This is a big year for Canada.
Our nation will celebrate its 150th anniversary.
Last summer we actually booked rooms in Ottawa to be there for the big party in 2017. Kids, siblings and other family from across the country hope to be there, taking in the sights and being part of the action.
It should form the source of memories when the country turns 175 and our family looks back on some of its holidays together.
Plans are underway across the country as larger centres host major events. But this does not diminish the need to celebrate locally, nor ignore our place in history.
Wellington County, as an example, is part of the fabric that made Canada what it is today. Strong agricultural roots, industrious and innovative people combined with the prestigious Ontario Agricultural College being in our midst made Wellington County a destination for those seeking a new life.
A drive in the countryside tells the story of hard working people who carved out a life in the wilderness. Bank barns and other frame structures still dot the landscape in certain quarters of the county not yet impacted by more progressive farmers.
Chances are the bridges we cross today traverse a river that at one time powered a mill, where precious grains, carried on a man’s back or hauled by horse and wagon, would be ground into flour or bran.
The power of water and its essential nature to man’s existence explains the many villages and towns set up on waterways of any size.
As decades passed and farms mechanized, towns increased their size and offered employment to non-farm hands in shops and small industrial enterprises. Soon the novelty of exporting would see hubs of commerce engage in international trade.
These changes were all dependent on people. Emigrants from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland made their way here to establish a new life in the new world.
Following on the heels of those members of the British Commonwealth were Germans and the Dutch leaving war-torn Europe, again to start a new life.
There are others too, from all ends of the globe that made their way to this region. Each group brought with them a sense of hope and cultural identity.
Religion, a topic often admonished as something not to be talked about, would be something newcomers could practice without fear. Today, a century and a half later, different denominations even share space. Canada has come a long way.
While there is much more to celebrate in this county’s journey from wilderness to thriving urban pockets sheltered by bucolic farmland, we are part of a larger picture.
Across the country, each community will have similar albeit slightly different stories of how the spirit of their ancestors contributed to what we know as Canada.
Keep an eye out for celebrations near you.
