Current Activities

March 22 - "The Amazing History of Oak Island" - St. Stephen's Parish Centre, Regent Street. 7:30 PM.

Join Chester Municipal Heritage Society member Danny Hennigar for a one hour talk on the amazing history of Oak Island. Find out what Pierre Elliott Trudeau's interest was in the island along with many other famous people. Hear about the curse of Oak Island, attempts to solve the mystery, deaths, incredible feats of daring and a history that is over 200 years old. Admission is free.

Lordly House restoration is happening!! We are closed for the season but you may access our heritage displays, files, information at the Chester Train Station, 20 Smith Rd. by calling 275-3826 for an appointment

During the 250^th celebration 29000 volunteer hours were given and over 5000 participants attended the various events. You need to keep in mind that these figures represent only the events that were funded or run by the Heritage Society’s 250^th committee. There were many other events that were not included in this count. Support came from everyone and every organization that we contacted including council. I can’t say enough about the willingness of people to help, and that help made the celebration a success. We had many compliments on the banners that were placed throughout the municipality and I want to thank council for their support in installing and removing these banners. At this point we need to decide what to do with them once warmer weather arrives. One option would be donating them to the municipality for on-going use another would be to auction or sell them.

We are hoping that the cooperation between the various groups which worked so well during this celebration will continue on future projects.

Did you buy a window? So sorry, you missed out. We needed 19 windows for Lordly House and have sold all of them , each to be plaqued, at $500.00 a piece . They will be replicas of the windows that are in the house and we will re-use the old glass panes in the new sashes. Our on-going fund raising, if successful, will enable us to continue with the installation of the windows, wiring of the main house, insulating, and shingling . We hope to see the blue and orange tarps disappear this year.

The skating area at Lordly Park is ready and has been in use, but the weather certainly hasn’t cooperated, even so a winter fun day is planned for the park on February 20^th from 1 to 3 PM. As part of the Take the Roof off of Winter program. Hot chocolate will be available here at the hall.

We will continue to host heritage based presentations throughout the year. Should you have any suggestions for programs you would like to have presented please let a member of the society know.

And now where and what are we doing that is new in 2010….what does the future hold?

The Maple Cottage Stabilization committee is in the process of obtaining an engineering plan for Maple Cottage, the first municipal office. As Mr. Keddy announced tonight, we have received an accessibility grant from the Federal Government to install a ramp, and an accessible washroom facility in Maple Cottage. The Municipality of the District of Chester has provided another $20,000 toward the stabilization of the building. A work plan for the installation of the foundation, stabilization of the main building, water pipes, washroom, sewage and electric power for this building are underway, with work scheduled to begin shortly after March 1st. We expect to hear back from a federal heritage legacy grant application for Maple Cottage sometime in March. Should we receive that grant we will be able to complete the work at Maple Cottage this year, making it a year round site for research, programming and small group meetings.

Finally I would like to tell you about the work we are doing to develop a municipal view of what programs and interpretation Lordly Estate Municipal Museum might offer to the residents of the municipality. We do not wish to usurp any of the focus other historical groups within the municipality may be pursing, but rather to compliment them and offer services that perhaps they don’t now have, or that we might join together to develop. We have a unique opportunity to tailor this municipal museum to meet the need of the entire municipal community.

To this end we applied for and received a provincial grant from the Tourism, Heritage and Culture Department to hire two consultants, Sally Warren and Margrete Khristensen to guide us through this process. They will be contacting people by email, phone and meetings to gather this information. Their report is due the end of March. A copy of the questionnaire was provided by e-mail to our mailing list, and in the Chester Times publication this month. My thanks to Adam Jacobs from the Lighthouse Publishing who made that possible. I can’t stress enough that this is a municipal initiative, not just the village. Please take the time to fill it out. We are very interested in your comments and suggestions regarding this matter.

Another aspect of this grant will be a school program for students at the grade six level throughout the municipality. Currently this program is under development and will be tested with a sample class to ensure that there are no changes needed to make it an interactive, educationally sound presentation. This program will be offered next year in October and May and than each year after that on a regular basis so that teachers can add it to their curriculum plans. In the future we will continue to develop other programs that can be offered to the students at different levels.

Summer will bring a multi day star camp , with and a paid instructor and hopefully other group partners. This camp will run during race week and provide space for up to 15 children 7 – 12 to learn about stars, though play, art, activities and experiments. It will also include a star night when the community at large will be invited to join us for a star night.

In closing I want to thank you for your support of the Lordly Estate Restoration Project throughout 2009 and ask that you will continue to support the on-going fund raising efforts needed to complete the project.

The annual auction and flea market was a huge success, thanks to every one who donated, bid and assisted.

We invite you to take an active part in the activities and help to celebrate our 250th birthday.

Throughout this year we have been very busy with the completion of Lordly park, the fund raising kick off for the restoration of Lordly Estate, finalization of a concept and business plan developed by Arbic and Genesis Consulting for the society, and an update of the society’s bylaws. We conducted membership drives, developed a governance document , updated the society’s policies, established a committee to coordinate the 250^th anniversary celebrations of the Municipality of the District of Chester and applied for government grants that were applicable to our situation.

