Know Your Neighbours – Delos White Beadle

In Canada, Delos White Beadle of St. Catharines, a prominent figure in horticulture and gardening, exemplified how legitimacy in horticulture became increasingly tied to institutional affiliation, publishing, and participation in formal associations.

Know Your Neighbours – Sidney Rose Badgley

The architect of Massey Hall in Toronto, Sidney Rose Badgley was born in 1850 in Ernest Township, Ontario near Kingston. As a young boy however, the family moved to St. Catharines. Badgley attended Grantham Academy on Church Street, a building that still stands today and is home to Bridges Niagara. 

14th Annual Guided Spirit Walks – Historical Profiles

The challenge, which I always enjoy, is simultaneously selecting historic persons to include on the tour whose burials are located on an enjoyable walking tour route that also fit into the theme of that year’s tour, and whose life story can appropriately carry a relevant historical narrative.

VMLS via Podcast – From Anatevka to St. Catharines: the History of the Jewish Community in St. Catharines

On today’s episode of VMLS via Podcast we’re sharing a lecture titled From Anatevka to St. Catharines: the Early Years of the Spiritual Home of the Jewish Community, presented by special guest Howard Slepkov. This lecture was originally recorded on March 1, 2022.

Another Successful Year for Guided Spirit Walks

We are so thankful to our audiences and our volunteers for another very successful Guided Spirit Walk season at Victoria Lawn Cemetery. The walks bring history to life through theatrical performances based on the histories of the folks who made an important mark in our city. Thank you also to the many folks who reached out with kind comments of enjoyment and enthusiasm! We appreciate it!

2023 Guided Spirit Walks – Meet Your Guide: Jane

The annual Guided Spirit Walks are back again this September and we’re excited to share the profiles of the historic people included this year, and our wonderful cast of volunteer performers who will portray them.

2023 Guided Spirit Walks – Dr. Chauncey Beadle

The annual Guided Spirit Walks are back again this September and we’re excited to share the profiles of the historic people included this year, and our wonderful cast of volunteer performers who will portray them.

2023 Guided Spirit Walks – Alpheus St. John

Our spirit walks often employ a few fictional characters to help advance plot or narrative and to help other characters along. Especially when we get a lot of volunteer interest, we can have a bit more fun with larger scenes, more dialogue, and more interesting characters. We’re so pleased to have some local students join us as the fictional granddaughters of Alpheus St. John. In their scene, they are particularly curious about figuring out the history of the name of St. Catharines!

2023 Guided Spirit Walks – Elias Smith Adams and Susan Merritt

The annual Guided Spirit Walks are back again this September and we’re excited to share the profiles of the historic people included this year, and our wonderful cast of volunteer actors who will portray them.

For our next character/actor profiles, we meet Elias Smith Adams and Susan Merritt portrayed by Des Corran and Brenda Schultz.

2023 Guided Spirit Walks – George Rykert

Fictional settlers, (representing real opinions from historical sources) Abigail MacDonald, Jessie Frey, and Sarah Bryan have a bone to pick with Rykert after his town plan is laid out in the most awkward and disadvantageous ways. The scene unfolds quickly into familiar rants about road quality, property development, and the beginnings of urban settlement in our town.

2023 Guided Spirit Walks – Gertrude Yale

The annual Guided Spirit Walks are back again this September and we’re excited to share the profiles of the historic people included this year, and our wonderful cast of volunteer actors who will portray them.

For our first character/actor profile, we welcome back Gertrude Yale, played by Amanda Balyk.

From the Shelves of Merritt’s Mercantile – Volume 2

For this installment of our Curator’s pick of books from our gift shop, I would like to highlight the book A Future in Doubt: The rise and demise of one small Jewish community and what it says about the future of synagogues everywhere, by Howard Slepkov. Published in January 2021, this book is not only a great history of the St. Catharines Jewish community, the building of the local synagogue, but it is also a really wonderful look at Jewish life in Canada in the 20th century.

Know Your Neighbours – Air Commodore Leonard Joseph Birchall, Savior of Ceylon

Leonard Joseph Birchall was born in 1915 and raised in St. Catharines. He attended Connaught Public School the St. Catharines […]