Forest Lambton Museum
Lower 8 Main St. N N0N 1J0 Forest, ON, Canada

Here is a link to the Remembrance Day presentation by representatives of local museums. A wide variety of topics were shared concerning how the world wars impacted Lambton County. The part presented on behalf of The Forest Museum concerns the local "home front" during the Second World War. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ45XaT-Y9s

We shall remember them.

Back in May we posted on FB about the 100th birthday of a former local resident, Dr. Rosalind Morris. As a follow up, we thought you might be interested to read the article below from The St. David's Welsh Society of Nebraska concerning a quilt now in possession of the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. It is a quilt that has had a remarkable journey from Forest to England and then to Lincoln, where Ms. Morris, with remarkable coincidence, now resides. By the way, The Forest Museum sent best wishes to Dr. Morris, who was born in Wales, on her birthday and received a thank you letter from her this past week. https://nebraskawelsh.org/tag/quilt/

Have you heard about the new Ontario Blue Coast Travel Rewards Program? Stop by our museum between 1 and 2 on Monday, October 5th to hear all the exciting details from representatives of Tourism Sarnia-Lambton. https://www.ontbluecoast.com/

Thank you to our good friends at Lambton County Archives for sharing this history of our beloved Forest Fair.

Just a reminder of this upcoming event. Our bit will focus on what folks around here did during the Second World War to support our troops overseas. The link to register for this presentation is... https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-Uf7G02wT6ax1Etf-HLCOw

In case you missed it..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KW9PexzN6Q

The Forest Museum is pleased to once again participate in a local history digital presentation hosted by Heritage Sarnia-Lambton. This month's topic is "Fun in the Sun". See the attached poster for all the details. Numbers are limited, so be sure to register today! https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PPAUZpFPSfm0lBnhAYIBlA

Today is our museum's day on Tourism Sarnia-Lambton's "Ontario's Blue Coast" FB page. Like and share their promotional post (click link below to access it) for a chance to win a prize. Good luck!

In case you missed it, here is a link to the webinar on the Spanish Influenza of 1918-1920.

Today is International Museum Day. We may not currently be open, but rest assured that our volunteers continue to preserve, conserve and share our community's history. If you would like to show your support for what we do, please consider making a donation. We are a registered charity and will issue a tax receipt for contributions of $20 or more. Donations may be mailed to Forest-Lambton Museum, #8 Main St. N., Forest, Ont. N0N 1J0. Thank you and continue to stay safe!

Happy Victoria Day! The British queen was born on May 24, 1819. She was a reigning monarch for 63 years, seven months and two days. Victoria Day was declared a Canadian holiday by the government in 1845. At that time, it was celebrated with picnics, parades, sporting tournaments, fireworks and cannon salutes. When Queen Victoria died in 1901, Canada’s parliament officially named the holiday Victoria Day. It was decided that the day would be celebrated on the penultimate (second last) Monday in May.

Today the Forest Museum would like to honour Dr. Rosalind Morris on the occasion of her 100th birthday. Dr. Morris was born in Wales but immigrated to Canada with her family in 1925 to settle on a farm on the 12th of Plympton (Douglas Line), just outside Forest. Rosalind developed a love of agriculture in her youth and went on to pursue the academic study of the subject at the Ontario Agricultural College and then Cornell University in NY. She eventually became a Professor of... Genetics at the University of Nebraska and was responsible for much groundbreaking work in the study of plant genetics. Rosalind is currently living in Lincoln, Nebraska, and birthday wishes have been sent her way by the museum and Mayor Weber. To discover more of Rosalind's fascinating story please check out the link below (scroll down to the 3rd page). The photos are of Rosalind working on her family farm and of her on her 97th birthday. http://www.aic.ca/gender/pdf/Women_in_Agronomy.pdf See more

VE-Day (Victory in Europe Day) happened 75 years ago, on May 8, 1945, marking the end of the Second World War in Europe. Although German forces had surrendered on the 7th, the news wasn't made official in the Allied nations until 9:00 a.m. on the 8th. Here is the scene at the intersection of King and Main in Forest as the local citizenry celebrated the good news. The war would not end, of course, until August with the surrender of Japanese forces in the Pacific Theatre.

Throughout the present pandemic, much reference has been made in the media to the Spanish Flu of 1918/19. The Forest Museum is working with other area museums to learn how this extremely deadly pandemic impacted our local area. If you have family stories, photos or other documents related to the Spanish Flu and how it affected our community please email us at [email protected] or post us a message.

Thank you Tom Boon for providing us with more additions to our "Your Collection" virtual museum. These planes and the other tools were used by his grandfather and great grandfather. He also sent us this photo of his 1956/57 Grade 3 class at Forest Public School taught by Mrs. Gavigan. Can you help us ID the students? If you would like to "donate" to our virtual museum, please email us at [email protected]. Check out our virtual museum on the "Your Collection" page of our website ...www.forestlambtonmuseum.ca

For anyone interested in researching their family tree.... https://www.lclibrary.ca//lambton-county-library-offers-fr

Updated post.... Sad that the diamonds are quiet now, but here's a photo from our archives that might bring some cheer to local baseball fans... a team portrait of the Arkona Giants, "Champion amateur baseball team of Ontario". It appears that this photo of the team is from 1909. The book "Arkona Through the Years" has a write up about the team.... In the pre-war days, the period that was Arkona’s most glamorous and exciting, the Giants were forced to confine their games wi...th teams from nearby towns, such as Forest, Thedford, Parkhill and Watford. Players came here transported in horse-drawn vans or buggies, and the Arkona boys travelled similarly... For several years centering around 1909, the Giants earned tremendous support from the people of Arkona and area. The home games were played on the Fair Grounds, and hundreds watched breathlessly and often very boisterously." See more