Heritage military theme a blast this Canada Day at McCrae House

June 23, 2014, Guelph, Ontario – Get fired up for the annual Canada Day celebrations at McCrae House Tuesday, July 1 from noon until 4 pm.

“Our Canada Day festivities offer activities for the entire family,” says Val Harrison, Supervisor, Visitor Experiences. “This year visitors can enjoy musketry demonstrations, a variety of heritage military displays, poetry readings, a kid’s obstacle course and of course, birthday cake!”

Interact with re-enactors and military history enthusiasts and learn about artifacts and uniforms of the Civil War, First World War and Second World War. Displays include a War of 1812 encampment and a portable military hospital. The afternoon program also includes a marching and musketry demonstrations.

Featured this year is an interactive Poets Reading. Poets Honey Novick, John B. Lee and Bill Bisset will reflect on John McCrae’s poetry and poems of war and peace. They will also be inviting people to read their own poems or write one of their own.

Also highlighted is the special appearance of the Afghanistan Poppy Memorial, constructed from the remains of a Leopard tank that was destroyed by a mine strike in Kandahar, 2008. The monument is dedicated to the men and women who died in Afghanistan, the families of the fallen and to the soldiers who returned home. The names of the 158 soldiers and civilians are inscribed on the memorial.

Enjoy music by Blue Yonder and for hands-on experiences, visitors can create Home Front crafts with the Canadian Embroiderers Guild of Guelph, try out our junior boot camp obstacle course and create Canada Day crafts.

McCrae House is located at 108 Water Street.  Admission to the Canada Day event is by donation.  Contact Guelph Museums at 519-836-1221 or visit guelph.ca/museum for more information.