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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

History Nights at St. Andrews-Picton with Peter Lockyer

Media Release

History Nights @ St. Andrews-Picton with Peter Lockyer

The History Nights presentations will showcase local history stories of early settlement, significant events, prominent people, and the first industries that have shaped County history. Journalist and local historian Peter Lockyer of History Lives Here Inc. will share his knowledge and experiences as a professional storyteller who has explored the rich past of Prince Edward County over the last 25 years.

 

This series of five monthly 90-minute presentations begins on Thursday, September 26th from 7 – 8:30 PM with the concept of the Heritage Economy, Peter’s idea to transform County history into a series of heritage products – walking and bus tours, plays, re-enactments, specialty items and experiences retailed to visitors. Throughout many projects, it is Peter’s strong belief that we need to do more than tell stories. He suggests we create a community history business that makes money to preserve our many heritage properties and special spaces.

 

“We’re very pleased to partner with Peter in hosting the History Nights series,” “He and his History Lives Here team have played a significant role in telling these compelling stories of the County’s past for many years while pioneering an economic concept to make history a significant business for the community. He wants to make heritage matter. This is a transformative idea. And we are partnering with his company as we transform our heritage property into a dynamic community space.”

 -Lynne Donovan-minister at St. Andrews.

 

Additional History Nights include the following presentations:

·      Thurs., October 24th–     The Story of the Miss Supertest Years, when this legendary Canadian hydroplane raced to victory in Picton waters.

·      Thurs. November 21 The History Moments – These short television features on County history stories played before movies at The Regent Theatre for over a decade.  

The series will continue in 2025 with:

·      Thurs. January 30th–     The story of the 1959 world champion Belleville McFarland hockey team.

·      Thurs. February 27th–    Great Journeys featuring documentaries on Peter’s overseas experiences capturing Canadian relief and development projects.

 

Tickets are $30/person per show.  You can purchase online at

https://www.standrewspicton.com/historynights  or pay CASH at the door.

County wine, cider, beer, and non-alcoholic drinks will be available to buy. CASH only.

 

For more information, please contact Anita Barnes at engagement.standrewspicton@gmail.com

HISTORY, HERITAGE AND AGING VOLUNTEERS

The future of The County’s many special spaces

When I was growing up in the County in the 1960s, it was a beautiful place. But it was also one of the poorest areas in Ontario. I actually don’t believe the “Good Old Days” were all that good for most families whose parents operated small farms and businesses. As a child, I was oblivious to the many struggles my parents – and generations before them – must have endured.

 

We are now at another time in our history. I prefer it.  Prosperity provides more options even if it brings new challenges. One of those challenges is how we preserve what is “special” – a key asset that attracts people to remain, retire, invest, and to visit here.

 

I’m very familiar with these issues. Over the last 20 years since I returned to my hometown of Picton, I have been engaged in multiple efforts to preserve and promote the County’s many heritage spaces. I’ve served on committees, helped raise money for a wide range of heritage properties and projects, developed heritage products like walking and bus tours, plays, re-enactments, The History Moments series of historical vignettes, which played before movies at The Regent Theatre, and worked to save some irreplaceable buildings like the Glenwood Cemetery Chapel from demolition. I’ve also lost many heritage battles.

 

With so much development underway, the great danger is that we will lose precious farmland, conservation areas, and other special spaces to short-term planning driven by economic considerations alone. But we’re facing another major threat as well – the aging of the volunteer sector.

 

This place runs on volunteers. There are many local groups supporting worthwhile causes all competing for limited sponsorship dollars, donations, event dates, and venues within the community. We have 7 museums; over 100 cemeteries including nearly 60 still in operation; 10 churches in Picton alone; and at least 30-40 groups working in the history, heritage and conservation sectors looking after the many special spaces requiring constant care.  

 

Each year, more groups are cancelling their events because they cannot find younger volunteers to take their place. There has been a herculean volunteer effort over many decades to undertake countless community projects. We’ve achieved great things together. But there are limits to volunteerism. And I think we’re reached it. We cannot continue to do what we have always done. We need to embrace profound change.

 

One thing we could do is sell some of the municipality’s many buildings with the sale revenues invested into a dedicated heritage fund that supports the maintenance of the properties we keep. This is painful I know as some years ago we sold our farm that had been in the family for 100 years. But the farm is still farmed by local farmers. The barn and original house have been respectfully transformed by its new owners. I don’t think it gets much better than that. So, I believe it is a time we let go of our emotional ties to some of these properties – because it is in the best interest of preserving them.

 

Another initiative is to work collectively to package our history into a social enterprise business retailing heritage products and experiences to visitors worldwide – to develop a Heritage Economy.

 

Many communities around the world have adapted to change by retailing their history. We could easily create memorable travel packages including gourmet meals and accommodation, wine, walking and nature tours, re-enactments, plays, and events like the Christmas House Tour, Flashback February, Maple In The County, the Arts Trail, local fairs and other events. These already exist. But they are fragmented and uncoordinated. And most don’t contribute to any central heritage fund supporting maintenance of our special spaces.

 

We need to bring these many capacities together in a collective effort that “upsells” our estimated one million annual visitors to spend more during their stays with a portion of the proceeds donated to the Built Heritage Fund administered by the Community Foundation, or other funding programs supporting local heritage projects.

 

In many places in the world where I’ve travelled, history makes money. We have lots of history, but we are not making any money from it. We’re going to need to soon start making money from it if we are to maintain the many heritage properties currently supported by aging volunteers.

 

We need to develop a Heritage Economy – the notion that history can be a suite of products, services, and experiences retailed worldwide as a community, social enterprise business.

 

Let’s aspire to become a sort of “Gettysburg North” after the small Pennsylvania town that retails its three days of Civil War History. It’s worth nearly $700 million a year to the economy of a town with only 6,500 residents, but with three million annual visitors. Closer to home, The Kingston Penitentiary Museum has transformed a mothballed 1830s prison into a frequent movie set, and tour experience generating about $24,000/day seven days a week during the tourism season. In our community, Base31 is transforming an historic former military base into an event venue and destination as a market-based business. 

 

Let’s embrace change. Let’s think bigger and act more boldly. Let’s create a Heritage Economy transforming local history into a community business and significant economic driver.