MINDEMOYA—On Friday, August 22, the Pioneer Museum in Mindemoya was filled with well-wishers honouring Nola Haner for her remarkable dedication to the historical society. “We were setting up our summer programs and it was decided we would have a special day celebrating Nola,” said Mnawaate Gordon-Corbiere, curator of the Central Manitoulin Pioneer Museum and the organizer of the event.
Many community members were present including Central Manitoulin Mayor Richard Stephens. Nola Haner’s daughters, Sue Moggy, Lynn Quesnel and stepdaughter Lynda Peever, were on hand to greet everyone who came through the door.
Ms. Haner was a nurse at the Mindemoya Hospital for many years and, among those well-wishers on Friday was Dr. Craig Pettis and his wife, Ruth. “I was a medical student in the summer of 1972, here at the Mindemoya hospital,” Dr. Pettis explained. “That’s when I first met Nola. She was a nurse at the hospital back then.” Of course, Dr. Pettis also met his future wife at that time. Ms. Pettis is from Mindemoya and so, though home for them is in Kingston, they come back to the Island every summer. They did not want to miss the opportunity to visit with Ms. Haner on her special day.
Displayed throughout the hall was Ms. Haner’s artwork. Her oil paintings, which cover the span of decades, along with examples of Christmas cards she had made in past years, intricate pieces made with birch wood “Our mother had also been a student of Ivan Wheale’s,” Ms. Moggy said.
“Mom was one of the founding members of the Central Manitoulin Historical Society,” Lynn Quesnel said, though she wasn’t sure when the historical society began. “Mom will know,” she said.
But Ms. Haner couldn’t remember either. “It was a very long time ago, I can tell you that,” she said. The early beginnings of the society were in 1973, though the number of members climbed slowly, reaching its highest number in the early 1980s. But it wasn’t until the beginning of the museum project that the objectives of the historical society were set: to collect and preserve artifacts, pictures and materials from the pioneer period in the area. In 1998, Ms. Haner’s husband, Harvey, donated a frame barn to the museum project, used to house pioneer farm equipment and machinery, and Ms. Haner was a part of it all, which is why the historical society chose to honour her on this summer day.
“Well deserved,” could be heard from all in attendance. “And long overdue,” said one of her daughters.
by Margery Frisch
