Log Cabin Court House Grounds

Haldimand County Museum & Archives

Excerpts with Annotations:  From Councillor Morison's Prepared Speech in Support of Demolishing the Museum and Moving the Log Cabin *

I'd just like to say a few words if I may, and after that, you can read the new motion.
As all are aware, the ratification of this report was purposely delayed from last month to ensure that we had the ability to have the community weigh in after the planned public open houses, which took place on Nov. 22, 2016.  The open houses were well attended. . .[The vast majority of attendees were solidly against the county's proposals.]

I want to be abundantly clear that at no time did I or council ever contemplate cutting down any trees on this particular site or any site for that matter. [If sold, someone else will cut trees.]

Looking back, if we made an error, it was in saying that after the move to the consolidated administration property these lands where we are today would be declared surplus and sold.  What we should have said was that the lands would be declared surplus and a staff report would follow outlining ideas for considerations.  This is what would have happened anyway.  For no other reason than nothing happens at the county without a staff report. [Staff report outlining ideas and cost implications was not brought forward.]

Historic Log Cabin & Museum

This evening, I'm proposing that in an effort to move past this issue that all the lands remain owned by the county and used for public purposes.  I hope that everyone will be in favour to a lesser or greater degree with more green space. [What is meant by 'public purposes'?  Where is more green space coming from?]

In addition, the parking lot currently here can be as was contemplated be used as the trailhead parking for the CN Bridge Trail. [Parking behind Court House as per report.]
. . .
 I have certain ideas about how this property in part could have been used.  Many agree.  Others have other contrary ideas, and that's OK.  All of the ideas deserve consideration.  [As stated in THE HALDIMAND PRESS re: "seniors condos".]
. . .



Title Searcher Penny Plunkett *

At this stage, there has been sufficient debate and we have to make a decision.  The original plan has been altered to reflect the concerns of the museum board and members of the community. [Council's plan remains: demolish the museum, the Cayuga Admin Building, and move the log cabin.]
. . .

I met with the museum board twice and contacted and spoken by phone to all of the numbers.  After much consideration, I remain supportive of the "service delivery approach" proposed by staff in the report.  I fully recognize and support the general consensus of the community to maintain public ownership of the land for public purposes, and I support the traditional museum venue in conjunction with the staff proposed report.

And I'm currently making arrangements for an extra 800 sq. ft. to be put at the new structure.  And the further extra 800 sq. ft. to the new Cayuga library museum will add a total of 1,400 sq. ft. for the museum. [Fourteen-hundred sq. ft. in the library and eight-hundred sq. ft. storage in a new admin building basement is less than half the space available in the existing building.]


*Complete speech available at The Neat Little Bookshop [Transcript by Grant Church]

[As early as Sept. 2016, Councillor Morison spoke in the community of putting the museum into the new library.  As rumours circulated without facts and the community learned of council's intentions, there was an outcry regarding the future of the historic Court House Grounds.  At the eleventh hour, one day following the Nov. 21 Council Meeting at which ratification of the staff report was expected, an open house was hastily held. The vast majority in attendance were solidly against the county's proposals.  Morison held last-minute meetings and phone calls with the Haldimand County Museum Advisory Board.

The question remains why spend over $1,000,000 to remove the 4,400 sq. ft. museum from the property?  ]
*Penny Plunkett's presentation to council outlined the encumbrance on the Court House Grounds.  The land was left "In Trust", "For Ever", "for the purpose of erecting Gaol, Court House and other Public Buildings thereon."  What is meant by Morison's statement, "public purposes"?

Tomorrow:  The Motion

Registry Office Court House Grounds.  Genealogists and researchers can walk from one building to another.

Haldimand County Councillors have approved Report PED-GM-10-2016 which essentially dismantles the Haldimand County Museum, moves the 181-year-old Nicholas Log Cabin* to windswept Cheapside and sets the stage for the sale of the County Court House Grounds.  The current Administration Building which also sits on the grounds "...will go to ground", stated Mayor Hewitt at a Council in Committee meeting on November 15.  Councillor Corbett made it clear at the same meeting that the money from the land-sale is required to build the new centralized $18,000,000 administration building.  Many question the need for a new administration building and the lack of fiscal responsibility.

ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 12 at 6:00 p.m. councillors can and will most likely ratify the recommendations.  We encourage everyone to attend.  Let our elected representatives know that their constituents do not agree with the decisions they are making.  Please continue to send  letters, phone calls, emails expressing concern to councillors.   Mayor Hewitt conceded at the November 15 meeting that because of the volume of public response, council needs time to consider.

At a time of year that we celebrate family traditions and find time to socialize with friends, it is an effort for folks to follow the procedures and actions of municipal government, prepare presentations and appear in the council gallery.  In spite of Christmas festivities residents turned out in numbers at the hastily organized, eleventh-hour open house organized by Ward 2 Councillor Morison.

     * Tomorrow:  History of the Nicholas Log Cabin

Court House Grounds Summer 2016

This is the photo that has offended Haldimand County Councillor Fred Morison.  At the Council-in-Committee meeting on Tuesday, November 15, 2016,  Councillor Morison adamantly expressed his disapproval of a petition circulating and comments on social media prior to administrative staff reports coming to council and before council decisions.  Morison would have preferred that a better time for the petition would have been after the Council-in-Committee meeting when Report PED-GM-10-2016 was brought forward.  This report was made available to the public late Thursday, November 10 and can be ratified on December 12. 

A petition on Change.org (Search key words: log cabin), requests that Haldimand County Council save Cayuga Court House Grounds, parkland, museum, archives and 1835 log cabin.

Council has already approved at the Nov. 15th meeting to break up the museum collection and distribute it among the libraries.  Morison is holding an Open House, TUE., NOV. 22 at 2:00 and 6:30 p.m. in the Cayuga Kinsmen Community Centre to discuss these latest developments.  Please note change in location for the Open House.

[Photo:  lbw]

Zoned Residential

Court House Grounds

The historic Court House Grounds are zoned residential.  OFFICIAL PLAN SCHEDULE "B.2"  CAYUGA URBAN AREA LAND USE PLAN ~ Map Prepared by:  Haldimand County Planning & Economic Development Dept. 

"Council is not forging ahead with residential zoning as the petition [Save the Parklands, Museum & Log Cabin*] states.  There has not even been discussion about that." ~ Ward 2 Councillor Morison.  Letter to The Haldimand Press and The Sachem, Oct. 27, 2016.

*  Change.org (Search key words i.e. log cabin)  Thank you for signing.

[Photos:  lbw]  UPDATE:  Since Report PED-GM-10-2016 became available on Thu., Nov. 10, it has become public knowledge that the County Court House Grounds are currently zoned "Institutional". 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 21 at 1:00 p.m.

 

KIRK DU GUID & ROBERT OTTERMAN

 

Author Kirk Du Guid interviewed two dozen Haldimand Veterans and published "in their own words",

 

Soldiers' Stories

 

Join us in the bookshop ~ Coffee & tea always on...

 

 



 

 

Kirk Du Guid interviewed soldiers in the Haldimand area and in their own words published for posterity their stories.

"[Soldiers]  hope by telling their stories they will leave a legacy, so that our youth can understand what happens in conflict, and why people go to 'serve'."
~ Kirk Du Guid.

Other books by Kirk Du Guid THE FIRST COLD CASE, THE FIRST DRUG SQUAD, Du Guid's Anthology and To the Last Round.

The Neat Little Bookshop is pleased to make available a limited quantity of Soldiers' Stories.  We also have limited quantities of THE FIRST DRUG SQUAD and Du Guid's Anthology.  Books by local authors make thoughtful gifts.

The second printing of Soldiers' Stories includes additional special soldier stories.

At Cottonwood Mansion

 

Shirley Otterman   Norma Mowat   Harold Schaus

 

Thank you, Norma Mowat & Harold Schaus Canadian veterans, for your service 

 

