ON VIEW THIS SUMMER
‘THE BORDEN FERRY-100’ EXHIBIT
Ten posterboards tell the stories of the various vessels that served in the crossing of Northumberland Strait and also of some of the people who worked on the ferries. Also on display are many objects connected with the ferries, loaned from private collections.
AN EXHIBIT ON MI’KMAQ CULTURE AND WAY OF LIFE
Three panels describe the culture of the Mi’kmaq and their way of life prior to the arrival of Europeans, and during the French and British colonial periods. It includes a display of Mi’kmaq baskets and we show several short films on Mi’kmaq heritage created by Ron Zakar for the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island.
THE BEDEQUE HARBOUR LOYALISTS
A large display tells the story of the United Empire Loyalists and the settlement of Loyalist families around Bedeque Bay in 1784, led by William Schurman and Thomas Hooper. The families who arrived with Schurman and Hooper (or followed shortly after) include the names Darby, Green, Lefurgey, Linkletter, MacFarlane, Murray, Silliker, Small, Strang, Waugh and Wright. The exhibit includes maps showing where particular families settled and explains why they settled in the ‘Bedeque Harbour’ area. Part of the exhibit tells the story of the ‘Valley Farm’, which has been in the Schurman family since 1839.
CALLBECK’S STORE
This exhibit tells the story of Callbeck’s general store, which was the focal point for the Bedeque area for almost one hundred years, from 1899 to 1993. The Museum is housed in the original store building and displays many artifacts from the Callbeck family collection.
HOWARD CLARK’S RED BARN MUSEUM
We have a large display of many objects from the late Howard Clark’s Red Barn Museum in Chelton. The exhibits are spread over two floors and relate to the social and cultural history of the wider area. Howard created his museum after returning from service on a hospital ship in World War II and he donated his collection to the BAHS in 2010.
LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY AND BEDEQUE
Two panels, and photographs, tell the story of Maud Montgomery’s romance with Herman Leard, a young farmer with whose family she boarded in 1897-1898 when she was teaching in Lower Bedeque. She recorded in her journal that Herman was the only man she ever really fell in love with.
THE NEW POSTERS ADDED FOR THIS SUMMER
In the following pages are extracts from three new poster displays telling the story of: THE ACADIANS AT BEDEQUE, JACOB GOULD SCHURMAN, and THE FREETOWN ROYALS. (The extracts here are reduced in size compared with the posters.)
June 2021
A Message from the President of the BAHS
Members and Friends of Bedeque Area Historical Society,
History is repeating itself! As last year, I am again sending you this Newsletter from Belfast in Northern Ireland where I spend my winters. I would normally have returned to Prince Edward Island in the first week of May, but this year with the increased restrictions on entry into Canada due to the covid pandemic, I have not been able to return, and unlike last year, when flights restarted in July, I am less hopeful of being able to get back.
Because of the corona virus, the summer of 2020 was a very unusual one for the Bedeque Area Historical Museum. As reported in our Fall Newsletter our total visitations fell from 889 visitors in 2019 to just 135, and we are not expecting numbers to be any higher this summer. As was so last summer, we will not be able to hold the four new exhibits we had planned, nor our Monday evening history talks, our fund-raising strawberry and ice-cream social, or our seafood raffle.
This is once again going to have a severe effect on our income for the year. Last year, as reported in our Fall Newsletter we managed to raise the $10,500 needed to remain solvent – and $1,130 of this came from the support of you our members in the form of the renewals of your annual memberships, supplemented by an additional $1,166 in private donations from members. We also received another $720 in business and personal sponsorships of the Museum’s work. Especially welcome was a covid-related grant of $5,000 from the federal government’s Museum Emergency Assistance Program and an additional $1,667 from Young Canada Works in support of student wages, plus $420 from provincial refunds related to covid. This additional $7,087 coming from government has prevented us from becoming insolvent! We especially appreciate all of those individuals who contributed through membership subscriptions and by making special additional donations.
However, as of April 30 we have entered a new financial year and have to start all over again to raise another $10,500 for the current year. And, as was so last year, we will not be able to rely on our usual fund-raising events (paid entrances to the museum, donations at talks and other events, our strawberry social and our seafood raffle).
Despite these difficulties, the Board has again decided it is important to keep the Museum open this summer. We have already received funding from provincial and federal sources for two student employees – though we still have to make up 25% of the wage bill from other sources.
There will be some new additions to our exhibits this summer and of course our permanent exhibits will be on show, and so we encourage you to come along to support the Museum. We will keep you informed by email of any changes that may occur in our program, should restrictions be eased, such as to allow gatherings.
All best wishes,
Doug Sobey
President,
(on behalf of the Board of the Bedeque Area Historical Society)
A REMINDER: Your membership is renewable in July of each year (except for those who have already done so since January). In past years most people have renewed their memberships at the AGM (which this year falls on July 19) or at one of our Monday evening talks. However, this year it is again unlikely that we will be able to hold the AGM in the normal way due to the restrictions caused by Covid-19.
We thus ask you to please renew your membership either by stopping in at the Museum during the summer or by posting a cheque made out to the Bedeque Area Historical Society to the address on the first page of this newsletter, along with your name and contact methods, including email, or by PAYPAL (see below). The annual subscription is $20 for individuals and $25 for families or households. These subscriptions are an important source of our income enabling us to carry out our programs and they are especially important this year when other methods of fund-raising are restricted.
We also greatly appreciate any additional donation that you are able to make. We are able to give tax receipts for donations of $20 and above.
The PAYPAL option is on the museum website contact page: http://www.bedequemuseum.ca/contact.html Click on the yellow “DONATE” button which then brings up a page where you put in your email, the amount, and state whether this is for a membership, a donation, or both. There is also the option on that second page to donate by debit or credit card which takes you to another page asking for your card number, etc.
SUMMER OPENING HOURS 2021
This summer the Museum will open to the public from Tuesday 29 June to Sunday 6 September. Our hours are the same as last year: Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, Sunday 1 pm to 5 pm (closed Mondays). The Museum can also be opened by special arrangement outside these times, and off-season, by contacting members of the Board (see below for their names). We will be following the government directives for social distancing for visitors to the Museum.
SUMMER STUDENT WORKERS
We have received government grants to enable us to employ two students to staff the Museum this summer: a federal ‘Young Canada Works’ grant for eleven weeks, and a provincial ‘Jobs for Youth’ grant for eight weeks. However, as of the date of this newsletter, interviews are still ongoing for the posts and so we aren’t able to name our summer workers at this time.
THREE NEW EXHIBITS PLANNED FOR 2021 ARE POSTPONED DUE TO COVID
We had planned four new exhibits for this summer (all previously postponed from 2019) and their official unveiling would have been held on Saturday 3 July, but due to the continuing restrictions caused by Covid-19 we have not been able to complete the preparations for the new exhibits, nor are we able to hold an official opening, nor are we likely to have many visitors to see them. The Board has thus reluctantly decided to postpone completely two of the four exhibits to 2022, and part of a third exhibit. The exhibits completely postponed are listed on the next page.
THE THREE EXHIBITS PLANNED FOR 2021 POSTPONED TO 2022 ARE:
(1) A major display of antique clocks ranging from the 18th century to about 1930. The clocks were to be selected by Wendell Feener of Summerside from his large collection. In 2019 we displayed three of Wendell’s long-case clocks all in working order and Wendell also gave a demonstration on clocks and their workings at the free opening day in August. We will thus have to wait until 2022 to see the story of clocks through a display of more than fifty different styles and types.
(2) An exhibit telling the story of the Mizuno family in Bedeque – The Mizunos were a Japanese family interned during the Second World War in British Columbia. When the war ended George and Kimiyo Mizuno with their four children came to Central Bedeque where from 1946 to 1952 they farmed on land provided by the Callbeck family. After they moved to southern Ontario they retained an affection for and contact with their Island friends. The posters for the exhibit have been finished but we wanted members of the Mizuno family to be present for the opening, which is impossible given the Covid travel restrictions and so we will hold this exhibit in 2022.
(3) An exhibit on the history of Freetown was to coincide with a Freetown Community reunion initially planned for July 2020, then postponed to July 2021 because of Covid, and now postponed again. We intended to show again the Freetown signature quilt dating from 1928 (belonging to Katherine Dewar and containing 147 names from the Freetown area) and there were to be four new posters connected with the history of Freetown. The one on the history of Freetown and on the first farm in Freetown, belonging to the Burns family have not yet been finished.
However, two components of the exhibit will be on show this summer: one is a poster telling the story of the Freetown Royals, a champion hockey team from the 1930s to the 1950s, for which we already have a display in the Museum (see further on). The other tells the story of Jacob Gould Schurman, a Freetown- and Summerside-educated boy, who went on to play a role on the world stage. We feature elements from the Schurman display later in this newsletter. We hope to have a more extensive display on Jacob Gould Schurman and on the Freetown Royals in the full Freetown exhibit in 2022.
The new exhibit added this year is on ‘The Acadians at Bedeque’.
2020 was the 300th anniversary of the beginning of French and Acadian settlement on Prince Edward Island in 1720 and we had planned a poster display to coincide with the event, telling in particular the story of the Acadian presence in the Bedeque area, both before and after the deportation of 1758. The four posters will now go on display this summer instead. We cannot show the supporting materials we had planned but will leave those till next summer, as well as any talks connected with the exhibit. We give you a taster of this exhibit later in this newsletter.
THE PERMANENT EXHIBITS CONTINUING ON VIEW THIS SUMMER
‘THE BORDEN FERRY-100’ EXHIBIT
Ten posterboards tell the stories of the various vessels that served in the crossing of Northumberland Strait and also of some of the people who worked on the ferries. Also on display are many objects connected with the ferries, loaned from private collections.
