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Caledonia’s Sheila Campbell passed away last week.
Sheila (Lecky) Campbell's presence in the community goes back a long time, especially from the 1960s to the mid-1980s. She was a driving force in laying the basic foundation for Edinburgh Square Heritage and Cultural Centre.
Sheila died on July 21 at the age of 87. Her family, which includes her husband, Al, and five sons, left Caledonia in the early 1980s to live in Hamilton.
Sheila and Al were married for 65 years.
Many remember Sheila for her quiet and determined dedication to museum work. Before that, they will remember the Jack and Jill program she helped to discover before kindergarten, an early lead-up to the 50-year-old Mary Poppins preschool.
Sheila was the curator of the Caledonia Museum. That was when the museum was located in the 1961 Caledonia library. The museum display room was on the main floor in the east room of the library, and the Caledonia Museum office was on the lower floor in an east room of the children's section. Sheila's displays involved the community, and included one on The Sachem’s history.
In 1974, the town hall became vacant. Municipal offices were moved to
Cayuga, a result of the implementation of regional government. An uproar came to the forefront when there was a move to tear down the town hall, a significant architecturally-designed building and the "heart of the community" at one time. The uproar didn't last long. Sheila Campbell, along with the museum board and others, gave the town a reason to restore the town hall as a museum of community artifacts and history.
It took a few years until LACAC designated the town hall as a heritage building. Funds from the Ontario Heritage Foundation, Wintario and Town of Haldimand allowed the exterior to be restored.
This included the construction of the replica cupola that was lifted in September 1983 to its place on the roof again amid a large ceremony on the square.
Sheila Campbell's leadership was instrumental in digging up history of the town hall. She brought into focus architect John Turner's credentials, along with Caledonia council history, constables who lived in the town hall and memories of Caledonia. Before Sheila Campbell left as curator, she had developed a legacy. A booklet entitled, Our Town Hall, contains the information she accumulated and dedicated to Anne Corlis, who died in 1981. Anne also envisioned the town hall to be a museum.
Sheila's son Chris (now deceased) was given credit for the artwork and for printing 500 copies of the booklet with valuable details that are still used for research today.
In 1984, a fundraising campaign to restore the inside was launched under the new Edinburgh Square Heritage and Cultural Centre umbrella. By 1987, with Barbra Lang-Walker as curator since 1985, the office was moved into the newly restored town hall.
After leaving Caledonia, Sheila continued to have irons in the fire, such as taking lessons in art and quilting and serving as president of the Hamilton
Quilters Guild. She suffered with cancer during the last few years of her life.
Caledonia will forever remember Sheila Campbell for her drive and initiative to create a reason to keep the 1857 architecturally-important town hall, and allow it to become Edinburgh Square Heritage and Cultural Centre.
