A large crowd was in attendance on Aug 21 at the Stanley Bridge Centre to view a wide range of hand crafted products made by many volunteers.
Quilts, both hand and machine-quilted, occupied the centre of the room. Hand-knitting, wood crafters, home baking, mat hooking and beautiful paintings covered most of the wall area. Our local painter, Karen Slater, was on hand to give demonstrations of her work.
On the raised platform Louise Lowther displayed her hand-painted dishware. What beautiful artwork! In the opposite corner were articles that brought us back to the 1800s.
We are currently celebrating the 150th anniversary of the naming of the village of Stanley. To help celebrate this occasion the Hon. Wayne Easter, Member of Parliament for Malpeque, brought greetings from the federal government. Also on hand were The Hon. Alex Campbell, who with Rev. Dr. F. Bolger, historian, Stanley Bridge Memorial Society President Steve Dimond, Gracie Findlay, from Arts PEI, Phyllis Carr, from the River Days committee and Chairperson Helen MacEwen, brought us back to what actually took place in 1865.
Gracie Findlay brought greetings from the arts community and read a poem which had been written by her grandmother, who had resided in Summerside, entitled ‘Stanley Bridge.’ Each described a small part of what Stanley Bridge looked like in its early history.
Lunch was served outside, as would be the early custom for a party. The remainder of the day was enjoyed by the volunteers at the tables as well as the shoppers. The successful event ended about 1:30 pm.
(Helen MacEwen).