AN EXHIBIT ON MI’KMAQ CULTURE AND WAY OF LIFE
Three panels describe the culture of the Mi’kmaq and their way of life prior to the arrival of Europeans, and during the French and British colonial periods. It includes a display of Mi’kmaq baskets and we show several short films on Mi’kmaq heritage created by Ron Zakar for the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island.
THE BEDEQUE HARBOUR LOYALISTS
A large display tells the story of the United Empire Loyalists and the settlement of Loyalist families around Bedeque Bay in 1784, led by William Schurman and Thomas Hooper. The families who arrived with Schurman and Hooper (or followed shortly after) include the names Darby, Green, Lefurgey, Linkletter, MacFarlane, Murray, Silliker, Small, Strang, Waugh and Wright. The exhibit includes maps showing where particular families settled and explains why they settled in the ‘Bedeque Harbour’ area. Part of the exhibit tells the story of the ‘Valley Farm’, which has been in the Schurman family since 1839.
CALLBECK’S STORE
This exhibit tells the story of Callbeck’s general store, which was the focal point for the Bedeque area for almost one hundred years, from 1899 to 1993. The Museum is housed in the original store building and displays many artifacts from the Callbeck family collection.
HOWARD CLARK’S RED BARN MUSEUM
We have a large display of many objects from the late Howard Clark’s Red Barn Museum in Chelton. The exhibits are spread over two floors and relate to the social and cultural history of the wider area. Howard created his museum after returning from service on a hospital ship in World War II and he donated his collection to the BAHS in 2010.
LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY AND BEDEQUE
Two panels, and photographs, tell the story of Maud Montgomery’s romance with Herman Leard, a young farmer with whose family she boarded in 1897-1898 when she was teaching in Lower Bedeque. She recorded in her journal that Herman was the only man she ever really fell in love with.
THE NEW POSTERS ADDED FOR THIS SUMMER
In the following pages are extracts from three new poster displays telling the story of: THE ACADIANS AT BEDEQUE, JACOB GOULD SCHURMAN, and THE FREETOWN ROYALS. (The extracts here are reduced in size compared with the posters.)
We know a lot about the Acadian settlement at Bedec because of a detailed census carried out in the summer of 1752 by Joseph de La Roque. He recorded the names of the inhabitants and their ages (including the children), when they had settled at Bedec, how much livestock they owned and how much land they had cleared. At Bedec La Roque recorded eight separate households made up of 42 persons. There were three principal ‘clans’: the extended families of Pierre Lejeune, Joseph Terriaud and Jean Robichaud. From Samuel Holland’s map of 1765 we can see where their farmsteads were. The posters tell the story of all of the families but the extracts in this newsletter follow only the Lejeunes.
The eight families came over from the mainland in either 1750 or 1751 because of political and military unrest at Chignecto and elsewhere. It is likely that the settlers depended on the salt marshes at Bedeque to feed their stock in summer and for winter feed as marsh hay. From Samuel Holland’s survey in 1765 we learn that by 1758 (the year of the deportation) 225 acres had been cleared on the North Bedeque side and 560 acres in Lower Bedeque. Sadly, however, these Acadian families were not to reap the fruits of their back-breaking work. For in 1758, they were deported to France, except for a few who fled to the mainland.
The most recent estimate is that out of about 4,250 Acadians on the Island, about 3,000 were deported to France. Of these, 890 died from disease during the crossing, while another 515 were drowned when two of the ships sank in the English Channel, while a third ship was wrecked near the Azores with the loss of 110 lives.
Some of the Acadians who had evaded the deportation returned to the Island and were sought out as fishermen by British entrepreneurs who were aiming to make a profit from the Island’s unexploited fish stocks, especially cod. Some of the new proprietors, who had been granted townships in 1767, in order to fulfil one of the terms of their grants, encouraged these Acadians to settle on their lands. The most significant of these new Acadian settlements occurred in Lot 17 where the agent for the lot settled about sixteen Acadian families in 1775 along the southern shore of Malpeque Bay in what is now North St. Eleanors and Sherbrooke. Most of these Acadians had connections with the pre-deportation community of Malpec (at present-day Port Hill), which had escaped deportation by flight to the mainland.
Beginning in 1799, the Acadians began to abandon the ‘French Village’ in North St. Eleanors, leaving to settle in places further west. One factor was that the various proprietors of lots 19, 17, and 16, on which the Acadian farms were located, began to demand payment of unpaid rents. Rather than stay, the Acadians decided to move to places distant from proprietors and anglophones. By 1817 most of the Acadians of the French Village had left to found new settlements at Tignish, Cascumpec, Egmont Bay, Mont Carmel and Miscouche – with the last family leaving in 1820.
JACOB GOULD SCHURMAN (1854-1952) - A FREETOWN BOY
After studies at Prince of Wales and Acadia College in Wolfville, N.S., followed by studies at the Universities of London and Edinburgh (funded by a Canada-wide scholarship), Jacob Schurman returned to Canada to teach at Acadia and then at Dalhousie in Halifax. He then went on to teach at Cornell University in New York state, becoming its president in 1892, and serving for almost thirty years. After he retired he began a diplomatic career as the American ambassador to China and then Germany in the 1920s. The poster also highlights these achievements of his later career, as well as providing more information on his Freetown background.
Clayton Mill, one of the few remaining members of the team, has been instrumental in providing information and items for the display on the Freetown Royals which was originally set up in about 2013. The new poster is a major addition to the exhibit and outlines more completely the story of Freetown’s hockey teams and especially the famous Royals. We plan to revise and expand the display for the Freetown exhibit in 2022, to coincide with the Freetown reunion.
Members and supporters of the Bedeque Area Historical Society,
We invite you to attend our eleventh Annual General Meeting on Monday July 19 at 6:30 pm in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre in Central Bedeque.
Reports on the work of the past year will be presented and the election of up to twelve members to the new Board will take place.
More details on the AGM will follow.
We remind you that the annual membership subscriptions are normally renewed at the AGM, which marks the start of the Society's new year. These subscriptions are an important source of our income enabling us to carry out our programs and they are especially important this year when other methods of fund-raising are restricted.
If you are not able to attend the meeting your membership can be renewed by calling at the Museum during opening hours (Tues. to Sat., 10 am to 5 pm, Sun., 1 to 5 pm), or by posting a cheque to the BAHS, 950 Callbeck St, Central Bedeque, C0B 1G0. (Individuals memberships are $20; families or households, $25). You may also pay by Paypal by clicking the donate button which you can find under the Contact menu at the top of this page. Be sure to fill out the form adjacent to the donate button.
We are conducting a membership drive this year and would like to double our memberships this year from the 50 members that we have at present. If you know someone who is interested in preserving historical information in the Bedeque, Freetown, Borden-Carleton, Middleton, Albany, Fernwood, Kinkora and adjacent areas please tell them to join our effort.
We are excited about our project to move the Lower Bedeque Schoolhouse where L.M. Montgomery taught school to a new location across Callbeck Street from the Museum in Central Bedeque. We expect this move to be completed in the coming weeks. Keep checking this website for updates on this project.
You can download our most recent newsletter by clicking on the download file button below.
| bedeque_area_historical_society_newsletter_21_nov._2020.pdf |
An article on Herman Leard and his connection to L.M Montgomery from our Fall 2019 Newsletter.
A Message from the President of the BAHS 17 June 2020
Members and Friends of Bedeque Area Historical Society,
I am sending you this Newsletter from Belfast in Northern Ireland where I spend my winters. I would normally have returned to the Prince Edward Island in the first week of May, but this year with international flights suspended due to the covid pandemic and with restrictions on movement on both sides of the Atlantic, I have not been able to return, and as yet there is no indication when flights will begin again.
Because of the corona virus, from which thankfully the Island has been largely spared, the summer of 2020 is going to be a very unusual and difficult one for the Bedeque Area Historical Museum – as it will be for all of those Island businesses and community organizations which rely partly or wholly upon visitors. As you will read in this newsletter, we have had to cancel all of our usual summer events, including four new exhibits that we had planned, our Monday evening history talks, our AGM in July, and our fund-raising strawberry and ice-cream social. It is also likely that visitor numbers to the museum will be greatly down because of the restrictions on travel and it is even doubtful whether we will be able to hold our seafood raffle.
This is going to have a severe effect on our income for this year. To remain viable we have to raise about $10,500 each year from sources other than our government grants for student wages and the Community Museums development grant. Most of this fund-raising comes from paid entrances to the museum, from donations at talks and other events, from membership subscriptions, and from special fund-raising events such as the strawberry social and seafood raffle. We expect that the amount raised by all of these methods will be down, in some cases to nil. We will thus need to look closely at our balance sheet and consider if there are other ways that we can raise funds.
Despite these difficulties, the Board has decided it is important to keep the Museum open this summer. We have already received funding from the provincial and federal sources which fund our student employment – though we still have to make up 25% of the wage bill from other sources.
Though there will be no new displays this summer, our permanent exhibits will be on show and we encourage you to come along to support the Museum. We also greatly appreciate any donations that you are able to make. We are able to give tax receipts for donations of $20 and above.
We will keep you informed by email of any changes that may occur in our program, should restrictions be eased such as to allow gatherings.
All best wishes, and take care in this unprecedented time,
Doug Sobey.
President, of the Bedeque Area Historical Society
*A REMINDER: Your membership is renewable in July of each year. In past years most people have renewed their memberships at the AGM (which falls on July 20 this year) or at one of our Monday evening talks. However, this year it is unlikely that we will be able to hold the AGM in the normal way due to the restrictions caused by Covid-19.
We thus ask you to please renew your membership either by stopping in at the Museum during the summer or by posting a cheque made out to the Bedeque Area Historical Society to the address on the first page of this newsletter, along with your name and contact methods, including email. The annual subscription is $20 for individuals and $25 for families or households. These subscriptions are an important source of our income enabling us to carry out our programs and they are especially important this year when other methods of fund-raising are restricted.
