PETROLIA – Liisa Boychuk grew up in Wyoming and went to school in Petrolia and Andy Boychuk lived most of his life in Sarnia, yet they never checked out the historic Petrolia Discovery oil heritage site.
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Until Saturday, that is.
“Lived here all my life, never been here,” Andy Boychuk said as the Camlachie pair checked out the Fitzgerald Rig, which powers several oil wells connected by a jerker line system.
Stan Van Deuren, who lives about an hour west in the Middlesex County community of Denfield, also checked out the Petrolia Discovery for the first time Saturday.
“It is interesting,” he said while touring Watson’s Mill. “I didn’t even realize it was here.”
That was one of the goals as Doors Open Lambton County returned Saturday. Thirty-three historic sites across all 11 county municipalities were part of the free event, which ran from 10 am to 4 pm and was organized as part of Lambton County’s 175th anniversary celebrations.
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Doors Open, a tradition which began in Europe, made its North American debut in Toronto in 2000. Lambton County held its first event in 2012, repeating it every two years until it went on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of the featured sites were places the public may not have seen before or doesn’t usually have access to such as Walnut Acres Farms in Brooke-Alvinston, Nemo Hall and the McCort House in Petrolia, and the Dan and Shelley Caron School House in St. Clair Township.
Eric Curragh, vice-chairperson of the board of directors of the Petrolia Discovery, said they had 15 to 16 people come through in the first hour alone.
“We’ve been nonstop this morning,” he said. “So that’s good.”
Doors Open events in Lambton County have been well attended in past years with all kinds of visitors, from families to history buffs, and people just curious to see the inside of a building they’ve wandered past before, an official said leading up to the event.
-with files from Paul Morden
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