Duchess gets a Prize

The day before Valentine's Day we got a nice present, winning a Mayor's Heritage Award for the restoration work we did on the Duchess of Wellington. Kind of amazing, considering previous winners and the competition this year. Also accepting were: Shannon Prince and the Buxton Historic Society for restoring the last log structure in the Buxton Setlement, the Congregation of Ste Pierre sur la Thames church, Jon Ford for the Ford-McKinley Funeral Home, Dave Benson for his McCollam-Wade 1855 Greek Revival home, and our friend Brian Chute for his Park Street United House of Worship. All the nominees would have been worthy winners. The presentation dinner was at the Ridgetown Campus of the University of Guelph. An extra surprise during the evening was a Citizenship Award from the IODE Captain Garnet Bracken Chapter which was presented to Rick and I for our preservation work.

Joe Storey's Pines Chapel

Earlier this month Rick was part of a focus group to determine new uses for the Pines Chapel. This mid-century modernistic chapel was designed by the late Joe Storey for the Urseline Sisters. With their former mother house being converted to condos the chapel is in possible danger. Joe's architect daughter Kim Storey took part.

The Capitol

Rick took in the Chatham-Kent council meeting on Monday, deeply interested in the future of the Capitol Theatre. Our 1936 gem has been under restoration as a legitimate theatre centre, but has hit a half-finished brick (pun) wall. Provincial Infrastructure funding being awarded in March will hopefully put the project over the top this year. See our web site www.theduchessofwellington.com for information on the theatre and (hoping) scheduled performances and packages down the road.

No Bananas

Being in Canada's Deep South, and known as The Banana Belt, this winter in Chatham has been a shocker. Temperatures not bad, but snow, snow, and more snow. The Duchess does have a Wonderland aspect though, and as long as we're shovelled who's complaining?