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September 2008 Issue #55

It’s official! The Binbrook Memorial Hall is now a designated heritage building under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. Patience was rewarded earlier this summer when a by-law was passed on June 11, 2008, declaring the building to be one of heritage value. The legal features (in part) of the designation are:

“All exterior elevations and roofs of the 1920 two-storey building and the one-storey additions; the open landscaped area associated with the east elevation; all exterior construction materials and building component features and detailing of the Memorial Hall complex, including, but not restricted to: the brick walls; brick parapets and stone coping; brick window voussoirs and stringcoursing; stone window sills; memorial inscriptions and corner stone; brick pilasters each with a stone base and stone capital; stone stringcoursing; pressed metal cornice; all window openings and entranceways; and all wooden double-hung windows; and, the four polished stone memorial tablets located in the interior on the lower level of the 1920 Memorial Hall.”

This is the part of the by-law that is important and only a small part of the cultural assessment report of over 30 pages. That’s why the designation took over two years to complete

While we’re on the subject of Memorial Hall,the Society has planned a heritage designation event for Thursday, September 18,7:00 P.M. at the memorial hall. We’ll have “dignitaries”, a few words of greeting, heritage displays of the hall, refreshments and, because the hall is a tribute to the veterans, a display of local military history. Of course, there will be a cake! No event would be complete without one! We would like all Society members to attend this celebration of Glanbrook's second existing heritage building.

Another Binbrook event for the Society is the Binbrook Fall Fair, Friday, September 12 to Sunday, September 14. Our display this year will feature the changes in the village area over the decades. History books will be available for sale and volunteers are needed. Ron Sinclair has taken on the co-ordinating task and will be contacting members for help. (Please say yes!)

Relaying information for Society events, news and gossip usually is done in three ways: phone (time consuming), regular mail (slow) and email (no comment). Of the three, email is the fastest but not everyone has this capability. The latest count is fifteen Society members that have email, less than half of the “mailing list.” We have learned that to send a newsletter, PDF is the way to go, since some don’t have the luxury of high speed connections.

Society projects that have been contemplated or are under way include updating the heritage inventory of 1984, implementing a database of the inventory, possible participation in a new city wide publication and sorting and cataloguing of present items in our collection of photos, papers and "things."

The 1984 inventory was a marvellous idea and has proven invaluable. But time and development has changed a number of the buildings; burnt, demolished or altered. Below is an example of a few years of neglect on Twenty Road. The house is now gone. An update of the inventory is badly needed and this will required some volunteer time (once a plan of action is in place). At the same time, we anticipate that our input of the data can be used in co-operation with the city's programme. The practicality of all this may be daunting but do-able. The key word for it - is volunteers.

We have hundreds of photos in different categores: church, school, village and there seems to be an ongoing "better" way to sort the pictures into an easy way to find them. Getting files into the new computer has been a challenge but there's progress and by the next millennium, we'll be all right!

A new city wide book probject involving a publisher and several heritage groups is being set up with Glanbrook Heritage Society partaking. No further details are available at printing time but it should be a good product, likely in a year's time.

Below is a photo of a local mystery church. It's associated with a ghost town and there's only a half dozen people that know the story behind it - so far. Al Rumbles is the originator of the story and booklet, entitled "Sinclairville's First Church - Fact and Fiction." Copies will be available in October. Fiction is that the church as pictured on the front cover does not exist. Fact is that the first church was build in 1857.

Upcoming Society Events:

  • Friday, September 12, 2008 - Sunday September 14, 2008: Binbrook Fair, display by Society.


  • Thursday, September 18, 2008, 7:00pm: Heritage Designation Event, Binbrook Memorial Hall.


  • Monday, October 20, 2008, 7:30 pm: Monthly meeting, Orchard Court, Binbrook. Guest speaker - Barb Laughland - "Around the world by private jet."


  • Monday, November 17, 2008, 7:30 pm: Monthly meeting, St. Paul's Glanford Anglican church, Mount Hope. Guest speaker Olivia Newport - "The Underground Railroad."


  • Saturday, November 22, 2008: Waterdown Book Fair, St. Paul's United Chruch, Parkside Drive, Waterdowwn. Volunteers needed for our dispaly.


  • Monday, December 15, 2008, 7:00 pm: Annual Christmas Party, Orchard Court, Binbrook.


  • Next newletter December, 2008.

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    © Glanbrook Heritage Society 2008

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