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FOUR COUNTY STORIES: A FLASHACK FEBRUARY SPEAKER SERIES AT BASE31

As part of 2026 Flashback February celebrations of County heritage, Base31 and History Lives Here Inc. are hosting a series of engaging 90-minute presentations on local history themes:

2pm Wednesday, February 4th – The Rise and Fall of The Garden County of Canada

Join local journalist and historian Peter Lockyer as he tells the story of how Prince Edward County became the dominant canning area in Canada, its impact on local farmers, workers and the economy, and the industry’s decline in the 1960s. Today there is just one company left, the sole survivor of a trade that once meant everything to Prince Edward County.

2pm Wednesday. February 11 th — The 1959 World Hockey Champions: The Belleville McFarlands

Peter Lockyer returns to tell the story of a time, a town and a local hockey team that was talented, tough and unstoppable capturing a world championship in Czechoslovakia during the midst of the Cold War. But soon after their win, the magic of the McFarlands abandoned them as the team became embroiled in a bitter city scandal.

2pm Wednesday, February 18th — George Ellsworth, a County man who became an infamous Confederate soldier

Montreal journalist and author Julian Sher tells the story of George Ellsworth, a teenager who joined daring southern raiding parties as one of the world’s first “hackers” sending false telegraph orders to northern troops during the Civil War. After the conflict, this East Lake man was one of the most wanted men in America.

2pm Wednesday, February 25th — The 1884 Lazier Murder Trial

Retired Judge Robert Sharpe recounts this gripping tale of a botched robbery and murder at a Quaker farmstead outside Bloomfield at Christmas 1883. Pursued by a local posse following footsteps in the snow across to West Lake, several suspects were in jail the next morning. Their trial at the Picton courthouse in May 1884 was a raucous affair with an unruly crowd seeking vengeance. The men were sentenced to hang for a crime many believed they didn’t commit. Were they guilty or innocent? The case remains one of the County’s most enduring mysteries.

All presentations are at Base31 building #3 immediately, on the left at the main entrance.

Tickets are $40 plus tax. For tickets and more information, visit Base31.ca.

History Lives Here in Markham

2025 was the 50th anniversary of the Markham Historical Society.

History Lives Here was part of the city’s celebration at a special evening held on November 13th. Company president Peter Lockyer was the keynote speaker providing a presentation about his own experiences in heritage restoration and educational projects within his own community of historic Prince Edward County, Ontario.


The evening was an opportunity to share best practices as Markham has a strong heritage sector that has developed innovative policies and practices to embrace both development and conservation – a delicate balance many communities are seeking to address.


Over the decades, the original town of Markham has grown dramatically encompassing several communities like Unionville, Buttonville, and Thornhill. Today the city has a dynamic economy with many large corporations headquartered in the community. But this development has meant surrounding farmland has been transformed into high rise buildings and offices. To address the loss of historic farmhouses, the city created a program to encourage developers to move heritage homes to fully serviced municipal lots offered at reduced rates. Today the Markham Heritage Estates are a unique 42-lot sub-division of historic homes saved from demolition. It is Canada’s first heritage sub-division.


The estates are the centrepiece of a strategic set of programs, policies, grants, tax incentives, and recognition awards aimed at balancing development with heritage preservation.

Annual Community Heritage Ontario

The annual Community Heritage Ontario conference took place in Prince Edward County June 19-21, 2025.

The event brings together heritage organizations, advocates, municipal planners, architectural firms, and restoration experts to share ideas and experiences.

The opening night presentations were held in Picton’s iconic Crystal Palace constructed in the 1890s, a historic building which narrowly escaped demolition a century later. Saved by the herculean efforts of a small group of determined volunteers raising awareness of its unique importance as a community heritage asset, today this handsome building is a restoration success story, booked steadily as a site for weddings, festivals and community events.

