The Whitewater Historical Society met in the Whitewater Region Township Building on June 29th at 7pm, in order to discuss the reopening of the Ross Museum in Forester’s Falls, as well as summer events.
In particular, the group decided to prepare a Yard and Bake sale for Saturday July 16, to sell baked goods and miscellaneous objects to raise money for the Society.
They also discussed the lack of a July 1st Parade in Forester’s Falls and the potential to hold an ‘impromtu parade’ on Canada Day in the village.
The Garden sale raised $688 according to treasurer Pat Krose.
Janis Tomkinson said that they were still attempting to secure summer students for the museum, and were awaiting response.
Lawrie Barton reported that the museum aims to open July 9th, with the last cleaning and unpacking of boxed items to be done immediately. The museum will be open until the end of August. The aimed hours of operation was 10am-4pm.
The Society discussed plans to restore a trailer and sign purchased from Beatty Pilgrim, including securing ownership and license plates.
They also discussed restoration of the snow roller, which would require extensive reconstruction as well as a concrete pad to place it on, which would “not retain value as an antiquity” but would be valuable for educational purchases.
A summer road grader would also require excavation from where it was sunken into the ground, but was in otherwise good condition.
There were 121 members registered, and efforts were discussed to contact them for renewal, citing issues with mass emails being blocked from some accounts.
The committee also discussed having guest speakers or presentations at their meetings, though it was decided that it would be more suitable in the winter, as summer is “too busy”.
The next meeting will be on July 27th at 7pm.
