Dec. 9, 2024 – Join the tradition and warm hearts and hands this holiday season with a
donation to the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre’s Mitten Tree.
The museum’s annual Mitten Tree campaign is currently underway, running through
Jan. 5, 2025, with donated new and used winter clothing items being accepted in
support of Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold and Start Me Up Niagara.
The public is invited to bring their winter clothing donations, such as mittens, gloves,
toques, and scarves, to hang on the tree set up in the museum anytime over the next
month during the museum’s operating hours.
“The Mitten Tree provides the Museum and our visitors an opportunity to help those in
need in our community,” said Kathleen Powell, Supervisor of Historical Services and
Curator. “Seeing the generosity of those who bring in donations for the tree is a
heartwarming way to get into this season of giving. We’d also like to take this
opportunity to thank all those who have contributed to the Mitten Tree this year and to
the Museum throughout the year.”
After dropping off donations, visitors can check out the museum’s exhibit galleries,
including the most-recent exhibit highlighting the city’s military history. The museum,
located at 1932 Welland Canals Pkwy., is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week,
and will be open throughout the holidays, except on Dec. 25 and 26. Admission is by
donation.
The Museum’s permanent gallery includes exhibits on the Welland Ship Canal, A Town
Growing Into Note, The Historic Welland Canals W.H. Merritt Exhibition Gallery with its
large selection of artifacts, engineering drawings and stories of the people who built the
canal, Building a City: Isabella Frampton Hawken Exhibition Gallery exploring the
history of industry, manufacturing, tourism, transportation, emergency services and
more, and In Service: James “The General” Grant Exhibition Gallery, which pays tribute
to the men and women of our community who served and paid the ultimate sacrifice
with stories and objects from the War of 1812 to the Korean War.
Check out the Museum’s temporary galleries before they disappear: Last Stop: In Their
Own Words, and Food, Glorious Food!
Last Stop is a people-focused view of how St. Catharines acted as a ‘last stop’ for
Underground Railroad-supported Freedom Seeker refugees. Food, Glorious Food!
features many food-related items in the Museum’s collection, including more than 30
photographs, menus and recipes, tea cannisters, food packaging and tools.
For more information on the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, visit
stcatharines.ca/Museum.