Date/Time
Date(s) - January 7, 2023
10:00 am - 11:45 am
Location
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Categories
The London & Middlesex Branch of Ontario Ancestors is pleased to invite you to attend our monthly meeting presentation. This will be our first “hybrid” presentation, meaning that you will have the option to join us live and in-person at the Latter-Day Saints Church, Riverside Drive, London, OR, you may join us virtually via Zoom. Either way, we look forward to seeing you. The event is free and open to anyone. For those attending in-person, please stay after the meeting to enjoy some social time and small refreshments.
About our speaker:
Dave Zavitz is a descendant of members of the Coldstream Society of Friends, a retired teacher and an active volunteer with the Middlesex Centre Archives.
Dave was born & raised on a mixed dairy farm in Lobo Township near Coldstream and attended S.S. #10 public school in Poplar Hill and Strathroy District Collegiate Institute in Strathroy before attending London Teachers’ Collage. He later studied at the University of Western Ontario where he obtained his BA. Dave taught for Caradoc Township, followed by a year in Northern Quebec near the Labrador border, and subsequently for the London Board of Education, teaching for a total of 45 years. In his later years, he was a school librarian and prep teacher, perfecting skills that have helped him with his volunteer work at the Middlesex Centre Archives.
Dave grew up being a member and part of the community of the Coldstream Society of Friends, or Quakers. He was clerk of their business meeting several years before he married “OUT of meeting”. He has lived their beliefs, which have guided him throughout his life. Although not a regular attendee, he has kept in touch with Society of Friends.
Dave’s interest in history led him to collect family data, pictures and stories. With the establishment of Middlesex Centre Archives in 2013, he saw it as a place to store and protect the house full of records and photos from his various family lines. The then Archivist took him under her wing and trained him in many new skills. Dave just recently stepped down from his position as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, assisting with organizing and overseeing volunteers, but he remains as an active volunteer on the Board of that Archives.
In this presentation, our speaker, Dave Zavitz, will cover the following questions:
- Who are the Society of Friends (Quakers) and what do they believe?
- What form does their worship take?
- How did the village of Coldstream come about and develop: Meeting House, burying ground, local business and industries
- Who were the main forces behind the development and how did they help shape this community: Education, literacy, communication, social & family?
- How is this development echoed today?
The event is free, but registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance:
To Register to attend Virtual (Zoom): London & Middlesex Virtual link
To register to attend In-Person (Eventbrite): London & Middlesex In-Person link
