Acknowledgments and Thank You
The HWT Project is generously sponsored by the Riverview Seniors Social Club, No. 802. This group started in Westmeath in 1964 and over the past 50 years has continued to provide a congenial gathering spot to socialize and enjoy good fellowship in a fun environment. This group, primarily serving the Westmeath Peninsula rural communities of Westmeath, Perretton, LaPasse and Beachburg, currently has around 100 members from all walks of life and the Club is a member of the United Senior Citizens of Ontario, http://www.uscont.ca.
When approached by the site’s author Gayle McBride Stewart about possible sponsorship of her HWT Project, the Club members, without hesitation, decided to fund the website; with the sentiment that: “This is exactly the sort of thing we as elders should be doing for our community.” A sincere Thank You goes to its membership for helping to keep local history alive.
This all digital project was begun by Gayle McBride Stewart to make history on the Westmeath Peninsula easily available world-wide.
Many other area volunteers are also hard at work making sure the early settler story is not forgotten. I encourage you to use other important, history –preserving, local organizations, – all run by volunteers, – and read one premier historian and author in particular: Evelyn Moore Price. 1984. “History of the Corporation of Westmeath Township.” online through the University of Calgary, Alberta.
- Upper Ottawa Valley Genealogy Group www.uovgg.ca
- Ross Museum, www.rossmuseum.ca and the Whitewater Historical Society.
- “Upper Ottawa Valley Heritage Centre” in Pembroke, ON – the former Champlain Trail Museum, http://www.champlaintrailmuseum.com/
Access to important source documents was made possible the Region of Whitewater Township, www.whitewaterregion.ca, councilors and administrative staff, allowing the author the use of the early Westmeath Township Council Minute Books.
Similarly, the North Renfrew District Women’s Institute granted permission for materials from the local Westmeath, Beachburg, and Laurentian View “Tweedsmuir Books” to be used as source materials. Thanks go out to all the women, (including my mother),, who through the years, compiled these history books with such pride and diligence, – they all deserve our gratitude. Their work kept their community’s stories alive for later generations in pictures and writings, to fulfill the Institute’s motto “For Home and Country”.
I should note that the Women’s Institute started very early here. The Beachburg W.I. in 1904, and the Westmeath and Forester’s Falls branches in 1905; thus making them some of the oldest in the province.
Welcome and I hope you enjoy your time using the site.
Gayle McBride Stewart