A book written by the Chesterville Historical Society highlighting the history of the Village has seen huge success with sales of most of the copies printed. Late last year, the Times reported the launching of the book called “Bridging the Centuries: The History of Chesterville, 1988-2020,” at the Chesterville Legion on December 5. It was a significant event, with notable guests including SD&G MP and former North Dundas Mayor, Eric Duncan in attendance.
“Bridging the Centuries” was a large project for the Historical Society, chaired by Gail Parker, and overseen by Society President Caroline Roberts. The pair worked with dozens of locals to be able to include over 200 contributions from local authors and residents. Among others, they had much help with the project from Bruce and Kim Henbest, who acted as the book’s editors, Susan Marriner, the book’s graphic designer, and Verne McMillan, the Society’s Treasurer. The Society also credits Gilmore Printing for making a professional looking book they could be proud of.
Beginning in December, copies were sold for $50 each, including at the Chesterville branch of Scotiabank. In addition to helping to sell the book, Scotiabank Chesterville offered to match the proceeds of the sales up to $3,000, and on March 28, the Historical Society members were presented with a cheque for the full amount. Gail told the Times that the book had sold approximately 425 copies as of that date, with about 70 copies left. The remaining copies were once again available at the Scotiabank location in what Gail called “an Easter blitz.”
“Bridging the Centuries” is the fourth history book about Chesterville written since 1938, and the first since 1987. Its title is a play on “bridging” the gap between 1988 and 2020, but also alludes to the bridge in Chesterville over the South Nation River which was critical for the Village’s growth.
Present to celebrate on the occasion of the donation were Gail, Caroline, and Verne, who eagerly made casual conversation about various tidbits of Chesterville history. Branch Manager Michael Beaumont and three other Scotiabank employees presented the cheque for $3,000 to the three Society members who were exceedingly grateful for the donation.
“The support from the community has been unbelievable,” Gail said. Copies of the book remained for sale at the Scotiabank as of the time of writing, but with limited copies available, there is no telling how long they will last.
