Museum takes reigns of Sunnyside Dairy wagon
There were a lot of people to thank on Saturday.
There was John Chiocchio who shared the photo of a restored Sunnyside Dairy cart at the Milton Museum. There was Brad Ulch who was inspired by the photo to find a another cart in the hopes of displaying the history of the Welland dairy operation at Welland Museum.
There was Ken Leblanc, who remembered his old neighbours in Wainfleet had one such cart, No. 24, in their barn. There were those two neighbours, Bill and Mary Podolyak, who kept the wagon, once pulled by horse delivering milk to the homes of Welland, safe from the elements. There were the 67 individuals who stepped up to support a GoFundMe campaign to purchase the cart, in the ultimate hopes of it becoming an artifact, harkening to a bygone era of tight-knit neighbourhoods, for museum.
“I’m so proud of this community for rallying around this,” said museum curator Penny Morningstar, during a ceremony at Seaway Mall on Saturday recognizing the handover of the wagon to the museum.
The wagon, she said, will be preserved and ultimately displayed at the museum as its largest artifact. She said it is an obvious fit given its connection to the community.
Everyone of a certain age, she said, remembers those wagons going up the street delivering dairy in the morning.
“The sense of family around this milk wagon has been phenomenal,” said Morningstar, adding, “this is just the start of the story.”
Former milkmen and the owner of the now gone dairy business, former mayor Allan Pietz, were in attendance. Over the past months they have been contributing their stories, and related artifacts, including old bottles and milkman uniforms, to the project.
“It’s been a wonderful thing to be here,” said Pietz, who was quick to recognize all his former milkmen.
“I remember them as kids and young men, and now they’ve got grey hair,” he laughed, adding, “I’ll remember this the rest of my life.”