YORK PIONEER AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Scadding Cabin our museum which is the oldest surviving house in Toronto is normally open to the public several times during the year as well as full time during the Canadian National Exhibition. Scadding Cabin is located in the CNE grounds is accessible to the public every day and is visited throughout the year by tourists and local residents walking in the park. The gardens and flower beds at the cabin are visited by hundreds of people every year. During the CNE programming included demonstrations of spinning pioneer gardens cabin history and monarch butterfly tagging. Other regular annual events included Doors Open Toronto in May 2024 and the CNE Ghost Walks in October 2024. The Strawberry Social for volunteers was held in the garden in July 2024. Talks returned with an author talk in February and members shared their personal historical passions in September and November 2024. In support of the 'Voices of Veterans' article in the 2023 York Pioneer Journal several current and past board members attended the Remembrance Day ceremony at a local preparatory college. Our social media presence continued to climb.

Two new outreach events were held in 2024. In April 2024 we promoted the Society at the Toronto Volunteer Fair and in June 2024 we participated as a vendor at the Ontario Genealogy Society conference. Both events were staffed by volunteer board members. The first YPHS Simcoe Day in Toronto event was held Aug 5 2024. Volunteers staffed a table in Riverdale Park East with membership information publications and the Cabin’s CNE programming schedule. Muddy York Walking Tours hosted a walk that started at Castle Frank subway station and ended at the table in the park. A donor thank you event was held during the CNE in August which brought together donors to the Cabin log restoration project with the architectural and construction firms who completed the work. Board members were on hand to welcome and thank everyone. A new activity sheet was developed by a local illustrator for youthful visitors with an image to colour and a word search.