The society voted in January to accept responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the proposed restoration project of Lordly House and its related buildings and properties. A fund raising committee will continue its work and a building committee was struck to begin the work of gathering information needed to begin the project. The plan at the present time is to begin work in spring or summer this year.

We received a license for additional land to the east of the Hawboldt Exhibit at the station where the water tower once stood. It is our intention to eventually clear the area of bushes and make it a picnic area. The survey required by the DNR of the station lands was completed by Mr. Backman. Sink holes in the land near the pump house and nearer the road were filled in and seeded. The insurance at the station was increased to provide better coverage as recommended by our agent.

Mr. Mosher began the finishing work at Lordly park. Brad Armstrong continued working to develop the wet land area and the walking paths. Trees were planted from the money donated by the van de Loo’s and the bandstand was repaired, painted and the electricity was installed. To celebrate the completion of the park we joined with St. Stephen’s for the official opening of their new parish centre and Lordly Park.

We commissioned Malcolm Calloway to write a play to be presented this summer as part of the 250^th celebrations. It has been titled, “A Brief History of Chester-May Contain Nuts,” and will be presented July 11 – 18^th at the Chester Playhouse.

Throughout the year we had discussions with a committee from the Rug Hooking Museum regarding the use of the Station as a possible permanent location. Despite a number of meetings we were unable to reach an agreement and they are continuing to look for other venues for their display.

We participated in a pumpkin sling at the golf club. The “Haunting of Lordly House” and the graveyard tour organized by the Fire Dept. Children’s Committee was highly successful with over 200 people in Lordly Park Friday evening and over 380 children moving through the house.

No report can be complete without my thanks to the directors who have put in many long hours enabling us to successfully complete the work we undertook. I cannot thank them enough for their commitment to our vision and goals. My thanks to Elaine Solway and John Moore who provided their house for the fund raising kick off, to Jim and Dudley Grove who initiated the fund raising committee and the phone-a-thon, to Barbara Richman for her assistance with grant applications, and to all the people who willingly assisted us during the house and harbor tour, the auction and throughout the year, without you we wouldn’t be able to carry on. Thank you.

I would urge all of you to participate in the activities being offered for the 250^th anniversary celebration throughout the year. This celebration supports and focuses on the mission statement for the Chester Municipal Heritage Society which is to create opportunities for residents and visitors to the area to discover and experience the diverse cultural, political and natural history of the Municipality of the Municipality of the District of Chester, which is our heritage and our culture. Please join us in this exciting endeavour.

The weather cooperated for the house and harbour tour, truly a group effort. I would like to thank all those people who helped to make it such a success. People whose houses were open, Joyce Hiltz and Eva Lantz who arranged the volunteers house sitters, Janet Freda who assisted us by suggesting possible locations and to Dave Mills for picking up and delivering the life jackets to the boats, Duncan MacNeill for finding boats, without them we would not be able to provide this portion of the event. Glenda Redden for making arrangements with the local restaurants. Thank you all.

A very successful auction was held in July with many items from a departing Chester. This year we set times when people could deliver items to the station. This worked well ensuring that we did not lose any items or receive items that we could not sell. We also had a large number of books that we sold to dealers and other buyers before the auction and during it. My thanks to Jim Barkhouse and Cindy Lamson for sorting the books, it was a time consuming job. John Carroll with Larry Ryan as backup was our auctioneer. Glenda Redden contacted businesses and picked up the donations from the Bridgewater area. Sandy Dumaresq, our treasurer, who keeps our records a daunting task with the fund raisers we have throughout the year.

2007 Membership Income: Corporate - $1,400 Individual & Family - $2,245.
Total Membership Income: $3,645.
2007 Membership: Corporate - 17. Individual & Family - 131.

Total Membership : 148

2008 Membership Income: Corporate - $1,900 Individual & Family - $2,160.
Total Membership Income $4,060.
2008 Membership: corporate - 20. Individual & Family - 98.

It is important to note that although we have improved our corporate memberships we have lost a number of individual & family memberships. We need to continue to conduct membership drives to improve our support base. This money is the operating funds that we use in day to day operations.

Once again this year we operated a site at Julien’s Pastry and Bakery Shop on Queen Street throughout the year and a seasonal site at Lordly House. Both sites are overseen by our student workers during the summer months. Once again our thanks to Laura Mulrooney for allowing us to use this space and for providing us with an overseeing eye during the winter months. This year we had three student workers who assist in all aspects of society work ranging from helping with the house tour, park cleanup, the auction, fund raising, membership drives, research and computer maintenance. I would like to thank them for their work throughout the season. We were able to lend a computer and printer to the Chester Art Centre to assist them throughout the summer and winter this year.

Members of the Chester Municipal Heritage Society, I am pleased to
submit this report for the year 2008/2009.
It has been a busy year with maintenance of the properties owned by the
society.
The Union St. house has been held unrented until our other major
priorities are under control.
The Train station property has been cleaned up by a group of volunteers
and the waste trucked away to the land fill. Part of the building is
rented to the Chamber of Commerce for Visitor Information Centre and is
open year round on a reduced schedule in the winter; reducing heating
costs. Rent has been increased to reflect cost of operation to the
society. Lawn care was contracted out and some erosion was experienced
last year which was in-filled by local landscapers. Building and its
operation is satisfactory and will be used for art shows ,auction, etc.

