Edgar Clowes Community Information

—by Patricia Shellswell

The weather in November has been fantastic for golfers and people who don’t care for the cold. Skiers are hoping for snow!

100 years and still going!

On November 21, 1924 a group of mainly farm women held its first organizational meeting at the home of Mrs. Ross Nealy. This group became known as the Clowes Women’s Institute.

This year the group celebrated its 100^th anniversary at Edgar Hall, on November 24. Ralph and Pat Guinn provided the entertainment enjoyed by all. Approximately 40 members from the district were in attendance.

Some early projects by the group included supplying money towards a rest room in Barrie, jars of fruit for Sick Children’s Hospital, arranging for a traveling library, and buying a flag and first aid kit for Clowes School.

Some of our key projects today are supplying Oro Agricultural Society Fair with prize money and packing boxes for shut-ins at Christmas.

The group also contributes between 35-50 Book, Bear, and Blanket packages yearly to the Simcoe County Paramedics at Craighurst to be given to children in trauma. This project has been ongoing for a number of years thanks to donations or grants from the Barrie Civitan Club, Huronia Foundation, Oro-Medonte Township, private donations and fundraising.

The group is keen on maintaining community history. Thanks to a grant from District 16 Retired Teachers of Ontario a four-day workshop, Keeping History Alive, was held with local youth.

The Tweedsmuir and minute books are digitized at the Simcoe County Archives.

A current project is to do something with the cairn, remembering the primitive Methodist Church on Line 2. The cairn needs restoration or replacement.

The name Clowes for the settlement, according to the1972 history book “The Story of Oro”, was derived from a prominent primitive Methodist minster, Reverend Clowes from England.

Two ladies from the community went door-to-door in 1971 to raise money to erect the cairn, recognizing Christian pioneers. It is one of the few historical markers in the Clowes settlement.

If you are interested in joining this group, or have any community news to share, call Pat at 705-739-7579.