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st t v tittttrrrre i i a x x 4 a-i- vwiocpinj si ic 1994 p 3 highlights of our heritage berzcy settlers will remember this anniversary year settlers not a whining bunch of troublemakers carol and lome smith took a trip to the pocono moun tains pennsylvania during the week of oct 16 to 21 and ended up settling the settlers score card he writes on our way back to ontario we attempted to follow the route of the berczy settlers in their journey from philadelphia and new york to the genesee valley and upper canada our most exciting experi ence was in geneseo about 100 km south of rochester at the livingston county histori cal museum we explained our interest in the area and presented pat schapp liv ingston countys current his torian with a copy of the berczy settlers associations recent publication a story of the markham berczy settlers pat reacted with considerable surprise and then proceeded to tell us a fascinating coinci dence the previous evening pat had been invited to address the local historical society about the rise and fall of a small community called williamsburg about five km south of geneseo the county historians inter pretation of this story that she presented to the historical society was that the berczy settlement had been an absolute failure and had caused the demise of the com munity of williamsburg the livingston county ver sion of the berczy story is that the settlers were the dregs of the streets of hamburg who were not prepared for the rig ors of early american settle ment they are portrayed as having no skills killing and eating the high quality breed ing livestock grinding the seed grain for flour and gener ally being a whining group of troublemakers imagine the historians sur prise when she learned that the berczy settlers estab lished themselves in canada created a thriving new com munity in markham and retained their identity to the point where 200 years later a descendant walks into her office and presents the success story in written form her one comment was why were you not here 24 hours ago so you could have talked to the his torical society carol and i collected infor mation from the museum as well as the rochester histori cal society to help fill out the berczy story we visited the waterfalls in rochester that was the site of one of the first mills the berczy documenta tion mentions we concluded our journey by following the lake around to lewiston before crossing the niagara river to canada as you can see we thorough- y-enjoyifluraripv- descendants of philip eckardt six generations later are pictured at their recent reunion from the left are mary elson elsie adams retah pel- latt gord eckardt and mabel mitchell the chil dren of the late william eckardt of stouffville katelyn left and emily ross of stouffville are descendants of philip eckardt and johan ulsen at left is john summer- feldt of stouffville a descendant of john henry summerfeldt berzcy settlers are captured on video a video concerning the early life of the berczy set tlers many of them stouffville residents is available its a new educational video aimed at bringing life into the study of markhamstouffvilles heritage its a learning tool with a format children can relate to lome smith of the markham berczy settlers asso ciation is a partner in creating the video he said students will gain an appreciation of the mystery surrounding the problems of early settlements its an intriguing story of the settlers arrival to canada the video is a part of a series on the history of cana da called stories in the life of a country its called odyssey of the berczy settlers conspiracy in upper canada and was completed by lifetime productions it captures the mystery of the berczy settlement dur ing the trip to upper canada and the early days of set tling in this area the production of the video began last june and was completed in november a lot of the work was in the recreation of the berczy settlement and all the scenes were filmed in canada the story depicts the challenges and hardships endured by pioneers and offers some insights into the immigrant experience its a story of the settlers who carved out the first 40 kilometres of yonge street and dredged the rouge river in a grand scheme to bring the fur trade through the area also interesting is the idea that toronto would not have developed as it is today without the role of the berczy settlers the video exposes the controversy around the mys terious death of berczy settlers leader william berczy whose enemies included sir john graves sim- coe only stones were found in his coffin when he was about to be buried cbc radios alan skeoch is the narrator he was a partner in making the video and spent a lot of time researching the events its not just for students though producer mike brillinger said people who feel canadian history is dull will be interested in watching this video immi grants will also be interested in learning about local history and will find it just as exciting as their own countrys history residents searching for their roots may find the video a useful research tool he added to order copies of the video call lifetime produc tions at 4724227 marion lewis and mary eckardt elson worked on the research committee of the berczy settlers they put in countless hours for the reunion held august 20 their anniversary year is over but not without keep sakes and memories pictures and recollections to share with future generations at right is a replica of the philip eckardt log home which was on lot 17 con cession 6 in unionville it was built by donald elson and gord eckardt in 1994 mmmam tikvijvijitiaiw kids earn extra money become a carrier today call 6402100 stouffville jycfefc m y attention flyer advertisers we can deliver your flyers for as little aa 4 a piece so far this year we have delivered 33179435 flyers doortodoor in markham unionville mflliken stouflvflle oxbridge claremont dickson hill locust hill gormley goodwood victoria square brougham hagerman comers box grove cedar grove buuonville sandford goodwood leaikdale greenbank udora sunderland zephyr ashbum cannington and all adjacent rural route areas we can deliver your flyers on the day you want to the area you want any quantity from 5000 to 46000 for advertising and distribution inquiries call retail ad vertiaing at 6402100 classified advertising at 6402100 distribution inquiries ab 6402100 or fax your inquiries to 6454 77 inserts for sat dec 24 1994 wal mart stouffville iga ashbrooks stouffville i sears canadian tire fortinos sobeys j ap dominion s saisctod anus only