In the fall of 2009 the Minden Hills Museum displayed an exhibit entitled For King and County: The Soldiers of Haliburton County. This exhibit was widely popular and reached all members of the community. These Community Stories are a continuation of that exhibit, expanding on it, and allowing it to be accessible to all of Canada.
The exhibit was not about war or whether a war can be justified. It was about the individuals who put down their tools and said “I’ll go”. It features memorabilia from the Minden Hills Museum, Stanhope Museum, Haliburton Museum, Minden Legion, Haliburton Echo & Minden Times and residents of Haliburton County.
The exhibit focuses on many people from the local Haliburton dignitary Walter Noice, and his wife Ida, to the wartime sweethearts Vera Cryderman and Stuart Taylor; from the inspiration poetry of local Joseph H. Burns to the contributions to medicine by Doctor Wilfred Crowe.
The timeline includes Haliburton’s history of wartime, from attestations made by locals from Haliburton County to become part of the First World War Batallions, the wartime propaganda used to encourage the community to be supportive of the cause, to the return of the remains of Haliburton soldiers for Haliburton’s first wartime funeral, and the continued contribution made by Haliburton during the Second World War.
Many different artefacts are included in this exhibit including newspaper clippings from the time, letters to and from family and sweethearts, even romantic postcards. Also included are videos that demonstrate in awesome magnitude the contribution made by Haliburton County for King and Country.