The Old Beaver River and Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society was formed in 1999 and has now evolved into the Old Stones Society (oldstones.ca). Gary and I chat with Bill Curry about the history of the sites and what’s next …..It’s all happening Outside My Window !!!
The interview is posted on Facebook, so you’ll need a Facebook account to hear the chat.
https://www.facebook.com/qtaggart/videos/923917611874535
Calendar of Events:
Dates for 2019/2020:
Monday 18 November 2019, 7 pm: Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Monday 17 February 2020, 1 pm: Bill Curry Photography Gallery, Port Maitland
Monday 27 April 2020, 7 pm: Annual General Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Monday 25 May 2020, 7 pm: Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Friday 7 August 2020: Set Up for Port Maitland Heritage Days (all day)
Saturday 8 August 2020: Port Maitland Heritage Day – Dessert Café, Sale and BBQ, – PM Fire Hall
Sunday 9 August 2020 – Cemetery tour – Calvinist and Island Cemetery, 2 pm
Monday 28 September 2020, 7 pm: Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Monday 16 November, 2020 – 7 pm: Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Great article on Old Stones in the Chronicle Herald !
Want to join us or donate to the cause?
Please go here, any amount is welcomed!
A local writer does a blog on her website, and she came to the Old Stones cemeteries late last month. I gave her the tour of the three cemeteries, and she has now written a great article about our efforts…
What a great day in Port Maitland –
Thanks to all who came and supported the Old Stones efforts. We raised more money than we had hoped for, and all of it will go toward the restoration, preservation and perpetuation of our three historic cemeteries. People seemed to be having a great deal of fun, and the food was simply incredible.
Thanks to all who donated, who supported us and who gave so freely of their time and money.
The community should be proud of an amazing event!
Bill Curry – Chair, Old Stones
What a great afternoon! An intrepid crew came out to the Calvinist Cemetery this afternoon and probed for missing stones. Working from a list done in the late 1800’s it had become apparent that we have a dozen or so folks buried in the cemetery that we didn’t have markers for. Sometimes in the past markers have been stolen, but often they just fall over and get covered over, since this cemetery was last active in the 1870’s and was the last to be restored in 2004, it wasn’t surprising that some markers might have been just “lost” to us by toppling. Our team probed the likely areas and discovered two new residents! The write-up is now adjusted for the family of Sarah Goudey, who was a known resident, but now we have the markers for her husband John Wellwood Goudey and their daughter Sarah Adelaide Goudey. It turns out John and his daughter Sarah died almost exactly a month apart in 1865 from typhoid fever, and both markers were found next to Sarah’s existing marker. The photos below show the action as we made the discovery, and the write-up for the family is on Old Stones website. Thanks to all those who came out and helped – and now we get to add information to our database.
http://www.oldstones.ca/founders/?page_id=237
Potluck Lunch and Auction
Saturday 23 August, 12 Noon (doors open at 11:30 am)
Auction begins at 2 pm
Port Maitland Fire Hall
Some of the best food in Port Maitland appears on plates at the famous potluck events sponsored by Old Stones. Following lunch there will be an auction of wonderful donated items from members of the community. There will be a draw for the raffle of three great items—tickets are on sale now. All proceeds go to support the preservation and maintenance by Old Stones of three historic cemeteries in Beaver River and Port Maitland—Founders, Free Will Baptist and Calvinist Baptist. Admission Free. Donations Welcome.
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Tour of the historic Calvinist Baptist Cemetery in Port Maitland
& older gravestones in the Port Maitland/Beaver River Cemetery
followed by a
Strawberry Social in the Port Maitland Fire Hall
Sunday, 13 July, 2 pm. (Tour); 3:30 pm (Social)
Meet at Calvinist Baptist Cemetery, Highway 1, Port Maitland
(there will be someone there to give parking instructions)
Join Wilfred Allan as he takes you on a tour of the graves of the “residents” in the Calvinist Baptist Cemetery, one of the three historic Beaver River and Port Maitland cemeteries maintained by Old Stones. This will be followed by a tour of graves of some of the people buried in the Old Stones cemeteries who were removed to the newer and still active Port Maitland/Beaver River Cemetery across the street.
Following the tour join us at the Port Maitland Fire Hall for some delicious strawberry shortcake.
Sponsored by Old Stones
Rain or Shine. Admission Free for both events. Donations Welcome.
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We thought that folks might like to see some of the items up for grabs at our amazing auction and pot luck…(click on any image or description to enlarge or get more details)
Information about the auction and pot luck is just below the prizes as well (date, time, etc.)
See you on Saturday the 24th! Doors open at 5pm, dinner at 6pm auction at 7pm !