Members and Friends of Bedeque Area Historical Society,
I am sending you this Newsletter from Belfast in Northern Ireland where I spend my winters. I would normally have returned to the Prince Edward Island in the first week of May, but this year with international flights suspended due to the covid pandemic and with restrictions on movement on both sides of the Atlantic, I have not been able to return, and as yet there is no indication when flights will begin again.
Because of the corona virus, from which thankfully the Island has been largely spared, the summer of 2020 is going to be a very unusual and difficult one for the Bedeque Area Historical Museum – as it will be for all of those Island businesses and community organizations which rely partly or wholly upon visitors. As you will read in this newsletter, we have had to cancel all of our usual summer events, including four new exhibits that we had planned, our Monday evening history talks, our AGM in July, and our fund-raising strawberry and ice-cream social. It is also likely that visitor numbers to the museum will be greatly down because of the restrictions on travel and it is even doubtful whether we will be able to hold our seafood raffle.
This is going to have a severe effect on our income for this year. To remain viable we have to raise about $10,500 each year from sources other than our government grants for student wages and the Community Museums development grant. Most of this fund-raising comes from paid entrances to the museum, from donations at talks and other events, from membership subscriptions, and from special fund-raising events such as the strawberry social and seafood raffle. We expect that the amount raised by all of these methods will be down, in some cases to nil. We will thus need to look closely at our balance sheet and consider if there are other ways that we can raise funds.
Despite these difficulties, the Board has decided it is important to keep the Museum open this summer. We have already received funding from the provincial and federal sources which fund our student employment – though we still have to make up 25% of the wage bill from other sources.
Though there will be no new displays this summer, our permanent exhibits will be on show and we encourage you to come along to support the Museum. We also greatly appreciate any donations that you are able to make. We are able to give tax receipts for donations of $20 and above.
We will keep you informed by email of any changes that may occur in our program, should restrictions be eased such as to allow gatherings.
All best wishes, and take care in this unprecedented time,
Doug Sobey.
President, of the Bedeque Area Historical Society
*A REMINDER: Your membership is renewable in July of each year. In past years most people have renewed their memberships at the AGM (which falls on July 20 this year) or at one of our Monday evening talks. However, this year it is unlikely that we will be able to hold the AGM in the normal way due to the restrictions caused by Covid-19.
We thus ask you to please renew your membership either by stopping in at the Museum during the summer or by posting a cheque made out to the Bedeque Area Historical Society to the address on the first page of this newsletter, along with your name and contact methods, including email. The annual subscription is $20 for individuals and $25 for families or households. These subscriptions are an important source of our income enabling us to carry out our programs and they are especially important this year when other methods of fund-raising are restricted.
SUMMER OPENING HOURS
This summer the Museum will open to the public from Tuesday 16 June to Sunday 6 September. In June the Museum will be open from Tuesday to Friday 10 am to 5 pm. Thereafter our hours are the same as last year: Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, Sundays 1 pm to 5 pm (closed Mondays). The Museum can also be opened by special arrangement outside these times, and off-season by contacting members of the Board (see below for their names). We will be following the government directives for social distancing for visitors to the Museum.
This summer the Museum will open to the public from Tuesday 16 June to Sunday 6 September. In June the Museum will be open from Tuesday to Friday 10 am to 5 pm. Thereafter our hours are the same as last year: Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, Sundays 1 pm to 5 pm (closed Mondays). The Museum can also be opened by special arrangement outside these times, and off-season by contacting members of the Board (see below for their names). We will be following the government directives for social distancing for visitors to the Museum.
SUMMER STUDENT WORKERS
We have received government grants to enable us to employ two students to staff the Museum this summer: a federal ‘Young Canada Works’ grant for twelve weeks, and a provincial ‘Jobs for Youth’ grant for eight weeks. Caleb Coyle of Summerside will be returning to work for us for his third summer, having just finished his second year at the University of Prince Edward Island. Joining him in July for eight weeks will be Nathan Wright of Kinkora, a student at Three Oaks Senior High School who will be entering grade eleven in September. Both Caleb and Nathan are bilingual and so can greet visitors in either national language.
We have received government grants to enable us to employ two students to staff the Museum this summer: a federal ‘Young Canada Works’ grant for twelve weeks, and a provincial ‘Jobs for Youth’ grant for eight weeks. Caleb Coyle of Summerside will be returning to work for us for his third summer, having just finished his second year at the University of Prince Edward Island. Joining him in July for eight weeks will be Nathan Wright of Kinkora, a student at Three Oaks Senior High School who will be entering grade eleven in September. Both Caleb and Nathan are bilingual and so can greet visitors in either national language.
OUR PLANNED NEW EXHIBITS FOR 2020 ARE POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19
We had planned four new exhibits for this summer and their official unveiling would have been held on Saturday 4 July, but due to the restrictions caused by Covid-19 we have not been able to complete the preparations for the new exhibits, nor are we able to hold our official opening ceremony.
The Board has thus decided to postpone the four exhibits to 2021. To whet your appetite for 2021, they are:
(1) A major display of antique clocks ranging from the 18th century to about 1930. The clocks will be selected from the collection of Wendell Feener of Summerside. Last summer we displayed three of Wendell’s long-case clocks, all in working order – which for those who were there on the hour, added an aural dimension to the Museum’s exhibits. Wendell also gave a demonstration on clocks and their workings at the free opening day in August. We will thus have to wait until next summer to see the story of clocks through a display of more than fifty different styles and types.
(2) An exhibit telling the story of the Mizuno family in Bedeque – The Mizunos were a Japanese family interned during the Second World War in British Columbia. When the war ended George and Kimiyo Mizuno with their four children came to Central Bedeque where from 1946 to 1952 they farmed on land provided by the Callbeck family. After they moved to southern Ontario they retained an affection for and contact with their Island friends.
(3) An exhibit on the history of Freetown was to coincide with the Freetown reunion planned for this July. However, the reunion has had to be postponed to 2021 because of the corona virus. We intended to show again the Freetown signature quilt dating from 1928 (belonging to Katherine Dewar and containing 147 names from the Freetown area) and there were to be four new posters connected with the history of Freetown. One was to tell the story of the Freetown Royals, a champion hockey team from the 1930s to the 1950s, on which we already have a display in the Museum. The others were to be on the history of Freetown, one of which was to tell the story of the first farm in Freetown, belonging to the Burns family.
(4) The Acadians in Bedeque: This year marks the 300th anniversary of the beginning of French and Acadian settlement on Prince Edward Island in 1720 and we had planned a poster display to coincide with the event, telling in particular the story of the Acadian presence in Bedeque, both before and after the deportation of 1758.
We had planned four new exhibits for this summer and their official unveiling would have been held on Saturday 4 July, but due to the restrictions caused by Covid-19 we have not been able to complete the preparations for the new exhibits, nor are we able to hold our official opening ceremony.
The Board has thus decided to postpone the four exhibits to 2021. To whet your appetite for 2021, they are:
(1) A major display of antique clocks ranging from the 18th century to about 1930. The clocks will be selected from the collection of Wendell Feener of Summerside. Last summer we displayed three of Wendell’s long-case clocks, all in working order – which for those who were there on the hour, added an aural dimension to the Museum’s exhibits. Wendell also gave a demonstration on clocks and their workings at the free opening day in August. We will thus have to wait until next summer to see the story of clocks through a display of more than fifty different styles and types.
(2) An exhibit telling the story of the Mizuno family in Bedeque – The Mizunos were a Japanese family interned during the Second World War in British Columbia. When the war ended George and Kimiyo Mizuno with their four children came to Central Bedeque where from 1946 to 1952 they farmed on land provided by the Callbeck family. After they moved to southern Ontario they retained an affection for and contact with their Island friends.
(3) An exhibit on the history of Freetown was to coincide with the Freetown reunion planned for this July. However, the reunion has had to be postponed to 2021 because of the corona virus. We intended to show again the Freetown signature quilt dating from 1928 (belonging to Katherine Dewar and containing 147 names from the Freetown area) and there were to be four new posters connected with the history of Freetown. One was to tell the story of the Freetown Royals, a champion hockey team from the 1930s to the 1950s, on which we already have a display in the Museum. The others were to be on the history of Freetown, one of which was to tell the story of the first farm in Freetown, belonging to the Burns family.
(4) The Acadians in Bedeque: This year marks the 300th anniversary of the beginning of French and Acadian settlement on Prince Edward Island in 1720 and we had planned a poster display to coincide with the event, telling in particular the story of the Acadian presence in Bedeque, both before and after the deportation of 1758.
(Above) A detail from Samuel Holland’s 1765 map of Prince Edward Island, showing the Acadian houses and cleared land on both sides of the Dunk River estuary in 1765. However, the houses were empty in 1765: the families who had lived in them had been deported to France in 1758.
THE PERMANENT EXHIBITS ON VIEW THIS SUMMER
‘THE BORDEN FERRY-100’ EXHIBIT
Ten posterboards tell the stories of the various vessels that served in the crossing of Northumberland Strait and also of some of the people who worked on the ferries. Also on display are many objects connected with the ferries, loaned from private collections.
‘THE BORDEN FERRY-100’ EXHIBIT
Ten posterboards tell the stories of the various vessels that served in the crossing of Northumberland Strait and also of some of the people who worked on the ferries. Also on display are many objects connected with the ferries, loaned from private collections.
(Above) The S.S. Prince Edward Island made its first crossing in 1917 and continued in service until 1968. This photo was taken in the 1960s.
AN EXHIBIT ON MI’KMAQ CULTURE AND WAY OF LIFE
Three panels describe the culture of the Mi’kmaq and their way of life prior to the arrival of Europeans, and during the French and British colonial periods. It includes a display of Mi’kmaq baskets and we show several short films on Mi’kmaq heritage created by Ron Zakar for the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island.
