Farewell 2019 - Hello 2020!
Dear Friends,
Warmest holiday wishes from your Homestead! As we settle in to write this, snow is falling gently outside the windows of the John Brown House, transforming our world into a wonderland. Isn’t it hard to believe that another year is nearly at an end?
Around this time last year our team gathered in the parlour of the John Brown House to take stock of the work we had done since our founding in 2015; the stabilization of the house and the Norton Cabin, and all the research, surveys, events and community outreach to discover what would make The Brown Homestead into a thriving and vibrant historic site for Niagara. We realized with delight and trepidation, that it was time to move the organization into Phase Two: compiling all the information we had gathered in Phase One and using it to begin transforming those ideas and dreams into reality!
With this in mind, we laid out our plans for 2019, and the year has been an incredible ride! It has been a time of great challenges, great fun and great progress and there is so much more to come! There’s a LOT to catch up on, so grab some hot chocolate and your favorite blanket, and cuddle up to read about our 2019 adventures!
One of our most important undertakings of 2019 was updating the Heritage Designation of The John Brown House. Under the Ontario Heritage Act, these designations are a public acknowledgement of a property’s value to the community, and they help to ensure historic sites are protected. The John Brown House was designated under two separate by-laws in the 1980’s and 1990’s by the City of St. Catharines, however the format and content of both were out of date. Flawed and inaccurate heritage designations are easily challenged and offer little real protection. Thus, re-designating the house was an important primary step to ensuring its long-term protection.
Working in consultation with several experts, the St. Catharines Heritage Planner, the St. Catharines Heritage Advisory committee, and from several reports formerly done on the house, we crafted a new Statement of Significance for the John Brown House describing the heritage value and character-defining elements that contribute to the special identity of the site. We would like to thank the St. Catharines Heritage Advisory Committee and the St. Catharines’ Heritage Planner, Chloe Richer, for their assistance in getting this important work done, and for their thoughtful contributions to the process.
After careful consideration, our request went before City Council along with the new Statement of Significance and a recommendation from the St. Catharines Planning Department. We are thrilled to say that the new by-law was approved, which means yet another step taken to ensure that The Brown Homestead will be protected and enjoyed by future generations.
Community engagement is one of our most important jobs, and this year we had the pleasure of speaking at the Grimsby Historical Society’s May meeting (not to mention being invited to enjoy their delicious potluck dinner)! Grimsby’s Historical Society Archive Volunteers then joined us in July for a tour of The Brown Homestead. In addition to having a passionate group of archival volunteers, Grimsby is also home to some great heritage sites which should not be missed, including a Neutral Indian burial ground dating back to 1650, and Nelles Manor. Nelles Manor is something of a ‘sister’ to the John Brown House, another stunning 5-bay Georgian stone house built by German Loyalists from the Mohawk Valley between 1788 and 1792.
We also want to give a big shout-out to the cultural folk of Grimsby, who are helping to lead the way for other heritage and cultural sites in Canada with their #CulturedGrimsby network! This group works together to cross-promote all of Grimsby’s cultural sites, including the heritage sites, museum, archives, library and performing arts groups! Brava!
This June we moved our offices into the John Brown House! It has been a huge treat to be onsite and working in the house, and of course, it allows us to engage with more of our community more regularly even as the site is still being developed! As you know, we currently host tours of The Brown Homestead by request (so set up yours soon!) and this year we enjoyed more visitors than ever. As word continues to grow about The Brown Homestead, we also hear from more and more direct descendants of the families that lived in the house over the years. Two international tours were hosted involving direct descendants of John and Magdalena Brown, and two were for descendants of the Powers family.
The visitor who came the furthest to see us organized her tour from Australia! Marilyn McDonagh and her sister (who still lives here in Ontario) brought more than 20 descendants of Christian Brown (John and Magdalena’s youngest son) to visit us in July. Then, in September, we hosted our 2nd international tour of the year for another family reunion - this one the 49th reunion of The National Association of the Van Valkenburg Family in September. Isaac Van Valkenburg and John Brown both fought with Butler’s Rangers; after which, they became neighbours. Isaac’s land grant was just a few concessions north of The Brown Homestead, and one of Isaac’s cousins married one of John Brown’s sisters!
