Inside the Dyment Museum
Walking through the Dyment Museum, there’s one corner that always seems to make people quiet down and linger a little longer. It’s this simple wooden shelving unit filled with mismatched plates, but once you get close, you realize you’re looking at a map of the community’s heart. Each plate was donated by a different local family, and they weren’t just clearing out their cupboards—these were the “special” pieces, the ones that sat in china cabinets or came out only when the company was truly important.
Looking at them all together, you see the individual thumbprints of Northwestern Ontario life. There’s a festive Christmas plate next to a delicate floral saucer; one features a hand-painted church, while another commemorates a golden anniversary.
Because each one has a small, handwritten note identifying the family who gave it, the wall feels less like a sterile museum exhibit and more like a massive family tree. It’s a beautiful reminder that while the big history books focus on dates and industries, the real story of a place is built one dinner table at a time.
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