Monday, September 30

Flag Day




 Local Legions across Canada designate a day to honour veterans who have passed away and are buried in Local Cemeteries.  This year on September 29th Royal Canadian Legion Cupar Branch # 217, dressed in uniform, placed flags and poppies, and then saluted the graves of war veterans.










2014 marks the 100th anniversary of WWI.
 
There are number of WWI headstones to be found in the Cupar Cemetery. The Cupar and District Heritage Museum is presently planning to commemorate the anniversary through a variety of displays including photos, attestation papers, photographs, uniforms and other memorabilia. 

Stay tuned for details.

Tuesday, September 24

Smart Phone or Any Phone

I found this editorial in the Cupar Herald dated April 27, 1911.  How things change in 100 years.


Wednesday, September 18

The Sensation and Joy of Paper


In our digital age there are those who no longer value paper. I was told I should garbage the copies of our Cupar Herald, because they were on micro film at the Saskatchewan Archives, and the paper itself was disintegrating. The early copies are over one hundred years old. Even under climate control conditions their time is limited. Certainly I am happy they are preserved on microfilm but is that the end? 

The other day a couple from British Columbia came to our museum searching for family information. They had visited our cemetery and found a headstone. We brought out a handwritten Masonic registration book and found their relative. Then I pulled down a 1914 copy of our paper and found their ancestors: the exact date of the marriage, the church and minister. I pulled down a 1923 paper and found the report of the tragic death of their ancestors young son. The couple ran their hand across the page and moved a hundred years back, reading for the first time as did the family about the tragedy. 

There is not only a tactial quality to this gesture but a kind of warm sensation to know you are looking at the original within the context of the entire newspaper on that exact date. Certainly the couple could have eventually found the information on a vital statistics website, the dry facts only, but is that enough?

Monday, September 16

Post Office Donation





The Museum has just received a donation of items from the early post office including desk, weigh scale, brass letter slot and brass general delivery sign. The items were donated by Tim Bonish
through his father Peter Bonish. Prior to that they came from R.J. Gibson, grandfather on Tim's mother's side. Originally the items were used by Eustace E. Wallis postmaster from 1918 -1936.
We are fortunate to have such precious artifacts from our business community saved and passed down.
We are presently arranging the most appropriate way to display these and other post office items, that we have received over the years.





Monday, September 9

Sports in Cupar

This year our Culture Days will be held October 5th in conjunction with our annual Harvest Lunch.
This year we are featuring Sports over the history of Cupar from 1906 to the present.
Watch for posters.  Meanwhile here are the first references to hockey in the Cupar Herald for your
enjoyment.