In 1967, the community of St. Paul was recognized as a centennial star as people rallied to celebrate the country’s 100th birthday. In a lead-up to the 150th anniversary in 2017, locals are now working to gather some of the history around the previous celebrations, and do some follow-up on centennial projects that have been mostly forgotten.
One of two items that is being sought is a bell that once was located at the front of the St. Paul Rec. Centre. When the bell was installed, people could ring it by paying with a coin. Money raised was directed to a children’s centre.
“Obviously, that bell was taken down at some point,” says Penny Fox, one of the volunteers who sits on the Canada 150 committee in St. Paul. She says that the committee includes a number of locals, but no one around the table knows what happened to the bell.
Fox believes the bell was already quite old when it was installed. She is still researching and looking for details about the historic bell, as the group also searched for the artifact itself.
She says there is also reference to an old school building among the projects done in the centennial year. The building was said to be the last remaining little white schoolhouse in the area.
Fox believes the schoolhouse was moved to St. Paul from Ashmont, and was once owned by the county. Then, it was handed over to the town. One document also says there were names preserved in wet cement.
There is an idea that it could be the visual arts centre, but organizers are unsure if that is the case.
“If anybody has any clues as to where either (the bell or the schoolhouse) can be found, they can call the chamber office,” says Fox. “Somewhere, somebody knows.”
Linda Sallstrom, manager of the St. Paul & District Chamber of Commerce, is leading the charge on the missing items, while the museum is also preparing to do a special exhibit in 2017, featuring St. Paul projects done in 1967.
There were over 100 projects that happened in St. Paul and area in that year, in honour of the centennial. Some projects were smaller, personal projects, while others were large projects that continue to be part of the community today.
“The goal is to see how many more we can do in 2017,” says Fox. She adds that if anyone knows of any other projects that were done in 1967, they are also being asked to contact the chamber to share their information.
“We want to record them so they aren’t lost,” says Fox. Organizers are also putting together another time capsule, although the capsule that was put together in 1967 won’t be opened for another 52 years, when Canada reaches its 200th birthday.
