Norfolk Remembers Scanning Project

Simcoe Reformer Article – August 19, 2015

“A project is underway to record everything, and anything Norfolk County residents have relating to both world wars and post it on a public website.

A three-dimensional scanner has been purchased from the proceeds of a history book about the area’s involvement in the First World War, and the first recordings took place on Monday.

Because it is 3-D, the scanner can make a record of hard items, such as medals and tools, as well as documents. Somebody even brought in a cup from the First World War that would have hung on a soldier’s belt.

“It will help put the picture together of how Norfolk residents served and what kind of life they left behind,” said Heather King, CEO of the Norfolk County Library System, which is helping to organize the job.

The public is being asked to bring in letters, postcards, photos, documents, newspaper clippings, even family stories that have been written down on paper and passed from one generation to the next.

King said the committee running the project felt that with both wars receding into the background, “if we didn’t do something about these items, they’d be lost.”

In many cases, she said, those who served didn’t talk about their experiences, “but it had an impact on our community,” and needs to be preserved.

The project is being run by the Norfolk Remembers committee, the same group that produced the book Norfolk Remembers the Great War.

It was paid for with donations from the Lions Club, which freed up the proceeds from sales to go towards the purchase of a scanner.

Dates have been set for the public to come into library branches throughout the county to have their items scanned.

But library staff are also willing to do home visits, said King.

The scanner was in Delhi last Thursday afternoon where resident Nancy Chartrand brought in a photo of three men in military uniform – three great-uncles including former Simcoe Mayor Percy Carter.

“My grandfather tried to sign up. They told him to go home and grow some legs,” Chartrand, a retired school teacher, joked.

The library system has hired a summer student archivist, Shelby Edwards, to do the scanning.

“It’s important for people who have something to bring it in,” said Edwards, 19. “It keeps a record of the sacrifice people made.”

The committee has also produced another book, this one a collection of letters soldiers wrote home during the First World War, titled “Letters Home, The Beginning, 1914-1915.”

The committee anticipates to follow that with another four or five books of letters.

For more information about the project, which is ongoing, go to www.norfolkremembers.ca or call Heather King at 519-426-3506 ext. #1253.”