Residents and visitors are invited to attend the City of Guelph’s third annual John Galt Day celebrations on Monday, August 3 at John Galt Park.
Starting at 12 p.m., organized activities include a flag raising ceremony; children’s entertainer, Doug Barr; musical entertainment led by local Keith Thompson; a history lesson about how the city got its name; canoe races; refreshments; games and crafts. The event ends at 4 p.m.
The Civic Holiday Monday was renamed John Galt Day in Guelph, October 2006, following a recommendation by Gil Stelter and Peter Anderson, to honour Guelph’s founder.
John Galt was a prominent Scottish novelist who was known throughout the world, and made Guelph a special and distinctive place. As the superintendent of The Canada Company, a large land company in London, he conceived the idea of building a town to stimulate and direct the agriculture settlement of the area. Galt planned the community with its distinctive radial design, quite different than the gridiron plan of most cities. The design has led to beautiful focal points such as St. Georges Square and views of the Church of Our Lady. Galt determined the cultural character of the early community by emphasizing the building of churches, a school and organizing an agricultural fair to promote the community’s role in advancing local agriculture.