Finding a home, at last
Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society gets set for grand opening
Walking into the new heritage centre in Grand Falls-Windsor is like walking back in time.
The Craig Goudie murals of early day High Street in the former Town of Grand Falls and Main Street in the former Town of Windsor welcome you on either side of the entrance, while old photos of the wood and mill industry are directly in front of you.
When a community has such a rich history as Grand FallsWindsor, it’s important to preserve it, share it and pass it along to future generations.
The Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society (GFWHS), a non-profit community group with a public museum and archive, is doing just that. And now that it has a new home, the organization can do a lot more of it.
The GFWHS was formed in 1997 and incorporated in 1998. The registered charity’s mandate includes both tangible and intangible cultural heritage related to the history of Grand Falls-Windsor.
With their commitment to making their collection accessible to the public for research and exhibition, the grand opening of the new heritage centre is very welcoming.
“Ever since the society has been formed … we have been trying to have a home,” says Lucien Forbes, GFWHS president.
And it now has a new home at 10 Mill Rd., situated on the site of a century-old paper mill operation, in the former Abitibi Price training centre.
“We have a home,” Forbes says. “We have the building; we have a dedicated group … everybody is working hard to get it open.”
The group wants to tell the story of the mill and two former towns that became one.
“We have so much to show, the main thing being the A.N.D. Company mill, the mill town of Grand Falls and the first incorporated town in Newfoundland, Windsor,”
Forbes says. “You had the mill town and the private town and one wouldn’t exist without the other. Then for two towns to combine, and the mill goes, and here we are still a flourishing town.”
This history is important to share with younger generations, Forbes says, which is why they plan school tours.
“That is one of our main objectives,” he says.
“That’s the only way our heritage is going to be passed on. If people don’t take interest, it will go away tomorrow. But they will be (interested), especially the way it (is) set up now digitalized.”
They are working on digitizing old Advertiser newspapers, photos and information to have a searchable database and access to computers on site.
“They will be really pleased with the artifacts we do have here and all aspects,” he says, adding there are a lot of materials and there’s a plan to rotate the displays.
“We got one, I call, genuine artifact from the mill and that’s the mill whistle. We will be blowing that for special occasions.”
Visitor information services will be provided there by the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor.
“We’ve had generous help from the community,” Forbes says, which helped them get ready for the big grand opening set for June 11.
“One of the things that happened was River Gold. River Gold allowed us to do the work to the building. It’s also good for the community because the money stays in the community.”
Things are visibly happening and now they can open to the public. The grand opening will take place June 11, starting at 10:30 a.m., at the town hall and parading to the new GFWHS home.
The ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. in front of their building. There will be a barbecue, with the help of volunteers from Oddfellows Lodge and Mesonic Lodge, the Town Band and others will provide entertainment and a ribbon cutting by some past executive members of the GFWHS. Of course, those in attendance can also visit the centre, see the displays and put suggestions in their suggestion box.
“We are really looking forward to what the suggestions are,” Forbes says.
There are also many future plans, so stay tuned.