Grey Roots Regional Heritage Fair

You hear people lament that young people aren't interested in history and their family history. On Thursday, April 29, Grey Roots hosted their 4th heritage fair. About 60 young people demonstrated that they were indeed interested in the history of Canada and their local area. Some of the projects had connections to their own family. Twenty adjudicators volunteered their time to review and talk to the young people about their work.
The Grey County Historical Society was pleased to be one of the sponsors of this year's event by providing a donation. Three members of the Society were also adjudicators: incoming director, Pam Woolner and directors, Aly Boltman and Janet Iles.

The topics were varied. Some were presented in French. Students from grade four to eight, who had participated in a heritage fair at their school, were chosen to come to participate in this fair.
To see photos of this day, see the posting from the Ontario Heritage Fairs Association website.

The young people participated in several activities when they were not being interviewed about their projects. The adjudicators met to decide on who would receive the various awards before all gathered in the Grey Roots Theatre for the presentations.

Janet Iles presented the prize to the winner of the Grey County Historical Society Award. The project was on Meaford's Longest Serving Police Chief.


Thank you
to the staff at Grey Roots for their work to orchestrate a wonderful day,
to the adjudicators who volunteered their time,
to the teachers, parents, and grandparents that encouraged and permitted the young people to be involved in this event
and of above all, to the young people for your interest, enthusiasm and hard work to research your topic, prepare your displays and to answer the questions of the adjudicators.

It would be wonderful if more schools would participate in this event. Regional heritage fairs are held across Canada.