The Book Launch event for "A History of the Murray Canal" was held at the Brighton Public Library on April 4, 2024. Lighthouse Books was the book seller and the History Guy was there to sign books and talk to book buyers. Ralph of the BDA brought his tech savvy for picture taking so we have some very nice images that reflect the fun of the event. Some of them are shown here. Thanks to everyone who helped make this event work so well. The author had a blast!
Folks came early and books were being sold well before 5:30. Lots of talk and laughter. Shortly after 6 pm the presentations of complementary books began with the Mayor, Brian Ostrander.
Next came Heather Ratz, CAO of Brighton Public Library who received two complementary books for circulation in the library.
The next book was presented to Colin Powles of Cobourg. He was the history student researcher in 1991 who created the document that motivated the History Guy to write and publish this book. "The Powles Report" is quoted many times in the book.
Last, but certainly not least, a complementary book was presented to Florence Chatten. In the process, the author proceeded to embarrass his good friend by reading the Dedication in the book which is to Florence Chatten. She was thrilled!
Ralph got a very nice shot of Florence and her daughter Bonnie, who brought her mother to the event. Thanks Bonnie!
There was a good crowd and lots of buzz in the room as many folks sat and visited for a time. Below we see Beth Bruder (back to us) and Catherine Stutt beside her, speaking with a very avid fan of the History Guy.
John Stephens, who lives in the Valleau House on Main Street, made an appearance and appears to have had a good time. John is an active historian in his own right and we were delighted to see him at the event.
Mark Scanlon was there and could not wait to get home to dig into the book. Hope you enjoy it, Mark!
Howard Goodfellow and Catherine Stutt could be seen discussing archives and exciting new finds.
Kathryn of Lighthouse Books has a pensive moment after the rush of customers early in the event. Thanks Kathryn for doing a great job both at this event and in providing the community with a very good local book store.
Beth Bruder and the author had a moment to visit and Ralph also took a picture of us in front of the new big screen.
Thanks to Heather for taking this picture of a group of friends who are active in local history and archiving. Below, left to right are Beth Bruder, Ralph de Jonge, Dan Buchanan and Catherine Stutt. It was a really fun event!