Corporal Harold Schaus poses with his son, Ken Schaus

Haldimand County Hydro trucks in use; however, may not be for long ~

"Coffee-table books provide one type of view of Ontario.  Prize-winning photographs ~ of Queen's Park, Fort Henry, a fall fair, Tillsonburg's main street, Agawa Canyon, gingerbread trim, the steamboat Segwun, the Blue Jays, Mennonites haying, and so on ~ present Ontario as a recreational playground in a benign setting.  The heritage village at Lang ~ or Doon, or Black Creek, or Morrisburg ~ has its page, too.  It is the predictable reminder that history is found behind a ticket window, through a turnstile.    'Foodland Ontario' is another popular subject;: a roadside stall of sweet corn in Leeds County, a 'U-pick' strawberry or apple farm in Halton, the weekly vegetable market in the corner of a shopping mall in Waterdown, or an estate winery's tasting boutique in Grimsby."
. . .
"The old Ontario landscape is a remnant and has been attacked from both the city side and the cottage side for years.  Suburbanization is rural renewal with no opportunity of going back to an earlier, less crowded era.  Beyond, former city folks ('exurbanites') attempt to maintain a country look, but with no intention of being rural."
. . .
"A drive between Shelburne and Collingwood is a showcase of rural Ontario in the 1990s.  This is a countryside of marketing boards, crop insurance, RRSPs, and CD players.  Farm kitchens have filing cabinets, personal computers, and fax machines.  The number of low metal farm buildings is greater than seems proper.  The nineteenth-century houses are more and more noteworthy amid so many new dwellings, both at the roadside and back on the farm.  It may still be rural, but the feeling is changing.  The city has become the standard, and the old, comfortable countryside is rapidly becoming part of folklore."

Thomas F. McIlwraith, LOOKING FOR OLD ONTARIO, University of Toronto Press, 1997

"The barns of old Ontario speak for themselves as ageless artistic works of great power, built for the millennium.  Gaps between barn boards are not the result of carelessness but were deliberately included, to provide for air circulation.  They also admit filtered light, and an empty barn in June, just before the first hay is garnered, can inspire thoughts of medieval cathedrals.  The silver-grey boards and lustreless steel roofs signal a timeless commitment to the land."

~ Thomas F. McIlwraith, LOOKING FOR OLD ONTARIO, University of Toronto Incorporated, 1997.

The New Haldimand County Fire Dept. Station 4 in Cayuga

Clearly Visible Behind the Doors:  Fire Trucks





Sign on Door: "This Station is NOT Staffed"

The New EMS STATION 3

 

 

Lest We Forget

 



"No Road To Glory"

"The mad 4th.; the fighting 4th~ -- Ypes, St. Julienne, Regina Trench, Vimy, Hill 70 -- Where now?  Hell, if you like, bring on your Huns!
"A halt was called at Marie Qu'Appelle,  where a week or ten days was spent in further training and polishing up for the coming show;  bayonet and bombing practice, formation in attack, establishing communications, entrenching and marching.  It was now generally known that the corps was to participate in the big offensive on Passchendaele Ridge, and that the Canadians were to have a shot at the position which had proved a stumbling block since early in July."

by Major A. R. Thompson, late 4th
Battalion, C.E.F.

 

"No Road To Glory" by A.R. Thompson

     "Although many tons of wire were used...,and hundreds of miles of entanglements constructed, little was heard about the men who, night after night, toiled away at a job which, though dangerous enough, was not in the least spectular, and did not lead along the paths of glory.  Like many another useful branches of the Service, wiring parties were not concerned with matters of attack; their activities were confined to the construction and repair of barb-wire entanglements.
[...]
     "During the Summer of 1917, the 1st Brigade boasted a wiring party, consisting of two officers and forty men who were detailed for discipline and rations to the 1st Field Company, Canadian Engineers.  Their duty was to look after the entanglements on the Brigade front under the supervision of the Engineer Officer Commanding.
     "The standard obstruction was the South African double apron fence.  Iron stakes with corkscrew points were screwed into the ground by inserting the handle of an entrenching tool through a loop at the top end of the stake, and turning, as one would, a fence auger. [The author includes a detailed description of the entanglement.]
     "On fronts badly pitted with shell holes, or on ground where it was not practical to erect the standard type, frame works were woven in the trenches, or in craters, and rolled into position at intervals where they were secured by short stakes and connected up by a number of loose strands of wire which were fastened from one frame to the other.  This method was often used when working in close to an enemy position, as it was possible to do most of the work by crawling around on the belly, and so avoid, to some extent, the hazard of noise and the movement of ducking for flares.  If a flare broke before a man got down, his only chance was to stand stock-still and pray to be mistaken for a blasted tree stump.
     "At Hill 70, the Brigade wiring-party wired up a gap on the left flank of the 2nd Battalion which had been left in the air by a neighbouring unit.  It was a diagonal stretch of about 100 yards, and at the nearest point not more than fifty yards from the German front line trench.  This chore was finished without a casualty, but had to be done all over again next night.  Heinie had knocked everything to pieces;  wiring was like that -- at times it was damned annoying."

