The city of Sarnia is a border town. It is the place where the Bluewater Bridge links Ontario and Michigan. This bolt is the same as the 350,000 bolts that make up the second span construction, 155 feet above the St. Clair River. Its size belies its strength.
The municipality of Chatham-Kent bridges rural and urban communities. This piece of barn board comes from the farm of a famous settler: an American woman, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, who bridged the greatest divides of her time -- gender and race -- to be the first black woman to go to law school, publish a newspaper, and vote in a general election. Her descendent, Dolores Shadd, has carried on her family's activist tradition through her work with farm women and on agricultural issues in Canada and in other countries -- work that earned her an honourary YMCA membership and Chatham's first YMCA Peace Medallion in 1989.
The town of Goderich is known for its deposits of salt. Its salt bed was discovered in 1866, making it the first on record in North America. More valuable than gold to early settlers, salt preserved and seasoned food. Sifto, the largest salt mining operation in the world, is located here. It was an generous supporter of the YMCA's newest facility.
The YMCA of Sarnia-Lambton is part of the landscape of these communities, like the Bluewater Bridge, the Shadd Family Farm and the salt mine. A strong connector. A base for generations of civic leaders. An essential element.
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