The playground at the Lordly property has been well accepted by the
community as indicated by the number of people using the facilities, it
appears to be working well with a few minor maintance repairs.
The wet part of the land below the Lordly house was drained by French
drains installed by local landscaper and the results are very good, much
drier lawn; lawn mowing was also carried out by contractor. Trails have
been laid out and cleared by Councilor Brad Armstrong proving a good
experience for naturalist .The Lordly house was used last summer but it
is awaiting a major refit as plans are well underway and will be
reported elsewhere tonight.

A skating area was established this past season with a berm made from
soil and a tarpaulin to hold the water. Several small bridges were made
to provide access to the skating surface which was well used this
winter. An opening event was held on Feb 14 Valentine’s day; a good turn
out of both young and old took part in the skating park. A minor
adjustment will be made to raise the berm this summer to assist in an
even ice surface. Many thanks to Kevin Benjamin and Fred Countway for
assisting in the installation of tarp and flooding the ice when
required. Also many thanks to members of the Chester Volunteer Fire
Department provided the filling of the skate park with tank loads of water .

The Band Stand received some upgrading and paint last summer along with
new underground electrical power for use at the Band Stand when required.

Rocks were also placed on the side of the property to keep vehicles off
the property.

In summing up I would say many thanks to the many volunteers who have
made the park a nice place to go and enjoy on a year round bases for all
our residents and visitors.
Submitted by
Jim Barkhouse

Planning for our year long celebrations began over a year ago in February 2008. Initially a letter was sent to organizations and groups asking for their support of our sponsoring these celebrations, the supportive letters helped us to plan our events. Each group is responsible for their own event, our main role is to co-ordinate dates and work with each group to have a variety of events that appeal to every age group and interest, also with a heritage theme.

We have already celebrated a New Year's Levee, Family Skating Party in Lordly Park and two successful heritage presentations, "Back In Time" with Norman Chandler and the "Hawboldt Connection" with Allan Bremner and Brad Armstrong.

We have purchased promotional banners that shall be hung in various locations throughout the municipality announcing our 250th anniversary.

In May and June, Sharon Houghton has kindly offered to conduct School Walking Tours and Adult Walking Tours in July, August and September.

We have acquired the Captain's House for four days in June and shall be holding various heritage events including, an evening of Ghost Stories, Genealogy Day, Founders' Tea and Fashion Show, "Hidden Treasures", (our version of the Antique Road show).

On July 1, "Drumlin", ( a heritage folk group) shall entertain in Lordly Park, along with a family picnic and traditional children games. Our Malcolm Callaway play "May Contain Nuts" performed at the Playhouse starting July 8. The annual Heritage Auction at the Train Station July 11 and a Heritage Dinner and Dance with traditional food and costumes on July 18.

We shall have a float in the Legion Parade on August 1, followed by a Bar-B-Q by Elaine Collicutt in Lordly Park with proceeds going to Lordly House. Fran Underwood has kindly volunteered to Chair the Turncoat Victory Re-Enactment on August 8, and our House and Harbour Tour is busy finalizing plans for August 22.

We shall have monthly advertisements of events and dates in the Clipper and an insert with pictures, stories in The Progress Enterprise the first week of June. Promotional advertising also has been included in many tourist publications. Carol Nauss is continually updating our web site, www.chesterbound.com/anniversary.htm .

We ask you to support these events to make this 250 anniversary year successful and long remembered, and don't forget to wear your costume to the events.

I would especially like to thank Carol Nauss, Barbara Richman and Trudi Curley for their assistance, it has taken many hours and meetings to come to this point. Thank you.

