About Us
Welcome to the website of the Burk's Falls & District Historical Society. We are a non-profit group of people from the Village of Burk's Falls, Township of Ryerson & the Township of Armour area who are dedicated to the preservation of our local history. We operate two Heritage Centres in the community and hold special events throughout the year. We are always interested in acquiring donations of historical items relating to the area and would welcome your participation in our activities. Please explore the site for more information about our activities.
Discover the past in two ways with the Burk's Falls and District Historical Society. Go back to school at the Wiseman’s Corner Schoolhouse in Ryerson Township, complete with desks, chalkboard, and an antique bell. Then, step into another era at the Watt Century Farmhouse in Armour Township, a re-creation of an early 1900s-homestead. See Burk's Falls through the eyes of those who settled here 125 years ago.
Membership
Become a member for benefits and help support the community.
Events & Workshops
The Burk's Falls & District Historical Society will be holding the Annual General Meeting & Election of Directors on Monday, March 17, 2025 at Fell Homes, Common Room, 5 Mary Street, Burk's Falls at 7:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend.
A motion was passed at the November 25, 2024 meeting to cancel the scheduled December 16, 2024 meeting and to return to the regularly scheduled meeting of January 20, 2025. If you're seeking a volunteer opportunity in the new year, please plan to attend our next meeting! We welcome everyone with an interest in local history!
The long-awaited Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (ONCA) was proclaimed into force on October 19, 2021. ONCA now governs not-for-profit corporations (NFPs) incorporated in Ontario (including charitable organizations) and replaces Part III of the Corporations Act. ONCA made significant updates to the legislation previously in place and modernized the process for incorporating new NFPs, clarified the rules surrounding corporate governance, accountability and commercial activities, and introduced a simplified process for financial record review, among many other things. NFPs already in existence were given a 3-year transition period beginning on October 19, 2021 to make the necessary updates to their governing documents and corporate records to bring them into compliance with ONCA. The Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (“ONCA”) is a new version of Ontario’s corporations’ law, specifically designed for not-for-profit organizations. The ONCA requires articles of incorporation to be updated on key issues by November 2024. Features of the new Act: Makes the incorporation process for new not-for-profit corporations more efficient Makes a new distinction between public benefit corporations and other not-for-profit corporations Allows a not-for-profit corporation to provide in its by-laws other means of voting (by mail, telephone or electronic means) in addition to, or in place of, voting by proxies Allows a member of a corporation to appoint a proxy holder, but only if the articles or the by-laws of the corporation permit it Clarifies that not-for-profit corporations can engage in commercial activities if the activities support the corporation’s not-for-profit purposes a not-for-profit corporation may be subject to restrictions on its activities imposed by other legislation such as the Income Tax Act Allows for a simpler process for reviewing the corporation’s financial records called a “review engagement,” the process can take the place of an audit in some circumstances and, in some situations, neither an audit nor review engagement will be required Requires a corporation that has two or more classes or groups of members to set this out in the articles (instead of in the by-laws) the by-law must set out the conditions of membership Provides clearer rules for governing the corporation and increasing accountability ONCA provides a statutory duty of care for directors, which requires them to act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the corporation, and to exercise reasonable care, diligence and skill Sets out a due diligence and good faith reliance defence for directors a director will not be legally liable in certain circumstances if they acted with the care, diligence and skill a reasonably careful person would have acted in similar circumstances Lists specific requirements for directors and officers to report a conflict of interest in certain circumstances States that corporations do not always have to include a member’s proposal in meeting notices in certain circumstances Provides members with actions they can take if they believe directors are not acting in the best interests of the corporation Provides members with greater access to financial records Streamlines incorporation as a charitable corporation, which no longer requires Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee ( OPGT ) approval all applications for articles of incorporation will be submitted directly to ServiceOntario Joins other jurisdictions in Canada that have modernized their not-for-profit corporations’ laws the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, for instance, came into effect on October 17, 2011 at the federal level The Burk's Falls and District Historical Society has repealed the July, 2023 by-law of the Corporation and has enacted By-law #1 of the by-laws of the Corporation effective September 16, 2024: Constitution By-law #1 (A by-law relating generally to the conduct of the affairs of The Burk’s Falls and District Historical Society)
Witches, monsters, and superheroes unite! Join us for a spooktacular costume party! It’s our second year of partnering with the Burk’s Falls Lions Club and Burk’s Falls Royal Canadian Legion to host the annual Halloween Party on October 31st. We are very excited to be a part of this fang-tastic annual community tradition. Come join us for some Halloween themed fun! We have fun activities planned and plenty of candy and treats to take home. The party will be held upstairs in the Karl Crozier Room at the Burk’s Falls Arena from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Free Admission. Treat yourself to a sweet Halloween bash! If you would like to donate prepackaged candy to the party or volunteer on Halloween night, please contact Charlene Watt at deputyclerk@armourtownship.ca
Our summer student, Morgan McLaren created promotional videos of our two Heritage Centres. Step back in time and see what we have to showcase. Plan a visit to see these amazing artifacts in person!
The former Baptist church in Burk's Falls has been renovated into a new home - but it retains some of the history. View the video by 705Blackfly of how the old was mixed with the new!
Friendship pins were the ultimate and totally awesome childhood accessory in the 1980s! Forget bracelets and matching necklaces, the original friend symbol was a safety pin. Having a safety pin full of beautiful beads was a badge of honour and totally tubular. It was a sign of friendship to gift another person a pin loaded up with your specially placed beads and you could never have too many. You gotta bounce on over to our table at the Burk’s Falls Fair on Monday, September 2, 2024 to learn how to make a totally rad, 80's inspired friendship pins to share with friends. Guaranteed, your pins will be epic! Let's bring back this retro trend! Like, totally brush up on your 1980s slang here!
Heritage Festival 2024 was the biggest celebration yet! We had over 100 vendors, over 150 cars in the car show and tons of free attractions. Our Southeast Almaguin Firefighter Challenge always brings in a crowd and the firefighters showcased their skills and stamina in the sweltering heat. Armour Township handed out over 44 cases of water in the 5 hour event! This year, we had Tina Turley and New Boots entertain us along with Christina Hutt. The live music was spectacular! MP Scott Aitchison joined in on the fun with the dunk-a-politician fundraiser along with municipal representatives from Armour, Ryerson, Magnetawan, Perry & Burk’s Falls. We thank our co-host, The Township of Amour for their extensive support of the event! We appreciate our volunteers, our sponsors, our local non-profit organizations, our local business donations and all the municipal staff and council that participate in Heritage Festival. Volunteers are the glue that hold a community together, there is no doubt that! Heritage Festival is a community event like no other and the popularity is spreading outside of our municipal borders. This is wonderful news! Heritage Festival is very unique and we are very proud to partner with the Township of Armour to host an old-fashioned type of gathering that brings everyone out to create unforgettable memories – FREE ADMISSION – FREE PARTICIPATION too! Visit our Heritage Festival page for details on the car show winners and additional details on the event.
