Frontenac – County 150th anniversary project

Jeff Green | Jan 08, 2015

This year, Frontenac County marks the 150th anniversary of its founding in 1865.

To mark the year, we are embarking on a multi-media project. Our intention is to publish stories about people, places, groups and institutions from the past and present that are unique to this corner of the world. A number of these stories will be based on interviews with some of the county's elders, who can give us a picture of our local communities 50 and even 75 years ago. We hope to keep these articles varied, and that they will stand alone as historical pieces while at the same time building a rich picture of Frontenac County.

In the dedicated anniversary section of our website, Frontenacnews.ca, which will be up and running in a couple of weeks, all of the articles will be posted, as well as video and still imagery connected to them.

We are also planning to gather other historical material in digital format to enrich the section. To that end we are putting out a call for submissions from the public. Material in digital form can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please write Frontenac 150 in the subject line), and if there is material that needs to be digitized please let us know by calling us at 613-279-3150 or emailing us and we will endeavour to make it happen. The same email address can be used for story ideas for the project and the names and contact numbers of people who would make good interview subjects.

To set the whole project in motion, we have two articles in this week's paper. One is an interview with Lee-Anne White, which has two accompanying videos at Frontenacnews.ca.

I interviewed Lee last summer at her home in Fernleigh. At the time she was 99 years old. Her 100th birthday party took place last weekend, although she doesn't turn over the century mark until tomorrow, so it seems fitting that we kick off our year-long 150th anniversary bash for the county with the story of a lifelong resident from its north end who continues to contribute to the life of her community to this day.

As an added bonus, we also have an article about the 146th Overseas Battalion in World War 1, which was made up of recruits from Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Counties and is being researched by Verona resident (and veteran) Doug Lovegrove.

We are also seeking financial support through sponsorship opportunities in order to dedicate more of our resources to making this project as full and rich as possible. Our title sponsor is the 150th Anniversary Committee of Frontenac County Council, who will be putting on a major event of their own to mark the anniversary in late August at Centennial Park in Harrowsmith. We hope to build interest in that event through our newspaper and web content.