Hi again, everyone.
I hope you’re not getting tired of these messages – this darn pandemic is sure forcing us to experience new normals, including how we communicate with each other. Emails and Zoom meetings certainly aren’t my first choice for getting together or trying to provide people with information, but at the moment, they are, unfortunately, our best choice.
The main purpose of this message is to confirm that we will proceed with our first Zoom meeting on Monday, October 19th at 7:30 PM – the same date and time as our normal meeting would have been. Thankfully, Marj Andre has again agreed to organize and manage the meeting.
It would be great if you could let Marj and I know if you can join us, so we will know how many to expect. As I understand it, you can join a Zoom meeting through your laptop, tablet or smartphone, and I now have a webcam attached to my desktop monitor, so my desktop PC should work, as well. You will be asked to provide a name when you click on the link – please use your real name, rather than a code, so we know who you are. Also, feel free to join early, as early as 7:20 as Marj will certainly be on early and will be able to help if you have any questions. Marj also asked me to tell you that if you have any Zoom issues in advance of the call, to please get in touch with her directly. Marj can be reached by email at marj at marjandre.com, or by phone at 416 822 5139.
As with our normal meetings, Kevin Dark has arranged for a speaker at this meeting, as well. Mr. Gary Toffoli, of Canadian Royal Trust will talk about Richmond Hill’s namesake, the Fourth Duke of Richmond, Sir Charles Lennox.
I also wanted to let you know that I have heard from Maggie Mackenzie, with Heritage Services, and she reports that the planned renovations at the Heritage Centre are imminent. The Centre itself has been emptied, a contractor has been hired, and work is expected to be underway soon on the Centre and the gazebo. Maggie herself, in spite of a sojourn with the Parks people, has been able to devote time to the development of exhibits and is working on a variety of hybrid virtual/in-person programming.
Also, I wanted to let you know that there are still places available in the final two Walk and Learn Heritage Tours that I told you about in my last message. The first one, The Village Backstreets was held on Oct. 6th and was well received. The next one is North Yonge Street on Tuesday, Oct 13th at 10; 00 AM and the third one is Mill Pond History on Tuesday, Oct. 20th at 10; 00 AM.
Finally, I wanted to ask you that, if you know of any of our members who do not have access to a computer, you could pass on the information in these messages. I know there might be 18 or so members that do not have email addresses, so if you know any of them, I would really appreciate it if you could reach out to them and pass on some of the tidbits that I’ve provided.
Thanks again for your attention, and keep on staying safe.
And hope that you have a Happy Thanksgiving.
JIM
Richmond Hill Historical Society 