A genuinely surprised Pat Saunders was overwhelmed when her name was added to the list of distinguished individuals who have received the Rev. T. Melville Bailey Heritage Award.
“I’m not sure I deserve this award,” said Saunders to a packed city hall council chamber during the 2019 Heritage Day Awards ceremony Feb. 23. “But I will take it.”
Saunders said she didn’t even know she was nominated for the award until about two weeks ago.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
Saunders, who lives on the Mountain, has been involved in preserving Hamilton’s history since she retired from working at the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital and volunteered to preserve the hospital’s museum artifacts.
Her volunteering efforts began in the 1950s as a Sunday school teacher at St. John’s Anglican Church. She received the Senior of the Year Award in 2014 for her involvement in various organizations, including becoming a founding member of the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Hamilton chapter of the Friends of Schizophrenics, and the Hamilton Women’s Centre, to name a few.
The list of accomplishments on her resume is as long as Saunders has lived. For instance, she has worked diligently to save Century Manor on the mountain over the last few years. Other accomplishments include being a member of the Hamilton Mountain Heritage Society; lobbying the city to recognize Mel Bailey, Hamilton’s distinguished historical scholar and writer, who she personally knew by naming a park on the mountain in his honour; successfully persuading the city to rename the street around the Juravinski Hospital after Nora Francis Henderson. The recognition was especially important to Saunders after Hamilton Health Sciences decided not to keep the name Nora Francis Henderson, after the first female on Hamilton council, on its hospital, opting to rename the facility after Charles Juravinski instead.
Saunders was also a founding member of the Friends of Auchmar, and continues to encourage the city to protect the important historical building located on West Fifth. And as a member of the now dissolved Hamilton Historical board, she helped to persuade the city to change the name of Civic holiday in Hamilton to George Hamilton Day, while also recognizing each year a different Hamilton historical figure.
For 2019, Hamilton will promote, educate and celebrate Janet Lee, who helped to create the Women’s Institutes in 1897. The Erland Lee Museum in Stoney Creek was created out of the Lee family home.
“She has lived a lifetime of fostering Canadian and Hamilton heritage,” said T. Melville Bailey Award winner Murray Aikman.
Also nominated for the prestigious historical award was Dundas historian Clare Crozier and Stephanie Lechniak, who founded the successful Haunted Hamilton tourist event.
“I feel so honoured to be among the other two nominees,” said Saunders. “I haven’t prepared a speech because honestly, I didn’t expect it. I am so grateful to receive this award.
“Now I know what it feels like to win an Academy Award,” she joked.
Saunders joins a growing list of Hamilton residents who have earned the award including Ancaster’s Jim Green, Bill Manson, Margaret Houghton, Stewart Leslie and Robin McKee, who was the 2018 winner. The award was created in 2007.
Also honoured was Paige Milner, who received the Susan E. Bennetto student history award. Milner has volunteered for Westfield Village for the last seven years, has written a book of short stories, created a documentary on World War I, and collects antique sewing machines.
The awards are organized by the Hamilton-Wentworth Heritage Association and the tourism and culture division of Hamilton.
A genuinely surprised Pat Saunders was overwhelmed when her name was added to the list of distinguished individuals who have received the Rev. T. Melville Bailey Heritage Award.
“I’m not sure I deserve this award,” said Saunders to a packed city hall council chamber during the 2019 Heritage Day Awards ceremony Feb. 23. “But I will take it.”
Saunders said she didn’t even know she was nominated for the award until about two weeks ago.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
Saunders, who lives on the Mountain, has been involved in preserving Hamilton’s history since she retired from working at the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital and volunteered to preserve the hospital’s museum artifacts.
Her volunteering efforts began in the 1950s as a Sunday school teacher at St. John’s Anglican Church. She received the Senior of the Year Award in 2014 for her involvement in various organizations, including becoming a founding member of the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Hamilton chapter of the Friends of Schizophrenics, and the Hamilton Women’s Centre, to name a few.
The list of accomplishments on her resume is as long as Saunders has lived. For instance, she has worked diligently to save Century Manor on the mountain over the last few years. Other accomplishments include being a member of the Hamilton Mountain Heritage Society; lobbying the city to recognize Mel Bailey, Hamilton’s distinguished historical scholar and writer, who she personally knew by naming a park on the mountain in his honour; successfully persuading the city to rename the street around the Juravinski Hospital after Nora Francis Henderson. The recognition was especially important to Saunders after Hamilton Health Sciences decided not to keep the name Nora Francis Henderson, after the first female on Hamilton council, on its hospital, opting to rename the facility after Charles Juravinski instead.