Three panels describe the culture of the Mi’kmaq and their way of life prior to the arrival of Europeans, and during the French and British colonial periods. It includes a display of Mi’kmaq baskets and we show several short films on Mi’kmaq heritage created by Ron Zakar for the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island.
(Above) Mi’kmaq baskets from the Howard Clark collection. The flag is that of the Grand Council of the Mi’kmaq Nation.
THE BEDEQUE HARBOUR LOYALISTS
A large display tells the story of the United Empire Loyalists and the settlement of Loyalist families around Bedeque Bay in 1784, led by William Schurman and Thomas Hooper. The families who arrived with Schurman and Hooper (or followed shortly after) include the names Darby, Green, Lefurgey, Linkletter, MacFarlane, Murray, Silliker, Small, Strang, Waugh and Wright. The exhibit includes maps showing where particular families settled and explains why they settled in the ‘Bedeque Harbour’ area. Part of the exhibit tells the story of the ‘Valley Farm’, which has been in the Schurman family since 1839.
A large display tells the story of the United Empire Loyalists and the settlement of Loyalist families around Bedeque Bay in 1784, led by William Schurman and Thomas Hooper. The families who arrived with Schurman and Hooper (or followed shortly after) include the names Darby, Green, Lefurgey, Linkletter, MacFarlane, Murray, Silliker, Small, Strang, Waugh and Wright. The exhibit includes maps showing where particular families settled and explains why they settled in the ‘Bedeque Harbour’ area. Part of the exhibit tells the story of the ‘Valley Farm’, which has been in the Schurman family since 1839.
CALLBECK’S STORE
This exhibit tells the story of Callbeck’s general store, which was the focal point for the Bedeque area for almost one hundred years, from 1899 to 1993. The Museum is housed in the original store building and displays many artifacts from the Callbeck family collection.
This exhibit tells the story of Callbeck’s general store, which was the focal point for the Bedeque area for almost one hundred years, from 1899 to 1993. The Museum is housed in the original store building and displays many artifacts from the Callbeck family collection.
(Above) Callbeck store exhibit on display at the museum
HOWARD CLARK’S RED BARN MUSEUM
We have a large display of many objects from the late Howard Clark’s Red Barn Museum in Chelton. The exhibits are spread over two floors and relate to the social and cultural history of the wider area. Howard created his museum after returning from service on a hospital ship in World War II and he donated his collection to the BAHS in 2010.
We have a large display of many objects from the late Howard Clark’s Red Barn Museum in Chelton. The exhibits are spread over two floors and relate to the social and cultural history of the wider area. Howard created his museum after returning from service on a hospital ship in World War II and he donated his collection to the BAHS in 2010.
(Above) Part of the Red Barn Exhibit on display at the museum.
LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY AND BEDEQUE
Two panels, and photographs, tell the story of Maud Montgomery’s romance with Herman Leard, a young farmer with whose family she boarded in 1897-1898 when she was teaching in Lower Bedeque. She recorded in her journal that Herman was the only man she ever really fell in love with.
Two panels, and photographs, tell the story of Maud Montgomery’s romance with Herman Leard, a young farmer with whose family she boarded in 1897-1898 when she was teaching in Lower Bedeque. She recorded in her journal that Herman was the only man she ever really fell in love with.
OUR STRAWBERRY and ICE-CREAM SOCIAL IS CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19
Our annual Strawberry and Ice-cream Social in the Central Bedeque Park in early July, which is our major fund-raising event, has had to be cancelled on account of Covid-19. At this stage we don’t know whether we will be able to hold an equivalent event later in the summer, but we will let you know if we do.
Our annual Strawberry and Ice-cream Social in the Central Bedeque Park in early July, which is our major fund-raising event, has had to be cancelled on account of Covid-19. At this stage we don’t know whether we will be able to hold an equivalent event later in the summer, but we will let you know if we do.
A GRANT FROM THE P.E.I. COMMUNITY MUSEUMS ASSOCIATION
This year we received a Community Museums Development Grant of $3,000 from the P.E.I. Community Museums Association which is to go towards buying a new display cabinet and a filing cabinet for archival records, and the printing of posters for new exhibits.
This year we received a Community Museums Development Grant of $3,000 from the P.E.I. Community Museums Association which is to go towards buying a new display cabinet and a filing cabinet for archival records, and the printing of posters for new exhibits.
THE BAHS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING IS CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19
Our tenth AGM would normally have been held on Monday July 20 in the William Callbeck Centre. However, due to Covid restrictions we will not be able to hold it in the normal way and we have yet to work out an alternative way of conducting the meeting. A zoom meeting may be too difficult to arrange for all of the membership. We will give you notice in advance of what form the meeting will take.
The AGM includes the election of members to the Board. The present Board members are: Doug Sobey (President), Valerie Curtis (Vice-President), Don Jardine (Secretary), Susan Leard (Treasurer), Percy Affleck, Stuart Affleck, Bill Callbeck, Lloyd MacCallum, Danny McLure, Tom Sherry, George Read, and Earle Smith.
The Board is always seeking new members. If you have an interest in local history and in the Bedeque Museum, consider serving on the Board. You may discuss your interest with any of the present Board members whose names are listed above and whose telephone numbers are in the phonebook.
Our tenth AGM would normally have been held on Monday July 20 in the William Callbeck Centre. However, due to Covid restrictions we will not be able to hold it in the normal way and we have yet to work out an alternative way of conducting the meeting. A zoom meeting may be too difficult to arrange for all of the membership. We will give you notice in advance of what form the meeting will take.
The AGM includes the election of members to the Board. The present Board members are: Doug Sobey (President), Valerie Curtis (Vice-President), Don Jardine (Secretary), Susan Leard (Treasurer), Percy Affleck, Stuart Affleck, Bill Callbeck, Lloyd MacCallum, Danny McLure, Tom Sherry, George Read, and Earle Smith.
The Board is always seeking new members. If you have an interest in local history and in the Bedeque Museum, consider serving on the Board. You may discuss your interest with any of the present Board members whose names are listed above and whose telephone numbers are in the phonebook.
THE 2020 MONDAY EVENING TALKS ARE CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19
Over the last few summers our Monday evening talks held in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre in Central Bedeque have proved to be a great success. Last summer, a total of 226 people attended with an average of 38 people per talk. We had planned to hold six talks this summer, most on topics connected with the four new exhibits we had planned. However, as noted earlier, because of Covid-19 the exhibits have had to be postponed until 2021, and we are also not able to hold any indoor talks this summer because of the social distancing requirements due to Covid 19.
Over the last few summers our Monday evening talks held in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre in Central Bedeque have proved to be a great success. Last summer, a total of 226 people attended with an average of 38 people per talk. We had planned to hold six talks this summer, most on topics connected with the four new exhibits we had planned. However, as noted earlier, because of Covid-19 the exhibits have had to be postponed until 2021, and we are also not able to hold any indoor talks this summer because of the social distancing requirements due to Covid 19.
MOVING THE LOWER BEDEQUE SCHOOL
(Below) Lower Bedeque School in 2019
You may have read in the newspapers last summer of the problems facing the L. M. Montgomery Lower Bedeque School Museum. The school’s future has been looking rather shaky in recent years, and in 2019, for the first time in thirty years, it did not open to the public. Since last summer the Bedeque Area Historical Society has been actively considering a plan for saving the school by the moving it to the Central Bedeque Loyalist Monument Park, and operating it as part of the Bedeque Museum. During this past winter the proposal has progressed to the point where we were able to consider the practical stages of such a move. We thus share with you the thoughts behind this major development for the society.
THE LOWER BEDEQUE SCHOOL AS A TOURIST AND HERITAGE ATTRACTION
After 27 years of neglect and dereliction, the one-room Lower Bedeque schoolhouse, dating from about 1880, was restored and opened to the public in 1989 as a tourist attraction under the ownership of a group of local residents and others, who incorporated themselves as The Friends of L. M. Montgomery Lower Bedeque School.
A principal motivation for the restoration was that Lucy Maud Montgomery had taught at the school for six months in 1897-1898, and the publication of her personal journals in 1985 revealed that this short period was a significant one in her personal life since it was in Lower Bedeque that she fell in love for perhaps the only time in her life.
From 1989 to 2018 under a succession of enthusiastic volunteers from the local and wider community the L. M. Montgomery Lower Bedeque Schoolhouse opened to visitors each summer and proved to be a successful tourist attraction.
The School attracted visitors especially because of its connection with the world-famous author, many of these coming from far away, and especially from Japan. For example, in the summer of 2018, despite limited advertising, the school attracted 930 visitors, 240 of these being Japanese visitors in pre-booked bus tours. (For comparison, the Bedeque Area Museum in that summer attracted 692 visitors, excluding those attending the evening talks.) The school is thus an important tourist attraction drawing visitors to the Bedeque area. (Below) Japanese visitors to the Schoolhouse in 2019
THE LOWER BEDEQUE SCHOOL AS A TOURIST AND HERITAGE ATTRACTION
After 27 years of neglect and dereliction, the one-room Lower Bedeque schoolhouse, dating from about 1880, was restored and opened to the public in 1989 as a tourist attraction under the ownership of a group of local residents and others, who incorporated themselves as The Friends of L. M. Montgomery Lower Bedeque School.
A principal motivation for the restoration was that Lucy Maud Montgomery had taught at the school for six months in 1897-1898, and the publication of her personal journals in 1985 revealed that this short period was a significant one in her personal life since it was in Lower Bedeque that she fell in love for perhaps the only time in her life.
From 1989 to 2018 under a succession of enthusiastic volunteers from the local and wider community the L. M. Montgomery Lower Bedeque Schoolhouse opened to visitors each summer and proved to be a successful tourist attraction.
