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waremoo cumulus evicting-day. December 19,2012 on g C ’ antmg $01116 see S , O C I V O I ' Waterloo s agricultural hentage and Impact focus ofWaterloo Museum exhibit 3.va (“We at the “it of Waterloo flatmates g Clientele Stet! newest exhibit celebrating the " mmm ” '- . community's agrarian past called “in: was”; 1135‘»de an“ Wm e've all heard the story of Agricultural Roots ‘33: Ii 5' .4 __ . , . 3‘ A; 1;." how Abraham Erb's grist~ “The grist mill formed the (”it y Ah . m . t1. mill was Waterloo's first nucleus of the city and we grew out it .9}; " ‘ . g 5 1’4»? business and led to founding of from there.“ said Karen Vanden- i iii; ' ' “if .’ ‘ the city. Brink. manager of heritage services But did you know it was all a for the city. “The exhibit starts out “p h v mistake? Erb was one of the Men‘ from our early origins and goes EED ‘ 0“ A - A g, ; nonite farmers who was attracted from there." 0” I ' ‘ '0 8 it J 3' '3 f ' ‘ to the area from Pennsylvania And it's a colourful past. Have because of the arable land. you heard of the story of the Willow ‘ a. '5 But when he arrived he found King. who pioneered a novel solu- j _. out the bottomland he owned was tion to riverbank erosion that was more than a little waterlogged. patented and shipped around There was no way he could pm- North America? duce a decent crop. Oliver Scheifele's revolutionary But the Beaver Creek. now methodofusingwillow branchesto known as Laurel (Zreek, did run shore up the banks ofwaterways in through his property. It provided an 1921 might have been inspired by excellent source of running water the willow trees he saw in Waterloo and lead to the construction of one Park. said VandenBrink. He might of the area's first water-powered have noticed how once a willow gristmills. shoot was submerged in water it lirb had no idea his little side would quickly grow roots along its \\ project would become one of the length and it would stabilize the best mill sites west of the Grand earth around it. The Ontario Seed Company, operating for more than 100 years, is one of the pillars of Waterloo's agricultural River. and farmers who needed Scheifele came up with the idea past being celebrated in a new exhibit at the City of Waterloo Museum. ammo; their grain ground down to the of using hundreds of those poles Hour of life would travel more than interwined to hold riverbanks in and Canadian Pacific. He also to the sands of time. His widow said. as Ontario Seed Company a day's journey to get in line with place. He quickly won contracts branched out into the United sold his business along with his ships out more than 40 million the others waiting forthcservioe. with big players like Dominion States, winning contracts from the patents. and his legacywas lost. packets of seedsayear. That's just one of the stories on Public Works, Ontario Highways U.S. government to monitor the VandenBrink said the only rem- If you want to see why it’s been Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. nants of his business might be the so successful for more than 100 ‘ before openinganoffice in Buffalo. willow trees that'still populate years. the exhibit has some of the - But the Great Depression Waterloo Park. “We think there are early advertising and seed cata- : seemed to affect his business like definite connections to the willows logue's that helped establish the many others in 1931. and his enter- around Silver lake," she said. roots of the company. ' prise began to struggle. He was While that provides some dra- To call it artwork would be an . down to working out of his own matic tension to the story of Water- understatement as vibrant colours garage by H133 and was fulfilling an loo's agricultural roots. there is still and mouthwatering vegetables order for London. Ont., to plant one business that continues to dominate the original advertising. 4,000 willow shoots along the carry the city's banner into the It is interestingtoseetheuseoflan- Thames River when tragedy struck. world ~ Ontario Seed Company. guage used in the print ads. loaned His wife became worried when Founded in 1906 by Otto Herald to the City of Waterloo for display. he didn‘t show up for dinner on the as the Pioneer Canadian Seed All of them have words like “mas- night of April 18. 1933. She might Growers in Waterloo. it was bought sive” and “giant” implying the high â€"- have even had something special by Jacob UfTelman in l9l6 and his yields that farmers would get. planned for his 50th birthday. family continues to run the busi “Everything is luscious looking,” She found him dead. and the ness at its King Street location in saidVandenBrink. official cause of death was suicide uptown Waterloo. “They still oper- The exhibit Agricultural Roots is bygun shot to the head. ate it today, and it still is a huge on until Mar. 1 at the museum Unfortunately. what could have business." said VandenBrink. located at Conestoga Mall. To see been one of Waterloo’s most inter- It is still one ofthe largest whole- its special holiday hours visit This cradle scythe is one of the implements on display at the museum. esting green businesses is now lost sale seed suppliers in Canada, she www.waterloo.ca/ museum. («Incantumtmm IT'S SIM"! - GIT APPROVED ”DAV , it ~ . . 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