Thank you, Jim White, for your many years of service to the Wawa Public Library!

special day / By

THANK YOU, JIM WHITE! The staff and Board of the Wawa Public Library would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Jim White for the many, many years of volunteering as a Board member for the Wawa Public Library Board.   Jim was a Library Board member for almost 40 years!! Jim came to Wawa in 1973 as a graduate and began a summer job working fires at the MNR. In 1978, Jim was offered a full-time position as a payroll clerk until his retirement in 2001!  Jim also spent many hours beautifying our community by planting and maintaining the many garden beds around town. He also Secretary/Treasurer for the Cancer Society, worked on the Hospital Foundation Board, was a canvasser for the Kidney Foundation, was a member of the Cemetery Committee and the BIA. You may also recall the many entertaining stories that Jim wrote in the Algoma News for a few years. Thank you, Jim, for your many years dedicated to making Wawa a better place! We wish the very best in all of your future endeavors!

Beautiful Artwork Donated to the Wawa Public Library

hours / By
PAINTINGS DONATED TO THE WAWA PUBLIC LIBRARY
by Barb Fisher, photos supplied
It is with great pleasure that the Wawa Public Library has recently accepted the donations of artworks, paintings from the Shamess family and the late Mrs. Elsie Skinner.
Mrs. Skinner was a weekly user of the library for many years and introduced the Shamess siblings, her grandchildren, to the joys of books and the library system. Mrs. Skinner was also well known in the United Church circles as the organist and choirmaster for many years, and the Shamess’ s were longtime residents living here in Wawa for over 50 years. Charles Shamess graciously shipped the art work to the library where they would have a permanent home.
The Michael Cleary is an original watercolour and depicts ‘Old Woman Bay’, and the two paintings capture ‘Birches on Long Beach’ and ‘Turtle and Seagull Islands/Michipicoten Bay and Lighthouse Point’. According to the Shamess family, these paintings were done by Grace Goodall who stayed at the Shamess cottage on Long Beach Road on Lake Superior, not long after the Highway was completed from Sault Ste. Marie to Wawa. The artist left the paintings, one of them, ‘Birches on Long Beach’ about three quarters finished, for the Shamess family as a token of her appreciation. Some time later, Clee Campbell offered to finish the art piece. Also donated by the Shamess family is a small replica of the original ‘Wawa Goose Statue’, a Wawa Ontario Pennant, various Lake Superior history books and old cookbooks.
Our Library staff extends a hearty thankyou to Mrs. Elsie Skinner and the Shamess family for the wonderful donations in remembering our history. These items are now on display in our Library, and everyone is welcome to come in and view a bit of Wawa’s splendor on canvass.