Current Activities Pictures from Take the Roof off of Winter at Lordly Park 2010 Fund raising brocheure February 2010 update on Lordly House
Minutes Genealogy/Research Up-coming Events Board of Directors Links	Return to CMHS Home Page Membership Lordly House Museum Lordly Park	March 22 - "The Amazing History of Oak Island" - St. Stephen's Parish Centre, Regent Street. 7:30 PM. Join Chester Municipal Heritage Society member Danny Hennigar for a one hour talk on the amazing history of Oak Island. Find out what Pierre Elliott Trudeau's interest was in the island along with many other famous people. Hear about the curse of Oak Island, attempts to solve the mystery, deaths, incredible feats of daring and a history that is over 200 years old. Admission is free. *Lordly House restoration is happening!!* *We are closed for the season but you may access our heritage displays, files, information at the Chester Train Station, 20 Smith Rd. by calling 275-3826 for an appointment* February Update 2010 During the 250^th celebration 29000 volunteer hours were given and over 5000 participants attended the various events. You need to keep in mind that these figures represent only the events that were funded or run by the Heritage Society’s 250^th committee. There were many other events that were not included in this count. Support came from everyone and every organization that we contacted including council. I can’t say enough about the willingness of people to help, and that help made the celebration a success. We had many compliments on the banners that were placed throughout the municipality and I want to thank council for their support in installing and removing these banners. At this point we need to decide what to do with them once warmer weather arrives. One option would be donating them to the municipality for on-going use another would be to auction or sell them. We are hoping that the cooperation between the various groups which worked so well during this celebration will continue on future projects. Did you buy a window? So sorry, you missed out. We needed 19 windows for Lordly House and have sold all of them , each to be plaqued, at $500.00 a piece . They will be replicas of the windows that are in the house and we will re-use the old glass panes in the new sashes. Our on-going fund raising, if successful, will enable us to continue with the installation of the windows, wiring of the main house, insulating, and shingling . We hope to see the blue and orange tarps disappear this year. The skating area at Lordly Park is ready and has been in use, but the weather certainly hasn’t cooperated, even so a winter fun day is planned for the park on February 20^th from 1 to 3 PM. As part of the Take the Roof off of Winter program. Hot chocolate will be available here at the hall. We will continue to host heritage based presentations throughout the year. Should you have any suggestions for programs you would like to have presented please let a member of the society know. And now where and what are we doing that is new in 2010….what does the future hold? The Maple Cottage Stabilization committee is in the process of obtaining an engineering plan for Maple Cottage, the first municipal office. As Mr. Keddy announced tonight, we have received an accessibility grant from the Federal Government to install a ramp, and an accessible washroom facility in Maple Cottage. The Municipality of the District of Chester has provided another $20,000 toward the stabilization of the building. A work plan for the installation of the foundation, stabilization of the main building, water pipes, washroom, sewage and electric power for this building are underway, with work scheduled to begin shortly after March 1st. We expect to hear back from a federal heritage legacy grant application for Maple Cottage sometime in March. Should we receive that grant we will be able to complete the work at Maple Cottage this year, making it a year round site for research, programming and small group meetings. Finally I would like to tell you about the work we are doing to develop a municipal view of what programs and interpretation Lordly Estate Municipal Museum might offer to the residents of the municipality. We do not wish to usurp any of the focus other historical groups within the municipality may be pursing, but rather to compliment them and offer services that perhaps they don’t now have, or that we might join together to develop. We have a unique opportunity to tailor this municipal museum to meet the need of the entire municipal community. To this end we applied for and received a provincial grant from the Tourism, Heritage and Culture Department to hire two consultants, Sally Warren and Margrete Khristensen to guide us through this process. They will be contacting people by email, phone and meetings to gather this information. Their report is due the end of March. A copy of the questionnaire was provided by e-mail to our mailing list, and in the Chester Times publication this month. My thanks to Adam Jacobs from the Lighthouse Publishing who made that possible. I can’t stress enough that this is a municipal initiative, not just the village. Please take the time to fill it out. We are very interested in your comments and suggestions regarding this matter. Another aspect of this grant will be a school program for students at the grade six level throughout the municipality. Currently this program is under development and will be tested with a sample class to ensure that there are no changes needed to make it an interactive, educationally sound presentation. This program will be offered next year in October and May and than each year after that on a regular basis so that teachers can add it to their curriculum plans. In the future we will continue to develop other programs that can be offered to the students at different levels. Summer will bring a multi day star camp , with and a paid instructor and hopefully other group partners. This camp will run during race week and provide space for up to 15 children 7 – 12 to learn about stars, though play, art, activities and experiments. It will also include a star night when the community at large will be invited to join us for a star night. In closing I want to thank you for your support of the Lordly Estate Restoration Project throughout 2009 and ask that you will continue to support the on-going fund raising efforts needed to complete the project. Carol Nauss, Chair Chester Municipal Heritage Society September 15 update on Lordly House THE RESTORATION OF LORDLY HOUSE IS UNDERWAY !!!!!! CHECK OUT A FEW PICTURES OF THE WORK IN PROGRESS. The Heritage Weekend held on June 18 -21 at the Captain's House, Central St., Chester was a huge success. We want to thank everyone who joined us for this special weekend event. Click here to see some of the excitement at the Founder's Tea on Saturday. Click here for a list of 250th anniversary activities The annual auction and flea market was a huge success, thanks to every one who donated, bid and assisted. We invite you to take an active