P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation hands out Heritage Awards

Published February 22, 2012 - The Guardian Newspaper by Ryan Quigley

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2012-02-22/article-2904697/P.E.I.-Museum-and-Heritage-Foundation-hands-out-Heritage-Awards./1



     Betty Howatt accepts the Award of Honour from Lt.-Gov Frank Lewis during the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation’s Heritage Awards Tuesday night at Eptek Art and Culture Centre in Summerside.

SUMMERSIDE — Every seat was filled Tuesday night at Eptek Art and Culture Centre as the venue played host to the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation’s annual Heritage Awards.

     The annual ceremony, held in conjunction with Heritage Week, honours and commemorates achievements made in preserving Island heritage.

    Lt.-Gov. Frank Lewis was on hand to congratulate each award recipient as they were recognized for their work.

     Betty Howatt was among those honoured.  Howatt, who spent 12 years on the board of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, has been proactive in preserving Island heritage and authored the book “Tales From Willowshade Farm,” which featured stories from her family farm.

     She was honoured to find out she had been chosen to win the award.

     “I was grateful, thankful to the members of the board,” said Howatt. “It’s certainly quite the reward for what I have done. I certainly didn’t do it in hopes of receiving anything.”

     Though the award means a lot, Howatt only got involved in preserving Island heritage because she found the history interesting.

     Howatt would like to see a museum built to preserve the stories of the Island.

     “It would help every generation to put themselves in the proper picture, to see the larger picture,” she added.

     “There are too many people who are just in the here and now and they forget what has come before.”

     Wyatt Heritage Properties received the Wendell Boyle Award for their film and radio drama, “Summerside Armoury: Fit for Duty”, which celebrated the historical building’s 100th anniversary.

     Lori Ellis, manager of the city’s cultural and heritage properties, accepted the award along with Marlene Campbell who wrote the film and radio scripts.

     “It’s feeling of being proud of what you’re able to do in your community in regard to the preservation of heritage,” Ellis said of the recognition.

     “To be able to go up and receive an award in front of your colleagues that have similar interests feels really, really good.”

     Ellis said the awards ceremony, which alternates each year between Summerside and Charlottetown, went well.

     “We had a great turn out and it seems like a great energy in the room with regards to the spirit of celebration, with regards to heritage and all those initiatives we do provincially and municipally.”

     Other award winners included Claude Arsenault, Volunteer of the Year; Steven J. Hornsby, Publication of the Year for his book “Surveyors of Empire”; Linda Jean Nicholson, the Mary Cornfoot Brehaut Award; Paul Smith and Michael Murphy, the Irene Rogers Award; and Douglas Sobey, the Natural Heritage Activity Award.

Heritage Activity award recipients
- Jacinthe Laforest and Georges Arsenault for their book Les Acadiennes de l’Ile-du-Prince-Edouard
- The Aviation Society of P.E.I. for the Summerside Aviation Park.
- Marian Bruce for the book Remembering Old Dan
- Isabel Court for her restoration of 163 Main St., Mount Stewart
- Mike Gaudet, Aldine Richard, Edmond Gallant, Zita Gallant, Leo Gallant and Alyre Richard for restoring headstones at the Mont Carmel Cemetery.
- Sharon Larter for restoration of 179 Euston St. in Charlottetown.
- Errol Lauchlin for the book Looking Back: Memories of T. Errol Lauchlin
- Art and Miriam Lockhart for their headstone photography project
- Peter and Bonnie MacDonald for restoration of 141 Water St., Charlottetown
- Rev. Nathan Mair for various activities
- Preservation group and Green Park Development Corporation for restoration of St. James Anglican Church, Port Hill
- The Shamrock Club of Fort Augustus
- Summerside and Area Historical Society for the book CFB Summerside: Our Base, Our History

     Here's the book Betty Howatt published as a result of her weekly radio segment on CBC Radio's PEI afternoon show Main Street.



Award-Winning Heritage Renovations Turn Heads in Charlottetown

     The headline on the Guardian Newspapers website a while ago telling of today's recipients of the Charlottetown Heritage Awards presented today at City Hall. 
     Congratulations to all -  jobs well done!

