By Fred Blair ​If you found the name “Tom Thomson” on the back of a landscape painting, would you think of the Group of Seven?  This is a wandering tale about a painting and the possible connections between four landscape painters and Stephen Leacock. In 1888, the...

Trish Crowe-Grande   It is that time of year when the leaves change colour, pumpkins and fall mums appear on porches and there is a crisp coolness in the air.  If you have taken any walks in your local neighbourhood or drives around town, you may have noticed...

By Chris Johnstone OPP Museum Curator Robert George Beatty was born on July 18, 1904. At the age of 23, he decided to embark on a career in policing after his work as a Provincial Officer under the Ontario Temperance Act came to an end. He joined the OPP as a regular...

Marian Keith was the pen name for Mrs. Esther MacGregor nee Miller. She was born in 1874 In the village of Rugby, Oro Township (now Oro-Medonte), to parents who instilled in her the value of education, a keen interest in learning, a love of good literature and a...

Premier of Ontario 1949-1961 By John Merritt, Simcoe County Historical Association   September 20, 2020 marked the 125th anniversary of the birth of Orillia native and former Ontario premier Leslie Frost. Frost was born in Orillia on September 20, 1895 to William...

What We Have Lost  By David TownAs we approach the one-year anniversary of the YMCA closing in Orillia, I think it is insightful to see what the Y did for Orillia from a historical perspective. You never know what you’ve lost ‘til it’s gone. The Y in Orillia, as...

by Ellen Blaubergs, Volunteer, Coldwater Canadiana Heritage Museum    There are numerous interesting “works in progress” involving artifacts at the Coldwater Canadiana Heritage Museum, including two wooden barrels once used to transport ceramics. Both are in...