The School attracted visitors especially because of its connection with the world-famous author, many of these coming from far away, and especially from Japan. For example, in the summer of 2018, despite limited advertising, the school attracted 930 visitors, 240 of these being Japanese visitors in pre-booked bus tours. (For comparison, the Bedeque Area Museum in that summer attracted 692 visitors, excluding those attending the evening talks.) The school is thus an important tourist attraction drawing visitors to the Bedeque area. (Below) Japanese visitors to the Schoolhouse in 2019
THE PROBLEM WITH THE SCHOOL’S LOCATION
In recent years, as a result of changing demographics, including the passing away of the older generation in the community that had a close connection with the school, local involvement with the Friends of Lower Bedeque School has declined. The Friends now consists of only four persons, none of whom have roots in the community, and one of whom, Mary Kendrick, has been largely responsible for the running and maintenance of the school since the death in 2009 of the previous chief enthusiast, Nancy MacFarlane of Fernwood.
Mary Kendrick moved to Stratford in 2014 and, after five years of distant travelling, she felt no longer able to continue her involvement. In anticipation of her withdrawal, over the past couple of years she has made several appeals to the wider Bedeque community to involve themselves in the running of the school but with only a limited response (only one additional volunteer has joined the Friends of the School).
In 2017 Mary Kendrick appealed to the Bedeque Area Historical Society to take over the running of the school but the BAHS Board considered that it was not feasible for it to manage the school at its location in Lower Bedeque since this would mean seeking extra funds to employ two additional students, as well as supervising them at this separate site.
The Lower Bedeque Schoolhouse thus did not open in the summer of 2019 except for eleven pre-booked Japanese bus tours, for which a volunteer member of the Lower Bedeque Board opened and displayed the school. Given this lack of support for the Friends of the LMMLBS, the school will not be able to survive much longer. If in future summers it continued to remain closed, which was highly likely, and if it was no longer maintained, it would inevitably suffer the fate of most abandoned wooden buildings in the area: dereliction, vandalism and destruction. The future of the Lower Bedeque Schoolhouse was thus hanging in the balance.
A PROPOSAL TO MOVE THE SCHOOL TO CENTRAL BEDEQUE
It is against this background that an alternative way of saving the school has been considered. Over a year ago the Bedeque and Area Municipality approached the Bedeque Area Historical Society asking whether it had a suitable infrastructure project that the Municipality might fund through its Gas Tax Fund allocation, in connection with the federally and provincially supported Municipal Strategic Component (MSC) of the Gas Tax program.
The BAHS considered that a suitable qualifying project might be the moving of the Lower Bedeque School to Central Bedeque where it could be operated by the BAHS as part of the Bedeque Area Historical Museum. In this way the school would be saved as a cultural and historical structure and continue to exist as a tourist attraction.
It happens that there is an especially suitable site in Central Bedeque for the schoolhouse: the Loyalist Monument Park which lies directly across the street from the Museum. Such a location near the Museum would allow the summer staff of the Museum to also manage the schoolhouse.
It should be stated that there is a major objection from an historical point of view to moving the school: the schoolhouse sits on the very spot and in the community for which it was built in the 1880s. In fact there was an earlier school building on the same site from the 1840s so the history of the schoolhouse site is approaching two hundred years. Moving the school to Central Bedeque would break this very important connection with the original site, the environs of which have probably little changed over the past 150 years.
This close historical connection with the site would be broken if the school were moved to Central Bedeque. Realizing this, we have informally canvassed opinion from various people, including local people, Japanese and other visitors, and L. M. Montgomery experts and enthusiasts, and all would rather see the school saved by moving it to a new location than left where it is with the potential of it being lost. And the original school site could still be visited by Montgomery enthusiasts and a plaque or cairn commemorating the school and Montgomery’s connection with it could be erected at its original location.
THE ADVANTAGES TO THE BAHS MUSEUM OF MOVING THE SCHOOL TO CENTRAL BEDEQUE
It would add an important historical building to the ownership and management of the BAHS and enable the school’s survival into the future.
A major obstacle is the cost of moving the building and re-establishing it in the Loyalist Monument Park, but we have been making progress and have identified potential financial support from the municipality, the province and from other sources, and last winter we proceeded to call tenders for the moving of the building. We are hoping that the move will take place this summer or fall, though the covid crisis has slowed the activities somewhat and the final stages of awarding a contract have not yet been reached.
In recent years, as a result of changing demographics, including the passing away of the older generation in the community that had a close connection with the school, local involvement with the Friends of Lower Bedeque School has declined. The Friends now consists of only four persons, none of whom have roots in the community, and one of whom, Mary Kendrick, has been largely responsible for the running and maintenance of the school since the death in 2009 of the previous chief enthusiast, Nancy MacFarlane of Fernwood.
Mary Kendrick moved to Stratford in 2014 and, after five years of distant travelling, she felt no longer able to continue her involvement. In anticipation of her withdrawal, over the past couple of years she has made several appeals to the wider Bedeque community to involve themselves in the running of the school but with only a limited response (only one additional volunteer has joined the Friends of the School).
In 2017 Mary Kendrick appealed to the Bedeque Area Historical Society to take over the running of the school but the BAHS Board considered that it was not feasible for it to manage the school at its location in Lower Bedeque since this would mean seeking extra funds to employ two additional students, as well as supervising them at this separate site.
The Lower Bedeque Schoolhouse thus did not open in the summer of 2019 except for eleven pre-booked Japanese bus tours, for which a volunteer member of the Lower Bedeque Board opened and displayed the school. Given this lack of support for the Friends of the LMMLBS, the school will not be able to survive much longer. If in future summers it continued to remain closed, which was highly likely, and if it was no longer maintained, it would inevitably suffer the fate of most abandoned wooden buildings in the area: dereliction, vandalism and destruction. The future of the Lower Bedeque Schoolhouse was thus hanging in the balance.
A PROPOSAL TO MOVE THE SCHOOL TO CENTRAL BEDEQUE
It is against this background that an alternative way of saving the school has been considered. Over a year ago the Bedeque and Area Municipality approached the Bedeque Area Historical Society asking whether it had a suitable infrastructure project that the Municipality might fund through its Gas Tax Fund allocation, in connection with the federally and provincially supported Municipal Strategic Component (MSC) of the Gas Tax program.
The BAHS considered that a suitable qualifying project might be the moving of the Lower Bedeque School to Central Bedeque where it could be operated by the BAHS as part of the Bedeque Area Historical Museum. In this way the school would be saved as a cultural and historical structure and continue to exist as a tourist attraction.
It happens that there is an especially suitable site in Central Bedeque for the schoolhouse: the Loyalist Monument Park which lies directly across the street from the Museum. Such a location near the Museum would allow the summer staff of the Museum to also manage the schoolhouse.
It should be stated that there is a major objection from an historical point of view to moving the school: the schoolhouse sits on the very spot and in the community for which it was built in the 1880s. In fact there was an earlier school building on the same site from the 1840s so the history of the schoolhouse site is approaching two hundred years. Moving the school to Central Bedeque would break this very important connection with the original site, the environs of which have probably little changed over the past 150 years.
This close historical connection with the site would be broken if the school were moved to Central Bedeque. Realizing this, we have informally canvassed opinion from various people, including local people, Japanese and other visitors, and L. M. Montgomery experts and enthusiasts, and all would rather see the school saved by moving it to a new location than left where it is with the potential of it being lost. And the original school site could still be visited by Montgomery enthusiasts and a plaque or cairn commemorating the school and Montgomery’s connection with it could be erected at its original location.
THE ADVANTAGES TO THE BAHS MUSEUM OF MOVING THE SCHOOL TO CENTRAL BEDEQUE
It would add an important historical building to the ownership and management of the BAHS and enable the school’s survival into the future.
- Even without the L. M. Montgomery connection, the school is worthy of preservation as an element of the local history of the Bedeque area.
- The schoolhouse is also significant provincially in being one of the few one-room schools in the province still intact and presented with the contents of an historic school.
- It would provide an added historical feature to the Central Bedeque Loyalist Monument Park and enhance visitations to the Park.
- It would attract many more visitors to the Bedeque Area Historical Museum.
- The school could be managed from the present Museum building by the current summer staff of two students who would open the school as required.
A major obstacle is the cost of moving the building and re-establishing it in the Loyalist Monument Park, but we have been making progress and have identified potential financial support from the municipality, the province and from other sources, and last winter we proceeded to call tenders for the moving of the building. We are hoping that the move will take place this summer or fall, though the covid crisis has slowed the activities somewhat and the final stages of awarding a contract have not yet been reached.
(Above) The Schoolhouse interior in 2019
OUR NEIGHBOUR
Baba’s Kitchen, Antiques and Gifts directly next door to the Museum is a popular eating place in the area. The decor is traditional, with a kitchen atmosphere, and the food and prices are attractive.
When you visit the Museum, why not stop in for a meal or an ice-cream cone. It is open every day except Mondays and Tuesdays, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Telephone 902-218-4512 for exact times and days of opening.
Baba’s Kitchen, Antiques and Gifts directly next door to the Museum is a popular eating place in the area. The decor is traditional, with a kitchen atmosphere, and the food and prices are attractive.
When you visit the Museum, why not stop in for a meal or an ice-cream cone. It is open every day except Mondays and Tuesdays, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Telephone 902-218-4512 for exact times and days of opening.
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2019
Winners drawn for the Bedeque Museum’s seafood raffle.