Saunders was also a founding member of the Friends of Auchmar, and continues to encourage the city to protect the important historical building located on West Fifth. And as a member of the now dissolved Hamilton Historical board, she helped to persuade the city to change the name of Civic holiday in Hamilton to George Hamilton Day, while also recognizing each year a different Hamilton historical figure.
For 2019, Hamilton will promote, educate and celebrate Janet Lee, who helped to create the Women’s Institutes in 1897. The Erland Lee Museum in Stoney Creek was created out of the Lee family home.
“She has lived a lifetime of fostering Canadian and Hamilton heritage,” said T. Melville Bailey Award winner Murray Aikman.
Also nominated for the prestigious historical award was Dundas historian Clare Crozier and Stephanie Lechniak, who founded the successful Haunted Hamilton tourist event.
“I feel so honoured to be among the other two nominees,” said Saunders. “I haven’t prepared a speech because honestly, I didn’t expect it. I am so grateful to receive this award.
“Now I know what it feels like to win an Academy Award,” she joked.
Saunders joins a growing list of Hamilton residents who have earned the award including Ancaster’s Jim Green, Bill Manson, Margaret Houghton, Stewart Leslie and Robin McKee, who was the 2018 winner. The award was created in 2007.
Also honoured was Paige Milner, who received the Susan E. Bennetto student history award. Milner has volunteered for Westfield Village for the last seven years, has written a book of short stories, created a documentary on World War I, and collects antique sewing machines.
The awards are organized by the Hamilton-Wentworth Heritage Association and the tourism and culture division of Hamilton.
A genuinely surprised Pat Saunders was overwhelmed when her name was added to the list of distinguished individuals who have received the Rev. T. Melville Bailey Heritage Award.
“I’m not sure I deserve this award,” said Saunders to a packed city hall council chamber during the 2019 Heritage Day Awards ceremony Feb. 23. “But I will take it.”
Saunders said she didn’t even know she was nominated for the award until about two weeks ago.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
Saunders, who lives on the Mountain, has been involved in preserving Hamilton’s history since she retired from working at the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital and volunteered to preserve the hospital’s museum artifacts.
Her volunteering efforts began in the 1950s as a Sunday school teacher at St. John’s Anglican Church. She received the Senior of the Year Award in 2014 for her involvement in various organizations, including becoming a founding member of the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Hamilton chapter of the Friends of Schizophrenics, and the Hamilton Women’s Centre, to name a few.
The list of accomplishments on her resume is as long as Saunders has lived. For instance, she has worked diligently to save Century Manor on the mountain over the last few years. Other accomplishments include being a member of the Hamilton Mountain Heritage Society; lobbying the city to recognize Mel Bailey, Hamilton’s distinguished historical scholar and writer, who she personally knew by naming a park on the mountain in his honour; successfully persuading the city to rename the street around the Juravinski Hospital after Nora Francis Henderson. The recognition was especially important to Saunders after Hamilton Health Sciences decided not to keep the name Nora Francis Henderson, after the first female on Hamilton council, on its hospital, opting to rename the facility after Charles Juravinski instead.
Saunders was also a founding member of the Friends of Auchmar, and continues to encourage the city to protect the important historical building located on West Fifth. And as a member of the now dissolved Hamilton Historical board, she helped to persuade the city to change the name of Civic holiday in Hamilton to George Hamilton Day, while also recognizing each year a different Hamilton historical figure.
For 2019, Hamilton will promote, educate and celebrate Janet Lee, who helped to create the Women’s Institutes in 1897. The Erland Lee Museum in Stoney Creek was created out of the Lee family home.
“She has lived a lifetime of fostering Canadian and Hamilton heritage,” said T. Melville Bailey Award winner Murray Aikman.
Also nominated for the prestigious historical award was Dundas historian Clare Crozier and Stephanie Lechniak, who founded the successful Haunted Hamilton tourist event.
“I feel so honoured to be among the other two nominees,” said Saunders. “I haven’t prepared a speech because honestly, I didn’t expect it. I am so grateful to receive this award.
“Now I know what it feels like to win an Academy Award,” she joked.
Saunders joins a growing list of Hamilton residents who have earned the award including Ancaster’s Jim Green, Bill Manson, Margaret Houghton, Stewart Leslie and Robin McKee, who was the 2018 winner. The award was created in 2007.
Also honoured was Paige Milner, who received the Susan E. Bennetto student history award. Milner has volunteered for Westfield Village for the last seven years, has written a book of short stories, created a documentary on World War I, and collects antique sewing machines.
The awards are organized by the Hamilton-Wentworth Heritage Association and the tourism and culture division of Hamilton.