Guest Blogger! 

Today we bring you a special post from Kate (Shaw) Gunn, one of this summer's reunion organizers as well as a 1970s summer interpreter. 

On the Road in Penetanguishene

In 1976-77 HNME staff led walking tours of Penetanguishene. We shared the stories of the origins of the town as we stopped at the Centennial Museum, St. Ann's Church, the ruins of Beck's Red Mill and Gordon's, the oldest (1825) house in Penetang on Water Street.  Other hot spots included the Brulé and Commodore Hotels and the town's well-known Angels (dedicated as "the Portals to Huronia" in 1921)!

Our tours began at the Town Dock Info centre and lasted about an hour. I remember we drew on the great information collected in The Prominent Families of Penetanguishene, a local document researched for the town's centennial by a team including HNME's very own Marie Beausoleil!

Wendy Buscombe, Interpretive Officer, was a key lead in starting these.  I worked on researching and guiding these tours with Rick Leroux and Scott Wilson for a couple of summers. Terri Brophy and Peter Macleod also contributed to the tours which ran Sunday mornings in August. About 70 people took part in the tours... and one group was over 40 people! Even the town's mayor, Vince Moreau, came along on one tour. In the fall of '77,  Mike Lindale and I also continued to offer walking tours for local school classes as part of the fall programming.

These photos and local newspaper articles illustrate how the HNME was endeavouring to be relevant to the local community and highlight the many intertwined story of the Establishments and the town of Penetanguishene!

Kate keeping her student tour group enthralled

Kate leading the way in the always fashionable
HNME trench coat

Interpreters Kate Shaw and Terri Brophy in the famous
trillium dresses