in Chatsworth, Grey Highlands, Southgate, West Grey
December 19, 2024
BY JOHN BUTLER — On December 14, Grey Highlands’ history lovers celebrated the birth of the Grey Highlands Museum a half century ago.
It wasn’t an easy birth.
Fifty years ago, the Grey Highlands Museum (then called the South Grey Museum) was created amid controversy and opposition. But a dedicated group of history-minded citizens in Flesherton and area envisioned this centre for the study and presentation of local history, and saw it through its birth pains. The same dedication of history-minded citizens sustains it today
The idea of a Flesherton museum first surfaced in 1971, when the Flesherton and District Chamber of Commerce stated that “it was historically important that artifacts that reflect the early life and times of the area be preserved.” Early in 1972 the Chamber asked Flesherton’s Council to help locate a site for a museum. Council responded by establishing a Museum Committee of local citizens to work on the museum project.
The Museum Committee comprised Geraldine Robinson, Gilbert Little, David Pawson, Farquhar Oliver, Mrs. George Field, Kate Macmillan, Ruby Stauffer, Ken McTaggart, Charles Box and Peter Follett, and it began meeting to lay the groundwork for the local museum. Geraldine Robinson, a prominent leader of the group, was a former chairman of the Grey County Board of Education, She and her husband, local doctor “Jock” Robinson, had fallen in love with the area’s history and its artifacts — a passion they had in common with other Committee members.
This Committee worked assiduously in 1972 and early 1973 to raise funds for creation of the museum, ending up with a $4,000 nest egg and promises of $1,000 in donated building material. In March 1973 the Flesherton Advance added its support for the idea, saying:
“The people of Flesherton and District have become increasingly aware that many of the treasured artifacts are going down the road in the cars of avid shoppers who frequent the many attractive Antique Shops in the village and surrounding area. Soon the pine chests and cherry tables will just be a memory. In order to retain a few of the old family artifacts, a museum committee was formed.”
The intrepid committee then sought a building suitable as a museum. They first considered buying the disused railway station in Ceylon, but the cost of moving and restoring it was prohibitive. The next endeavour was a proposal to purchase the first school in the village, but an official from the Ontario government’s Museum Branch advised against it because it was a fire-vulnerable structure (and the building wasn’t for sale anyway.)
The committee then hit upon the idea of a purpose-built structure to house the museum — a rather nondescript cinder block building, but at least a building that was designed specifically as a museum and that wasn’t likely to burn down.
The most promising location for the museum was Flesherton’s Memorial Park, lying in the accessible northwest quadrant of the village’s downtown area. This park had been created in 1922 as Flesherton’s version of a war memorial for those who had fallen in the First World War. Meant to attract the burgeoning number of motoring tourists who explored Ontario after the war, the park was equipped with camping and cooking facilities and a band shell. But by the mid-thirties, the community realized the park’s tourist hospitality role had overshadowed its war memorial role, and local folks raised funds to establish a war memorial in the park. This memorial opened to great fanfare in 1938, in the ominous shadow of a second looming world war. By the early 1970s the Park was a popular picnic and family reunion spot for Fleshertonians, as well as a gathering place each Remembrance Day. It boasted tennis courts too.
On March 13 1973, the Flesherton Council gave the Museum Committee approval to use the Park as the site for the museum which, when constructed, would be owned by the municipality.
By this time the Museum Committee was in high gear, eager to take advantage of a new federal grant program — the Local Improvement Program (LIP) — and it was able to get a LIP grant of $8,000 to fund the labour costs of building the museum — but with the government stipulation that work must be completed by May 31.
By April 2, work had started on the museum building.
Then controversy about its very existence arose, fanned by the pages of the Flesherton Advance.
At the time, the newspaper contained columns written by two local men, known only to its readers as the Old Observer and the Young Observer. The Young Observer was a supporter of the museum, writing, “The plans for the museum go ahead. Yes, the pavilion has to come down but it has not been used for years, only for the young fry to write on the walls. The picnic area will be in no way destroyed, but rather improved, also the tennis courts. The whole park will have its face lifted and lose its neglected look. I hope everyone is remembering the museum, not only in artifacts, but in cash as well, to pay for the material going into the building. Any contribution, I am sure, will be gratefully received.”
The Old Observer, however, took an entirely different tack, writing, “Flesherton is apparently to get a museum, whether she wants one or not, and, as many see it, is losing her lovely little Memorial Park. And it all seems to have come as a surprise to the community, at least the precise location. The first reaction of the Villagers, when they saw the site of the new LIP project, was hardly one of approval or appreciation.” The Old Observer also took the lead in organizing a petition that said, “We petition you, the Council, to stop the museum project in the Memorial Park. This small area is of great sentimental value to the people of Flesherton. It is used extensively by children as a playground, by picnickers and by groups holding family reunions. We ask the Council to preserve our Park, one of the community’s precious heritages.”
