Doors Open attracts history buffs to 13 locations

Julie Druker | Jun 18, 2015

A total of 13 locations opened their doors to curious history buffs at the special Doors Open event, which took place on June 13 to celebrate 150 years in Frontenac County.

At the Railway Heritage Park in Sharbot Lake, members of the Central Frontenac Railway Heritage Society greeted visitors to the caboose, which offers visual and written information about the area’s unique railway history. They served guests lunch and refreshments and want to get the word out that they are looking for new members and volunteers to assist them with their many ongoing projects. For information please call 613-279-2777

At the Bradshaw Schoolhouse near Tichborne, guests had a chance to meet former teachers and their relatives at the quaint and lovingly preserved one-room schoolhouse where Richard Webster greeted guests. Visitors included Marilyn Meeks, who supply taught at the school for one year in the late 1960s, filling in for a teacher taking maternity leave. She remembers the school with fondness and recalled how the older students assisted the teachers by minding the younger students while the teacher did her best to cover school curriculum for all ages. Also visiting was Daniel Hayes, whose grandmother Daisy (Margaret) Hayes taught at the school between 1916 and 1919, prior to marrying Edward Hayes, who at the time was a telegraph operator at the CP Station in Tichborne. Daisy trained as a teacher at Sharbot Lake's Normal School (teachers’ college) prior to taking the post at Bradshaw.

Other locations included in the Doors Open event included sites in and around North, Central, and South Frontenac and the Islands.