April 26th, 2023
The bus tour is shaping up very well.
At present it is full up, but almost invariably a few seats become available just before Travel date as people find they cannot attend for one reason or another, so if you’re interested, don’t hesitate to put your name down. The price is $90 for members, $100 for non members. Make out your cheque or e-transfer to ACO Port Hope. In addition we’ll need 1) your email, tel.no. and home address, 2) the name and daytime tel. of an emergency contact, 3) whether you’ll be embarking in PH or Cobourg (the address isn’t always a clue) , and 4) if you have any dietary restrictions.
We have truly excellent guides for Newcastle, Bowmanville and the POW camp:
MynoVan Dyke will be our guide in Newcastle and Bond Head. This will include a tour of Newcastle’s impressive Community Hall (n.b. with many stairs but no elevator) and Walbridge House, built in 1825, one of only 92 known buildings of this vintage in Ontario. It was restored by Jim Sculthorpe in the early 2000s, and he will be present to describe his work (We’ve heard rumours there’s a ghost. Will we encounter it?) Myno is an eminent Clarington historian who, among other impressive awards, received the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Marilyn Morawetz, Chair of the Jury Lands Foundation, a group dedicated to telling the many stories of the POW site, will be our guide at the POW Camp. As a founding member of ACO Clarington as well as several times Chair of Doors Open, she has fascinating information and anecdotes to share. The POW camp involves a certain amount of walking.
Bill Humber has agreed to be our tour guide for Bowmanville which will include a visit to the handsome Coates House and its carriage house. Bill is a member of ACO Clarington, is a retired administrator of Seneca College, and wrote Bowmanville, A Small Town at the Edge (1997). He is also a baseball historian and has been inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and more recently awarded the Order of Canada.
So it should be a fun day of many discoveries offered by excellent guides in the company of your fellow ACO members.
Sensible walking shoes are recommended.
If you have any questions contact Patsy Beeson at pbeeson@eagle.ca or 905.373.4512.
Patsy Beeson and Felicity Corelli