~ Excerpt from "No Road To Glory" by Major A.R. Thompson, son of Colonel Andrew T. Thompson.  Major Thompson served overseas with the famous 4th Battalion, C.E.F. and was for a time brigade wiring officer of the First Brigade.

[Note:  In order to read the excerpts chronologically, begin with Tuesday, November 4 post.]

www.studiobabette.ca

www.ruthvenpark.ca

"No Road To Glory" by A. R. Thompson

"Four hundred yards..."

     "Shells droned overhead, searching out dumps and batteries in the back areas; scout machines flew back and forth over the front.  The day wore on uneventfully, almost monotonously.  A machine gun spat intermittently; a sniper's bullet sang.  The air was filled with a medley of those humming, buzzing sounds like a chorus of insects in July.  The men in 'D' Company amused themselves in various ways.  Cards and Crown and Anchor boards had been pulled from pockets and packs, and several games were always in progress.  Others smoked and chatted about the things they missed and yearned for;  some slept, stretched full length in the sun.

     "With the coming of night, the Company bestirred itself, for under cover of darkness the bulk of the work was done.  The Deb., as Jones had been nick-named, was detailed with his platoon to act as a ration party and take supplies from the transport wagons, which came up to this reserve trench, to the front line company.  They moved over land as far as the support line where they dropped into a communication trench.  Here the going was slow, as it was still sticky from a recent rain.  Presently they reached the front line where all was as quiet as the grave.  Conversation with a 'A' Company officer disclosed the Hun as very quiet so far, and rather suspected of being up to something.
     ' How far from the German Lines?' asked Jones, staring into the darkness across that stretch of waste called No-Man's Land.
     ' About four hundred yards.  It's quite a respectable distance, and gives a chap a chance to breathe out loud.  If you've delivered your goods though, you'd better get away;  we're sending out a wiring party, and if Heinie gets wise he may send greetings."
     ' It was certain he had already got his nightly windup as flares were now popping all along the line.  The ration party was impatient to be off."

Tomorrow:  "Footslogger/ wiring-officer Jones and his "intimate association with barb wire."

[To the new Reader:  In order to follow Jones' story chronologically, you may want to begin with Tuesday, November 4th blog post.]

"No Road To Glory" by Major A.R. Thompson

    

 
"The 4th Battalion was at Neuville St. Vaast, dawdling until dusk when they would move off to take over their piece of the front.
      The newcomer was introduced to the Colonel and others of Headquarters staff, and was posted to "D" Company, No. 16 Platoon.  At the order to fall in, the Company Commander gave some brief instructions and the whole moved off at a slow, ambling gait in formation of Indian file.  Each platoon was headed by a guide, furnished from the out-coming battalion. Over the crest of the ridge past Farbus Wood they led.  The skeletons of trees - mere stumps and amputations - stood forth like ghostly sentinels, fantastic in the gathering gloom.

[That night, Jones had been tired and somewhat homesick.  He had fallen asleep thinking "a lot of things he couldn't tell to anyone, not even to the Colonel."]

By the side of the road a carrion horse lay where it fell.  The carcass, which was full blown out from putrid gases, stenched and stank most horribly.  Suddenly the column, trudging silently into the night, came under fire.  A rushing sound, that filled the air, screamed past and roared beyond, as shell after shell followed in quick succession.  Each one seemed closer than the last, and bursting rocked the grounds.  Jones rubbed his eyes and wondered - could they all be hit but he?  The whole platoon was stretched upon the ground.  The guide who, a moment before, had walked beside him, and all those following behind, were down.  By what miracle had he been saved?  Now, they were up again.  What did it all mean?
     'My God, Sir,' said a Non-Com, 'That last was a close one.  You'd better duck if we get another like that.'
     Then he understood.  'On the hands down,' which had always seemed a good deal of a bore before breakfast, had been particular training for the useful trick of ducking.
[...]
As the debutante subaltern became acquainted, his feeling of strangeness wore away.  Talk of Toronto, Hamilton, Brantford, and other familiar places in old Ontario brought the spirit of home to his unfamiliar surroundings.  He swapped yarns;  made friends with his Sergeants and Corporals, and took unto himself a batman, a red-haired, cheery-faced farm lad called Sowers."