History Lives Here Inc. was invited to be the opening night presentation. Company president, Peter Lockyer, spoke of his experiences working within the heritage sector in his hometown over the past 25 years through public education initiatives to awaken the community to the history that is all around us – transforming “hidden history” into a suite of “popular history” products such as walking tours, re-enactments of historic events like an 1884 murder trial, to radio and television features showcasing local history. Lockyer’s key message is that we need to make history and heritage matter. And they will matter most if they become significant economic drivers within communities …as they are all over the world. 
 
There is an imperative, says Lockyer, to make heritage a community business enterprise as older volunteers retire from volunteering and the many special spaces they support face uncertain futures, and as there are increasing development pressures threatened historic buildings and heritage landscapes. 

100 YEARS OF CHANGE: THE STORY OF THE SPRAGUE CANNING COMPANY

This mini-documentary produced by History Lives Here and Windswept Productions showcases the 100 -year history of the Sprague Cannery of Belleville. The production was launched at an anniversary event held on August 16, 2025 in Picton.

“As a kid,” says Rick Sprague, “the best Saturday was when my Dad said I could go with him to the canning factory because it was just a magical place for me with all the people and all the machinery and everything. And the smells. I just loved it.”

Sixty years later, Rick is still enthusiastically showing up for work every day at the family business – Sprague Cannery, a Belleville company that is the sole survivor of the once thriving canning industry in the area. For him, there is still a magic to the place – and plenty of savoury smells. This year the company is celebrating its 100th anniversary, a business success story that embodies constant challenge overcome by continuous adaption, technological change, market diversification, and sheer stubbornness.

The company began in August 1925. That’s when Rick’s great – grandfather decided to gamble in the canning gold rush in his hometown of Prince Edward County, Ontario. Grant Sprague was already a successful entrepreneur with a farm, grocery store, and telephone company, the area’s first telephone service. But he was always on the lookout for new ventures.

The area’s canning industry was booming in the 1920s. From the 1880s until the 1960s, Prince Edward County was so dominant within the Canadian canning industry, it was known as ‘The Garden County of Canada.” It was a hot, tough business battling the traditional hardships of farming everywhere – drought, frosts, and pests. In the early days, brutal monopolistic contracts from the larger firms left few options for most farmers to sell their crops. But over time, independent companies like Sprague offered an alternative market to farmers and jobs for their families.

Grant Sprague did not stay long with his new canning factory in the hamlet of Mountain View. It wasn’t the hardships. It just didn’t fit his dress code.

“He liked to wear a suit,” says Rick. “And a suit and a canning factory did not jive well. So, his son, Jay, who was my grandfather, took over the very next year. And it was run as a seasonal operation 6-7 weeks a year – mainly as a tomato canner, tomato juice, some pumpkin, raspberries, and some cream corn.  And that ran for many decades.”

But times were changing and becoming more turbulent. Two wars and a depression had artificially kept the local industry going. After the Second World War, the canning business rationalized and moved to southwestern Ontario with its more fertile land and longer growing season. Labour and environmental laws imposed stricter regulations on local firms. New products – like frozen food – were gaining market share at the expense of canned goods. Chain stores wanted canned goods “on demand” forcing companies to build heated storage facilities. The 1960s brought a tsunami wave of profound change. Ultimately, the industry that once meant everything to The County was gone for good, and the days of canned products seemed doomed.

“My grandfather died of a heart attack suddenly in 1967,” Rick remembers. “And then my Dad, [Roger] a 32-year old, was faced with a decision. He knew that a seasonal canning factory of that scale canning six weeks a year, probably didn’t have a long future. So, he looked at a different approach… And he looked to Toronto and Montreal. There were different ethnic communities that were growing and needed their own unique foods. And he identified beans as a great opportunity to can all year round and extend from the tomato season to the next tomato season to keep the plant working. And so, he built a new plant at that point in order to can through the winter and developed some good relationships with ethnic-based companies in Toronto and Montreal, mostly with a couple of key Italian companies, and started canning chickpeas and red kidney, lentils, white kidney and Romano beans and on and on it goes…because he believed there was a future in foods that were better than what was on the market.”

