May 2011 Meeting

Our 15 May meeting was one of our most animated in a while. Members were gathering at our Legion Hall meeting place as early as 10 am as this is the last meeting before our summer break and annual show and competition.

Setting up early for our meeting were our usual compliment of “Swap & Shop” vendors, displaying everything from vintage Britain Limited figures in their original boxes, to more recently released products from Del Prado, Oryon, Corgi. In addition many of the vendors carry a selection of figures that are from local Canadian producers. All in all there is plenty of choice for eager club members to browse through.

While the society’s executive met for its monthly meeting, many of our members took the time to chat with each other and be introduced to one of our newest club members, Steve Russell of Little Britain, Ontario. Jeff Duncan once again made the rounds selling draw tickets for our monthly draw table. The monthly draws have been a great way to raise fund for our society and many of our members get as much pleasure listening to the comments from those that don’t have their tickets drawn as they get from winning something. The society is always thankful for the donations of items that find their way to our draw table.

Jim Matresky, our current society President opened the meeting around 1 pm. It was noted that the late Paul Aitchison’s collection would be sold on the 28 May at Brendan Furlong’s residence. The sale would begin at 10 am and close at 2:30 pm. As this is an estate sale and a portion of the sale would be going to the OMSS it was mentioned that this would be a cash sale only. We will also have a group of our members at the Canadian Warplane Museum in Hamilton on that day putting on a display at the Military Show that is being held their.

Other matters discussed during the meeting included the design and purchase of a special lapel pin celebrating the OMSS’s 50th Anniversary in 2012. Frank MacKay, the editor of the society’s bi-annual “Journal” magazine, has graciously agreed to donate his time to getting this project going. In addition to the pin, the society has agreed to hold a formal dinner in the evening following our 2012 Show and Competition. Society members and a guest can take part in this event, with the OMSS picking up half the cost of the meal. The Society plans on inviting a few people of interest to be speakers at the event and it will be held at the Officer’s Mess in historic Fort York.

Frank Mackay’s wife Janet will be ramroding the food services at our show again this year. At last year’s “On Parade” her group managed to clear a $100.00 profit. This in turn was turned over to the IODE (formerly Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire) 48th Highlander Chapter to purchase “Tim Horton’s” gift cards for 10 of our servicemen and servicewomen serving in Afghanistan. Remember that if you plan on attending “On Parade 2011”, you can purchase food and beverages from Janet at a great cost and your helping provide some of our Canadian Forces personal with a friendly reminder of home.

Our May meeting guest speaker was Dr. Gerald Collette. Gerald is from the Trenton, Ontario area and is an avid U.S. Civil War re-enactor. His role is that of a Confederate Army Surgeon and he looked every bit the part in his reproduction uniform. Gerald’s lecture was focussed on the approximate 50,000 Canadians that served (40,000 with the Union and 10,000 with the Confederacy) during the war. Right from the start his lecture was full of facts that most of us did not realize, for example he pointed out how Confederate Surgeons wore black kepis and green waist sashes to distinguish themselves from combatants. For society members and visitors who want to find out more about the Civil War and the role Canadian played, you can get a second chance this year as Gerald has agreed to set up at “On Parade 2011” (our annual show) at Fort York on the 11th of June.

With the end of our speaker, we adjourned the meeting and said our good-byes until next months show. If you’re a society member, we look forward to seeing you at “On Parade 2011”, and if you’re an interested visitor we gladly invite you out to the annual event. The show is free, however there is an $8.00 admission charge for Fort York. The event is wheel chair accessible and parking at the fort is free.