As promised, this is a note to remind you about our upcoming regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 29th, 2021, at 7:30 PM. This is our first meeting since June, and as much as I would have preferred an in-person meeting, our view is that it’s just not time for that yet. We’ll keep you posted about the possibility of in-person meetings, but, in the meantime, I think we’ve learned that Zoom meetings work. We’ve been able to continue to arrange for interesting speakers, and the meeting on Sept. 20th is no exception. Our Programming Director, Kevin Dark, has arranged to have Mr. Wayne Morgan, President of Community Heritage Ontario, speak to us about “Heritage Conservation in York Region – A Personal Journey.” Anyone guests wishing to attend this virtual meeting on Zoom is invited to contact us at r.hillhistsoc at gmail.com.
In my last message, I also referenced the Fall 2021 Richmond Hill Speakers Series. They have a series of 6 excellent speakers lined up beginning with Nina Munteanu on September 23rd, who will be speaking about “….water and what it means to us.” I’d like to encourage you to check the Speaker Series out. You can find more information at Fall 2021 Richmond Hill Speaker Series: OnRichmondHill.
I’m reluctant to raise the issue of Membership dues, but it has been a confusing issue as we’ve been trying to cope with the restrictions Covid-19 has placed on our ability to conduct normal business. As I noted above, I’m pleased that we have been able to take advantage of Zoom technology (many thanks, Marj) to keep our meetings going, even if we have to forgo the pleasures of mingling and refreshments. I also have to note, though, that most of our expenses continue: honoraria for speakers, insurance, P.O. Box rental, website costs, and more. Thankfully, the church has been very helpful by letting us off the hook for rent. We do need Membership revenues, though to keep us going.
It will be really important, then, if members could arrange to pay their 2022 dues, starting now. We’re hoping that, by Jan. 1, 2022, the bulk of our memberships will be up-to-date and we can prepare a new and current membership roster. Just to remind you, our fees have not changed. A single membership is $25.00 and a family membership is $40.00. Payment can be by cash, though we’re not expecting that to happen until we can finally meet face-to-face. Until then, of course you can pay by cheque, and the easiest way is to make the cheque payable to the Richmond Hill Historical Society (see or Membership page). Finally, you can pay by e-transfer directly to our account with TD Bank. You will need our email address to do this – r.hillhistsoc at gmail.com. I know that many of you successfully did this for your 2021 fees.
Finally, I mentioned in my last message that we’re beginning to think about projects that we can undertake to help Richmond Hill celebrate its 150th anniversary. Two projects that I can tell you a bit about are, first – the collection of all of our Liberal articles over the last few years into one digital archive which we would make available through our website and perhaps other digital locations. We are also looking into a series of similar articles that were published some years ago, as well as wondering how we could make a series of seniors’ interviews conducted by Bert Hunt a few years ago more readily available. Secondly, we’ve begun to explore the notion of a Heritage Summit in 2023 that would bring heritage supporters, developers, planners and other officials, homeowners and interested citizens together for a day to discuss the state of heritage resources in Richmond Hill.
We’ll keep you posted on these projects and others that may arise as more planning takes place. As I mentioned in my last message, any thoughts you might have about this celebration would be appreciated.
That’s more than enough for now. I’ll send out a reminder about the Sept. 20th meeting a day in advance.
I hope to see you there.
Many thanks
Jim.
Richmond Hill Historical Society 