Jane’s Walks include Amherstburg

Marsh Historical Collection collections co-ordinator Meg Reiner does likewise in Navy Yard Park during the Windsor-Essex Jane’s Walk Festival. April 23-26 was the Essex County weekend while the Windsor weekend is this coming weekend.

Amherstburg Freedom Museum curator Mary-Katherine Whelan addresses the crowd in front of First Baptist Church.

A history-themed festival returned to Essex County last weekend, with several stops in Amherstburg.

The first weekend of the Windsor-Essex Jane’s Walk featured Essex County sites and neighbourhoods last weekend with Amherstburg events being last Thursday and Saturday.

Walking tours of Boblo Island got things started last Thursday with walking tours and seated sessions taking place in not just Amherstburg, but Essex, Woodslee, Colchester, Maidstone, Tecumseh, Comber, Cottam, Leamington, Kingsville and Harrow.

Sarah Morris, head of the local Jane’s Walk committee, said Sunday that the event was going well, with the Essex County weekend having 30 events.

“Attendance has been great this weekend,” she said.

People are coming out and celebrating their neighbourhoods, Morris added. She said the event grows every year and gains new sites and tours, though they welcome back returning sites and hosts as well.

“We definitely have a good percentage of new hosts,” she said. “We have returning faces as well. We’re really excited to welcome them back.”

Walks are usually capped at about 25-30 people, said Morris, as the goal is quality over quantity. Jane’s Walk organizers want people to come out, hear what the host has to say and have a positive experience. 

More seated sessions are coming on board so people who need an accessible way to participate can do so.

Attendance is growing because of a “ripple effect” where people attend and share the experience with family and friends. Morris said people can go on the local Jane’s Walk website and sign up for the newsletter.

A fundraiser is planned for the summer, with a “Spooky Jane’s Walk” planned for October. The latter is the main fundraiser for the Windsor-Essex Jane’s Walk in the spring as they want to keep the spring event free to attend. Proceeds go towards signs, promotional materials, portable microphones and speakers and necessary supplies.

“This is entirely volunteer-run,” said volunteer committee member Sophie Hinch. “We appreciate all of our hosts.”

The Windsor-Essex Jane’s Walk is over two weekends with Hinch pointing out there are over 60 events in all. The weather held out for the Amherstburg events, though Hinch pointed out the walks are done rain or shine.

The festival is usually done in one weekend worldwide, she said, though the local event is done over two. Hinch said it is inspired by Jane Jacobs, an urbanist, activist and journalist who was disturbed by larger shopping malls and gentrification.

“She encouraged people to be tourists in their own neighbourhoods,” said Hinch.

The Jane’s Walk Festival is held annually near Jacobs’ birthday. A lot of the local tours were booked solid, Hinch added.

“It shows how excited people are about the festival,” she added.

Approximately 1,500 people across Windsor-Essex County took part over the two weekends last year, Hinch said, and organizers hope for similar if not better results this year.

Of the walks the River Town Times were able to attend, Meg Reiner from the Marsh Historical Collection led a transportation themed walk around the downtown core and King’s Navy Yard Park detailing where steamships docked, the location of livery stables including one where Precision Jewellers stands today, facts about roads and sidewalks such as Pike Road being a former turnpike where drivers once had to pay tolls and more. 

A seated session during the Essex County weekend of the Windsor-Essex Jane's Walk was at Royal Canadian Legion Fort Malden Br. 157 in Amherstburg.

Amherstburg Freedom Museum curator Mary-Katherine Whelan gave a pair of walking tours detailing Black settlement in Amherstburg. She showed where prominent Black figures such as Delos Davis, Julia Turner, Peter Jackson, James Smith and others once owned or worked at during walks along King St., Seymour St., Murray St. and George St. Local churches were also highlighted including First Baptist Church and Mount Beulah Church, the latter once being the King St. School. The Nazrey AME Church on the museum’s grounds was part of the tour as well.

Royal Canadian Legion Fort Malden Br. 157 was the site of a seated event, with Selena Cooper talking about local archeological discoveries with branch president Shawn Wilkie talking about the Legion’s history. Wilkie noted the Legion has been in Amherstburg for 98 years, moving from locations on Richmond St. and Gore St. before moving to its Dalhousie St. location in the mid-1940s. They moved into the former Stancliff Residence and expanded when three local families remortgaged their homes to purchase the neighbouring Boblo Tavern.

Modern efforts have included helping to have the Veterans’ Crosswalk installed, poppies put on street signs and banners memorializing local veterans that go up around Remembrance Day. The Legion currently has 584 members, he added.

“Without the community, we wouldn’t have what we have today,” he added.

Other Amherstburg sites last Saturday included the Gibson Gallery, where a tour was given of the former Michigan Railway Station. The Park House Museum also hosted a tour of that historic building.

The Windsor-Essex Jane’s Walk continues this coming weekend with events in Windsor. For more information or to register, visit www.windsorjaneswalk.ca. 

Jane’s Walks include Amherstburg

By Ron Giofu