Heritage Week

Sebastian Schmoranz and Rena Rabheru

Sebastain Schmoranz and Rena Rabheru are the owners of 15 King Street in Harrow. 

15 King Street was the location of the former Harrow Antique Shop building. The Building was listed on the Heritage Register because of its architectural and historical significance. Built in 1883, it was one of the oldest building blocks in Downtown Harrow. When Sebastian and Rena purchased the property in 2021 for the purpose of opening up a law firm and dental office, the building was in a dire state of disrepair and required a controlled demolition of the building to facilitate the renovations.

Their original plan was to protect the original brick façade because the building is located at the foot of Queen Street and is often a landmark for people arriving from out of town. Unfortunately, due to the condition of the building, this was not possible. Sebastian and Rena elected instead to recreate the façade at their entire expense as a promise to the residents of Harrow. Although a historical building cannot be replaced and we recognize that this is not the original, Sebastian and Rena’s voluntary contribution ensures that residents and visitors to Harrow have a new building that is sympathetic and defining of the historical character of the downtown.   

Because of this, the Heritage Committee is pleased to honour Sebastian and Rena with a Community Heritage Preservation Award.

Laurie Brett 

Ms. Laurie Brett is the author of the recently published book, entitled “The Rising Village: An Early History of Essex, Ontario”. She is being recognized tonight for her efforts to chronicle the early history of Essex before it was a town, before it was a village, and even before the Railway became the defining landmark of Essex.

Ms. Brett began to draw inspiration for the book nearly twenty years ago in 2004,  and it has remained with her for many, many years. Her inspiration began to grow throughout her time with the Essex and Community Historical Research Society, and through her career with the Town of Essex as  the first communications manager from 2012-2017. Most notably, In 2017, Ms. Brett tirelessly tasked herself with compiling 150 facts about the Town in recognition of  the 225^th anniversary of the founding of Colchester Township which coincided with Canada’s 150^th anniversary. These efforts resulted in an 80 page book which is now on offer for free on the Town webpage for the enjoyment of members of the public and researchers who seek to learn more about the unknown facts about our community. The book also sparked Ms. Brett’s imagination for The Rising Village.

The Rising Village fills a crucial gap in our understanding of our local history. Because of this, the Heritage Committee is pleased to honour Laurie with a  Community Heritage Preservation Award and hopes this sparks others to follow through with their inspirations. 

Pauline Baldwin 

Our final recipient is also here with us tonight. Ms. Pauline Baldwin was a Board member with the Harrow Early Immigrant Research Society  for 23 years. She is being recognized tonight for her many years of volunteer service with HEIRS.

Her passion for genealogy and local history stemmed from her childhood days, beginning with her own research of her grandparents and great-grandparents.  This peaked her interest, eventually leading her to research her 83 first cousins and their families.  Pauline would often comment "through research you are surprised what information you find out and the trials and tribulations early immigrants endured." 

After retiring from her career in 1999, she began working at her "HEIRS job" and spent almost as many hours as an HEIRS volunteer. 

Tuesdays were her "volunteer" days, however on various other weekdays, many a weeknight and sometimes weekends, Pauline would spend endless hours searching, cross-referencing and reading through genealogy files confirming dates of births, deaths, marriages for many Harrow & Colchester South families. 

As a life-long resident of Colchester South, she has researched her own family ties of Deslippe-Pollard-Craig-Baldwin and associated families.  This led her to connect her family history to the 1500s, with the arrival of the  Filles du Roi, ancestry in Connecticut from the 1600s, and ancestry associated with United Empire Loyalists who emigrated to The Western District in the 1700s. 

Through Pauline's efforts, all lineages were proven, certificates obtained, and given to each of her children and grandchildren - preserving their family history for future generations.

When people would ask "Where can I find this” or "How do we locate this”, Pauline always delved into the request received at HEIRS and enjoyed the challenge of her years of research of genealogy and local history. Because of this, the Heritage Committee is pleased to honour Pauline with a Community Heritage Preservation Award and hope that her contributions inspire others to join and contribute to our local and important historical organizations.”