Fenelon Falls Horticultural Society
UPCOMING
EVENTS
Read more about our presenters and events. Each month we will post all you need to know here.
October Meeting
We are excited to welcome our members to this month's meeting
MOVIE NIGHT
We Lend a Hand: The Forgotten Story of Ontario Farmerettes
A 49-min documentary which reveals the true and forgotten story of the Ontario Farm Service Force. It put 40,000 volunteer teenage girls to work between 1941 and 1952, arriving from different parts of Ontario and Quebec to many locations in Southwestern Ontario. They were called The Farmerettes. Their job: to ensure critical food production during the most perilous period of modern history. This is the inspiration behind the Victory Garden in Fenelon Falls.
1940. It is a time of national emergency. Hitler’s army ruthlessly sweeps Western Europe. In
face of invasion, Britain suffers devastating bombing raids. The U-Boats wreak havoc in the
Atlantic. Desperate food shortages seem to foreshadow imminent invasion. The Old World
seeks help from the New.
2018. Bonnie Sitter, an author based in Exeter, Ontario searches through some of her family
photographs. She finds a captivating little black and white image: a group of smiling young
women on the running board of a vehicle. When she flips the photo, an intriguing caption reads:
“Farmerettes 1946”. This moment sparks a compelling research journey that eventually leads
her to co-author an entire book on a forgotten subject.
Told from Bonnie’s perspective, We Lend a Hand: The Forgotten Story of Ontario
Farmerettes, reveals the true and forgotten story of the Ontario Farmerettes - 40,000 teenage
girls who volunteered to work on farms between 1941 and 1952. Arriving from different parts of
Ontario and Quebec to many locations in Southwestern Ontario, the young women began this
challenge with no prior farming experience. Their job: to ensure critical food production during
the most perilous period of modern history. This remarkable contingent of young women were
called upon to replace the men on Canadian farms; and they helped the Allies to win the
Second World War.
Their hardships were tremendous. For long months, they worked under relentless weather
conditions and schedules. Yet they persevered and managed to produce hundreds of
thousands of tons of food that were shipped to the frontlines to feed soldiers, starving European
populations, and even prisoners of war.
As they fulfilled their duty, their bond grew stronger. The girls were coming of age and figuring
out their place in the world, while humanity endured one of the most destructive conflicts of the
20th century.
Through reenactments and unique archival images, We Lend a Hand recounts the
heartwarming story of these magnificent young women, now in their late 90s, bringing back their
most cherished memories while reminding us - perhaps for the last time - that service comes in many forms.