The draw for the Bedeque Museum’s seafood raffle took place on the free open day on Sunday August 25, with Ron Rayner, the Mayor of the Municipality of Bedeque and Area, drawing the tickets from a Mi’kmaq potato basket. The first prize ($250 of lobster donated in part by Arsenault’s Fish Mart in Summerside) was won by Kaye Bysouth of Calgary, Alberta. Kaye (formerly Kaye Callaghan of Summerside) had been spending August on the Island and has since returned to Calgary. She planned to take some of her winnings back with her in a frozen state and to leave the rest on the Island to be eaten by her son and daughter and their families. The winner of the second prize ($100 of premium choice oysters donated by Future Seafoods of Fernwood) was Alan MacRae of Charlottetown. The third Prize winner was Neil Logan of Chelton. In fact it was Neil’s mother Judy Logan (also of Chelton) who filled in her son’s name on the ticket. We thank all those who bought the 530 raffle tickets sold, thus contributing to a successful fund-raising event for the Museum.
Photo 1. Ron Rayner, Mayor of Bedeque and Area, draws the winning ticket from a Mi’kmaq potato basket for the Bedeque Museum’s Seafood Raffle.
Photo 2. Doug Sobey, President of the Bedeque Area Historical Society, presents Kaye Bysouth of Calgary (formerly Kaye Callaghan of Summerside) the first prize in the raffle ($250 worth of lobster). Kaye also received a Fisheries and Communities plaque (shown in the photo) given to the Museum by Jamie Fox, Minister of Fisheries and Communities.
The draw for the Bedeque Museum’s seafood raffle took place on the free open day on Sunday August 25, with Ron Rayner, the Mayor of the Municipality of Bedeque and Area, drawing the tickets from a Mi’kmaq potato basket. The first prize ($250 of lobster donated in part by Arsenault’s Fish Mart in Summerside) was won by Kaye Bysouth of Calgary, Alberta. Kaye (formerly Kaye Callaghan of Summerside) had been spending August on the Island and has since returned to Calgary. She planned to take some of her winnings back with her in a frozen state and to leave the rest on the Island to be eaten by her son and daughter and their families. The winner of the second prize ($100 of premium choice oysters donated by Future Seafoods of Fernwood) was Alan MacRae of Charlottetown. The third Prize winner was Neil Logan of Chelton. In fact it was Neil’s mother Judy Logan (also of Chelton) who filled in her son’s name on the ticket. We thank all those who bought the 530 raffle tickets sold, thus contributing to a successful fund-raising event for the Museum.
Photo 1. Ron Rayner, Mayor of Bedeque and Area, draws the winning ticket from a Mi’kmaq potato basket for the Bedeque Museum’s Seafood Raffle.
Photo 2. Doug Sobey, President of the Bedeque Area Historical Society, presents Kaye Bysouth of Calgary (formerly Kaye Callaghan of Summerside) the first prize in the raffle ($250 worth of lobster). Kaye also received a Fisheries and Communities plaque (shown in the photo) given to the Museum by Jamie Fox, Minister of Fisheries and Communities.
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This is our final full week. Come along and see the exhibits. Some, such as the display on World War 1 Nurses and Signature Quilts, will be coming down at the end of this season. After this week, the museum will be open only on Sunday afternoons up to October 13.
Just a reminder that the draw for our seafood raffle is at 4:30 PM on August 25. Three seafood vouchers (one worth $250, one worth $100 and one worth $50) are up for grabs. Tickets are $5 for 1 or $10 for 3 and can be purchased at the museum. You do not have to be in attendance to win the draw!
THE LAST OF THE SUMMER TALKS HELD
On Monday August 12 Katherine Dewar of Charlottetown, retired nurse and historian, gave an illustrated talk on ‘Nurse Helen Whidden, Daughter of the Manse – North Bedeque’s Forgotten Heroine’. The talk was well-attended and brings to an end our summer talks series.
Katherine Dewar (left), after her talk on Nurse Helen Whidden, chatting to Mary McDonald-Rissanen of Finland, who has recently joined the Bedeque Area Historical Society.
On Monday August 12 Katherine Dewar of Charlottetown, retired nurse and historian, gave an illustrated talk on ‘Nurse Helen Whidden, Daughter of the Manse – North Bedeque’s Forgotten Heroine’. The talk was well-attended and brings to an end our summer talks series.
Katherine Dewar (left), after her talk on Nurse Helen Whidden, chatting to Mary McDonald-Rissanen of Finland, who has recently joined the Bedeque Area Historical Society.
END-OF-SUMMER FREE DAY AT THE BEDEQUE AREA MUSEUM: SUNDAY AUGUST 25, 1 – 5 PM.
A week before its closing for the season in September, the Museum is marking a successful summer by having a free open day on Sunday August 25 (1 to 5 pm). The normal admission fee of $5 ($4 for seniors) will be waived, with visitors being able to make a donation if they wish.
This will be a last chance to see two temporary exhibitions which close at the end of the summer. One, ‘Two Island Nurses of the Great War’, tells the story of two First World War nurses with Bedeque connections: Georgina Pope of Charlottetown whose father William Henry Pope (the Father of Confederation) was born in Bedeque, and Beatrice MacDonald of North Bedeque. Both of these highly decorated nurses served in France and Belgium.
Also coming down at the end of the summer is the ‘Five Signature Quilts’ exhibit. The quilts were made in Bedeque, North Bedeque, Freetown and Chelton in the 1920s and 1930s by local church and other groups to raise money for good causes. They are embroidered with the names of almost a thousand persons from the general area. Everyone who donated a set amount (sometimes only ten cents) had their name sewn into the quilt. Come and look for the names of your ancestors and their neighbours.
Another of the new exhibits tells the story of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s time in Bedeque. Montgomery taught school at Lower Bedeque for six months in 1897-1898 and recorded the story of her romance with Herman Leard in her journals, published in 1985.
There is also a display of three longcase clocks in full running order, and on the open day the owner and restorer of these clocks, Wendell Feener of Summerside, will be on hand to explain the background to these clocks and to talk about clock-making in general.
Our permanent exhibit on the Loyalist settlement of the Bedeque Bay area in 1784 continues, as does our exhibit on the history of the Borden ferry service (from 1917 to 1997), and another on the culture of the Island Mi’kmaq up to 1900. The Museum also displays many objects from the late Howard Clark’s Red Barn Museum and tells the story of Callbecks Store, in whose building the Museum is housed.
A week before its closing for the season in September, the Museum is marking a successful summer by having a free open day on Sunday August 25 (1 to 5 pm). The normal admission fee of $5 ($4 for seniors) will be waived, with visitors being able to make a donation if they wish.
This will be a last chance to see two temporary exhibitions which close at the end of the summer. One, ‘Two Island Nurses of the Great War’, tells the story of two First World War nurses with Bedeque connections: Georgina Pope of Charlottetown whose father William Henry Pope (the Father of Confederation) was born in Bedeque, and Beatrice MacDonald of North Bedeque. Both of these highly decorated nurses served in France and Belgium.
Also coming down at the end of the summer is the ‘Five Signature Quilts’ exhibit. The quilts were made in Bedeque, North Bedeque, Freetown and Chelton in the 1920s and 1930s by local church and other groups to raise money for good causes. They are embroidered with the names of almost a thousand persons from the general area. Everyone who donated a set amount (sometimes only ten cents) had their name sewn into the quilt. Come and look for the names of your ancestors and their neighbours.
Another of the new exhibits tells the story of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s time in Bedeque. Montgomery taught school at Lower Bedeque for six months in 1897-1898 and recorded the story of her romance with Herman Leard in her journals, published in 1985.
There is also a display of three longcase clocks in full running order, and on the open day the owner and restorer of these clocks, Wendell Feener of Summerside, will be on hand to explain the background to these clocks and to talk about clock-making in general.
Our permanent exhibit on the Loyalist settlement of the Bedeque Bay area in 1784 continues, as does our exhibit on the history of the Borden ferry service (from 1917 to 1997), and another on the culture of the Island Mi’kmaq up to 1900. The Museum also displays many objects from the late Howard Clark’s Red Barn Museum and tells the story of Callbecks Store, in whose building the Museum is housed.
HE POPE FAMILY REUNION VISITS THE BEDEQUE MUSEUM
The Pope Family of Prince Edward Island, the descendants of Joseph Pope, visited the Bedeque Museum on August 13 as part of their family reunion marking the bicentennial of the arrival of Joseph and his brothers in Bedeque in 1819. They visited the monument to James C. Pope at the site of the Pope shipyard in Lower Bedeque, where Doug Sobey told them about the history of Joseph Pope’s shipbuilding in the 1820s, including the story of the “Great Riot” at Bedeque (as gleaned from court records), when the Pope shipyard workers staged a protest and were arrested by William Pope, Joseph’s brother, for riot and assault. (William happened to the sheriff for Prince County at the time.) He also told them about the launch on 12 September 1840 of Joseph Pope’s “Great Ship, as it is called at Bedeque”, the Dahlia, 644 tons, as recorded in the travel journal of Horatio Mann, a visiting proprietor who owned half of Lot 27. The family then headed for the Museum where they viewed the exhibit on Georgina Pope, the First World War nurse, and then heard a talk on Georgina from Katherine Dewar, the author of Called to Serve – Georgina Pope, Canadian Military Nursing Heroine.
Photo 01. The Pope Family Reunion Logo
Photo 02. Some of the Pope Family at the site of the Pope shipyard in Lower Bedeque.
Photo 03. Some of the Pope Family pose in front of the Museum.
Photo 04. Pope family members chatting at the Georgina Pope exhibit in the Museum.
Photo 05. In the foreground are David Pope and Jim Pope, sons of the late Peter and Georgie Pope of Summerside, with other members of the family.
Photo 06. Katherine Dewar tells the family about Georgina Pope’s life and career.
