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WHAT'S NEW We're proud to announce the availability of FoR Director Ed Bebee's new book "Invisible Army" - the story of the forgotten people who made the Canal work - the Rideau Canal staff from 1832 to present. The book has been published with the assistance of our Rideau Legacy Fund and is now available through our website, at The Depot and at other bookstores and outlets in the Rideau Corridor. For more information see the Invisible Army Page. We're very pleased to be carrying FoR Director Ken Watson's new book "Tales of the Rideau" - a non-fiction book with 17 tales about the Rideau Canal. It is now available from us through our website and at The Depot. For more information see the Tales of the Rideau Page. Our ANNUAL SPRING MEETING was on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at the Legion Hall in Merrickville. Our featured speaker was Brian Osborne, Professor Emeritus at Queen's University, on the topic of the The history of the Rideau Canal since 2007 — Global and Local Developments - Brian gave a fascinating talk looking back over the last three years of issues and developments affecting policy and practice throughout the Rideau Corridor. Added Parks Canada's new "Watch Your Wake" brochure to our Brochures and Documents section. Added our Winter/Spring 2010 newsletter to the website. We've launched our seventh Book on CD: "Canal Lock Design and Construction, The Rideau Canal Experience, 1826-1982", Parks Canada Microfiche Report 57, by Robert W. Passfield, 1983. For the details of this book on CD see: Microfiche Report 57. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. Thanks to our volunteer, Robert W. Passfield (the original author of the report), who worked closely with Friends to ensure an extremely high quality digital product (better than the original!). Added the Kingston Mills Lockstation Walking Tour (in both English and French) to the website. Added our Fall 2009 newsletter to the website. We've launched our sixth Book on CD: "The First Tay Canal in the Rideau Corridor, 1830-1850", Parks Canada Manuscript Report 142, by Larry Turner, 1984. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 142. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. Thanks to our volunteer, Bob Sears of the Canadian Canal Society, for all his hard work in digitizing this document. We've launched our fifth Book on CD: "Recreational Boating on the Rideau Waterway, 1890-1930", Parks Canada Manuscript Report 253, by Larry Turner, 1986. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 253. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. Thanks to our volunteer, Helen Parson, for all her hard work in digitizing this document. Our 2009 AGM was held at the Legion Hall in Merrickville on May 9, 2009. Our feature this year was a talk by heritage planner Heather Thompson on the Rideau Canal Landscape Strategy. Following the meeting, FoR Director Ken Watson led the group on a walking tour of the Merrickville locks and dam, explaining the pre and post-canal landscapes. We've launched our fourth Book on CD: "Builders of the Rideau Canal, 1826-32", Parks Canada Manuscript Report 185, by Edward F. Bush, 1976. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 185. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. We've launched our third Book on CD: "Historic Bridges on the Rideau Waterways System", Parks Canada Manuscript Report 212, by Robert W. Passfield, 1976. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 212. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. Added our Summer 2009 newsletter to the website. We've launched our second Book on CD: "The Rideau Canal: 1832 - 1914", Parks Canada Manuscript Report 177, by Judith Tulloch, 1975. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 177. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. Added our Winter/Spring 2009 newsletter to the website. Added our Fall 2008 newsletter to the website. World Canals Conference Talks. We're pleased to partner with Parks Canada in order to provide digital copies of some of the talks presented at the World Canals Conference in Kingston (September 2008) via this website. See the World Canals Conference 2008 page. Resources for the Rideau. We've launched a new Rideau Legacy Fund project titled "Resources for the Rideau." This project involves reprinting several of Parks Canada's Rideau Canal Manuscript Reports as books on CD. These reports are a series of high quality research documents detailing various historical and heritage aspects of the Rideau Canal. They were produced in limited quantities from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. We are pleased to be able to make some of these available as books on CD (searchable text PDF file). We launched the first one, "Construction History of the Rideau Canal," Parks Canada Manuscript Report 193, by Karen Price, 1976 at the World Canals Conference in Kingston. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 193. We're also soliciting volunteer help to digitize more of these valuable Rideau research documents. For information on the project see: So You Want to Scan a Manuscript Report. Out and About. We've been out and about at many of the events taking place along the Rideau this summer. We had booths at the Newboro Boat Show, the Rideau Canal Festival (Ottawa), the Antique and Classic Boat Show (Long Island Locks), Merrickville Canalfest and the World Canal Conference (Kingston). Parks Canada to distribute Sweeney Diary to Libraries. The Rideau Canal Office of Parks Canada has generously agreed to distribute a copy of "The Sweeney Diary" to all Rideau Corridor libraries (municipal, high school and university). This will make the fascinating first hand account of Lockmaster Peter Sweeney easily available to all who wish to learn more about the history