On May 2 our Loyalist Branch hosted a table at the annual Red River Heritage Fair for several hundred junior high students held at the University of Winnipeg. Peter Rogers, Wendy Hart, Mary Steinhoff, and Robert Campbell staffed the table.
One of the aspects of the fair is a scavenger hunt in which students visit each organization's table and answer a question related to the historic content that particular organization is highlighting. Our question was, "Who were Canada's first refugees?" to which the answer was, of course, "the Loyalists." Each student had a passport which needed to be stamped for each correct answer given. As our stamp was broken at the time and could not be used, we instead used our corporate seal to mark the Loyalist box on the passport. The response of the students to having that box embossed surprised us. Over and over again, we heard the word "Cool" as the students examined the ridges created on their passport paper. Clearly, this was the first time most of them had seen a seal in use and ours was a hit!
Twice during the day there was a draw for a prize for those who correctly answered scavenger hunt questions. Our prize was a copy of the story of a Loyalist girl the same age as the students attending the fair: With Nothing But Our Courage - The Loyalist Diary of Mary MacDonald. The winners were Cassidy, a Grade 6 student from Ecole MacIsaac, and Lydia, whose school we regrettably did not take down.
Among those in attendance were students from Dufferin School in Carman. Their teacher was sufficiently impressed with the story being told at our table that a visit by our branch to give a presentation at their school is now being arranged for the fall.
