The next day, on Friday March 27, we met with the former members of the Sarnia Historical Society to discuss our plans to take over the Society from them. We met for a potluck lunch including delicious sandwiches made by Phil’s wife, salad from Ron and brownies made by Laura. The surviving members of the Society are Ron Deacon and (Robert) Bob Mathers. They were happy to hear that we were interested in continuing the work they had begun.
Bob described the years of work that they had put into opening the Museum on Davis Street and their extreme disappointment when the building was sold and the new landlord began his tenure by refusing to turn on the air conditioning. They attempted to locate an alternative location for the Museum but was unsuccessful. At that time, Bob suggested handing everything over to the Lambton Heritage Museum, but Dennis Crockford, President at the time, refused this idea. They organized to put all of their artifacts into storage in Point Edward. They remained there until the fall of 2014, when they were finally handed over to the Lambton County Heritage Museum in Grand Bend, where they continue to reside. Bob made clear that at least some of the artifacts originally came from the Lawrence House on Christina Street.
Bob and Ron both made clear that neither were interested in taking part in our efforts but that they were happy to hand over the Society to us. They asked that we invite them to any future events we hold and we heartily agreed. The meeting ended with the signing of the papers which named Ron, Laura and Phil as the new executive of the Society and then there were handshakes all around.