In 1995, the firm built a new processing facility in Belleville. The new plant was an opportunity to introduce new design ideas and technology. The Spragues abandoned traditional factory floor plans in favour of a more open concept that created efficiencies, but was considered so radical, the design plans needed government approvals. They bought new technology from Europe to modernize operations. And when a Campbell’s Soup plant in Ontario closed in 2019, they bought 20 truckloads of equipment. The automated filling and can capping equipment, large, super-heated water retorts to cook and cool canned products and labelling equipment dramatically increased production capacity. Today, the plant can process 350 cans of products every minute. And the company produces around 50 different canned goods from soups to chili to beans exported across Canada and The United States and new markets in Europe and Asia.

“As a little boy, I was so excited to go to work,” says Rick. “And here I am today, and I feel the same excitement. I walk into this place each morning and hear everything, the smells, and the people and what we are doing and the challenges. And I just love it. So, I feel very fortunate… And it’s just not making it to 100 years, but really in our 100 – year history, we are at a much better place than we have ever been with our brand, the types of products we’re producing, and the growth potential. It’s a great feeling.”

EVENT: Celebrating Hockey History for Heritage Week

The 1958/59 Belleville McFarlands World Champion Hockey Team

BELLEVILLE – The City of Belleville’s Glanmore National Historic Site, part of the Community Services Department, is celebrating Belleville’s hockey heritage with a special presentation on Feb. 21 about the history of hockey in Belleville and the story of the Belleville McFarlands hockey team.

About the presentation:

In the 1950s, Belleville’s Memorial Arena was packed on game nights as rowdy crowds cheered on their hometown hockey team, the Belleville McFarlands (MACS). Owned by wealthy industrialist H.J. McFarland of Picton, the team was stocked with former NHL veterans, promising rookies and local “farm boys” who played a blend of hockey featuring speed, scoring skill and bruising play.

The mighty MACS were rough, tough and unstoppable.

In 1958, the McFarlands swept through successive series with Canadian teams to win the Allan Cup. Over 50,000 fans lined the streets of Belleville to welcome them home. The following year, they travelled to Prague, Czechoslovakia to play the best teams in the world. The MACS lost just one game and captured the world title, and Belleville went crazy again.

But within months the players were embroiled in a scandal involving payments to team members. It was not until 50 years later in April 2009 when Belleville honoured the team with a special anniversary night, launching a documentary and book about their remarkable achievement.

Re-live this moment of hockey history on Friday, Feb. 21 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre (265 Cannifton Rd.). The event will feature a discussion with author Richard Hughes about his new book, “Belleville Hockey Town, The Early Years 1865 – 1930”, as well as a screening of a documentary about the McFarlands hockey team and a presentation from Picton journalist Peter Lockyer.

The Celebrating Hockey History event is brought to you by Glanmore National Historic Site in partnership with History Lives Here. Tickets are $20/person which includes light refreshments and a complimentary pass to Glanmore for a future visit to the museum. To reserve tickets, visit Glanmore.ca or call 613-962-2329 for more information.

Media Contact:
Jenna Leslie
Communications Coordinator
City of Belleville
613-967-3200 ext. 3261
jleslie@belleville.ca

MEDIA RELEASE: Celebrating Hockey History

Celebrating Hockey History: The Story of the 1958/59 Belleville McFarlands World Champion Hockey Team

In the 1950s, Belleville’s Memorial arena was packed on game nights as rowdy crowds cheered on their hometown hockey team, The Belleville McFarlands.

 

Owned by wealthy industrialist H.J. McFarland of Picton, the team was stocked with former NHL veterans, promising rookies, and local farm boys who played a blend of hockey featuring speed, scoring skill, and bruising play. The mighty MACS were rough, tough, and unstoppable.

