The City of Oshawa and Heritage Oshawa unveiled two plaques today in the Village of Columbus. Both the Methodist Cemetery and the Bible Christian Cemetery were recognized for their historical and cultural significance as well as representation of the history of the Columbus community.

“These early cemeteries provide an important glimpse into the historical and cultural significance of the founding community members of the Village of Columbus,” said Mayor John Henry.

“As Oshawa grows it is important that we preserve the early history of our community,” said Councillor John Aker, Chair of Development Services Committee. “Oshawa City Council is very appreciative of the work that Heritage Oshawa undertakes to recognize historically significant locations throughout our great community.”

“Heritage Oshawa recommended to Council to designate the Methodist and Bible Christian Cemeteries under the Ontario Heritage Act because the people buried here are responsible for building this community and deserve our lasting recognition,” said Diane Stephen, Chair of Heritage Oshawa.

Methodist Cemetery

The Methodist Cemetery, located at 65 Columbus Road East, reflects the early history of the Village of Columbus and holds the remains and memorials of early settlers and some prominent residents.

In use between approximately 1845 and 1927, the cemetery contains 44 gravestones. All of these gravestones exemplify local craftsmanship and the use of local styles and materials, most notably marble and granite. The majority of the stones date from the period 1850 until 1860.

The gravestones in the Methodist Cemetery provide the settlement, birth and death patterns, and family histories of the early inhabitants of the Village of Columbus. In addition, the gravestones are a form of artistic and cultural expression reflective of this period of time.

Bible Christian Cemetery

The Bible Christian Cemetery, located at 39 Columbus Road West, holds the memorials of prominent residents that were associated with the Bible Christian Faith. Many of the individuals recorded on the gravestones were those that contributed to the building of the Bible Christian Church in Columbus.

The history of the Bible Christian Cemetery spans more than a century and was used between approximately 1818 and 1920. The cemetery contains 91 gravestones. The gravestones in the Bible Christian Cemetery provide the settlement, birth and death patterns, and family histories of the early inhabitants of the Village of Columbus.

All of these gravestones exemplify local craftsmanship and the use of local styles and materials, most notably marble and granite. In addition, the gravestones are a form of artistic and cultural expression reflective of this period of time.

In 1848, the Bible Christians had close to one hundred children attending Sabbath School at the original Bible Christian Church that stood east of the present cemetery in the Village of Columbus. This was most likely the largest Sunday School Service in the area and in June 1855 the first Canada Conference of the Bible Christian Church was convened in the Village of Columbus.

The City of Oshawa and Heritage Oshawa unveiled a plaque today at the Pioneer Memorial Garden Cemetery in recognition of its cultural heritage significance and because it reflects the early history of the City of Oshawa. At one time known as “God’s Acre”, the cemetery holds the memorials of some of the city’s earliest pioneer families including some prominent residents.

“The Pioneer Memorial Garden Cemetery is a significant historical record for the city as it holds the memorials of some of Oshawa’s earliest pioneer families,” said Mayor John Henry. “It is important that we honour and recognize them because their hard work and dedication to our community is what made Oshawa the place that is it today.”

Today, the Pioneer Memorial Garden Cemetery displays the remnants of 130 gravestones that have been arranged on cement pillars in the shape of a six-pointed star, located in the centre of the property, bearing a memorial plaque. Although many of the stones date prior to 1850, the cemetery contains one of the earliest gravestones, hand carved with no motifs, containing only the name Richard Adams and his date of death: July 17, 1817.

“It is necessary that Heritage Oshawa and City Council continue to work together to recognize historically significant locations throughout our great city,” said Councillor John Aker, Chair of Development Services Committee. “As Oshawa grows and changes it is essential that we remember and preserve the early history of the city.”

Dates on the gravestones suggest that the cemetery land was in use as a burial ground between approximately 1816 and 1906. The gravestones provide the settlement, birth and death patterns, and family histories of the early inhabitants of the City of Oshawa as well as being an expression of a form of art and culture reflective of this period of time.