One hundred and twenty-eight people signed the petition, which was presented to the Flesherton Council. The Council then held a closed meeting and passed a motion “That a by-law be written up for the next Council meeting prohibiting the use of ratepayers’ money in the construction and maintenance of the Museum, that the Museum Committee be asked to communicate by letter with the Villagers, all of their plans for the Museum, and that letter of explanation be sent by the Council to all families which have signed the petition against the Museum in the Park.”
The Museum Committee then acted. Realizing that an informed public would be a supportive public, Geraldine Robinson wrote an article in non-combative language for The Advance patiently explaining the reason why a museum was desirable, and the reasoning behind locating the museum in Memorial Park. The Committee followed this up with a series of newsletters updating the community on progress in creating the Museum. These communications seemed to take the wind out of the sails of those in town who saw the museum as a desecration of the park’s purposes. Sceptics became supporters. And the Museum Committee broadened community support for the museum by spearheading the creation of a South Grey Museum Association, “to allow all those who realize the worth of preserving the artifacts and documents of this area to participate in some way. You, the residents of this area and you, the former residents of this area must be the heart of this project. For adults a contribution of $5.00 or more annually and for students (Elementary or Secondary) a contribution of $1.00 or more annually will make you a member of the Association. The volunteering of your time and effort in any capacity will enable the South Grey Museum to progress.”
The Museum officially opened on July 21, 1973. By arranging for volunteers to ensure the museum was open for at least six months each year, it qualified for a museum grant from the province to cover much of its operating costs. And in July, The Advance acknowledged the museum as part of Flesherton’s attractiveness: “Flesherton has its own beauty, a natural swimming pool where 180 pupils are registered this summer for swimming lessons, our park with its improved tennis courts, the pavilion, the new museum, and the soldiers’ monument with its wonderful background of trees.”
Community mobilization saved the museum a second time, in 2002, when a leaking roof caused the museum to close for a while, prompting at least a few voices to question whether it should ever reopen. However, Grey Highlands Mayor Don McCausland took the initiative to call a public meeting to save the Museum. This led to creation of a steering committee of community members that organized successful federal and provincial grant applications and public fundraising to resurrect the Museum. The results — a facility with a brand new roof, enhanced insulation and exterior cladding to cover the cinder block walls. The grand reopening was yet another opportunity to recognize the community’s role in saving its heritage treasure-house.
On December 14 2024, gratitude and story-telling were highlighted when forty people gathered at the Flesherton Library to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the first full year of operation of the museum. Museum Advisory Board Chair Colleen Boer embraced the museum’s theme of gratitude by expressing the museum’s thanks to Jane Gibson and Barry Penhale, who spearheaded the creation of the Friends of the Museum group. Jane and Barry have spent decades promoting and fundraising for the Museum. They were honoured with a certificate of appreciation from their museum colleagues. Bruce Grey Owen Sound MP Alex Ruff and MPP Rick Byers expressed their gratitude for what the museum had done for the community and region, drawing particular attention to its importance in transmitting local history to younger generations. Grey Highlands Mayor Paul McQueen — Grey Highlands born and bred — echoed these thoughts and called on Museum Board member and former Grey Highlands Deputy Mayor Stewart Halliday to describe the Museum’s survival after tough times in 2002 when the leaking roof led to calls for the closing of the museum. Curator Peter Whitehead then spoke of his role in a long and distinguished line of curators who have addressed the challenges of empowering a community museum. Peter also cited its positive attendance numbers and shared the museum’s plans to expand its programming and parking space. Peter then described a growing set of relationships between Grey Highlands’ artists and the museum and he introduced ironwork artist Darrell Markewitz, founder of the Wareham Forge, who outlined the forge’s history and described the role public spaces play in exhibiting the community’s artistic output.
Speaker John Butler, and other speakers, praised the museum for its role in preserving the cherished possessions and experiences of past generations of Grey Highlanders as raw material for the telling of the community’s stories — be they bright or dark — to enlighten visitors from Grey Highlands and beyond.
Says Museum Board Chair Colleen Boer, “This occasion is our opportunity to reflect on the Museum and the role it plays in bringing all of us together. It carries a kind of symbolic weight that underscores that historical differences, even from the 1800’s or earlier, are surmountable, that some good and true things endure. One of the most important roles that the Museum can provide is to reinforce our bond with the past and keep us in touch with our best selves. To believe in art, history and culture and their ability to transform us is to believe in our community’s potential. Our telling and retelling of our stories will be the key to our success in the future.”
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