160 Unusual Things to See in Ontario ~ Pioneer Tower, Kitchener ON

On 13 July 1923, the Waterloo County Pioneers' Memorial Association was formed with the patronage of the Waterloo Historical Society, and its board of directors included its members and descendants of the first Mennonite families to move to the area. The tower was conceived by William Henry Breithaupt, president of the association, who wanted to commemorate the Mennonites who had moved to the area (and also the first farmers of Waterloo Region), and to heal the wounds of earlier nationalism that led to the city's name change. Breithaupt, according to local historian Rych Mills, "was trying to just re-jig our history a little tiny bit because of all the troubles we went through in World War One." A group petitioned the council of the County of Wellington to build the tower.

The Memorial Association purchased a 1.17 acres (4,700 m2) parcel of land that had been part of the Betzner property from Isaac Furtney in January 1924, and construction began in May 1925. Its architect was William A. Langton of Toronto. The cost of $4,500 (equivalent to $63,495 in 2016) was funded via subscription.

The tower commemorates the settlement by the Pennsylvania Dutch (actually Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch or German) of the Grand River area in what later became Waterloo County, Ontario. It was dedicated on 23 August 1926.

The tower was built on a site once cleared by Betzner's son near what is now the Doon neighbourhood of Kitchener. It stands on a ridge overlooking the Grand River, opposite a water treatment plant. The 18.9-metre (62 ft) tapered tower is built of rounded fieldstone, which had been collected over time from the surrounding 200 acres (810,000 m2) of land. It is topped by a weather vane shaped as a Conestoga wagon. In 2009, the weather vane was restored, and the tapered copper roof was replaced.

The weather vane and roof reflect the Swiss heritage of the early Pennsylvania Dutch settlers. The design of the observation deck integrates references to true north, and the Grand River Trail along which the first immigrants travelled to settle the area.

For many years, the tower was included in the masthead of The Record newspaper. Archival documents regarding the tower's conception, construction, and dedication are stored at the Kitchener Public Library in collections MC.55 and MC.113.

The site was acquired by the Historic Sites Branch of the Department of the Interior in 1939, owing to the Waterloo Historical Society lacking the reserve funds to finance its maintenance. It is now owned by Parks Canada, and managed by the Woodside National Historic Site. The site is open to the public, but since 2008 the tower is opened only by request.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo_Pioneer_Memorial_Tower

A Taste of Canada ~ Fiddleheads

I do enjoy fiddleheads. They have a green bean-y, asparagus-like, pea-ish taste and they are just fun to look at. From Chateline Magazine: HOW-TO It’s Almost Fiddlehead Season! Here’s How To Cook This Springtime Veggie Properly Fiddleheads are a Canadian delicacy, but undercooking them can lead to food poisoning by Amy Grief Updated Apr 9, 2019 Fiddlehead season is short, so when you see the adorable green curlicues at your grocery store or farmers’ market, buy them while you can. Before chowing down on these little springtime delicacies, there’s a few things you should know first since fiddleheads can cause food poisoning if they’re not cooked properly. What are fiddleheads? These tightly curled coils are ostrich fern fronds. They start appearing in late April and early May in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and are usually found in forests, marshes and by rivers and streams. Taste-wise, fiddleheads, which are popular amongst food foragers, are often co

Week #2 Challenge: Paper . . . and I mean ALL of your paper.

Annual Organization Challenge Week #2 How did you make out with last week's challenge? Did you find your work table? Here's this week's challenge: Your challenge this week is to S.P.A.C.E. your paper - - and I mean ALL of your paper: cardstock, patterned paper, specialty papers, and all those SCRAPS! SORT: Bring all of your paper to one area. Sort it all into piles: KEEP, SELL, DONATE, TRASH PURGE: bag up, and assign a price to paper bundles that you want to SELL at a garage sale or online, and put the bags in the garage sale box. Throw out the TRASH pile. Bag up the DONATE pile and immediately make arrangements for drop-off/pick-up or put in your vehicle. ASSIGN: separate your paper into categories that make sense to you. For example, you may want to divide it simply into cardstock and patterned paper. If you have a huge stash of paper, you may want to divide it by colour, theme, or manufacturer. **Another way to sort your paper is in

Journal Prompt ~ One Thing You Do Really Well

Name one thing you do really well . . . One thing I do really well is solve crossword puzzles.

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