WHITI« FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY'17i 1988, PAGE 7' PAGE SEVEN For at least the last'twenty years there bas been a proposai to'designate a national holiday in February. About ten years a roientae Canada, rýealizing that' the political Yproces0 sometimes needs a kick in the pants, took it on itself todear the third Monday in February as Heritage Day. Gradually it's catching on. A few majr employers recognize the holiday and the Ontario government bas now adopted it as the beginning of Ontario Heritage Week. There hasn't been much fanfare, b.ut this is it, folks! It seems an appropriate time to reflect on where the heritage movement bas Den and where it is going. There has always been a small group of people who were interested in and studied history, but the beginning of the heritage movement per se, can be dated to the years leading up to Canada's centennial in 1967. The centennial celebration awakened an interest in our 'roots.' The impart bas been subtie but pervasive. Canadiana wnich used to go into the garbage suddenly ~~>2/ -6KvO~7~ became collectible. Most antique stores which used to sel OJ7M fV éew o yôAM Y primarily British and European items, now specialize in Canadian antiques. Books on Canadian history are regularly at the top of the ______________________________________ best seller list. An entire industry wbich produces pine and oak furniture in heritage designs has developed and now dominates the upper end of the new furniture market. The 'modemn' house designs of the fifties and sixties have been replaced by models with an historie toucb. Surveys of tourists show that historie sites and museums are among the most popular destinations. Hundreds of communities have developed their own museums to preserve the tons of tbousands of items wbich together make up the visual story of the past. I can safely say that ail but a very few people in Whitby are proud, of their heritage, or live in an old (real or reproduction) bouse, furnished M a heritage style. Yet only a small minority regard themselves as part of, or even sympathetie with, the heritage movement. Indeed a great many bave borderline contempt for ail tbings bistoric. Referring to the bistorical society as the 'bysterical' society is the odest joke in tewn. Any town - not just this one. I had a Iengthy conversation Iast week with a prominent individual in Whitby wbo commented on my last column in whicb I made a passing reference te Lynde House. His comment (more or less) was, "There goes Anderson again, sbooting himself in the foot again. Doesn't ho know when te drop an issue?" Ho used a quote from Hamlet ("The lady doth protest too mucb, methinks.") te express his sentiments. I respect tho opinion, yot on reflection I concuded tbat every successful movoment in history bas been bult on "protesting too mucb." Virtually evory advance in civilization bas been precedod by a tlny minority of dedicated people bashing their beads against bureaucratic brick walls. I'm sure the Romans tbougbt. the early Christians protested far too mucb. ("Why don't they ~~< __ give up their crazy beliefs bofore we have te kill tbem ail?") And in the early part of this century, tbe suffragettes protested so WHIITBY HIIGH SCHOOL, 1916 much that the establishment bad te give womon the vote. The The old Whitby 111gb School was built at the corner of Coiborne and Kxing Streets in 1873 wbole purpose of protest is te keep issues front-row-centre as and remodelled in 1915, a year before this picturo was taken. It was demohsbhed at the end of often as possible and as loud as possible. If that means floggng 1975 and replaced by the Windsor Place senior citizens' apartments. WhithyArchxves photo issues until you're accused of beating it te deatb, thon at least histery and there is a brandi of the Geneaiogiçai Society wnose _ :._ -,-__---y- -- - members spend many a Sunday in old gr 1oads tracing their * red Warburten, Sunday School Superintendent at Ail Saints' Anglican Cburchfor 20 own persnal familyhistorfies. There niay be others» erbsrsge ecueo 1 elh Ail of.these are part of the heriagmoe nt yet the links 0 Ea G between them -are very few. The cheffalue ftbe heritage10YER AG movement is its inability te network even aniongst sistor orga- from the Friday, February 17, 1888 edition of the ntind.s itsel a wonder, thon, that the beritage move- *Jb ilsbsbo rsne WHITBY CHRONICLE mnt ins sit eal anywihtw onclbsneseJh ili a ee rsne with an address and a fur coat for his services as secretary gopproperty oereads-wit ht ewnedt coi, uinaes of the Whitby and East Whitby Agricultural Society for the past five yoars., A couple of months ago, I was invited te address a seminar e Sleighing parties and oyster suppers are popular winter entertainments. of the Ontario Hfistorical Society on the Politicsocf Preservation. e Six people are in the Whitby Jail for violating the Scott Act which prohibits serving liquor My message was simple - keep the linos of communication, open,* in hotels. teyt see the situation from the other guy's point of view and* The basebali teams of the South Ward (Port Whitby), the Mudheads and the Coons, are build coalitions with as diverse a group as possible. peaigfrtesrn esn It hasn't happened in Whitby yet. Why don't we celebrate Ontario Heritage Week with a littie networking. ---------___________________________