submitted by Donna Ross,
MDHS Lecture Series Coordinator
The Merrickville and District Historical Society ever-popular Lecture Series continues in October. Please join us on Tuesday, October 31, at 7 pm at the Merrickville Legion for an illustrated talk, “Rebuilding the Gates on the Rideau Canal” by award-winning journalist, writer and photographer Bruce Kemp.
Have you ever wondered how the lock gates on the Rideau Canal between Kingston and Ottawa work? How do they continue to operate as old as they are? Who are the men and women who fix the aging timbers and mechanics?
Learn all this and more through a photographer’s eye and journalist’s reporting on how and why the timber locks, designed by Colonel John By and installed on the Rideau Canal almost 200 years ago, are still with us today. See Parks Canada craftspeople working in the Rideau Canal’s Smiths Falls Gate Shop do their best to work with the same level of skill and historic precision as their predecessors.
The presenter, Bruce Kemp, a writer and photographer, has covered everything from fine dining in Europe to the America’s Cup and voyages through the Northwest Passage. He has shared his expertise in writing and photography for more than 20 years teaching at various colleges and schools in Ontario and BC. Bruce lives in Merrickville with his wife, author Laurie Carter, and their cat Lew.
We look forward to seeing you on October 31. Come to learn and listen to an expert and enjoy a tasty Halloween sweet treat, compliments of Violets on Main Bakery!
