Feature Article August 7, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomePioneer Museum grand Opening
Back in 1972 Nadine Brumell and Elsie Snider began getting together to share their interest in the stories of the settlement and development the Highway 41 corridor. Eventually, with other interested folk, they began calling themselves the Pioneer Club, which was devoted to the preservation of the history of the area.
The two women shared a literary interest, and The Pioneer Club applied for and received a New Horizons grant, which they used to write and publish a book. The Oxen and the Axe, written by Nadine Brumell and another friend, Gene Brown, was published around 1976. It proved to be a great success, and is still available today. In 1980, a second book was published, a coffee table-style book called Unto These Hills.
Both Gene and Nadine are now deceased, but from those early beginnings came the Pioneer Museum, which was built in the mid-80s. The log cabin style structure was constructed near the Barrie Township hall under an agreement between the Pioneer Club and Barrie township hall. Fifteen years later, in 2001, the Pioneer Club was incorporated as the Cloyne and District Historical Society (CDHS). The CDHS then obtained a Trillium grant, which was used to renovate and update the museum and purchase some items such as display cases and computers. At the same time, a fundraising drive was held to finance an expansion of the museum. Work on the new addition began last Spring, a roof raising bee was held in September, and the newly renovated museum was up and running by the spring of 2003.
When the museum renovations were being planned, members of the Historical Society realized that a large pine tree would have to be cut down in order to complete the museum expansion. Karyl Waldie Steinpatz of the Society says that they agonized over the decision to remove that single tree. Ironically, a few weeks later, the Cloyne microburst came through and devastated all of the trees surrounding the museum and the Barrie township Hall.
There were trees strewn about on all sides of the Pioneer Museum, but none of them hit the building itself. Karyl, and Ian Brumell, speculate that perhaps the ghosts of Gene Brown and Nadine Brumell stepped in and stopped the trees from ruining their museum.
The work that was done on the expansion of the museum was supervised by Ian Brumell, Nadines son. Ian acted as the project contractor. Costs were controlled by using student and volunteer labour on the job, culminating in a one-day roof raising which took place last September.
Much work has been done on the museum in the past year, and on the surrounding site as well. the devastation of the microburst is still apparent to anyone who remembers the majestic Pine Trees that dominated the site, but all the debris has been cleaned up; many of the stumps are gone and the remaining ones will be removed, and the beginnings of a refurbished landscaping program are apparent.
That a Lumbermens Picnic is being held to celebrate the opening of the museum is no coincidence. It harkens back to the glory days of the post-war lumber industry in the area. The largest lumber mill was Sawyer Stoll, and the annual Lumbermens picnics drew crowds as large as 10,000 people, according to some accounts. A particularly large gathering took place in 1948, when Barbara Ann Scott, fresh from her Olympic Figure Skating gold metal performance, was the guest of honour.
The events that took place back then will be repeated at this weeks Picnic. There will be sawing competitions, continuous entertainment, heritage childrens activities, displays of antique autos, relay races, and more.
The museum grounds in Cloyne are not large enough to accommodate al the scheduled events, so the scheduled horse shoe tournament will take place at nearby Hunters Creek Golf Course. A loggers challenge will take place at the Cloyne Ball field (registration for the loggers challenge will take place between 10:00 and 11:00)
