We’ve put together a 26-minute online video about Colonel Samuel Smith and his homestead

The story of Colonel Samuel Smith and the efforts to keep his homestead site in public hands are highlighted in these speaking notes for an October 2011 talk about the colonel.

The sale of Parkview School, announced in August 2011, turned out to be a ‘good news’ story, thanks to the efforts of Etobicoke-Lakeshore MPP Laurel Broten; Ward 3, Etobicoke-Lakeshore TDSB Trustee Pamela Gough; officials at the Toronto Lands Corporation; many people who wrote letters in support of keeping Parkview School in public hands; and key people who provided strategic advice.

I would add tha.t as a retired teacher, parent, and volunteer, I’m very much impressed with the work that Laurel Broten is doing as Ontario’s Minister of Education. She has quickly established a track record as an Education Minister who can get things done, and who articulates clearly why it’s important to deal head-on with key issues – including bullying – in our schools.

Here’s a response to the Colonel Samuel Smith video, from Karen and Jeff Hollett of Yellowknife (posted at the Preserved Stories Facebook Page):

Jeff & I just watched the video….great job!!! The AV quality was great, the flow of info great, and your presentation/narration was great! I’m sure the video is of great interest to the area residents and stakeholders in the property…..and it will obviously serve as a great info source/archival piece for anyone interested inlearning about the history and current happenings of the site. Congrats on a great piece!

Denise Harris of the Etobicoke Historical Society has remarked:

I watched your video about the Sam Smith property and really enjoyed it. I really liked the aerial photos – they pinpointed the area you were discussing. It’s wonderful that everything worked out with the French school, and hopefully one day that second archaeological dig can be done!

We’re very pleased about these positive responses. They indicate that we’re on the right track in the making of such videos and in the work we’re doing on behalf of local heritage preservation.

Before we began editing the Samuel Smith video, we decided that we’d aim for a product of about 25 minutes. Our thinking was that our target audience in this case is people who belong to historical societies or other people with a strong interest in heritage preservation – people who’d be keen enough to watch an online video of this length.