      Above: Paul Smith, left, and Mike Murphy received a heritage award Tuesday for renovations to this building on Hillsborough Street and a second heritage property on Dorchester Street. The pair also received the Catherine Hennessey Award for their contribution to the Inns on Great George.

Published Febraury 21, 2012 by Jim Day

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2012-02-21/article-2903717/Award-winning-heritage-renovations-turn-heads-in-Charlottetown/1    
     Well-preserved heritage, Michael Murphy was pleased to discover years ago, can make many people gush.
     When he and partner Paul Smith returned to P.E.I. in 2000, they immersed themselves into the operation of the Inns of Great George in Charlottetown.
     Visitors were simply blown away with the attractive, historic look of the place.
     Staff were trained to know the history of the buildings, from a long ago candle maker shop to a past bootlegger establishment.
      The most consistent comment heard from guests, says Murphy, was "just how downtown was so historic, so magical.''
     He is thrilled with how far the downtown core has come in the dozen years since he and Smith have been back on Prince Edward Island.
     On Tuesday - Heritage Day - the pair was recognized for doing more than their part to preserve and advance the heritage look and feel of the capital city.
     In presenting Murphy and Smith with the Catherine Hennessey Award, Mayor Clifford Lee lauded their level of service and respect for an important collection of buildings that "brought hospitality to a whole new level.''
     Over a 10-year stretch, noted Lee, the pair added other buildings and refined them architecturally and added beautiful green spaces. Along the way, they have influenced others to invest in heritage properties nearby.
     "Their impact on our community is certainly worthy of this recognition today,'' said Lee.
     The Catherine Hennessey Award, created by the mayor last year, is given to someone or some group whose efforts to increase the appreciation of Charlottetown have stimulated love for community, or with bigger views have helped shape the capital city.
     Murphy and Smith also received one of five Heritage Awards handed out Tuesday for their work in restoring two Charlottetown properties located at 55-59 Hillsborough St. and 187 Dorchester St. respectively.
     Murphy says the work involved in renovating one of the buildings, the 1900 Wellner Terrace project on Hillsborough Street, was considerable.
     He was on sight almost every day working with contractors over an 11-month period spent to transform "slum apartments'' back into the original three houses designed by William Harris.
     "It was a major project,'' he said.
     Murphy and Smith are living in the Dorchester Street home - the pre-1833 Nelson Barrow House -- that they also renovated.
     City councilor Rob Lantz, chairman of Charlottetown's heritage committee, gave out the Heritage Awards to Murphy and Smith as well as to the following:

• Bonnie and Peter MacDonald for undertaking a "sensitive renovation'' of one of Charlottetown's most significant buildings, the 1840's building by shipbuilder Andrew Duncan, later known as the Lennox Hotel, located at 140 Water St.

• Ann Sherman for completely renovating the exterior of one of the city's older row houses located at 180 Sydney St. Built in the 1880's on the north end of Pidwell Lane, the building forms one part of a bookend to an 1840's brick double tenement house.

• Christopher Gillis and Craig Dauphinee for giving "new life'' to the simple front end gable house at 292 Fitzroy St. that dates back to circa 1880. "It is always gratifying when we see vinyl siding being stripped from a building and the original shingles, clapboard, and architectural elements replaced and repaired, which is exactly what was done with this property,'' noted Lantz.

• Architect Chris Tweel for tackling the 1927 building designed by architect James Harris that is located at 56 University Ave. and is now home to Starbucks Coffee. Lantz says the building is an example of a property that, while never really neglected, has recently received "that extra special attention to detail that makes a dramatic difference in appearance."

New Glasgow - a winter wonderland today

     We had a light snowfall overnight with very little wind - the snow has settled on everything. 
     I had to go up the road to New Glasgow this morning to a meeting - while there I snapped the following photos.

Below: the abandoned home of the Brown Sisters.

Below:  the New Glasgow Christian Church and the Scotch Thistle wrought iron steeple top.

Below:  A little house from the 1950's that's been used as a craft shop in recent years.

Below: The Prince Edward Island Preserve Company - established in the old butter factory.  See:  http://preservecompany.com/

Below:  The Olde Glasgow Mill Restaurant - former courthouse and feed mill.  See: http://www.oldeglasgowmill.ca/

Below:  the little bridge in New Glasgow that spans the Clyde River - this could be Scotland on a much smaller scale.

