Struck by Lightning

In her book, The Legendary Guide to Prince Edward County, Janet Kellough writes about an exciting night in Rednersville almost eighty years ago.

The Rednersville Local 899 Orange Lodge used to meet on the second floor of what is now the Rednersville Country Store. On July 9, 1926 initiation ceremonies for entrance into the Lodge were being held in the hall when lightning struck the building and followed along the pipes which fed the gas lights. John Wellington Bowers and his son William were sitting on opposite sides of the hall, but both were struck and killed. All but two of the other members were knocked unconscious. These two rushed down the stairs and out of the parking lot where they attempted to start their cars to go and get help. The lightning had apparently played havoc with the vehicles -- none of them would start with the exception of the Bowers car, which was the only one left unaffected!

And the good news for the Rednersville Country Store is that lightning doesn't strike twice. This book is available at the Archives & Collections Society in Picton, along with other titles referring to Prince Edward County and the Quinte Region. More great legends and real stories from her book are recounted by Janet Kellough here.

Janet Kellough will be "telling spellbinding tales of local lore" and Loyalist history right here in Prince Edward County this weekend.

History and heritage has always been a mainstay of the Loyalist Adventure. But the 2004 Amazing Loyalist Country Adventure Weekend frames an historical showcase of the Loyalists who pioneered the land in 1784 that would become Upper Canada. Re-enactments on Saturday and Sunday will dramatize the first years of Loyalist settlement; how they lived, traveled, fought and struggled. Muskets and cannons, Red Coats, Natives and settler camps will once again come to life to illustrate how the first pioneer families lived. And to bring the past to the present you’ll be able to visit 9th generation family farms and meet UEL descendents. Experience history as County storytellers share the many true stories of Prince Edward County.

It's going to be a busy weekend in Rednersville and all around Prince Edward County. I'm sure the history buffs will want to stop by the Rednersville Country Store to see where the United Empire Loyalists used to shop at James Redner's general store.