Current News
Welcome to our website!
The Friends of the Schoolhouse web site will keep you informed about The Old Britannia Schoolhouse and the activities
and events planned by the Friends' organization. We encourage you to check this site often. New information will
be added monthly.
Winter 2010 Newsletter Online
Our latest newsletter is now online. It contains interesting historical information about the first Winter Olympics held in Chamonix France in 1924 as well as a recipe for cookies to help you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Maple Sugar Festival
March 17 to 20
Come out and enjoy a first taste of Spring at the Jack Smythe Field Centre maple sugar bush. Trees will be tapped and the sap boiled down in the sugar shack to produce sweet maple syrup. This was an important source of sugar for the native peoples and the early pioneers. Cane sugar imported from the tropics, even when available, was very costly. The field center is at 14592 Winston Churchill Boulevard north of Terra Cotta.
St. Patrick’s Day
Many Canadians can trace their heritage back to Ireland. During the devastating potato famine in 1831 the starving Irish left their homeland seeking a better life Many died on ships bound for North America. In 1846, 32,753 immigrants arrived at the port of Quebec, most of them from Ireland and almost all seriously ill. Despite this tragic beginning the immigrants eventually found a home in Canada and became an important part of our heritage.
On March 17 each year almost everyone becomes “Irish” for the day to celebrate St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. But who was he?
St. Patrick was a Roman Briton born about 387 in what is now Scotland. His father, Calpornius, was a deacon in the Roman Catholic church and his grandfather Potitus was a priest. His mother’s name was Concessa. When he was about 14 Patrick was kidnapped and taken as a slave to Ireland. There he lived for six years, working as a herdsman. One day, he writes, he heard a voice telling him to escape to the coast where he would find a boat waiting to take him home. He managed to get to a port two hundred miles away and boarded a boat to take him back to Scotland. There he lived, worked and studied for a number of years. He had another vision which urged him to return to Ireland to work among the Christians. He lived in Ireland for the rest of his life and for much of the latter half of the fifth century he baptized thousands of people, ordained priests and converted wealthy women and the sons of the Irish kings. Two letters that he wrote have survived to the present day and describe details of his work.
There is uncertainty around the date of his death. Some indicate that he lived to be 120 years old, others 106. The commonly accepted date is March 17, 460. St. Patrick is considered the patron saint of Ireland and March 17 is his feast day.
Several legends are associated with St. Patrick. It is claimed that he drove the snakes out of Ireland but it is more likely that no snakes survived the ice age. He may also have used the shamrock, a plant with three leaves native to Ireland, to illustrate the concept of the trinity in church belief. Today we don’t include the snake in our symbols of St. Patrick’s Day but the shamrock remains as a reminder of all that is Irish.
Enjoy an Irish meal on St. Patrick’s Day. Irish stew or corned beef and cabbage are a couple of choices.
For an Irish Stew combine cubes of lamb stew meat, potatoes, onions, carrots, salt, pepper, a little dried dill and enough water to cover these ingredients. Brown the lamb before adding everything to a slow cooker and cook until meat and vegetables are tender. Thicken gravy if necessary with a mixture of flour and milk.
For Corned Beef and Cabbage put a cut up onion. 4 large potatoes, 4 large carrots, 2 or 3 garlic cloves (minced), 3 cups water, a bay leaf, 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp cider vinegar and a dash of pepper in a crock pot. Place a 2 to 3 lb. piece of beef brisket on top of vegetables Finally add a small head of cabbage cut into wedges. Cook until meat and vegetables are tender, about 8 hours on low.
Open Sunday March 13
1 to 4pm
We will have a display of vintage indoor games and toys for you to enjoy. Play a game of skittles or marbles. Children may plant a sunflower seed and take it home to watch it grow and later plant in their garden.
Moments Over Time
Photo Contest
The Field Centres are celebrating their 40th anniversary by hosting a photo contest and are offering great prizes and a photo gallery of pictures from the past to the present. Dig out those great schoolhouse photos and submit them.
Categories include:
Vintage (5 years or older)
Action – interactions between nature and participants
Nature (no people)
Discovery – "ah ha" moments
Humour – bloopers, mud covered participants, stilt races
Original Artwork – drawings, sculptures, paintings
Best in Show
Deadline for submission: May 1 2010.
Contact Schoolmaster Dennis Patterson (dennis.j.patterson@peelsb.com) for more information.
Membership Drive
If you haven’t already renewed your membership in the Friends of the Schoolhouse for 2010 it’s time to do so. We welcome new members. Membership forms can be downloaded and printed using this link.
Members play a vital part in preserving the schoolhouse and maintaining and expanding the programs for children who spend a day experiencing school life of long ago. Members receive four newsletters a year, additional notices of events, and are invited to an appreciation “Lemonade on the Lawn” event in July. In addition there are opportunities to volunteer on committees and at events.
Open Sundays 2010
1 to 4 pm - Something new every month with light refreshments
For more information about our Open Sunday programs go to the Events page.
Mark Your Calendar
To see a list of our year’s events go to the Events page.
Researching our Roots
Joan Reid has done a wonderful job of documenting the history of the Old Britannia Schoolhouse as well as many of the other early one room schoolhouses in Peel. There is still much more to discover. Read below for a wish list of “Wanted” items that will help us learn more about our historic schoolhouse.
For use in a book on one-room schools in Peel County:
- Minute Books
- Cash Books
- Class Photos
- Report Cards
- Prize Ribbons
- Medals
- Certificates
- Shields
- Contracts
- Trustee Memorabilia
- Teacher Memorabilia
- Newspaper Clippings
- School Registers
Your contribution will be acknowledged. Materials supplied will either be returned to you or donated to the Peel County Archives on your behalf.
SLATE Group
SLATE stands for So Let’s All Talk Education (in a one room school), or as one witty person suggested, being truly Canadian, So Let’s All Talk Eh! Each year for a day in the spring people involved in working or volunteering in living history one room schoolhouses get together to exchange ideas and learn from each other. We meet at a different schoolhouse location each year which gives everyone the opportunity to experience how living history is presented in a setting different from their own.
If you are a staff member or volunteer in a living history one room schoolhouse and would like more information about SLATE, contact:
Helen Booth
Museum Director
Town of Lincoln's Jordan Historical Museum
3800 Main Street
Jordan, ON. L0R 1S0
905-562-5242
Fax: 905-562-7786
www.lincoln.ca