part in the activities and help to celebrate our 250th birthday. Chairperson’s Report for 2008 April 3, 2009 Throughout this year we have been very busy with the completion of Lordly park, the fund raising kick off for the restoration of Lordly Estate, finalization of a concept and business plan developed by Arbic and Genesis Consulting for the society, and an update of the society’s bylaws. We conducted membership drives, developed a governance document , updated the society’s policies, established a committee to coordinate the 250^th anniversary celebrations of the Municipality of the District of Chester and applied for government grants that were applicable to our situation. The society voted in January to accept responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the proposed restoration project of Lordly House and its related buildings and properties. A fund raising committee will continue its work and a building committee was struck to begin the work of gathering information needed to begin the project. The plan at the present time is to begin work in spring or summer this year. We received a license for additional land to the east of the Hawboldt Exhibit at the station where the water tower once stood. It is our intention to eventually clear the area of bushes and make it a picnic area. The survey required by the DNR of the station lands was completed by Mr. Backman. Sink holes in the land near the pump house and nearer the road were filled in and seeded. The insurance at the station was increased to provide better coverage as recommended by our agent. Mr. Mosher began the finishing work at Lordly park. Brad Armstrong continued working to develop the wet land area and the walking paths. Trees were planted from the money donated by the van de Loo’s and the bandstand was repaired, painted and the electricity was installed. To celebrate the completion of the park we joined with St. Stephen’s for the official opening of their new parish centre and Lordly Park. We commissioned Malcolm Calloway to write a play to be presented this summer as part of the 250^th celebrations. It has been titled, “A Brief History of Chester-May Contain Nuts,” and will be presented July 11 – 18^th at the Chester Playhouse. Throughout the year we had discussions with a committee from the Rug Hooking Museum regarding the use of the Station as a possible permanent location. Despite a number of meetings we were unable to reach an agreement and they are continuing to look for other venues for their display. We participated in a pumpkin sling at the golf club. The “Haunting of Lordly House” and the graveyard tour organized by the Fire Dept. Children’s Committee was highly successful with over 200 people in Lordly Park Friday evening and over 380 children moving through the house. No report can be complete without my thanks to the directors who have put in many long hours enabling us to successfully complete the work we undertook. I cannot thank them enough for their commitment to our vision and goals. My thanks to Elaine Solway and John Moore who provided their house for the fund raising kick off, to Jim and Dudley Grove who initiated the fund raising committee and the phone-a-thon, to Barbara Richman for her assistance with grant applications, and to all the people who willingly assisted us during the house and harbor tour, the auction and throughout the year, without you we wouldn’t be able to carry on. Thank you. I would urge all of you to participate in the activities being offered for the 250^th anniversary celebration throughout the year. This celebration supports and focuses on the mission statement for the Chester Municipal Heritage Society which is to create opportunities for residents and visitors to the area to discover and experience the diverse cultural, political and natural history of the Municipality of the Municipality of the District of Chester, which is our heritage and our culture. Please join us in this exciting endeavour. House and Harbour Tour 2008 The weather cooperated for the house and harbour tour, truly a group effort. I would like to thank all those people who helped to make it such a success. People whose houses were open, Joyce Hiltz and Eva Lantz who arranged the volunteers house sitters, Janet Freda who assisted us by suggesting possible locations and to Dave Mills for picking up and delivering the life jackets to the boats, Duncan MacNeill for finding boats, without them we would not be able to provide this portion of the event. Glenda Redden for making arrangements with the local restaurants. Thank you all. Auction 2008 A very successful auction was held in July with many items from a departing Chester. This year we set times when people could deliver items to the station. This worked well ensuring that we did not lose any items or receive items that we could not sell. We also had a large number of books that we sold to dealers and other buyers before the auction and during it. My thanks to Jim Barkhouse and Cindy Lamson for sorting the books, it was a time consuming job. John Carroll with Larry Ryan as backup was our auctioneer. Glenda Redden contacted businesses and picked up the donations from the Bridgewater area. Sandy Dumaresq, our treasurer, who keeps our records a daunting task with the fund raisers we have throughout the year. Membership Report 2008 2007 Membership Income: Corporate - $1,400 Individual & Family - $2,245. Total Membership Income: $3,645. 2007 Membership: Corporate - 17. Individual & Family - 131. Total Membership : 148 2008 Membership Income: Corporate - $1,900 Individual & Family - $2,160. Total Membership Income $4,060. 2008 Membership: corporate - 20. Individual & Family - 98. Total Membership: 118. It is important to note that although we have improved our corporate memberships we have lost a number of individual & family memberships. We need to continue to conduct membership drives to improve our support base. This money is the operating funds that we use in day to day operations. C@P – Community Access Once again this year we operated a site at Julien’s Pastry and Bakery Shop on Queen Street throughout the year and a seasonal site at Lordly House. Both sites are overseen by our student workers during the summer months. Once again our thanks to Laura Mulrooney for allowing us to use this space and for providing us with an overseeing eye during the winter months. This year we had three student workers who assist in all aspects of society work ranging from helping with the house tour, park cleanup, the auction, fund raising, membership drives, research and computer maintenance. I would like to thank them for their work throughout the season. We were able to lend a computer and printer to the Chester Art Centre to assist them throughout the summer and winter this year. Building Report Members of the Chester Municipal Heritage Society, I am pleased to submit this report for the year 2008/2009. It has been a busy year with maintenance of the properties owned by the society. The Union St. house has been held unrented until our other