As the site work is completed we look forward to hosting many family reunions at The Brown Homestead - maybe YOURS! We love creating a personalized experience for families to engage and connect with their heritage, Niagara’s heritage, and each other in a fun, interactive and educational way.
Probably the most significant step forward for The Brown Homestead in 2019 was the Feasibility Study conducted for us by Webb Management in August. The study was, in many ways, a review and evaluation of the work we have done for the past four years. Since 2015, we have been undertaking extensive community outreach and strategic planning to ensure that what we build here at The Brown Homestead will truly meet the needs of the region. You can take a look at the plans for both programming and site development that the study was evaluating here. Research and interviews with a broad spectrum of new and current regional partners went into the evaluation, the results of which are being presented at Brock University on January 18th. The results of the study will be used to put together the next phase of our site development and business plan, and we cannot wait to share this critical next step with our community. There are still a few seats available, so if you would like to join us, please register.
In other exciting news, we have very likely found the lost Brown family burial ground in Short Hills Provincial Park! If you didn’t get a chance to read it, and you’d like to learn about our work toward this important goal and our next steps, please take a gander at The Search For A Lost Pioneer Cemetery: The Brown Burial Ground Discovery Walk to learn more!
We are fortunate to have an amazing volunteer team at The Brown Homestead, and every year we hold our Volunteer Family Meal to thank them for their work! This year’s gathering was held at beautiful La Terraza at Club Roma.
It was a night of good food and great fellowship in a beautiful environment. Taking the time to share a meal allows the staff and volunteers to get to know one another personally, as well as to celebrate our work and to share our plans for 2020!
Also in December, our trusty band of elves worked hard over two days to bring a little Christmas cheer to The Brown Homestead. And the best part? We enjoyed tasty Christmas cookies after a job well-done!
Exciting Things to Come Next Year
As we bid farewell to 2019 we are already planning for 2020. Here is a sneak peek at what’s in store. We will keep everyone updated with more details in the months to come!
As mentioned, we are very proud to announce that the findings of The Brown Homestead’s feasibility study will be presented at Brock University on January 18th. If this is something that you are interested in attending, please see the link above to sign up!
We are also looking forward to holding Town Hall Meetings at The Brown Homestead this summer! This program will invite our neighbors and the larger Niagara community to celebrate and participate in the work and growth of the site, while hopefully educating and exciting our community about the myriad of untapped opportunities for relevant and sustainable historic sites. We are faced with important decisions every day that play a role in The Brown Homestead’s development, potential, and progress. These meetings will allow us to share and discuss those with our community in real time, involving YOU in the decision-making process. The 2020 Town Hall Meetings will focus on the development of the entire site and its future programming! Keep your eyes out for updates!
We will also be launching our first garden program next year - The Deadheaders! Participants will learn best practices for deadheading roses and other flowers working on the flowers at The Brown Homestead! If the name Deadheaders sounds familiar, you won’t be surprised to learn that the name was inspired by both the initial job of deadheading flowers - and by the “Deadheads,” the passionate fans who followed the famous 1960’s band, The Grateful Dead! Publicist Blair Jackson wrote that the "shows were the sacrament ... rich and full of blissful, transcendent musical moments that moved the body and enrich the soul." Our Deadheaders program plans to play with the idea of “flower children,” and provide fun-filled afternoons learning and gardening while listening to great music!
Have you heard the old adage that “good fences make good neighbors?” Well, another early chance to volunteer with us this year would be by joining us for our Good Neighbours Project, when we will be building a split rail fence to line the east side of the property. This will be another hands-on learning experience and participants will come away with an understanding of the history and construction of the split rail fence!
If you’d like to join our volunteers or participate in any of these upcoming projects and programs, please drop us a line.
There is also much more planned to advance our work on the site’s development in 2020 and we will keep you updated as the work goes forward. Keep your eyes out for new blogs and updates on Facebook and Twitter!
Thanks for taking the time to read about all of our adventures this past year and our plans for next year. As we countdown to 2020 at midnight tonight, we will raise a glass to all our visitors, volunteers, partners, donors, and friends, both near and far, for your continued friendship and support. We hope that everyone has enjoyed a glorious holiday season and we can’t wait to see you in 2020!
Happy New Year!!
Andrew, Jennifer, Kathy, and Stephanie
