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page 22 RIDEAU CANAL SYSTEM The year 1982 will mark the 150th anniversary of the Rideau Canal system. The ' Seward’ Refrlgerahon federal Department of the Environment, Parks Canada will be celebrating the occasion in high style. A Citizen's Committee of mostly interested historical societies and festival groups has been formed from Ottawa to Kingston. The canal has been divided into three areas, northern, central and southern with each area controlled by an anniversary committee. All sectors will be united under a Coordinating Committee made up of the three area Chairmen. The celebration plans to feature aspects of community life that are unique to the area in which it is developed, and if this uniqueness can be publicized it will attract visitors from outside. Their presence in the community generates new demand for goods and service. The money they spend is new money for the community in which it is spent and thus economic return is possible to the community but unfortunately, not for the Committee. The committee's function is to provide a base upon which community entities can organize and conduct the celebration. It will co-ordinate events and schedules, provide information, and assistance to program sponsors, provide publicity and information to regional media outlets and maintain liaison at committee level. IN HOME SAME DAY SERVICE T0 ALL MAJOR APPLIANCES REFRIGERATORS, STOVES, WASHERS, DRYERS, FREEZERS, AND AIR CONDITIONERS. SMALL APPLIANCES ALSO CALL 272 - 2767 WE ACCEPT ' MasterCard PHILIPSVILLE W. I. conscious relationship with religion and of family cohesiveness; a host of communities and residents can identify their ancestry with the canal construction period. Continuity is a dominating characteristic of the canal and the community. When opened for navigation in 1832, the Rideau Canal was internationally acclaimed as the engineering master piece in all North America. That was an exceptional accolation considering the poor state of this floundering colony. The great dam at Jones Falls drew special attention, as did the eight locks in flight at Bytown. They still do. The Rideau Canal has well served Eastern Ontario. Many communities were founded in proximity to mills and communication points. Settlement principally was agrarian and villages and towns were of a market nature. They remain thus. Today, the agricultural-industrial-commercial tax base of most communities is to some respons- ible extent dependent upon the annual infusion of visitors. In one of several studies undertaken by CORTS (Canada-0ntario-Rideau-Trent-Severn), guests of the UH Club. This proved to be a fun filled night. After the girls had their meeting, we were treated to a buffet style lunch, which was prepared by the girls. The menu was "What came first, the chieken 0r the egg?" The lunch con- a sisted of two kinds of chicken dishes, salads and dressing with rolls. For dessert there was apple crisp,cream I.’ puffs, and a treat for all Black For- est Cake made by Theresa Schmocker of Switzerland. She and her family are 1 new in this area, and live at the Bar- ‘ HISTORY __ In Kingston, on May 24, 1832, Lt. Col. John By, Royal Engineers, boarded the 80 The Philipsville W.I. met at the A foot steamer, 'Rideau' to undertake a final inspection of the canal he had constructed home of Mary Sutcliffe in Portland. f and to inaugurate the opening of the system for navigation. 1982 will mark the 150th President, Faye Jansen, opened the anniversary of that auspicious occasion. meeting with the Ode and Mary Stewart The Rideau Canal is now respected as being the nation's oldest continuously Collect. Roll Call was answered by f operating and best preserved canal. On several occasions through turbulent periods giving signs of spring. Minutes were I . the fate of the system was in jeopardy. Indeed, a proposition was seriously put read and approved, new business was ‘ that the canal be abandoned, that more exigenous use of funds be made. Fortunately, dealt with and the crewel work is to 1 rational thinking prevailed, the canal was retained. Today_ the values it affords be ready for the Achievement Day to all Canadians are incalculable. be held in Brockville on March 25th. ' Each lockstation, well maintained and hand operated, is a link in a precious chain We Will be serving lunches at some of historical and social virtues unique on the North American continent. Many auction sales in April. communities have close affinity with the canal; people hold it in high esteem. They Mary Sutcliffe gave a very interesting l want to celebrate the 150th birthday. talk on the pant making course she 1 The values evidenced by the canal system itself are wholly complemented by the took, and had a pair to show. many visible entities situated alongside the 197 kilometer waterway. These include The meeting closed followed by a lunch settler's houses of log, frame, stone or brick with each portraying a characteristic which included a birthday cake for the q mode and threading in singularly impressionable form through the entire length of Institutes birthday. g the corridor. Old mills are here to demonstrate the practical aspects of agriculture . . . , . . . . Mary Sutcliffe and Leorene Hayes were k and industry, strikingly situated churches and subdued cemeteries reflect the invited to the home of Diane Haskin as 2 x 1 é A I l The Rideau Canal corridor is acknowledged as evidencing exceptional historical, ker farm. , cultural and recreational resources. It has faculty of serving a diverse recreation- We were served a St. Patrick's Day al market. ' punch. EXISTING CONDITIONS Some 70 municipalities lie within this corridor. A multiplicity of jurisdictions ‘ prevail over land and water. The resident population is about 400,000, including Ottawa's 300,000 population. Paradoxically, the image which the canal has in Ottawa is low. Although three lockstations are contained in this section, each is subjugated by land profiles and extraneous visual distractions. Their presence is not easily recognized and consequently interest, and visitor traffic, is minimal. Few Ottawans realize that the Rideau Canal extends beyond Hogs Back; few have more than a transitory acquain- tanceship with communities along the corridor. Most could name or locate one lockstation. Beyond the immediate confines of the Rideau Canal the waterway is, for all practical‘ considerations, unknown. Provincial tourist literature offers only casual reference to the system and communities. The significant extents of history, culture and recreation resources recognized by the province are not put to gainful use in its promotional programs. Throughout 148 years of operation no jubilee by the canal has aroused the interest of the population to want a celebration. The 100th anniversary in 1932 passed largely unnoticed principally because of the nation-wide economic depression then prevailing. Kingston's tricentennial in 1973 focussed on earlier history. In 1976 only minor acknowledgement was given the 150th year since start of construction. Conception is not as publicly proclaimed as birth. That year, the City of Ottawa celebrated its sesquicentennial and while Col. By and the Rideau Canal was afforded some recogni- tion, the focus essentially was on Bytown and Ottawa. Today, some twelve months in advance of 1982, a noticeable interest in the canal's 150th anniversary is being evidenced. Municipalities, governments, tourist groups, business firms and citizens are responding in strong and positive terms. Since it is their capacities that will provide the thrust of operations, the outlook for a successful anniversary appears to be favourable. As an institute member, I must say that it was a nice group of girls which we sponsored. ANNIVERSARY MAGNITUDE B k ’ F d S Any attempt to estimate the number of individual events that will be presented in u er s ee ture 1982, and the number of citizens who will be planning and conducting the majority f 272-2545 of those events, should allow a large margin of error. However, cognizance of the For ul' possible size and intensity of this overall program can provide for improved rationale in planning considerations. In recognizing that the level of interest in the anniversary now being displayed through the region is of a more responsible order than mere casual acknowledgement, and that the potential use of resources prevalent along the waterway corridor is largely untapped, the following numerical estimates are offered in conscious