The Pope Family of Prince Edward Island, the descendants of Joseph Pope, visited the Bedeque Museum on August 13 as part of their family reunion marking the bicentennial of the arrival of Joseph and his brothers in Bedeque in 1819. They visited the monument to James C. Pope at the site of the Pope shipyard in Lower Bedeque, where Doug Sobey told them about the history of Joseph Pope’s shipbuilding in the 1820s, including the story of the “Great Riot” at Bedeque (as gleaned from court records), when the Pope shipyard workers staged a protest and were arrested by William Pope, Joseph’s brother, for riot and assault. (William happened to the sheriff for Prince County at the time.) He also told them about the launch on 12 September 1840 of Joseph Pope’s “Great Ship, as it is called at Bedeque”, the Dahlia, 644 tons, as recorded in the travel journal of Horatio Mann, a visiting proprietor who owned half of Lot 27. The family then headed for the Museum where they viewed the exhibit on Georgina Pope, the First World War nurse, and then heard a talk on Georgina from Katherine Dewar, the author of Called to Serve – Georgina Pope, Canadian Military Nursing Heroine.
Photo 01. The Pope Family Reunion Logo
Photo 02. Some of the Pope Family at the site of the Pope shipyard in Lower Bedeque.
Photo 03. Some of the Pope Family pose in front of the Museum.
Photo 04. Pope family members chatting at the Georgina Pope exhibit in the Museum.
Photo 05. In the foreground are David Pope and Jim Pope, sons of the late Peter and Georgie Pope of Summerside, with other members of the family.
Photo 06. Katherine Dewar tells the family about Georgina Pope’s life and career.
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Myrna Babineau (on left) with John Lecky and Amy Baker, after delivering her talk titled ‘Beatrice MacDonald of North Bedeque, the Most Decorated Nurse of the Great War’. John and Amy are a grand-nephew and grand-niece of Nurse MacDonald. (1881-1969) who is one of the nurses featured in our exhibit ‘Two Island Nurses of the Great War’. While serving with an American medical unit Beatrice was the first serious American casualty of the First World War. She was also the most decorated nurse serving in any army nursing corps, from any country.
Nurse Helen Whidden, Daughter of the Manse – North Bedeque’s Forgotten Heroine’
The final talk in our weekly summer series is on Monday August 12 in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre in Central Bedeque (entry is through the Museum). There is no admission charge but donations are welcome. Refreshments are served.
Katherine Dewar, retired nurse and author of two books on First World War Island nurses: Those Splendid Girls and Called to Serve - Georgina Pope, Canadian Nursing Heroine, will give an illustrated talk titled ‘Nurse Helen Whidden, Daughter of the Manse – North Bedeque’s Forgotten Heroine’.
Helen Whidden (1884-1986) was educated at North Bedeque, Prince of Wales College and the Newport Rhode Island School for Nurses. In 1915 Nurse Whidden was sent to France by the Rockefeller Foundation of New York City as part of a five nurse research team led by Doctors Alexis Carrel and Henry Dakin. The result of their research was a chemical solution known as Dakins (named after Dr. Dakin), which revolutionized the treatment of wound care and saved thousands of lives during the First World War.
After a brief visit home in 1918, Nurse Whidden returned to France, where she spent the next nine years in charge of a children's clinic in Brittany. Here, once again, she became a medical pioneer, this time in the treatment of tuberculosis.
For her pioneering efforts Nurse Whidden was decorated by the French Government with the Médaille de la reconnaissance française, given to persons who for over a period of at least a year performed acts of exceptional dedication in the presence of the enemy.
Katherine Dewar has recently come across some previously unknown documentary sources on this forgotten heroine, and she will have on display Helen's French medal as well as her photograph album and documents related to her pioneering work in France.
On Left: Helen Whidden, shown in a later photo.
On Right: Author Katherine Dewar.
The final talk in our weekly summer series is on Monday August 12 in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre in Central Bedeque (entry is through the Museum). There is no admission charge but donations are welcome. Refreshments are served.
Katherine Dewar, retired nurse and author of two books on First World War Island nurses: Those Splendid Girls and Called to Serve - Georgina Pope, Canadian Nursing Heroine, will give an illustrated talk titled ‘Nurse Helen Whidden, Daughter of the Manse – North Bedeque’s Forgotten Heroine’.
Helen Whidden (1884-1986) was educated at North Bedeque, Prince of Wales College and the Newport Rhode Island School for Nurses. In 1915 Nurse Whidden was sent to France by the Rockefeller Foundation of New York City as part of a five nurse research team led by Doctors Alexis Carrel and Henry Dakin. The result of their research was a chemical solution known as Dakins (named after Dr. Dakin), which revolutionized the treatment of wound care and saved thousands of lives during the First World War.
After a brief visit home in 1918, Nurse Whidden returned to France, where she spent the next nine years in charge of a children's clinic in Brittany. Here, once again, she became a medical pioneer, this time in the treatment of tuberculosis.
For her pioneering efforts Nurse Whidden was decorated by the French Government with the Médaille de la reconnaissance française, given to persons who for over a period of at least a year performed acts of exceptional dedication in the presence of the enemy.
Katherine Dewar has recently come across some previously unknown documentary sources on this forgotten heroine, and she will have on display Helen's French medal as well as her photograph album and documents related to her pioneering work in France.
On Left: Helen Whidden, shown in a later photo.
On Right: Author Katherine Dewar.
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Beatrice MacDonald of North Bedeque, the Most Decorated Nurse of the Great War’
The weekly series of talks at the Bedeque Museum continues next Monday August 5 in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre in Central Bedeque (entry is through the Museum). There is no admission charge but donations are welcome.
Myrna Babineau of Charlottetown will give an illustrated talk on her cousin, Beatrice Mary MacDonald of North Bedeque (1881-1969), one of the nurses featured in our exhibit ‘Two Island Nurses of the Great War’. While serving with an American medical unit Beatrice was the first serious American casualty of the First World War. She was also the most decorated nurse serving in any army nursing corps, from any country.
Picture 1: Myrna Babineau stands beside the poster outlining the life and career of her cousin, Beatrice MacDonald, at the opening of the exhibit in the Bedeque Museum, Two Island Nurses of the Great War.
Picture 2: Happier times in North Bedeque: On left: Beatrice MacDonald with her brother Ronald. On right: her mother Mary, brother Jim and sister Clara. Ronald also had a distinguished military career in the First World War, serving as a medical officer in the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
Picture 3: Chief Nurse MacDonald sits amidst the ruins of war in the fall of 1918.
The weekly series of talks at the Bedeque Museum continues next Monday August 5 in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre in Central Bedeque (entry is through the Museum). There is no admission charge but donations are welcome.
Myrna Babineau of Charlottetown will give an illustrated talk on her cousin, Beatrice Mary MacDonald of North Bedeque (1881-1969), one of the nurses featured in our exhibit ‘Two Island Nurses of the Great War’. While serving with an American medical unit Beatrice was the first serious American casualty of the First World War. She was also the most decorated nurse serving in any army nursing corps, from any country.
Picture 1: Myrna Babineau stands beside the poster outlining the life and career of her cousin, Beatrice MacDonald, at the opening of the exhibit in the Bedeque Museum, Two Island Nurses of the Great War.
Picture 2: Happier times in North Bedeque: On left: Beatrice MacDonald with her brother Ronald. On right: her mother Mary, brother Jim and sister Clara. Ronald also had a distinguished military career in the First World War, serving as a medical officer in the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
Picture 3: Chief Nurse MacDonald sits amidst the ruins of war in the fall of 1918.
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IT WAS ‘FREETOWN NIGHT’ AT THE BEDEQUE AREA MUSEUM
Freetown came to Bedeque on Monday night July 29 when 73 persons filled the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre to watch home movies made in Freetown in the 1940s and ’50s by Mrs. Lillian Scales using an 8-mm home-movie camera. Don Jardine, a Freetown native, provided the voice-over, explaining the activities shown and naming many of the people captured by Mrs. Scales’ camera.
There was a considerable follow-up commentary as people reminisced about Freetown in the 1940s and '50s. Some commented on the great changes that have occurred since then: boys no longer play hockey on the Freetown road, at least not in the way they did 70 years ago, nor do people have to contend with the mud in the spring. The working horse has long departed from the Island farm scene, as have almost all of the family farms that stretched from one end of Freetown to the other.
After the event, over refreshments people chatted and many bought lottery tickets in support of the Museum’s work. Next year a special ‘Freetown Reunion’ is planned and the Museum is hoping to put on a display in connection with it.
Top Picture: The room is packed and attentive, in this composite photo of the audience in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre.
Bottom Picture: As the film rolls on, Don Jardine, a Freetown native and Secretary of the Bedeque Area Historical Society, provides the narration.
Freetown came to Bedeque on Monday night July 29 when 73 persons filled the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre to watch home movies made in Freetown in the 1940s and ’50s by Mrs. Lillian Scales using an 8-mm home-movie camera. Don Jardine, a Freetown native, provided the voice-over, explaining the activities shown and naming many of the people captured by Mrs. Scales’ camera.
There was a considerable follow-up commentary as people reminisced about Freetown in the 1940s and '50s. Some commented on the great changes that have occurred since then: boys no longer play hockey on the Freetown road, at least not in the way they did 70 years ago, nor do people have to contend with the mud in the spring. The working horse has long departed from the Island farm scene, as have almost all of the family farms that stretched from one end of Freetown to the other.
After the event, over refreshments people chatted and many bought lottery tickets in support of the Museum’s work. Next year a special ‘Freetown Reunion’ is planned and the Museum is hoping to put on a display in connection with it.
Top Picture: The room is packed and attentive, in this composite photo of the audience in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre.
Bottom Picture: As the film rolls on, Don Jardine, a Freetown native and Secretary of the Bedeque Area Historical Society, provides the narration.
Downtown Freetown in the 1940s and 1950s: An evening of old home-movies at the Bedeque Area Museum.
The weekly program of historical talks and events at the Bedeque Museum continues next Monday July 29 in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre in Central Bedeque (entry is through the Museum). There is no admission charge but donations are welcome.
On Monday July 29 at 7 pm under the title of ‘Downtown Freetown in the 1940s and 1950s’, we are repeating the very successful film night held in the Freetown United Church last March.