major priorities are under control. The Train station property has been cleaned up by a group of volunteers and the waste trucked away to the land fill. Part of the building is rented to the Chamber of Commerce for Visitor Information Centre and is open year round on a reduced schedule in the winter; reducing heating costs. Rent has been increased to reflect cost of operation to the society. Lawn care was contracted out and some erosion was experienced last year which was in-filled by local landscapers. Building and its operation is satisfactory and will be used for art shows ,auction, etc. The Forman Hawboldt display was open to the public during the tourist season . The playground at the Lordly property has been well accepted by the community as indicated by the number of people using the facilities, it appears to be working well with a few minor maintance repairs. The wet part of the land below the Lordly house was drained by French drains installed by local landscaper and the results are very good, much drier lawn; lawn mowing was also carried out by contractor. Trails have been laid out and cleared by Councilor Brad Armstrong proving a good experience for naturalist .The Lordly house was used last summer but it is awaiting a major refit as plans are well underway and will be reported elsewhere tonight. A skating area was established this past season with a berm made from soil and a tarpaulin to hold the water. Several small bridges were made to provide access to the skating surface which was well used this winter. An opening event was held on Feb 14 Valentine’s day; a good turn out of both young and old took part in the skating park. A minor adjustment will be made to raise the berm this summer to assist in an even ice surface. Many thanks to Kevin Benjamin and Fred Countway for assisting in the installation of tarp and flooding the ice when required. Also many thanks to members of the Chester Volunteer Fire Department provided the filling of the skate park with tank loads of water . The Band Stand received some upgrading and paint last summer along with new underground electrical power for use at the Band Stand when required. Rocks were also placed on the side of the property to keep vehicles off the property. In summing up I would say many thanks to the many volunteers who have made the park a nice place to go and enjoy on a year round bases for all our residents and visitors. Submitted by Jim Barkhouse 250 th ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEE - HAPPY 250TH BIRTHDAY CHESTER! Planning for our year long celebrations began over a year ago in February 2008. Initially a letter was sent to organizations and groups asking for their support of our sponsoring these celebrations, the supportive letters helped us to plan our events. Each group is responsible for their own event, our main role is to co-ordinate dates and work with each group to have a variety of events that appeal to every age group and interest, also with a heritage theme. We have already celebrated a New Year's Levee, Family Skating Party in Lordly Park and two successful heritage presentations, "Back In Time" with Norman Chandler and the "Hawboldt Connection" with Allan Bremner and Brad Armstrong. We have purchased promotional banners that shall be hung in various locations throughout the municipality announcing our 250th anniversary. In May and June, Sharon Houghton has kindly offered to conduct School Walking Tours and Adult Walking Tours in July, August and September. We have acquired the Captain's House for four days in June and shall be holding various heritage events including, an evening of Ghost Stories, Genealogy Day, Founders' Tea and Fashion Show, "Hidden Treasures", (our version of the Antique Road show). On July 1, "Drumlin", ( a heritage folk group) shall entertain in Lordly Park, along with a family picnic and traditional children games. Our Malcolm Callaway play "May Contain Nuts" performed at the Playhouse starting July 8. The annual Heritage Auction at the Train Station July 11 and a Heritage Dinner and Dance with traditional food and costumes on July 18. We shall have a float in the Legion Parade on August 1, followed by a Bar-B-Q by Elaine Collicutt in Lordly Park with proceeds going to Lordly House. Fran Underwood has kindly volunteered to Chair the Turncoat Victory Re-Enactment on August 8, and our House and Harbour Tour is busy finalizing plans for August 22. We shall have monthly advertisements of events and dates in the Clipper and an insert with pictures, stories in The Progress Enterprise the first week of June. Promotional advertising also has been included in many tourist publications. Carol Nauss is continually updating our web site, www.chesterbound.com/anniversary.htm . We ask you to support these events to make this 250 anniversary year successful and long remembered, and don't forget to wear your costume to the events. I would especially like to thank Carol Nauss, Barbara Richman and Trudi Curley for their assistance, it has taken many hours and meetings to come to this point. Thank you. Joanne Mac Innis Lordly House Conservation Committee Report to the Chester Municipal Heritage Society The Lordly House Conservation Committee was put in place in November 2008 to establish the parameters and process of the actual conservation work to be carried out on the 200+ year old structure. The seven committee members are: Blair Armstrong, Duncan McNeill, Fran Underwood (Vice Chair), Frank Metzger, Gail Smith, Robert Porter (Chair) and Sandy Dumaresq. Work began with its first meeting being held on November 19, 2008. This meeting focused on a report, “Lordly House Museum Conservation Program 2007” by G. F. Duffus & Co. Ltd., Architects along with its supporting engineering study. It was decided that the committee should meet with Mr. Duffus to acquire further insights into the conservation project and possibly develop a phased approach, based on available funding, to accomplish the work to be done. The meeting with Mr. Duffus took place December 12, 2008 during which numerous aspects of the project were discussed in detail. Subsequently, the possibility was raised of employing the services of a different architect to see what potentials may stem from seeing the project with new eyes and approaches along with their related impacts on the required funding. The committee recommended to Carol Nauss that this be done resulting in a request for proposals being developed and sent to three architect firms (Duffus, Rogers and Jost). Three proposals were received, on time, February 27, 2009. The Committee reviewed these proposals February 28 and March 7, 2009. The results of the review were that none of the proposals were deemed satisfactory for many reasons not the least of which being monetary reasons. All three architects were duly informed. The committee is now forging ahead with a more economical and segmented approach to the conservation work. Each type of work will be addressed by the committee as a component of the complete job. The foundation, external walls, roof