“Heritage Oshawa recommended to Council to designate the Pioneer Memorial Garden Cemetery under the Ontario Heritage Act because the people buried here are responsible for building this community and deserve lasting recognition,” said Diane Stephen, Chair of Heritage Oshawa.

The chronology of the cemetery’s ownership demonstrates the evolution of some of the church congregations within the city from the Wesleyan Methodist Church through to the Simcoe Street United Church. Additionally, the Pioneer Memorial Garden Cemetery serves as an example of how a community came together to save an important historical monument in honour of Oshawa’s early pioneers.

Oshawa has received a gold Hermes Creative Award in the government website category for the redevelopment of the City’s new website that launched May 2015. The Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition that recognizes outstanding work of creative professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of traditional and emerging media.

Input from residents, business leaders and community partners was integral in shaping the City website’s design, organization of information and top priorities for web content. Focus groups also took place throughout the process to gather information on how website users navigate through the website to find key information. Since the launch of the site in May 2015, the community has provided over 100 comments on how to further improve the website. In addition, over 100 photos were received through the Call for Photos with select photos appearing in the online photo gallery. The photos paint a picture of our amazing city and celebrate Oshawa’s hidden treasures and unique places.

“The City’s website was truly a very successful collaborative project. Input from City staff, residents, business leaders and community partners helped shape the new website’s design, organization of information and top priorities for web content,” said Councillor Amy England, Chair of the Corporate Services Committee. “We would like to extend a huge thank you to those who have shared their comments so far. We look forward to continued feedback to strengthen the City’s online presence and meet the needs of our community.”

The City’s website is accessible and mobile friendly, meaning that the site will resize accordingly to the device being used. The majority of the City’s website content was rewritten and reorganized to make it easier to find information. Additional website features include:

• Prominent search function
• Homepage pop-up menus
• Business & Investment section
• Parks & Facility look-up tool
• Directory of local businesses and organizations
• Bids & Tenders
• Events & Meetings Calendar

Additionally, all these features and more are captured in a video, which was created to provide residents with a visual tour of the website. The video is available on the “OshawaCity” YouTube channel.

The City would like to continue an open dialogue with residents. Users can easily connect with the City through social media and online chat directly from the top of each webpage. On the bottom of every webpage is contact information for Service Oshawa, as well as a Feedback Form for users to provide comments to help improve the City’s website www.oshawa.ca.

The Hermes Creative Awards 2016 competition received approximately 6,000 entries submitted from companies and organizations worldwide. The winners were selected from 195 categories. For a list of the 2016 winners, visit www.hermesawards.com.

The Hermes Creative Awards are administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP). AMCP judges are industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry. The name Hermes (Greek messenger) chosen to represent the role as the messengers and creators of marketing and communication materials and programs. To learn more, visit www.amcpros.com.

The City of Oshawa is proud to announce that for the third consecutive year, it is the recipient of the Ontario Employer designation from the Provincial Partnership Council (P.P.C.).

The Ontario Employer designation recognizes extraordinary employers that support the futures of large numbers of Ontario students through opportunities such as cooperative education placements, school-work transition programs, youth apprenticeship programs and volunteer placements.

In 2015, the City of Oshawa provided a number of learning experiences for students, including:

cooperative education opportunities through Durham College and Trent University; and,
volunteer opportunities available for over 2,300 high school students from across the city to help with important events such as the Community Clean-up, the Peony Festival and Canada Day celebrations.

“This is the third year that the City has received this designation and, once again, demonstrates the great opportunities we provide to youth in our community,” said Councillor Amy England, Chair of the Corporate Services Committee.

The P.P.C. is comprised of leaders from the private, public and voluntary sectors and is a volunteer advisory committee of the Government of Ontario. The P.P.C.’s mission is to ensure that Ontario employers appreciate the value of engaging students in meaningful experiences that foster workplace skills development and guide students in making educational career-related decisions. Created in 2010, P.P.C.’s Ontario Employer Designation distinguishes employers that are supporting the futures of significant numbers of young people across the province through experiential learning programs.

