Phil Egan – August 2020 for First Monday.
Original Article can be found here.
Five years after revitalizing a dormant Sarnia Historical Society (SHS), Ron Realesmith is stepping down as president of the not-for-profit group. Realesmith, appointed in April as the city’s new emergency manager, will turn over leadership of the Society to 32-year-old director Cory Burke, a high school teacher with the Lambton –Kent District School Board (LKDSB).
Born and raised in Sarnia, Burke is a scholar and historian, a graduate of both the University of Guelph and the University of Wales in the U.K.. Realesmith, 36, who will remain on the SHS board of directors, has played a substantial role over his time leading the Society in reinvigorating interest in the city’s rich history. This began in 2015 with the launch of the Society’s “virtual archives” at sarniahistoricalsociety.com.
The website’s index categorizes almost one thousand stories about Sarnia’s past written by local authors, reporters, and historians. Cory Burke intends to increase the size of the SHS virtual archives over the years to follow. He hopes to forge a partnership with LKDSB to incorporate Sarnia’s history into school curricula. The SHS believes that such a program will increase community pride in Sarnia’s young people. Coinciding with the launch of the website, the SHS forged a partnership with the award-winning weekly, The Sarnia Journal. A historical “Then and Now” special insert carried 22 never-before-published stories celebrating the city’s past. This partnership continues today, with some 400 stories having been published in weekly history columns and Sarnia Journal special historical inserts written by SHS members.
The Sarnia Historical Society under Realesmith has also celebrated the city’s first responders. Two books published by the Society – Walking through Fire in 2017 and Keeping the Peace in 2020 – relate the histories of Sarnia Fire Rescue and the Sarnia Police Service. The Society also recognized the sacrifice of police constable Jack Lewis in 2018 with the unveiling of an historic plaque at the 1936 of Sarnia’s first police line-of-duty death. A reception was also held for more than 130 surviving members of the Lewis family and the public.
Burke says that more books are planned, telling the stories of Canatara Park, the Blue Water Bridge, Polymer and the Sarnia war effort and the St. Clair Tunnel. Burke says that the SHS will soon be launching a fundraising campaign for “Barr’s Folly” – the Canatara history, planned for publication in late 2021 or early 2022. Realesmith is also proud of the role the SHS has played over his term as president in honouring Sarnia’s military contributions. In 2016 and 2017, the Society sold over 4,000 Vimy pins in Sarnia, recognizing the celebrated Great War victory at Vimy Ridge. SHS members spoke to church congregations, service clubs, civic organizations, and classrooms across the city to explain the significance of the victory to a young Canada. A sold-out dinner followed, with guest speakers. A second sold-out dinner in 2018 observing the 100th anniversary of the Armistice.
Sparked by Tom Slater and with assistance from the federal government and Royal Canadian Legion Branch 62, more than two dozen missing names were added to the Sarnia Cenotaph. The Society has also honoured member Tom Slater’s brilliant War Remembrance Project. Published in 2014, the colossal work is the story of Sarnia’s fallen soldiers, and the SHS is proud to include the publication in the online archive.
In addition to his fellow board members, Realesmith praised the many local historians who have contributed to telling Sarnia’s story – Peter Whitfield, Tom St. Amand, Randy Evans and Gary Shrumm, Dave Burwell, Jack Fraser and Jim Russell, Bob McCarthy and others who have gone before. He also thanked Mayor Mike Bradley for his outstanding support, as well as the County Creative Fund and the Government of Canada. Cory Burke takes over a thriving Society this September, pledging to continue the Society’s important work.