FERGUS – Marjorie Dow received her initial photography lessons in 1944, in a meeting room at Beatty Brothers Plant where Dow worked, and a local photography group used to learn how to develop film in a darkroom.
MARJ DOW
As of the end of April, Dow has officially retired from being secretary and treasurer for the Fergus and District Camera Club which she joined in the early 1960s.
At the age of 97 Dow still plans on being an active member in the club.
“They really support each other in the camera club,” said Dow’s daughter-in-law Carol Dow.
Throughout the years the Fergus and District Camera Club has changed some, but it generally stays at around 15 to 25 members. “Fergus is not a place for photography… (I) wish it were,” said Dow.
For Marj Dow, photography has been an interest since childhood. “Her dad gave [Dow] her first camera for her 10th birthday and away she went,” said Carol Dow.
Former president and camera club member Harold Plue spoke on Dow’s contribution to the club.
Plue has known Dow since he first joined the club in the ‘90s, “She’s been a great friend,” said Plue on his relationship to Dow.
According to Plue, Dow has been a driving force in the club for years.
Sharing photography magazines she’d subscribed to with other members at meetings, and taking on extra projects within the club. “Marj of course was always there to keep things going,” said Plue on Dow’s efforts.
Around the time Plue joined the camera club he also became a regular at Fergus Photo, a store that Dow owned on Mainstreet Fergus for twenty years. Dow bought the store after working there as an employee for a number of years. “I was an old woman then,” said Dow, referring to when she bought the business.
According to Dow, the store eventually closed because the building owner wanted the space.
Carol Dow added that Dow took a booth at the local marketplace to sell a lot of the store’s inventory.
“She’s done pretty good adapting to the technology,” said Carol Dow on Dow’s photography throughout the years.
Dow commented that the type of photography hasn’t changed despite the times, she likes flowers and nature scenery, that’s still what she takes.
As film becomes a less practical medium, Dow’s had to make the switch to digital despite her best wishes.
Carol Dow added that Dow takes more pictures now things have gone digital, but she deletes many of them before Carol or her husband Wayne Dow can take a look.
The Fergus and District Camera Club is not the only local effort Dow is a part of. She’s also a long standing volunteer with Wellington Country Museum and Archives, even donating her slides to Wellington Country and the area for a showing years ago.
However, she has not been able to volunteer there recently due to the pandemic.
Dow also has been involved with the Fergus Horticulture Club since 1958, according to the club’s records, when she joined at a friend’s suggestion.
Before the pandemic, Dow submitted plants from her garden and plant photography for competitions, and donated flowers for the Fergus horticulture plant sale.
“She’s captured… Fergus – the way it was and what it has sort of become over the years,” said past-president and member of the horticultural society Kathy Bouma on Dow’s photography efforts for the multiple clubs.
Carol Dow commented on Dow’s nonchalant mindset towards her volunteering, and how she has remained so active in the community. “Being involved in the community – it’s just what you do.”
