Visitors to Knox Presbyterian Church in Conn during Saturday’s Doors Open Wellington North are in for a treat – and not just in the old-fashioned tearoom in the church basement, where tea, fancy sandwiches and homemade goodies will be served at tables adorned with antique cloths.
The church itself is filled with displays that officials say will be a treat for young and old alike.
Visitors will be invited to participate in an interactive game. Nearly 100 antiques, contributed by members of the congregation or borrowed from the Mount Forest Museum and Archives, will have to be matched with 28 modern-day equivalents also on display.
Organizers say some of the artifacts are ones that “younger people may never have seen.” Among the antiques is a sewing machine, circa 1870, which belonged to Janet de Groot’s great, great grandmother Agnes (Thomson) Cooper. Also on display is the quilt made by the Conn Women’s Institute in 1942-43 to raise money for the Canadian Red Cross’ war effort.
Local residents paid a quarter to have their name embroidered on the quilt. Each of the 30 blocks contains 16 names.
In the 1960s de Groot’s father, Bill McNeish, purchased the quilt at an auction sale in Conn.
“My daddy paid too much for it but there was no way he was going to let it leave the Conn community,” de Groot says, pointing to where her father’s name is embroidered.
The congregation at the Conn church modified this year’s Doors Open theme of “Medical Technology and Innovation” and the displays will introduce the doctors from Conn’s past and their stories. In fact, Bobby Robinson as Dr. Arthur Rutherford Perry, will greet visitors on Saturday.
Dr. Perry practiced medicine at Conn, Dornoch and Cedarville before moving to Mount Forest and establishing the hospital there. He was instrumental in the formation of the Conn Telephone Company, incorporated on June 22, 1903.
Also greeting guests on Saturday will be Helen Widdis and Minnie McNeish, both members of the congregation who are over 80 years of age.
Knox Presbyterian Church has also resurrected a display of the histories of the First World War veterans from the Conn area, including Victoria Cross winner Samuel Lewis Honey and Harry Wilson from West Luther, the Methodist minister’s son and a medal winner.
The painstakingly researched history of 17 men from the congregation, including Wellington North Mayor Andy Lennox’s grandfather Arthur Lennox, along with a letter he received from King George thanking him for his service in the war, was first displayed during Doors Open 2014.
“It was so well received we decided to bring it back this year,” de Groot says.
Doors Open Wellington North is a free self-guided tour that will run from 10am to 4pm on Sept. 17.
Also opening their doors to the public are the Arthur and Mount Forest Branches of the Wellington County Library, the Arthur and Area Historical Rooms and Mount Forest Museum and Archives, Quality Engineered Homes, Mount Forest Family Health Team, Mount Forest Wastewater Treatment Plant, Saugeen Fitness and Spa, and the Mount Forest Cemetery Chapel.
And, for those who don’t wish to sit and have tea in the old-fashioned tearoom at Knox Presbyterian Church, there will also be a modern Knox take-out window in the church basement where people can get coffee and goodies to go.