Below: Village Square.

Below:  The Toy Factory. Chosen by Disney to supply wooden toys to "The Santa Clause" movie.  See: http://www.toy-factory.ca/index.html

The Steeple Cottage aka Hazelbrook Baptist Church

     With so many of our little Island rural churches being decommissioned, closed, moved, demolished, etc. -  the big question is what to do with these beautiful buildings.
     When the Hazel Brook Baptist Church was closed and to be torn down, one innovative person saw the potential to create a unique rental property called, The Steeple Cottage. www.thesteeplecottage.com      
     The entrance and steeple portion of the church along with three 16' wide sections of the wall with large Gothic window, were moved to a new seaside location and assembled in a smaller building with high walls, loft and rooftop deck.

Here are a few photos from The Steeple Cottage website:

Wigwam

     Here's the original dwelling home, the Wigwam, of Abeqweit (Prince Edward Island). 
     The photo below:  a Mi'kmaq family at Rocky Point making baskets - photo c.f. the PEI Public Archives and Records Office (PEIPARO).  Accession No. 34466/HF72.66.1.18.1.2.

     I was at the doctors office the other day and found a Mi'Kmaq publication amoung the magazines - here's a page from the publication about the Wigwam.  For more information about the PEI Mi'Kmaq, go to their website:  www.mcpei.ca

Queen Hotel, Summerside

The Journal-Pioneer newspaper in Summerside regularly publishes pages from the past - this one was Nov. 6, 1959.  For more information about the Journal see: www.journalpioneer.com

The information about the Queen Hotel mural comes from the following:

 www.wyattheritage.com/mainsite/historic/murals.asp?MuralID=Acadians

The Acadians of Summerside and the Queen Hotel

From the earliest years of Summerside, many men and women from the outlying Acadian communities came here to find work. They were employed as truckers, seamen, fishermen, farmers, carpenters, coopers, tinsmiths, stone masons, maids, dressmakers, and washerwomen. Through the years, they advanced to more lucrative and prestigious occupations.      Among Summerside’s first Acadian entrepreneurs were Frank Perry (François Poirier) and his wife Annie Arsenault. In 1899, they opened the popular Queen Hotel that served the community for half a century. This 35-room hotel, described as “one of the most comfortable and homelike hotels in Maritime Canada”, was located south of the Journal-Pioneer next to the railroad track, today the Confederation Trail.      Standing on the Queen Hotel’s steps are Aubin E. Arsenault and Joseph Gaudet. Aubin E. Arsenault (1870-1968) was Summerside’s first Acadian lawyer. He was also the first francophone elected to town council where he sat from 1906 until 1908, the year he was elected to the Legislative Assembly representing 3rd Prince. In 1917, he became Premier of the province and in 1921 he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island.      Joseph J. Gaudet (1880-1933), better known as “Joe Bunn”, was born in Summerside. As a young man, he worked as a trucker and then opened a local restaurant business. In 1908, Gaudet operated one of the first movie theatres in Summerside, “The Happyland”. In 1922, “Joe Bunn” Gaudet opened the Capitol Theatre on Central Streets.      Today, one third of Summerside’s population claims Acadian ancestry. The most common Acadian names in the city are Arsenault, Bernard, Blacquiere, Blanchard, Cormier, DesRoches, Doucette, Gallant, Gaudet, Perry (Poirier), Peters (Pitre), Richard, Sonier, and Wedge (Aucoin). Mural Artist: Arno Freitag – 2000 Location: The north wall of the Summerside Seafood Supreme building on corner of Queen St. & Harbour Dr.

Mill Ads - The Islander newspaper, September 16, 1864

     A few years ago I had the first four pages of the September 16th, 1864 issue of "The Islander" newspaper copied from microfiche at the PEI Public Archives and Record Office.  The newspaper of the day recorded the news of the gathering of the Fathers of Confederation to discuss the forming of Canada!
    When I was reading through the newspaper pages I found these interesting ads which tell a lot about the importance of the local mill and who their agents were.  Here are the details of the newspaper, etc...