and its support, internal support, etc. will be addressed separately and experienced builders and trades in within our community are being approached for their input. Conservation work is to start before the end of May 2009. committee remains focused on accomplishing as much of the required work as possible as quickly as possible –by the fall of 2009--within the funding constraints. Respectfully submitted: Robert Porter Chair, Lordly House Conservation Committee March 23, 2009 January 2009 Update: As we begin this new year I want to wish everyone within the Municipality and the village a happy 250th birthday. Events are being planned throughout the year to celebrate this occasion. A play, A Brief History of Chester - May Contain Nuts, was commissioned from Malcolm Calloway will be staged at the Chester Playhouse in July, a re-enactment of the "Turn Coat Victory" is scheduled, concerts and picnics are planned for Lordly Park, a Founders Tea is planned, parades, garden parties, a golf tournament, church services, heritage dinner and dances plus all the other activities that occur throughout the municipality. We are hoping that people will join in the fun and perhaps wear period costumes for some of the events. You will find a listing of events at www.chesterbound.com/anniversary.htm. Keep an eye out for an insert in the Progress Enterprise in June and for brochures in the mail listing events and happenings. The Building Committee is hard at work and they are hoping that we will be ready to start work on the restoration of Lordly House itself in the spring. We are hoping that this will be the case. The skating surface at Lordly Park is being prepared for use and weather permitting we will be using it within the week. Many thanks to Kevin Benjamin, Park Coordinator for the Municipality of Chester for his assistance in this project and to Elaine Collicutt and Sons who dropped everything to come to our assistance when we needed to raise the berm edge and than again when we had slush on the surface which had to be removed before it froze, a matter of hours. It became much more involved that I certainly had expected. A winter fun day in Lordly Park is planned for February 14th from 1-3 with outdoor activities and free hot chocolate. February 16 at 7:30 in St. Stephen's Parish Centre a slide show featuring old Chester photos and history tidbits will be held. Norman Chandler and Carol Nauss present, Our Chester. Please come and join us. The business plan for the society is being developed by our consultants and we hope to have it finished by the end of March. We are also partnering with a student from the Community College in Bridgewater to develop a marketing plan for the society which should be completed by May. October Update: This has been an exciting and busy summer for the Chester Municipal Heritage Society. Our annual auction in July was a great success with better -quality items and many great buys for those in attendance It takes many hands to make this a success as well as a great auctioneer, John Carroll provided that service for us again this year. In August Elaine Solway and John Moore hosted the kick-off for the Lordly Estate Restoration project. , The enthusiasm of Dudley and James Grove, and the commitment of the fund-raising committee is phenomenal . Without them the restoration project would never have begun The project will continue over the next three years as we restore the estate and develop programs that will reach out to the community at large. The House and Harbour Tour, our second major fund raiser, was blessed with fine weather and many participants. The door prize was won by a local participant. Thank you to all those who helped and to the home owners who allowed us to visit. Grant applications to various government agencies, provincial and federal, were completed. We have not yet received any feed-back from them. Barbara Richman is to be commended for her excellent work in preparing these applications, they are time consuming. We joined with St. Stephen’s to celebrate the completion of their new community hall and the completion of the Lordly Park project on September 27^th. Speeches, a BBQ and a variety show provided entertainment. We planted a heritage apple tree in the park to commemorate the event. We would invite everyone to make use of the park and to enjoy the open area. You can book the use of the park by contacting Marina (Glen) Davidson. The annual Victorian Christmas Craft Sale is scheduled at the train station November 27 -30. An essay contest for the elementary schools has been planned for the new year. Programs will be presented in the various schools to help foster students’ knowledge and interest in our local history . Lordly House was open for the season with three students hired through government grants. These students manned the C@P (free community computer access) site and oversaw the satellite site at Julien’s Bakery on Queen Street which is maintained throughout the year during their business hours. Research was begun on early settlers’ families, in preparation for the 250^th anniversary of the Municipality of the District of Chester, they assisted at the auction, the house and harbor tour, conducted tours at Lordly House, also continued photographing and data-basing St. Agustine’s and St. Stephen’s church yards. Lordly House was also the site of a geocache during the summer months. The Chester Art Centre required a computer and printer for the summer months and the society was in a position to provide them with one . Plans are well under way for the 250^th anniversary celebration which will begin on January 1^st and last until December 31, 2009. A web site lists the events as we finalize them with the participants. You will find it at www.chesterbound.com/anniversary.htm. We have commissioned a play by Malcolm Calloway, The Turncoat Victory will be re-enacted at the Blockhouse and we expect the Lordly Estate restoration will be underway. A program will be presented in November on how to make heritage costumes for the 2009 event. Check the site below for exact times and location. Carol A. Nauss, Chair August Up Date: The Lordly Estate Restoration Campaign kicked off this month, many thanks to all those who made it a reality. A membership phone-a-thon was held. An on-line auction will begin on September 8 for a vacation house in Spain. We have applied for three government grants. The annual Heritage House and Harbour tour was a great success with over 300 visitors. Many thanks to the volunteers who manned the houses, the boat crews and owners and of course the home owners who allowed us to include their houses. July Up Date: The auction was a great success thanks to the people and businesses who donated articles. We raised over $7000.00 for on-going expenses. Thanks to John Carroll, our auctioneer. August 6 marked the kick off for the Lordly Estate Restoration Project funding drive. We are hoping to obtain sufficient money to restore Lordly House by the end of 2009 the 250th anniversary of the Shoreham Grant, the beginning