Visit www.ontarioemployer.ca for more information. For updates on the City of Oshawa, visit www.oshawa.ca or follow “OshawaCity” on Twitter and Facebook and “CityofOshawa” on Instagram.

The City of Oshawa extends a big thank you to 100+ community members and nearly a dozen partner organizations for taking part in the launch of Our Oshawa.

Building on the momentum of the recently released “Our Oshawa” publication, the campaign inspires the community to share their good news stories, achievements and acts of community spirit on the Connect Oshawa website.

“Highlighting the good things that we do as a community is important to share with each other and the Our Oshawa conversation is a celebration of those accomplishments,” says Councillor Amy McQuaid-England, Chair of the Corporate Services Committee.

The campaign officially launched at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery’s (RMG) April 1 RMG Fridays event with an Our Oshawa story wall. Over 100 community members of all ages wrote and illustrated their stories on the story wall using colourful sticky notes, pencil crayons and markers.

As part of the April 1 event, the City also launched its Instagram account and announced a YouTube video series.

The new Instagram account (@CityofOshawa) has quickly gained nearly 200 followers within the first few weeks since its launch. The account not only profiles the good news stories shared on Connect Oshawa, but also captures Oshawa’s community spirit, its beautiful landscape and more! Social media users are encouraged to use #OurOshawa in their Instagram captions. Select photos will be profiled on the @CityofOshawa account.

A new YouTube launch video kicks-off the video series. The collaborative video features a wide cross-section of the community making a statement of what Oshawa means to them and features music composed and recorded by local musicians and photos captured by local photographers.

A number of Our Oshawa videos will be filmed and released throughout the year. Taking a “for the community, by the community” approach, videos will focus on the achievements of our community members and highlight the stories and accomplishments of Oshawa residents and businesses.

Community members are invited to join the conversation and share their stories online on Connect Oshawa. It is these stories that will inspire future videos and may be featured on social media and on posters and postcards.

Grab a shovel and some work gloves! Residents are invited to take part in a tree-planting event for Durham Court Park, hosted by the City of Oshawa in partnership with Highway of Heroes Living Tribute and Scouts Canada.

The mission of the Highway of Heroes Living Tribute honours Canada’s fallen by planting 117,000 trees, one for every fallen Canadian Soldier since Confederation, along the Highway of Heroes between Trenton and Toronto. Residents will join representatives from Highway of Heroes Living Tribute and Scouts Canada and begin planting the morning of Saturday, April 30.

Participating in this living memorial to honour the men and women who have given their lives is a great opportunity to contribute to a meaningful project that offers vast environmental benefits for our community and all Ontarians! “This is a terrific opportunity to recognize the sacrifices made by many to make Canada a great country and as a retired Army Colonel I congratulate and thank the Highway of Heroes Living Tribute for their work on this project,” said Councillor Bob Chapman Chair of the Community Services Committee. “I encourage residents to join us as we pay tribute to our fallen while contributing to improving our environment.”

Durham Court Park, is a three-acre green space located south of Gibb Street and Waverly Street South, it is in close proximity to the Highway of Heroes. In 2014, Durham Court Park ash trees were cleared due to an infestation of Emerald Ash Borer. The park will be re-planted with native tree species.

This project has been made possible through the contribution of Highway of Heroes Tribute program and their sponsors. For more information on Highway of Heroes Living Tribute visit www.HOHTribute.ca.

Event Details

Date

Saturday, April 30, 2016 from 10:00 a.m. until noon

The event is held rain or shine.

Location

Durham Court Park, 330 Waverly Street South, Oshawa

Registration

Register early as space is limited. Visit http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=oar7tivab&oeidk=a07ecgujego61a8c7ab

What to Bring

Once registered, bring a shovel, gardening gloves and lots of energy! Appropriate outdoor clothing and sturdy shoes (steel toe, if possible) are recommended.

What We Will Bring

We will supply the rest - the trees, forestry specialists and mulch.

Parking

On street parking will be available on Waverley Street South and Radisson Avenue.