The rich history of the Quinte area will be celebrated at a special event on Friday, October 14th, 2016 from 5 pm – 7:30 pm at the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton, Ontario.
The event will showcase the premiere of twelve, two-minute stories of the region as part of the History Moments television series now in its sixth season. The series tells untold or forgotten stories from the past from Eastern Ontario communities – stories of early settlement, founding industries, prominent people, and events, which have shaped the history of the area and Canada. The series is broadcast on CKWS TV in Kingston, CHEX TV in Peterborough, TV Cogeco cable, before movies at several participating theatres, online on the websites of sponsors and community partners, and is distributed into local libraries, museums, and schools as learning resources.
Municipalities, businesses and tourism and heritage organizations sponsor the History Moments series. History Lives Here Inc., a Picton communications company, produces the History Moments series.
“These are old stories, but we believe there are new audiences for them,” says journalist Peter Lockyer, the creator of the series. “There was a time when Eastern Ontario was at the very epicenter of Confederation as a driving economic, social and political force. Those days are gone. But as we approach Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations in 2017, it is timely to celebrate the past as a way of preserving it for future generations.”
This year’s series tells the story of Belleville as a railway town, the building of the Trent –Severn Waterway in the 1830s, the construction of Canadian Forces Base Trenton as a work project during the hard years of the Depression era, the restoration of Picton’s historic Royal Hotel, the history of Albert College, a Belleville private school that is older than Canada, the life of Quinte artist Manly MacDonald, and the making of Picton’s Sir John A. Macdonald sculpture to celebrate the life of Canada’s first prime minister and his early years as a “Quinte boy.”
The launch event is open to the public.
