The Thomson Settlement: First Nations Village to Suburban Neighbourhood

Posted on September 5, 2015 by scarboro

One of the tours offered by Heritage Toronto this year is being led by Scott Woodland of the Scarborough Historical Society. Details are shown below.

The Thomson Settlement: First Nations Village to Suburban Neighbourhood

September 20 @ 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Explore 800 years of settlement in Scarborough – from a long-lost Iroquoian village, through the community established by the Thomson family to the suburban explosion after the Second World War.

LEADER: Scott Woodland, Scarborough Historical Society
START POINT: Scarborough Museum, Thomson Memorial Park, 1007 Brimley Rd, N of Lawrence Ave E
FINISH POINT: Same as start point
LENGTH: Approx. 1 ½ to 2 hours
FOCUS: Historical, architectural, natural
DIFFICULTY: Long walk on pavement and road, some slopes and rough ground.

For more information about tours offered by Heritage Toronto visit their website.
https://www.heritagetoronto.org/what-we-do/tours

Summer Clean Up at the Archives Facilities

Posted on August 28, 2015 by scarboro

In addition to the usual activities at the archives including research, sorting, cataloguing and attending to visitors, our volunteer staff take on extra summer chores such as general housekeeping, grass cutting and landscaping.

This summer, thanks to volunteers Don Allen, Rick Schofield, Don Powers and Gary Strutt, a total of 18 man-hours was spent clearing the weeds and over-growth from the back part of the property. Many vines and other unwanted plants were choking the lovely pine trees and bridle wreath bushes.

Don Allen and Rick Schofield also took on a somewhat risky job of exterior painting at the Archives. Don, obviously not afraid of heights, scrapped and repainted the upper window sills which were bare wood in spots, paint peeling and in poor condition. Rick stayed closer to the ground and painted the lower level window frames where needed.

Next year it’ll be time to repaint the front veranda deck etc.

2015 Volunteer Awards Ceremony

Posted on July 30, 2015 by scarboro

On April 7^th the 2015 Ontario Volunteer Services Awards were presented in a ceremony at the Brighton Convention and Event Centre on McNicoll Ave., Scarborough, Ontario. Six of our society members each received a pin and a certificate denoting the number of years they have served as volunteers. They have accumulated a total of 85 volunteer years among them.

The society members who received the awards are shown in the picture.

(from the left) Scott Woodland, Jan Howe, Don Allen, Lynda Wills, Gary Strutt, John Barton

We applaud them for their dedication and commitment.

The Great Escape: A Canadian Story

Posted on May 20, 2015 by scarboro

Ted Barris (author, journalist and broadcaster) was the guest speaker at our April 28^th programme. His most recent book is The Great Escape: A Canadian Story. Contrary to the 1963 movie “The Great Escape” many of the main characters involved in planning the escape and the digging of the tunnels for the escape were Canadians. His book and his talk were based on his many interviews, his research, letters, and personal photos. On March 24th , 1944 eighty prisoners escaped from Stalag Luft III near Sagan, Poland into the forest beyond the wire.. It was great to hear the true story and I won’t be able to watch the movie again without thinking about the Canadian involvement.

The Scarborough Historical Society hosts programmes on the 4th Tuesday of each month from January to April and from September to November. All programmes begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Bendale Public Library and are free and open to the public.