Sault Channels Newsletter

A newsletter of the Sault Ste. Marie Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS), Sault Channels is published quarterly, and edited by Arthur Manley saultchannels@shaw.ca.

The first couple of pages are taken up by the talks given by the speakers -

In September, Rev. Mal Binks, an Anglican priest at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, talked about how his and his wife's family came to Canada in 1870.

In October, Cathy Blackburn (Region IX Director) discussed "Peeking Under Grandpa's Kilt" and about the many trips he made to Scotland researching the family name of Wilcox.

In November, John Parniak talked about Eastern Europe research - especially back to Galicia, where his Ukrainian/Polish family is from.

In the December issue, there is a rather lengthy article written by Colleen Ray on the Tweedsmuir Histories, and the history of Ansonia, and places along the north shore of Lake Huron.

They have continued with two articles taken from the Sault Daily Star, a newspaper in the community of Sault Ste. Marie. The first article is from the June 16, 1936 issue by Dan McDonald in which the author talks to many of the old settlers of the area. He continued on in another article dated July 9, 1935, talking to the some of the first settlers to the area.

The rest of the newsletter is taken up by notices, a report from the Branch Executive Workshop—which took place in September in Toronto—and news about the OGS Cruise that will leave New York City on September 10th for New England, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

If you wish more information about the Sault Ste. Marie & District Branch, please visit their website at www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onogsssm.

Congratulations, Terry Punch!

A press release dated December 3oth states that Terry Punch, a former history teacher and a genealogist from Nova Scotia, will receive a membership to the Order of Canada from His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, later this year.

I first met Terry in Ottawa during a Gene-O-Rama Conference in 1993, although I had listened to his monthly appearances on the CBC Halifax station for a number of years.

He was on for the full half-hour, and would take phone calls (he still does) from all over the Atlantic Provinces.

Besides being the author of many books (he wrote the basic book on genealogy in Nova Scotia — Genealogical Research in Nova Scotia — ISBN 1-55109-235-2), he was one of the founders of the Genealogical Institute of the Maritimes, and one of the longest members of the Association of Nova Scotia Genealogists.

So to see that he will receive one of the country's highest civilian honours is well-deserved.

The Order of Canada was established in 1967, during Canada's centennial year, to recognize a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to community, and service to the nation. Over the last 40 years, more than 5,000 people from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order.