Caledon plans celebration for Heritage Day 2007

This is a photo of the class at Caledon East Union School, 1913.

Come join in the fun! Heritage Caledon extends an open invitation to its annual celebration of Heritage Day Tuesday, Feb. 20. Festivities will be held at the Town Hall, 6311 Old Church Road, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The theme this year is early school days in Caledon. Until the Common School Act of 1841 introduced compulsory property taxation to support elementary schools, education in the townships of Albion, Chinguacousy and Caledon was a rather haphazard affair. Public education was finally made compulsory in 1871, and the first manual on schoolhouse design followed in 1876.

The consolidation of rural school sections in the 1960s caused the closure of the one-room schoolhouses. Many were converted to private residences, but remain part of our rural landscape.

A wealth of historic photographs, schoolhouse histories, stories, artifacts and other mementos from Caledon's one-room and union schools are being collected for display in the Town Hall lobby, and organizers would be delighted to receive further contributions from your attics or photo albums. Come trace the route you walked to your local school on our schoolhouse location map!

Various "school day" events are also planned, including a spelling bee, penmanship contest, raffle, a Town-wide oatmeal cookie baking contest, to be overseen by an accredited fall fair judge; and, an interdepartmental "school day" race for Town staff. Members of the Caledon East Union School book committee will also be on hand to sell their new book School on the Hill, and the St. Cornelius Elementary School choir will be entertaining visitors over the lunch hour. Of course, everyone is welcome to stay for the Heritage Day brown bag school lunch!

Join them Tuesday, Feb. 20, as they celebrate Heritage Day. For further details or display contributions, please call Sally Drummond, Heritage Resource Officer, at 905- 584-2272 ext. 4243.