The Billy Bishop Heritage Fest is quickly approaching, coming up on June 17.
It's a free open house, allowing the community to look at the various exhibits, including "Ground Breaking Truth: Stories of Canada's War in Afghanistan."
"Billy Bishop Heritage Fest is really just about celebrating our community and the space that we have at the museum for everybody to use and enjoy," said Emily Jolliffe. "We will be having the Grey and Simcoe Foresters out, so they're going to be setting up a tent and doing some demonstration."
New this year, there will also be artisan and craft vendors.
"A lot of it will be things like lawn ornaments or pollinator friendly objects like bee houses, and an Indigenous lady who's bringing her beautiful crafts," she said.
A bagpiper will kick off the event marching around, kicking off the event at 12 p.m. on Saturday, June 17.
"When you hear the bagpipes, you should head over to the Billy Bishop Museum," Jolliffe said.
A barbeque will also be available, $5 per person, cash only.
"This event means a lot to us," said Jolliffe. "We do two open houses a year, in June to open the summer season and get our events started. We just installed an exhibit that's on loan from Grey Roots, it's called 'Mrs. Eaton's War'."
Jolliffe explained that the exhibit is about a woman named Annie Eaton who went overseas with her son during the First World War and set up "The Grey Rooms." That was a spot for young men from Grey County to chat about home.
"Eventually her son, Jaffray, was killed during the Battle of Passchendaele, which was quite early on in 1916," she said. "Even though he had been killed, Mrs. Eaton stayed at the Grey Rooms to comfort the other young men that he had signed up with and to create a safe space. It's a really sweet exhibit."
The exhibit goes along with the Military Heritage Walking Trail, which walkers can learn using Story Maps.
"It talks about different stops around Owen Sound and there used to be a memorial plaque for Mrs. Annie Eaton outside of the Anglican Church," said Jolliffe.
Jolliffe added that the Heritage Fest gives them the opportunity to show the community the rich history and heritage that the city and Billy Bishop Museum offers. It is completely free to attend and Marshall Veroni will be providing live musical entertainment.