Tomorrow: Four Hundred Yards From the German Lines.



"Drew" A. R. Thompson

[Map Source:  Neuville St. Vaast:  Wikipedia]

"No Road To Glory"

Le Havre

"At last Jones received orders to join his Battalion in the war zone.  He left the night-club life at the base without regret, and wondered if the front line trenches could be any hotter than Le Havre.

 

The first stage to rail-head was hardly a cheerful affair.  It was an all-night journey, and quarters were rather too cramped for anything but a hedgehog.  There were six occupants in the compartment, and four of these were morose and gloomy, as they were returning from leave.  A ration of bully beef and hard-tack had been issued before entraining, and the novelty, coupled with the idea of real campaigning, rather appealed to Jones.  When he gave voice to his enthusiasm, an Austrian, a particularly hard-boiled specimen of that rugged species, ruffled at having to leave London for 'Somewhere,' cussed the rookie for a 'damned young fool.' "

The Family Home in Haldimand that Thompson Left Behind to Go to War

[Tomorrow:  "On The Hands Down."]

[Written by Major A.R.Thompson for the Canadian Military Gazette.  Thompson's own experiences appeared as a series in the publication during the war years 1940s]

"No Road to Glory"

Harfleur, France

"Months of intensive, extensive and expensive training elapses before young Jones set foot upon the soil of France.  Stepping down the gangplank of the Channel packet which had crossed under cover of darkness from Folkestone, he felt that at last the great adventure had begun in earnest.  Harfleur, France had fanned the flames of fanciful reflection.  It conjured up visions of the English King, Henry, who, after he had captured the ancient port in 1415 marched on to the brilliant victory of Agincourt.  Now the old town was a British camp occupied by British troops, not as enemies and invaders, but as allies and comrades-in-arms.  Those little red patches of the 1st Division which he had recently acquired, seemed to be his golden spurs of knighthood.

"Three weeks were spent in idling at the base.  These days would have proved boring enough but for the excellence of the dinners at Tortoni's.  This restaurant was a famous rendezvous for the beginning of the ending of a spree in those days of wine, women and song, days of a last carousal before the plunge into the unknown -- the hazard with death.  It may seem strange that lads of conventional upbringing, about to enter into the valley of the shadow, should turn a deaf ear to the teachings of the Almighty and spend their last moments of security with the devil as a buddy.  However, most of the army were gamblers, playing their stakes, life against death, and pleasure against perdition.  Were God a Mrs. Grundy, then are the cenotaphs mere empty tombs indeed.

"At last Jones received orders to join his Battalion in the war zone."

~ NO ROAD TO GLORY, by Major A. R. Thompson, late 4th Battalion, C.E.F.

Tomorrow: The 4th Battalion.  [Graphics:  Wikipedia]

"No Road To Glory"

Major A. R.. Thompson "Drew"

"At a field dressing station Jones asked for rum, and someone passed him a cigarette tin full.  He gulped down the fiery liquid seeking oblivion but still he could find no ease.  Writhing, he tried to turn, and put his weight on Sowers' mangled leg.
'Lieutenant Jones here?' called a voice.
'He's inside,' answered an orderly.  'Be careful where you tread, they're all pretty bad and the place is crammed full.'
'Hello Jonsey old chap," said Church, 'your platoon ran right into that little strafe -- about eight bulls on the duck walk.  Just three of your men turned up.  They told a pretty bad story.  Jolly sent me back to find out what had happened.  What was your strength goin in?"
'Thirty-on.'
'Three arrived with whole skins; ten are lying out there dead, probably a few more drowned;  fifteen, counting you, are here; they just about wiped you out.'
'H--?' queried Jones.
'Dead, the first I saw as I come along.'
'Poor chap,' sobbed Jones, 'five minutes sooner we'd have been all clear.  We waited all to long for H--.  Tonight, which was it, chance or destiny?"

Written by Major A. R. Thompson (Drew). Major Thompson served overseas with the famous 4th Battalion, C.E.F. and was for a time brigade wiring officer of the First Brigade.  "No Road to Glory" appeared in serial form in the Canadian Military Gazette during the Second World War.

~ Canadian Military Gazette  NAVY -- ARMY-- AIR FORCE, Established 1885.

[In the days leading up to November 11, The Neat Little Bookshop will follow one soldier's story in the first World War.]