To celebrate Flashback February, our cover features Marsden Kemp’s Elm tree by Dr. Walmsley’s with two men standing by trunk (1907). This is just one of a series of photographs by Mr. Kemp that features this landmark elm tree. Dr. Walmsley’s house was also his office, and was opposite the former legion building, now The Cape, on Picton Main Street.

We are enormously proud of this beautiful County Heritage Special Issue. What started as a small idea to support the Museums’ Flashback February events has snowballed into a jam-packed issue full of new contributors and special features — and sponsored by the County’s many heritage actors and organizations. We feature a guest editorial, What Heritage Does, by local urban planner Ian Chodikoff, who writes about how including heritage in planning priorities might be beneficial for both tourism and the larger economy. Renowned international glass artist Sarah Hall, who just happens to live in Picton, has written the first in a series of small essays on the stained glass windows of Glenwood Chapel. Councillor John Hirsch writes about how to designate a historical building for heritage protection. And Local Journalism Initiative reporter Eleanor Zichy explores the incredible new Susanna Moodie museum about to open in Belleville.

Finally, the Gazette and Base31 have teamed up to create our very own Flashback February event, The Gazette at Camp Picton, which features readings of the moving, funny, and extraordinary stories of the war and the No. 31 Bombing and Gunnery School from wartime Gazettes. The event is Friday 27 February at 7PM at The Lecture Hall and features food, drink, and fun. Tickets are available here.