German Pioneers Day, 2011 in Ontario - on October 11

The Tuesday following Thanksgiving is German Pioneers Day in Ontario. This day was established by legislation that took effect in 2000.

In Toronto and Kitchener, there will be a special flag raising. Markham, Ontario has also proclaimed it as well but the Town has no special events planned.

On my mother's side, I have Germanic ancestors. In 1993, I made this discovery. Since 1994, I have been a member of the Markham Berczy Settlers Association. In 2009, I became President. Our membership is widespread and consists mostly of descendants of the German pioneers who came with William Berczy to the Markham area of Ontario in the late fall of 1794.

Johann Niclaus Stoeber (Stiver) and his family came to Canada as part of this group. I have written some blog articles on the family.

This year on October 11, the association will meet. At 3 p.m. we will have a tour of the new collections building and see some of the exhibits. Enter by the new glass doors. In the evening, we will meet at 7 p.m. at the Bethesda Lutheran Church, Unionville. Note: This is different to the original plans outlined in the August newsletter.


View Markham District Historical Museum in a larger map
The Association's website can be viewed to learn more about the group. The website includes an index of the newsletter. The Association is now also on Facebook.
© 2011 Janet Iles

2011 Goals - How have I done so far?

Over at Turning of the Generations, Michelle Goodrum has done a nine-month update on her resolutions for 2011, so that reminded me to check to see how I was doing.

Goal 1: Complete the book on the Soldiers from Knox United (then Presbyterian) in the First World War. Most of the research is done, I think. I may find out differently when I go to work on writing about each one. I have started the writing on about four or five. There are 23 men involved with two being siblings

Done! Copies are now available through Unibook.com. In the next couple of days, In Grateful Remembrance will also be available locally at several venues. Two boxes arrived today with fifty copies of the book. I will update this posting with the information. This project took over five years, working on and off but I worked very hard on it this year so that it would be finished.

Goal 2: To update the family history that I did for first for my brother and sister and then updated it again for my four Iles nephews. This is not a full blown history but it focuses on the main people in my parents' lines. My parents are the focus in the book. The first two versions were done for 3 ring binders done on my computer and printed out on my ink-jet printer. This time it will be for all my nieces, nephews and my siblings.

Well, I haven't started on this project yet. It may a gift for 2012 as I need to focus on client research. I am also involved with several organizations that also require my attention. I also need to make choices for my new house and in a few months, I will be packing up. The genealogy binders and files are heavy so I will need many small boxes. I have great plans for my new office (genea-work space).© 2011 Janet Iles