80th Birthday Celebration
in honour of
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
and gift of Whitby Sesquicentennial book at
Sir William Stephenson Public School
The first book was accepted by a student at Sir William Stephenson Public School, 1125 Athol Street South in Whitby on May 18th, 2006 at 9:30 AM - Followed by speeches, (see program below) and a Birthday cake fit for a Queen!
The Special guest speaker was:
Christine Elliott, MPP for Whitby/Ajax
9,000 books were given in honour of HM Queen Elizabeth II’s 80th Birthday, a gift to Whitby School children and
the community at large.
About the Book, Our Sesquicentennial
The Sesquicentennial book with calendar was researched and completed for June 2005. It took 5 and a half months. An 18 month book with research calendar June 2005 to December 2006 it is a beautiful keepsake celebrating Whitby’s 150 years. It is a full pictorial and historical information, as well as present day photographs. A life story of Whitby’s rich and vibrant past from 1792 to 2004.
Trina Astor-Stewart, produced many of the photographs for the book, and together with her husband Breck Stewart of Astor Holdings Inc. managed the book project.
The book was produced thanks to partial funding by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the support of many local businesses. We would like to especially thank the Oshawa and district Shriner's for their help in getting the 9,000 books delivered to the schools, together with Whitby Historical Society volunteers. A big job but thanks to the 6 gentlemen with 3 trucks they were all delivered in one day, on May 15th . Thank you, Mark Magee, Bob Henry, Past President and Ambassador for the Shiner's.
A very big thank you goes out to Mr. John Dolstra School Trustee, who was instrumental in arranging school participation. Whitby Children, will enjoy having this book and the intrinsic value it portrays for years to come.
Each book had a bookmark included in it, announcing the gift in honour of the Queen’s 80th Birthday in 2006. The bookmark also announced The Queen’s 80th Birthday Celebration Concert to be presented by The Whitby Historical Society at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church on Cochrane Street in Whitby on June 23rd 2006.
A free Junior Membership of the Whitby History Museum and Children’s Centre was included on the bookmark, which resulted in many children visiting the museum afterwards and bringing their parents.
Held at Sir William Stephenson’s Public School in Whitby. Principal, Mr. Magee was a delightful master of ceremonies for the event and all the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
The birthday party was complete with a birthday cake donated by Zsuzsanna Zsidai of Brooklin Bakery & Delicatessen, 61 Baldwin Street, downtown Brooklin, ON (905) 655-4951
Sobeys donated juice boxes for all of the just under 500 children. Sobeys, Thickson road and hwy #2 store manager, Nick Lucarelli was on hand for the festivities, he said that “Sobeys, is always glad to support worthwhile events at the local level, we feel it is important to contribute to the communities that shop at our stores." Thank you NIck !
Christine Elliott MPP was later given a special tour of the new Sir William Stephenson Public School, by students.
Christine Elliott MPP spoke with children about their school and classroom activities.
The school named after Sir William Stephenson also known as the ‘Quiet Canadian’ In 1976, author Mr. William Stevenson published a hagiography of Sir William Stephenson, The Man Called Intrepid.
Camp X, is located in Whitby.
Honoured for his wartime work, Stephenson was knighted by the British in the 1945 New Year's Honours List. In 1946 he received the Presidential Medal for Merit, the highest civilian award of the United States at the time of war. He was the first non-US citizen to receive the medal.
General Donovan presented Stephenson with the award and the citation paid tribute to his "invaluable assistance to America in the fields of intelligence and special operations".
Margaret Boyce, President said, “The Whitby History Museum and Children’s Centre is proud to be able to celebrate The Queen’s 80th birthday by giving school children in Whitby 9,000 books…an event inspired by Her Majesty’s Children's Literature and Book Party at Buckingham Palace on Sunday June 25th 2006.”
The Whitby History Museum and Children’s Centre is currently raising funds for a permanent building to house A Museum Complex. The keepsake book was prepared in order to raise funds and create awareness for the Museum. Some corporate donors have already contributed to the museum fund and more donations are welcome.
Preserving history is like creating a ‘seed bank’ of ideas for the future, and Whitby History Museum is a microcosm of the history of of Southern Ontario.
The Queen was also sent a copy of Whitby’s ‘Our Sesquicentennial Book’ as a birthday gift from The Whitby Historical Society. The gift has been acknowledged with thanks. In a photograph of The Queen on the cover of International Express, Canadian Edition, 25h April- May 1, 2006 Edition, bottom left hand corner, it appears as though our book, “Our Sesquicentennial” is sitting on her Majesty’s desk ! We are very happy that The Queen thought so highly of our little book to present it in such a way.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
official site link
In the afternoon, the first children in the Catholic School Board to be given the book were at St. Matthew the Evangelist in Whitby. Principal Mr. McCauley helped children read some portions of the book, along with Whitby Historical Society Board member,
Kathie Vanular. Later Mr. McCauley gave the first books out to grade 1 through 6 students.
The Program Program
1. Introductions by Mark McGee, Principal of Sir William Stephenson Public School.
2. Presentation of book to the first child to receive the book,
Keith Hickey of Sir William Stephenson's PS.
Presentation made by Margaret Boyce, President Whitby Historical Society and Trina Astor-Stewart, Whitby Historical Society Board of Directors and Creative Director of Astoria Magazine,
div. of Astor Holdings Inc.
who together with her husband Breck Stewart managed the photography, ad sales and publishing for the book.
3. Speeches: Christine Elliott, MPP for Whitby/Ajax John Dolstra, School Board Trustee Margaret Boyce, President Whitby Historical Society
Special Acknowledgements: by Mark Magee, Bob Henry, Past President and Ambassador for the Shriners. -The Shriners kindly donated men, machines and time to deliver the books to the schools along with Whitby Historical Society volunteers. Special thanks to members of the Whitby Business community for supporting the book project, and to members and directors of Whitby Historical Society for their donation of 9,000 books to Whitby School children.
4. A Birthday Cake fit for a Queen! Cake Cutting Ceremony: Christine Elliott, John Dolstra, Margaret Boyce cut the cake donated by Brooklin Bakery and Delicatessen especially for The Queen’s Birthday. It was enjoyed by the almost 500 children of Sir William Stephenson Public School as well as other refreshments donated by Sobeys.
