CHS FALL HERITAGE FESTIVAL
Annual Caledonia Historical Society Fall Festival!
Mark September 8th and 9th on your calendar. It soon will be time for the CHS Fall Heritage Festival. The theme for 2018 is “Early Caledonia.” The hours are 10 am to 4 pm. Admission is free but a parking donation is suggested. The buildings located at the Caledonia Historical Village will be open with docents available.
There will be saw mill demonstrations, blacksmith demonstrations, canon demonstrations, civil war re-enactors, spinning wool and loom demonstrations, a tractor display, an antique car display, a bake sale, a pie auction at 1 pm each day, a meat raffle thanks to the donation of Danny’s Meats, and so much more. Visit Sherry at her Chix with Chainsaw work area and watch her create amazing chainsaw art.
Sunday Only–The Veteran’s Tiny House Travel Unit will be site and open for tours!
There will be lots of activities for the children: barrel train rides, rope making, and other various era appropriate activities.
Tickets will be available at the Festival for purchase for a full chicken dinner that can be picked up at the Caledonia Historical Village on September 15th from 4 pm until 5 pm. The dinner includes 4 pieces of fried chicken, German potato salad, cole slaw, rice krispie treat, and a drink of water, coke or sprite. The chicken dinner is a bargain at $12 and you will be supporting the machine shed project.
Come to the CHS Open Houses at the Caledonia Historical Village!
The Caledonia Historical Society invites everyone to the monthly open houses held the fourth Sunday of the month through September. The next open house is September 23rd. The buildings in the Caledonia Historical Village just east of Hwy 38 on 5 Mile Rd will be open from 11 am to 3 pm. Docents will be available in the buildings to share the history of the buildings and of Caledonia. Bring the family, have a picnic, enjoy the historic atmosphere. There are many historic artifacts housed in the buildings, and each building has an interesting history. The open houses are free to the public, but donations are appreciated so that the Village can be maintained. The Caledonia Historical Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit.
Artifacts Housed at the Caledonia Historical Village!
The CHS has many, many artifacts that are currently being inventoried. One item of interest is this cast iron 20 inch trade mark sign for the Horlicks Malted Milk Corporation of Racine. Brothers James and William Horlick of England moved to Racine for better opportunities. They formed a company in 1873 to manufacture their own brand of infant food. Ten years later they earned a patent for a new formula enhanced with dried milk. They trademarked the name “malted milk” in 1887. Did you know that Admiral Richard E. Byrd named a mountain range in Antarctica after William Horlick? Explorers appreciated the lightweight, non-perishable, high-calorie qualities of the malted milk and started carrying it on their treks worldwide.
Visit the CHV Garden, Visit the CHV Mural at Regency Mall!
The heritage garden next to the 1840’s Log Cabin is lovely and very productive. Stop to view the interesting foods and flowers including blueberries and blackberries.
The Regency Mall has updated the interior walls with murals. One of the murals is a display from pictures taken at the Caledonia Historical Village. Stop and take a look!
Come Join Us!
The Caledonia Historical Society meets the third Thursday of every month, and the next meeting is September 20th at 6:30 pm at the 1902 Milwaukee Road Depot in the Caledonia Historical Village just east of Hwy 38 on 5 Mile Rd.
The meetings are open to the public, and everyone is welcome. Become a CHS member and envelop yourself in the history of Caledonia. Help CHS spread the word! Membership forms can be downloaded from the ABOUT page on this website.
Dear Sir/Madam-
My brother, son and I have attempted to discern my grandfather’s origin. It has been a complex undertaking with contradictory evidence encountered throughout our pursuit. It is my opinion, however, that he was born in Canada and is of French lineage. My son and I are going to France next summer and very much want to discover where his family originated. If we can achieve that objective, I will prepare a family genealogy booklet.
The oral history of Phelix Elgin Jerew indicated he was born in Saginaw, MI, but there is no record of his birth in that city. Subsequent research states that Phelix Elgin Jerew was a member of the Caledonia Rifles in 1866. (Please see the enclosed information below; however, I was unable to send Phelix’s pay record but should be able to if you would send me an email address.) Could you guide us to sources that show where Phelix Jerew was born and who his parents were? With that information we should be able to find our our family hometown in France. We would be most thankful for any assistance you can provide us.
Lynn Franks
2345 Portola Way
Sacramento, CA 95818
916-804-6114
Lynn – I received your letter of 11 September regarding the possible service of Phelix Jerew with The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada during or before 1866. Unfortunately we only have two nominal rolls from 1866 and neither include Phelix. There are no other records in our archives that name names from that period.
I did however do a search on Ancestry .ca and found a pay sheet for June 1866 which shows he was in the Caledonia Rifles. Unfortunately Ancestry has mislabelled this pay sheet as Queen’s Own. They were based just north of Lake Erie and although they fought with and were attached to the QOR during the June 2nd 1866 Battle of Ridgeway, they were still a separate militia unit. And we have no records for them in our archives.
I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help but wish you all the luck in your research!
John
Major John M. Stephens, CD (Ret’d)
Curator
The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada Regimental Museum and Archives
c/o Casa Loma
1 Austin Terrace
Toronto, ON M5R 1X8
Mobile: 416-605-9159