Belleville's Seniors' Fair

Volunteers Adele Dibben, Donna Fano, Katharine Mills, Mary Jane Throop and Elizabeth Mitchell

The Society shared tables with the Community Archives at Belleville's first Seniors Fair to show off some of the material from the Archives as well as the plans for the renovated building on Church Street.

By all accounts the Fair was a huge success and the volunteers reports a steady stream of visitors interested in the material being exhibited at the tables.

The "rush" was in the morning but activity continued throughout the day until closing time (when these pictures were taken).

Twin Passions for 58 years - History and Art

artwork and complementary displays of archival photos 

Dona Knudsen, Belleville Art Association Executive Council Chair, expressed the mood of the opening day perfectly when she said "Today is a spectacular opportunity for two groups with a long history in the area to get together to share their passion." The event was the opening of 'History in Brushstrokes'.

From March 12 to April 7, the Quinte area was treated to a unique art show called 'History in Brushstrokes'. The show was held at the Belleville Art Association's bright and beautiful gallery at 392 Front Street, Belleville. 'History in Brushstrokes' was a unique show, combining 35 artistic interpretations of historic scenes of the area painted by the artists of the BAA, with display panels of archival photographs. The photos depicted  the actual locations of the painting in many cases, or examples of the scenery which inspired the art work. Evocative historic mills of Hastings County were a typical example.

The behind the scenes work had gone on for some weeks at the Heritage Centre in Cannifton. Hastings County Historical Society volunteers had been seeking out and scanning photographs of local scenes and historic buildings and mills to match the topics of the artwork which BAA artists were collecting and preparing to hang. This combined show was the brainchild of ....




The opening was held on a warm bright spring Saturday afternoon. The doors were open, people flowed in to enjoy the artwork, the historical photographs, the luscious buffet brightened by cheerful red tulips. It was a great opportunity for many of us to see the gorgeous newly redecorated BAA gallery - its shiny wood floors, bright windows and  white walls creating a lovely gallery space.

A great crowd came to enjoy the treats, the artwork and the history at the March 15 opening

The Belleville Art Association and Hastings County Historical Society have a great deal more in common 

than this very successful show. As Dona put it "as of September, we're both 58!" With such a shared history of achievement, is it possible that we can look forward to another exciting event like 'History in Brushstrokes'?

2011 Volunteers

It was great to see so many people at our Christmas celebration (hosted by Volunteer Extra-Ordinaire Lois Foster) held on December 19th to honour the many people who volunteer their time and talents for Society.

Standing left to right: Bruce Bedell , Vera Morton., Sharon White , Bill Kennedy, Mary Jane Throop, Anne Rector, Lindi Pierce, Hazel Lloyst, John Lowry, Katharine Mills, Laurel Bishop, Marilyn Hughes, Adele Dibben, Mary-Lynne Morgan, Bill Hunt, Kay Manderville, Lorna Garbutt, Doug Wilson, Mary Wilson, Sylvia French, Kieran Delaney, Orland French, George Pearce, Bobby-Jo Morris, Jeanne Delaney, Gerry Boyce, Richard Hughes, Al Cleary, Annis Ross, Ruth Boyce.
Seated at front Lois Foster, Donna Fano, Elizabeth Mitchell, Beth Green, Erin Ryan, Breanna Brethour.
Not in the picture: Nick White (taking picture) and volunteers not able to attend Diane Sule, Marney Black and Michael Shaw

Remembering

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, May 1915

Angel Cake

Orland French brought a cake to the Hastings Heritage Centre to recognise and thank the Archive Angel volunteers for their help in making the Society's 2011 Annual Banquet a success.

In the picture below, starting on the left and proceeding clockwise around the table: Elizabeth Mitchell, Katharine Mills, Lorna Garbutt, Donna Fano, Orland French, Mary Jane Throop, Erin Ryan, Marilyn Hughes, Jeanne Delaney, Kieran Delaney and Laurel Bishop (back of head only); Archivist Sharon White is standing on the left, and on the right are Dick Hughes, Adele Dibben, Bill Kennedy, Lois Foster, .

Photos by Nick White

Annual Banquet

The Society’s 2011 annual banquet was a sold-out success!  Keynote speaker Senator Mike Duffy gave a boost to the archives campaign and entertained us with his own unwritten stories about politics and Prime Ministers from Sir Mackenzie Bowell to Jean Chrétien.
 
The political dignitaries of Hastings County were well represented.

City of Belleville Councillor Garnet Thompson, County of Hastings Warden Jo-Anne Albert, and Quinte West Councillor Ron Hamilton all brought greetings from their respective municipalities.

 

Other dignitaries attended, including Prince Edward-Hastings MPP Todd Smith and MP Daryl Kramp.

The exhibit of posters featuring Hasting County's political history and the design drawings of the proposed new community archives attracted considerable interest, but the main draw was the stories and anecdotes from Senator Duffy's long career as a political reporter and broadcaster.

Senator Mike Duffy with the man he calls his mentor – Peter C. Newman, Companion of the Order of Canada and Honorary Chair of the Society's Capital Campaign Committee.

In his talk Senator Duffy encouraged the community to rally behind the Society's push to create an archives where people can learn more about local history and access the wealth of information that is their heritage.

For the article in the Belleville Intelligencer click on this link. Opens in a new window.

For additional pictures of the event click on this album link. Album opens in a new window.

Story and pictures Nick and Sharon White

175 Years of Policing in Belleville

Uniforms from around 1900

To an audience of over seventy members, guests and visitors, John Lowry (assisted by Staff-Sgt. Tony MacKinnon) gave an overview of the history of policing in Belleville and the work that is now being undertaken to preserve that history for future generations


He recounted how Belleville’s police service was officially established in 1836 with the appointment of Henry Avrill as high constable and Hiram Fulford as bailiff. The village had at that time a population of about one thousand souls and encompassed an area of just over six hundred acres at the mouth of the Moira River.
 
Its early beginnings make Belleville's police force one of the oldest police services in Canada, pre-dating the Kingston Police (founded 1843), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (founded in 1873) and the Ontario Provincial Police (1909).

Belleville moved from village status to that of a town in 1850 and to a city in 1878. By this time the city Police Department had expanded to six members headed by Hugh McKinnon. The population had grown to nearly ten thousand people living in an area covering 1,760 acres.

A little over a half century later during World War II the force consisted of ten members. In 2010 there were 132 members of the police force.

A more complete history of the Police force can be read in the November issue of the Society's newsletter Outlook. 

A copy of that edition can be viewed by clicking this link.  

The link will open in a new window.

John Lowry and Staff-Sgt. Tony MacKinnon display equipment once used by Belleville's Police Force

Pictures Nick White, story based on Outlook article