of the Municipality of the District of Chester. Plans are well under way for the annual Heritage House and Harbour Tour on August 23rd. We hope you will attend. Joanne MacInnis is chair of the 250th anniversary celebrations and we are looking for anyone with ideas for events that will recognize this important time in our history as a municipality. June Up Date: The work at the park is 99 per cent complete and we welcome you to make use of it for whatever activities you would like to pursue. The burm is an excellent spot for horse shoes, washers, hop scotch or any other game requiring a flat level spot. Benches have been installed and we are waiting for the picnic tables to arrive. Lordly House Museum is open for the season and three students have been hired through government grants. The auction on the 12th beginning at 9:30 am at the train station will be an excellent one with the contents of a local estate as well as the donations from throughout the area. Do come and join us for all the fun. Sandwiches, hot dogs and drinks will be available during the sale. May Up Date: Plans are beginning for the annual auction. We would ask that you don't just leave items at the station but call either 275-3826 or 275-3842 (after May25th) to make arrangements. We have received a large amount of quality goods for this years auction and ask you to stay tuned here for a preview of some of these items. The unpainted repair on the front of the station has been painted. The major work at the park has been completed. Finally the burn has been constructed, the trees planted and the area seeded. The next step is to paint and shingle the band stand, put in seats and install the electricity. A depression in the lawn at the station has been filled in and seeded. The revised by-laws have been approved at the annual meeting and are posted here for your information The newsletter has been distributed both by ordinary post and e-mail where possible. The 250th anniversary committee has been active in contacting groups regarding the celebration and already things are being planned, a commissioned play by Malcolm Calloway to be performed at The Playhouse and the Turncoat Victory will again be staged. September 2009 Update of Restoration Progress Restoration achievements to date have resulted in the stabilization of the building structure with new sills, foundation and basement floor. The walls have had bad or missing sections replaced or repaired as the shingles were stripped from the sides of the building. The framing work in the basement is progressing, the house has been raised by 4 inches in the northwest corner and 2 ½ inches in the northeast corner, better than it was but not perfect, it is an old house. The rafters have been installed for the kitchen floors and we have saved the brick from the bake oven to be reused when needed. The larger rocks excavated and removed from the foundation have been stockpiled for future use. Currently the crew is working on the second story, replacing and repairing supports. The building is continuing to prove more mysterious as we continue work. The older section is the south side and it shows at least 3 additions with differing floor levels and a peaked roof. The back end of the building and part of the second story has been added to form the shape we see now. Other additions are thought to have been made on the north west side of the building. The story of the building’s structure is fascinating and we will I am sure want to tell it to people who visit. The decision made by Executive Committee and the Board was to continue on with the roof (so as to achieve a final stage of weather integrity) before onset of the winter of 2009. Current funding appears to be sufficient to do this. In the meantime, timing is of the essence if we are to achieve the necessary construction before onset of winter. Fund raising is continuing and we have had positive responses. The decision to complete the roof was relayed to Barry, who has come up with a construction plan. Certain aspects of this plan have been submitted to the engineer to complete the structural details. We have had two meetings with Barry to discuss the plan. We also spoke with others to find out if they had some thoughts regarding other solutions we might employ or something that we might have overlooked in an effort of meet code requirements, engineering concerns, other forms of support etc. We would all like to see the building restored using the old methods and that the interior of the attic might be the same as it is now for future research purposes, but unfortunately we do not have the money to do that and we must meet current building regulations. Note that Provisions of Building Code will not allow us to have visitors to the third story without major modifications which are impossible under current budget and timing considerations. If we wish to use the upper story we would need a sprinkler system installed in the house, upper and lower floors and an outside fire escape. We don't have a water source at this point to manage that, nor the money. The ceiling is low now in the attic and it will be lower again once the roof supports are installed. It cannot be the way it is now, nor replaced in the same way it was first built and meet current regulations. It would be possible to permit visitors part way up the stairs leading to the third floor and permit them a view from the stairs allowing them to see the current structure (including the rear wall dormer, which will allow ambient lighting to illuminate their field of view. At the same time we will take extensive pictures of all of the roof and wall structure currently existing in the third floor, so as to have a good archival basis for any further studies that might be undertaken of the original structural techniques. A series of sketches showing the details of how the house appears to have evolved over the years will be made. The old roof will then be replaced with a modern support structure that will look, from the outside, exactly the same as the building does in older photos. The new structure will have proper insulation and ventilation to make the building suitable for future accessions and exhibits. As previously agreed by the Board, the chimneys will be taken down below the roof level and the tops replaced with replicas above the roof line to conform to what is there now. If in the future we can find sufficient money to rebuild the chimneys we can proceed with that project. The shingles on the roof will be wooden. October 2009 update on Lordly House The construction crew are busy replacing the roof and the house certainly looks different with orange walls and a blue roof. Within a month we anticipate that the roof will be complete, the underground electrical service will be installed and drainage and some preliminary landscaping will be completed to help take the water away from the house. If money proves available than work will begin on constructing the new windows.

Lordly House Conservation Committee

Report to the Chester Municipal Heritage Society