of the Rideau Canal. So, kudos to Parks Canada for taking on this project. The Sweeney Diary: the 1839 to 1850 Journal of Rideau Lockmaster Peter Sweeney. Our big project for 2008, turning the diary of Rideau Lockmaster Peter Sweeney into a book, is complete. We received the book from the printer on July 2, 2008 (it looks great!). The book marks the first project to be funded by our new Rideau Legacy Fund. The book is available for sale through our sales section and also from fine bookstores in the Rideau Corridor. Our website has received a complete makeover for 2008. It remains a fast website (even for those of you on dial-up) and your webmaster thinks that the new cleaner interface will make it even easier to navigate. Our 2008 AGM was held at the Legion Hall in Merrickville on May 10, 2008. Our feature this year was a talk and lock tour by new Superintendent Gord Giffin (ably assisted by Juan Sanchez). Gord and Juan led our group on a fascinating tour of the locks, blockhouse and industrial heritage area of Merrickville. Added our Summer 2008 newsletter to the website. Added our Spring 2008 newsletter to the website. At the 5th Rideau Waterway Symposium on November 26, 2007 - Friends of the Rideau was presented with a Certificate of Recognition by the Rideau Canal Office of Parks Canada, Read the details Added our Fall 2007 newsletter to the website. We've received a very generous donation from the Peninsula Paddlers Club, a result of their fundraising for their Rideau paddle in 2007. This donation has been placed into our new Rideau Legacy Fund. The Rideau Canal has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It becomes the 14th site in Canada and the first for Ontario. See the World Heritage Site information page. We've established a Rideau Legacy Fund. This fund will be used to support projects that meet our mandate and support the legacy of the Rideau Canal. All revenues from our sale of Rideau 175 merchandise are being placed in this fund. We're overflowing with new things for 2007. Friends of the Rideau directors Ed Bebee and Ken Watson have both released new books. Ed's new book is titled Fish Tales: The Lure and the Lore of the Rideau and Ken's new book is titled The Rideau Route: Exploring the Pre-Canal Waterway. In addition to that we have the new 2007 version of hydrographic Chart 1513 (last updated in 1996) and the new 2007 edition of the very popular Rideau Boating and Road Guide. We have a new book on CD titled A Rideau Jaunt in 1872, a handwritten description of a steam boat trip in 1872. We have two new works of Rideau fiction - a collection of short story mysteries titled Locked Up and a youth mystery titled Shillings. We also have a beautiful full colour coffee table book titled The Rideau Canal, Then and Now by Ron Corbett, featuring the photography of John McQuarrie. And for those interested in the secrets of blacksmithing, we have Blacksmithing Fundementals by Parks Canada blacksmith Don MacKay Added our Summer 2007 newsletter to the website. Our 2007 AGM was held at the Rideau Canal Museum on April 28, 2007. Our featured talk this year was Digging the Rideau by Caroline Phillips, Senior Archaeologist with Parks Canada. She showed the audience the fascinating things that have been discovered during archeaological investigations along the Rideau Canal. Mark Brus of Parks Canada updated us on plans for Rideau 175 activities and the latest on our World Heritage Nomination. Dave Freeman had his new model lock fully operating (it worked like a charm, we didn't even get wet). Ed Bebee and Ken Watson were also on hand with their brand new books, Fish Tales and The Rideau Route. Added our Spring 2007 newsletter to the website. It's the 175th anniversary of the opening of the Rideau Canal - the oldest continously operated canal in North America. Many events are taking place in celebration - see the www.rideau175.org website for full information about these events. We were very pleased (it was a complete surprise) to receive Parks Canada's Volunteer Flame, its Co-operating Association Award. This was awarded in recognition of the volunteer role Friends of the Rideau has played over the past 21 years in terms of visitor experience, public education and protection of the Rideau Canal. For a photo and details see our Awards Page. Added Tails of the Rideau series of children's books to our sales section Added our Fall 2006 newsletter to the website. Our Annual General Meeting was held on May 13, 2006 at the Rideau Canal Museum, Smiths Falls. Speakers included Gavin Liddy, Superintendent of the Rideau Canal on the topic of World Heritage and Rideau175 and Dr. Brian Osborne, who gave a grand sweeping talk, taking us from the pre-canal Rideau to present day. It was a fascinating experience for everyone in attendance. Added our Summer 2006 newsletter to the website. Added our Winter/Spring 2006 newsletter to the website. Added a new information brochure, Managing Aquatic Vegetation on the Rideau Canal, to our brochures page. We've partnered with Parks Canada to create a new website all about the 175th Anniversary of the Rideau Canal in 2007. Friends of the Rideau 1 Jasper Avenue Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada, K7A 4B5 Tel : 613-283-5810 Fax : 613-283-2884 email: info@rideaufriends.com General: Home | About Us | Membership | Newsletters | Our Awards | The Depot Sales Section: Sales Menu Page | Maps | Books | Clothing | Other | Order Page Rideau: What's A Rideau | Rideau Corridor | Map | Communities | History | World Heritage | Fishing | Photo Gallery Information: Tourist Info | Brochures/Guides | How A Lock Works | Stop Wash | Loon Aware | Info Links | Web Links ©1997-2010 Rideau Waterway Co-ordinating Association (Friends of the Rideau) Comments about the website email: webmaster@rideaufriends.com Website design & maintenance donated by: Ken W. Watson