THE ISLANDER, Or Prince Edward Island Weekly Intelligence and Advertiser,

Vol. XXII, Charlottetown, Friday, September 16, 1864.   No. 1126

I transcribed the ads for easier reading...

    Below is an image from page 129 of Meacham's 1880 Atlas of Prince Edward Island.  The world famous Stanfield's Underwear had it's beginnings here on Prince Edward Island at this mill in Tryon.

     For more information about Stanfields go to: http://www.stanfields.com/ .  The following is from their website:

     Charles E. Stanfield had no idea when he immigrated to Canada in 1855 that he would found the firm that is a leader in its field today. Charles, along with his brother-in-law, Samuel E. Dawson, founded the Tryon Woolen Mills in Tryon, P.E.I. in 1856. Ten years later he sold his interests to Samuel and moved to Nova Scotia where he founded the Truro Woolen Mills in 1870. It was believed to be the first factory of its kind in Canada.

Stately Mansard House, Valdane Ave., Charlottetown

     I came across this clipping this evening - the house was demolished not long after this article.  Most of the article to the left is gone from the clipping - the headline read in part "....shuts down problem building"

Van Dyke's Restorers - Catalogue & Website

     I've had a quite a few clients order excellent products from Van Dyke's Restorers in South Dakota, USA.  To order your own catalogue or shop online go to: www.vandykes.com

About Van Dyke's Restorers

     Your home is your biggest investment. But more importantly, it's where memories are made every day.  Vandykes.com was designed with you in mind. It was constructed to help inspire your home improvement projects. As you browse our website, you will find ideas to help you restore or update every room. When you decide on a home improvement project, you can rely on Van Dyke's Restorers to supply you with the very best merchandise at the best price.
     Throughout our 27 year history, customers have been sending us before and after photos of their finished projects. We invite you to do the same. After completing your project, please send us photos that proudly display your craftsmanship. You may even see your project in one of our upcoming catalogs or at vandykes.com!
     We are committed to bringing you new products to fuel your imagination. Visit vandykes.com regularly to see the latest products we have to offer along with storewide specials. Whether you choose one of our many new items or a "customer favorite" that we've carried for years, one thing is for certain-you can choose Van Dyke's Restorers with confidence to help make your house a home.

Richard Pope, President

     Van Dyke's Restorers has been providing quality products to make a house your home since 1984.
     Van Dyke's Restorers, Your Restoration Partner, offers you an unequalled selection of restoration supplies. Our company started 27 years ago, providing hard-to-find restoration supplies to both do-it-yourself enthusiasts and restoration professionals. From there our product line continued to expand to meet the needs of our customer and offers a wide selection of home improvement and building supplies. We specialize in unique home products that encompass the different eras of home design including Victorian, Arts and Crafts, Mid-Century, Traditional and Transitional.
     We offer a wide variety of hard-to-find specialty hardware and components for restoring antique desks, tables, chairs, dressers, hoosier cabinets and much more. If you are remodeling or building and you aren't interested in creating a cookie cutter home, we have the products that allow you to put that custom stamp on your home that makes it uniquely yours.
     Browse our website. From hand carved corbels to solid decorative home hardware, from hand forged door hardware to unique designer cabinet hardware, you are sure to find the quality products to make a house your home.

     Van Dyke's Restorers offers quality products, convenient shopping and personal and professionalcustomer service.

     Starting with quality products from Van Dyke's Restorers will help you experience years of enjoyment from a project well done.

Heritage Retrofit Carpentry Course, Holland College

     We were out to the final lecture put on by the P.E.I. Architecture Institute for Study and Conservation at Beaconsfield Carriage House on Monday evening - the speaker was Josh Silver of Holland College. 
     Mr. Silver, a Red Seal Certified Carpenter, is the Learning Manager for the new Heritage Retrofit Carpentry Course at the College in Charlottetown.  He had a good presentation explaining the course then answered questions from the audience.  It's great to see this program being offered here on the Island and will assist heritage property home owners carry-out proper restoration work on their projects with an emphasis on historic detailing and energy efficiency.
     The following is an information leaflet available at the lecture.  For further information sell also their website: www.hollandcollege.com