By Melanie Penner

Residents and visitors to Morden on June 7 might want to think about taking a walk - not just any walk, but a walk through time.

The “Story of the Stones” tour is a self-guided walk with a special twist. For one day only local actors in period costume will be at four designated buildings in Morden providing a five-minute introduction of the building, noting its history and architectural significance.

The four designated buildings in the tour are all along Stephen Street, including the Pembina Hills Arts Centre (originally the old Post Office), Morden Agencies (originally the Heckels Block), Sandra and Bevan Wiebe’s home (formerly the Tea House and originally Dr. B.J. McConnell’s home) and the Widmer Law Office (originally the home of Scottish stone mason, Stanley Hall.)

The tour will begin at the Pembina Hills Art Gallery where you can pick up a brochure that details the walk and conclude at the Friendship Centre where participants can view the Stone House exhibit developed in 2000 and buy refreshments.

Organizer Gerald Pauls said tour groups will be accompanied by an escort and greeted at each site by performers in period costume.

He noted all the performers are members of the Poor Theatre Company and include Natashia Durand, Jaclyn Kozak, Jeremy Rampton and Tiffany Tilley. The script was also written by member Jennifer Ching.

“Acting as fictional, historical characters, the performers will animate the stories of each building, and the personalities that inhabited them,” said Pauls.

Each tour lasts about 45 minutes and performances will take place every hour at each of the houses beginning at 1:30 p.m.
This is another event celebrating Chautauqua Spirit 2008, and serves up a sampling of Morden's most significant historical buildings in celebration of Morden's cultural heritage.