The films, which are mostly in colour, were taken by Mrs. Lillian Scales with an 8-mm home-movie camera and range in date from 1946 to 1957.
They are centered about the Scales home in Freetown village and taken around the Freetown area. They show many Freetown inhabitants of the time including children attending the old Freetown School. The film features farming on the Scales farm, children skating and playing in the snow, fishing in the river, the first pavement at Freetown in 1955, a tour of the inside and outside of the Scales home and many other activities.
Some narration will be provided by Nora Scales and other Freetowners of that era. Bring along any of your photos of Freetown from the 1940s and 1950s (or before or after) for viewing by those present.
The weekly program of historical talks and events at the Bedeque Museum continues next Monday July 29 in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre in Central Bedeque (entry is through the Museum). There is no admission charge but donations are welcome.
On Monday July 29 at 7 pm under the title of ‘Downtown Freetown in the 1940s and 1950s’, we are repeating the very successful film night held in the Freetown United Church last March.
The films, which are mostly in colour, were taken by Mrs. Lillian Scales with an 8-mm home-movie camera and range in date from 1946 to 1957.
They are centered about the Scales home in Freetown village and taken around the Freetown area. They show many Freetown inhabitants of the time including children attending the old Freetown School. The film features farming on the Scales farm, children skating and playing in the snow, fishing in the river, the first pavement at Freetown in 1955, a tour of the inside and outside of the Scales home and many other activities.
Some narration will be provided by Nora Scales and other Freetowners of that era. Bring along any of your photos of Freetown from the 1940s and 1950s (or before or after) for viewing by those present.
The AGM of the Bedeque Area Historical Society will take place on Monday July 22 in the Community Room, William Callbeck Centre. Before the AGM Doug Sobey, President of the Bedeque Area Museum will give a talk on ‘The Natural World of Lucy Maud Montgomery’. The talk will start at 7 pm.
Based on a detailed examination of the many references to trees and woods in Montgomery’s non-fictional writings, Doug Sobey of the Bedeque Area Museum will assess the well-known Island author as an ‘historical recorder’ of the Island’s landscape. He will describe the places and natural habitats important to Montgomery and will assess what her writings tell us about her, and especially about her relationships with trees and plants. He will also talk briefly about Maud Montgomery’s time teaching at Lower Bedeque. The AGM of the BAHS will follow the talk.
Based on a detailed examination of the many references to trees and woods in Montgomery’s non-fictional writings, Doug Sobey of the Bedeque Area Museum will assess the well-known Island author as an ‘historical recorder’ of the Island’s landscape. He will describe the places and natural habitats important to Montgomery and will assess what her writings tell us about her, and especially about her relationships with trees and plants. He will also talk briefly about Maud Montgomery’s time teaching at Lower Bedeque. The AGM of the BAHS will follow the talk.
On Monday July 15 Dr. Lisa Chilton of the History Department of UPEI gave a talk titled "Loyalists, Immigration and British North America" to an interested audience. In her talk, she presented an overview of the Loyalist movement into what is now Canada after the American Revolution and their important influence on the culture and politics of Canada.
In the picture Dr. Lisa Chilton (on left) speaks with a member of the audience.
In the picture Dr. Lisa Chilton (on left) speaks with a member of the audience.
THE STRAWBERRY and ICE-CREAM SOCIAL – SUNDAY JULY 14, 2 - 4 pm
On Sunday afternoon July 14 the thunderstorms that were threatening held off and we were able to hold the strawberry social outdoors in the Central Bedeque Park. Over 100 people came out to enjoy the strawberries and ice-cream. The event was sponsored by numerous local businesses and individuals with donations of $100 or more (see the photo for the list of sponsors). Musical entertainment was provided by Tim Menez. Visitors who came into the museum to see the exhibits were able to observe a demonstration of quilting by Norma Hanlyn. See the photographs of the event.
On Sunday afternoon July 14 the thunderstorms that were threatening held off and we were able to hold the strawberry social outdoors in the Central Bedeque Park. Over 100 people came out to enjoy the strawberries and ice-cream. The event was sponsored by numerous local businesses and individuals with donations of $100 or more (see the photo for the list of sponsors). Musical entertainment was provided by Tim Menez. Visitors who came into the museum to see the exhibits were able to observe a demonstration of quilting by Norma Hanlyn. See the photographs of the event.
A TALK on: Loyalists, Immigration, and the Formation of British North America’
Monday July 15 at 7 pm, at the Museum – Dr. Lisa Chilton, an associate professor in the History Department at the University of Prince Edward Island will give a talk related to the Museum’s remit on the Loyalist settlement of Prince Edward Island. Under the title ‘Loyalists, Immigration, and the Formation of British North America’, she will describe how the Loyalists who came north as refugees to the remaining loyal colonies after the American Revolution played an unusually important role in how subsequent immigration would be managed by the British and colonial governments. She will also explore the ways in which Loyalists put their stamp on immigration policies and practices in the decades after their own settlement. |
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FOUR NEW EXHIBITS ARE OFFICIALLY OPENED AT THE BEDEQUE MUSEUM
The official opening of this summer’s new exhibits at the Bedeque Area Historical Museum, took place on Saturday July 6 at 10.30 a.m.
The four new exhibits are:
Two Island Nurses of the Great War: A major exhibition tells the stories of two First World War nurses, both with Bedeque connections: Georgina Pope whose father William Henry Pope (the Father of Confederation) was born in Bedeque, and Beatrice MacDonald of North Bedeque. There are extensive poster displays, with additional items relating to the Great War from the P.E.I. Military Museum.
Five early-twentieth-century Signature Quilts from the Bedeque, Chelton, and Freetown Areas: From the 1890s onward, ‘signature’ quilts were made by local church and other groups to raise money for good causes. Every person who donated a fixed amount (sometimes only ten cents) had their name sewn into the quilt. The Museum is showing five signature quilts from the 1920s and ’30s from Bedeque, North Bedeque, Chelton, and Freetown. The quilts serve as a roll call of the area's past residents, with almost a thousand names on them. Visitors can search for the names of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and past neighbours from an alphabetical listing.
Lucy Maud Montgomery and Bedeque: Two posters tell the story of Montgomery’s six-months of teaching in the Lower Bedeque School in 1897-98 and her passion for a young local farmer named Herman Leard.
Three long-case clocks: Loaned by a local collector, Wendell Feener, the clocks are on display in running order. One is a ‘grandfather’ clock, another is a ‘grandmother’ clock, and the third is a ‘granddaughter’ clock.
THE OPENING OF THE EXHIBIT ON 'THE BEDEQUE HARBOUR LOYALISTS'.
Saturday July 7, 10:30 am - Bedeque Area Museum, Callbeck Center, Centaral Bedeque.
The official opening of the exhibit will take place with invited dignitaries present. Three will be free admission to the Museum and it's exhibits , and refreshments will be provided. All are welcome to attend.
A STRAWBERRY and ICE-CREAM SOCIAL – SUNDAY JULY 15, 2 - 4 pm
As a major fund-raising event the Bedeque Area Historical Historical Society will be holding a Strawberry and Ice-cream Social on Sunday July 15 from 2 to 4 pm in the Central Bedeque Park, opposite the Museum. Strawberries, cake and ice-cream will be served. In the event of rain, the event will be held in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre.
Tickets are $6.00 for adults and $3.00 for children aged twelve and under (this includes free access to the Museum). There will be a chance to make and taste home-made ice-cream made in the traditional way from cream by hand-cranking an ice-cream maker. Entertainment will be provided and there will be raffles and draws for prizes. All proceeds are in support of the Museum’s work.
Talk : “They Came on Ships – Ancestral Migrations to Prince Edward Island”
Lisa Chilton of the History Department of UPEI who was to give a talk on 19th century emigration from the British Isles to Canada on Monday August 6 at 7 pm at the Bedeque Area Museum is not available. We are thus grateful for David Walker, an historian and genealogist, and a member of the Bedeque Museum, who lives in Ontario but spends his summers on the Island, for stepping into the breach by offering to reprise a talk on the subject of emigration in his own family which he gave at the Malpeque Museum earlier this summer.
The title of his presentation is “They Came on Ships – Ancestral Migrations to Prince Edward Island”. His presentation will begin with a description of a project to create a wall hanging quilt that depicts migration of 25 of his ancestors, from the British Isles to New England and Prince Edward Island, and from New England to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The talk will then describe ten of those ancestors, the common element being that they all migrated to various parts of Prince Edward Island.
The talk will take place on Monday August 6 at 7 pm in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre, Central Bedeque. Refreshments will be served. There is no admission charge but donations are welcome.
Lisa Chilton of the History Department of UPEI who was to give a talk on 19th century emigration from the British Isles to Canada on Monday August 6 at 7 pm at the Bedeque Area Museum is not available. We are thus grateful for David Walker, an historian and genealogist, and a member of the Bedeque Museum, who lives in Ontario but spends his summers on the Island, for stepping into the breach by offering to reprise a talk on the subject of emigration in his own family which he gave at the Malpeque Museum earlier this summer.
The title of his presentation is “They Came on Ships – Ancestral Migrations to Prince Edward Island”. His presentation will begin with a description of a project to create a wall hanging quilt that depicts migration of 25 of his ancestors, from the British Isles to New England and Prince Edward Island, and from New England to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The talk will then describe ten of those ancestors, the common element being that they all migrated to various parts of Prince Edward Island.
The talk will take place on Monday August 6 at 7 pm in the Community Room of the William Callbeck Centre, Central Bedeque. Refreshments will be served. There is no admission charge but donations are welcome.
The Friends of Seacow Lighthouse Inc.: http://seacowheadlighthouse.com/
L.M Montgomery Lower Bedeque School: https://www.tourismpei.com/search/OperatorDetails/op_id/5145/
Catch up with our new updated blog posts which feature our events this Summer