 

In 1958, the McFarlands swept through successive series with Canadian teams to win the Allan Cup. Fifty thousand fans lined the streets of Belleville to welcome them home. The following year, they travelled to Prague, Czechoslovakia to play the best teams in the world. The MACS lost just one game and captured the world title. And Belleville went crazy again.

 

But within months the players were embroiled in a scandal involving city payments to team members. It was not until 50 years later in April 2009, Belleville honoured the team with a special anniversary night launching a documentary and book about their remarkable achievement.

 

Re-live this hockey history on Thursday, January 30th from 7 – 8:30PM at The Andrew, 31 King St., Picton as another of our monthly “History Nights” presentations with journalist Peter Lockyer. The evening will also feature author Richard Hughes discussing his new book, Belleville Hockey Town, The Early Years 1865 – 1930.

HISTORY NIGHTS: Great Journeys Into The Past

History Lives Here is hosting a series of “History Nights” in 2024/2025 at The Andrew, the former St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on King Street in Picton.

“History Nights” are 90-minute audio-video presentations on a wide range of local history topics of first settlement, founding industries, prominent people, and significant events, which have shaped the history of Prince Edward County and Canada.

A first event in September outlined the history of History Lives Here Inc., the little company with the big idea to make history a significant economic driver in the area.

Company founder, journalist Peter Lockyer, shared his personal story of working as a volunteer to restore Picton’s historic Glenwood Cemetery over nearly a decade and some lessons learned. Today, after nearly 25 years working with many local volunteer heritage groups, it is his firm belief that we need to do more than tell stories – even as compelling as they are. What really needs to happen, he says, is that we package our history into a community business retailing historical events, experiences and locally made products to consumers with a portion of all revenues contributed into a central, existing fund that supports local heritage projects.

October’s presentation highlighted the story of the Miss Supertest race team, the Canadian boat which raced to victories in Picton waters in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The next “History Night” will take place on Thursday, January 30th at 7 – 8:30PM at the Andrew, 31 King St. in Picton. This presentation will tell the tale of a town, a time, and a team that made hockey history – the story of the 1959 world champion Belleville McFarlands.

In late February, Lockyer will be presenting “Great Journeys” – his experiences documenting Canadian development projects in China, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam and Ghana.

 

The concluding presentation in March will showcase some of the History Moments video series, short stories based on local history themes, produced by the History Lives Here team. These highly produced video vignettes were broadcast on regional broadcast networks and before movies at several area theatres.    

 

 Tickets are $30/person. For more information, contact: standrewspicton.com/historynights

RETAILING HISTORY: The 2024 Christmas In The County House Tour

This annual, self-guided tour of some of Prince Edward County’s most historic properties will take place on Sunday, December 8th from 11AM- 5PM.

 

The popular event always sells out. But it originated from tragic circumstances. On a Sunday morning in the late summer of 2010, a demolition crew began tearing down an iconic heritage property on Picton’s Main Street – a former Methodist Church built in 1875. Within a couple of days, this great building was reduced to rubble. Today, the site remains an empty lot on the town’s Main Street – a loss rated as one of the top ten heritage losses in the country in 2010 by the National Heritage Trust of Canada.

 

In time the municipality created the Picton Heritage Conservation District enacting some regulatory policy to prevent more losses. But a very immediate response was the creation of the Christmas In The County House Tour to promote the importance of preserving heritage while raising funds to support local heritage projects. Money from ticket revenues is contributed into a Built Heritage Fund managed by our Community Foundation and re-invested each year in local heritage projects.

 

COVID shut down the tour for a couple of years. But in 2023, the tour was revived by a small group of volunteers. As always, it sold out! In 2024, the tour will showcase nine historic County properties decorated for the holiday season. It’s yet another example of how history can be packaged into a popular product that consumers will gladly purchase – all part of the “Heritage Economy” we are developing in Prince Edward County.

 

We need to make local history and heritage matter. And it will matter most if it makes money – as it does in many communities around the world.

 

Tour tickets are $40/person. To order tickets online, contact: CountyHouseTour.eventbrite.ca