Annual General Meeting

Heritage Port Stanley

Annual Meeting

Thursday, January 29, 2026 – 1:30 p.m.

Port Stanley United Church

 

Attendance: 37 (36 members and 1 guest)

Chair David Russell opened the meeting at 1:30 and welcomed everyone.

Nora Sanders shared the land acknowledgement.

Adoption of the Minutes – November 27, 2025

Moved by Richard Haddow and seconded by Al Slater that the minutes be approved as circulated.
Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report

Anne Kent presented the annual treasurer’s report. Current balance in the general account is $1284.85 with two GICs of $8000 and $3000 due February 10.

Moved by Kathy McNeil, seconded by Bronwyn Fitz-James that the report be adopted as presented.
Motion carried.

Proposed Constitutional Amendments

Nora explained the reasons behind the amendments and read the proposed amendments that had been circulated to all prior to the meeting.

Motion: That the following amendments be made to the Constitution of Heritage Port Stanley:

a) In section 5 a., remove the words, “of promotion and social media” and add in that same place the words, “at large”;

b) In Section 6.3, add at the end of the section, the following sentence,
“Correspondence sent by email is deemed to be included in the definition of written correspondence.”;

c) Amend s. 6.5 to read,
“Director at Large. The director at large shall serve as part of the executive, promoting and supporting the activities of the organization according to the projects and needs of the time.”;

d) At the end of s. 8, replace the words, “for the following year”, with the words, “as needed”.

Moved by Nora Sanders, seconded by June Ayrhart.
Motion carried.

Election of Director at Large

David called for nominations and Craig Cole nominated Janice Mann. After calling three times for any other nominations, Richard Haddow moved that nomination be closed, seconded by Joan Clayton.

David declared Janice Mann elected and welcomed her to the executive.

Executive Update

Nora noted that she and David were presenting the group’s heritage videos at a Lunch and Learn on March 19 at Port Stanley United Church. Everyone is welcome. This will help spread the word throughout the community.

Anne Kent and Ted Halwa are revising the walking tour brochure, preparing both a website version and a new printed edition. Nora and David are leading another walking tour for the West Elgin Walking Club and encouraged members to attend to learn about the tours so they can guide in the future.

David mentioned that the group is preparing a sign inventory for all heritage signs in Port Stanley, with Robert Langlois volunteering to help with this effort. The group has also offered to help with the Oneida commemoration of their landing in Port Stanley on October 9.

Nora noted that a working group is reviewing the postcard collection and that anyone is welcome to participate. Sally will send out notices of the working group meetings. Dave shared that additional oral histories have been completed.

Annual Memberships

Memberships remain $20 and should be paid by the February meeting. Membership cards will be distributed following that meeting.

Heritage Question of the Month

The lighthouse is one of the many designated buildings in Port Stanley and Central Elgin. How is its designation different from the rest?

Answer: It was designated by the Federal Government under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act before being transferred to Central Elgin ownership. Ted Halwa explained it as no one knew the answer.

Tentative Future Meetings

Date	Location	Topic	Speaker
February 26	PS United Church	Netting the Waters	Movie
March 26	TBA	Agnes Hepburn Papers	Sally Martyn
April 23	TBA	The McKee Treaty and Local Indigenous History	Nora Sanders

Heritage Announcements

The Elgin Historical Society March meeting features James Reaney speaking on Music in Port Stanley. Check their website at elginhistoricalsociety.ca.

Steve Peters is speaking on Jumbo at the Elgin County Heritage Centre on March 11. Check with the centre for the time.

On Saturday, March 7, the Sparta & District Historical Society is hosting their annual potluck supper and games night at the Sparta Church Museum. There will be crokinole, as well as board games and cards. Potluck at 6:30 (bring your own dishes and cutlery and one food item to share) with games to follow.

Feature Presentation – Steve Peters

Steve shared many stories and historical facts about Port Stanley through artifacts from his extensive personal collection. Having lived in St. Thomas since 1959, much of his collection focuses on St. Thomas, but he also has many items relating to Port Stanley. He fondly remembered family trips to Port and the strong sulphur smell near Moore Water Gardens.

He began collecting old bottles as a youth and continues today. He joked about what might become of his large collection and said he would never let his sister get her hands on it. Some items have been donated to the Elgin Heritage Centre.

He passed around a native spearhead found just north of Port Stanley and discussed the naming of Kettle Creek using maps from the book Ontario’s History in Maps. The creek appeared on maps as early as 1660. One map showed it was a five-hour walk from the Oneida settlement to Port Stanley via Kettle Creek Road. He recounted that fur trader David Ramsey landed here, marched north, killed one Indigenous man and two women, and scalped them.

Steve described proposed canal projects by Ermatinger and another individual that were never realized. Talbot first visited the area in the 1790s with Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe and later asked for 5000 acres from the Duke of Cumberland in this area.

He passed around postcards, including aerial photo cards by Billy Bishop. One featured the Fraser House, purported to have the longest bar in Canada. He displayed a creamer featuring the Fraser House and noted that he had donated several pieces of china with Fraser House images to the Elgin County Heritage Centre. He also showed the Clifton Hotel parking sign that he acquired when the hotel burned.

Other items included a milk pint jar from Jones Jersey Dairy and a butter carton from Chestnut Grove Dairy, both from Port Stanley. He also spoke about MacKies dating to 1911 and a 5 cent token which he passed around, as well as a flat beach stone inscribed by Nettie Simons in July 1891 and an L&PS lock key. He showed a tintype photograph of the beach by Fred Loftus, a local beach photographer.

He read a humorous newspaper excerpt from 100 years ago refusing women in beach attire from coming downtown. He spoke about the plank road built from London to Port Stanley between 1844 and 1846. He showed a photo of a massive flood in 1901 and a young girl’s photo album containing pictures of Port. He mentioned the sinking of the Bessemer, a vessel 364 feet long and 54 feet wide that sank in a storm and has never been found.

Steve spoke about the Hopkins Casino (dance hall) (1909–1932), the L&PS Pavilion (including a 1926 popcorn box), and the Port Stanley Ballroom (dance pass from 1938), later known as the Stork Club (1951). More recent topics included the Kettle Creek Queen tour boat, the Kettle Creek Canvas Company, and the New Coal Company.

David thanked Steve for his interesting stories, all represented by artifacts in his collection. He thanked him for being a collector, noting that much history would be lost without collectors.

The meeting adjourned at 3:15.

Next Meeting: February 26 at 1:30 p.m. at Port Stanley United Church.

Secretary: Sally Martyn
Chair: David Russell