L.M.M.S.O.
The Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario is a not-for-profit organization incorporated within the Province of Ontario. The purpose of the Society is to bring together people who share an interest in the heritage of Lucy Maud Montgomery, particularly as it relates to her life in Leaskdale. The Society operates the Leaskdale Manse National Historic Site, a museum which is open to the public. It owns the Historic Leaskdale Church (the former St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church where Ewan Macdonald was the minister from 1910 to 1926) and uses it in conjunction with the Manse to showcase the life of Montgomery in Leaskdale.
In recent years the L.M.M.S.O. has involved itself in a great deal of fund-raising, building restoration and renovation. In the process, it has secured two Trillium grants, several New Horizon grants and a Parks Canada grant. These have been applied toward substantial renovations to the church, while preserving the historical integrity of the church sanctuary, and to a major period restoration of the interior of the Manse.
As a result of these activities and a series of events sponsored throughout each year, the L.M.M.S.O. has made a great deal of progress in raising public awareness of Montgomery and her national and international literary legacy, and of the Leaskdale Manse as a principal setting for what is perhaps the most noted and beloved women of letters and novelists. At the same time, the Society is establishing an important museum complex dedicated to Lucy Maud Montgomery and is developing complementary educational programming in the literary arts with emphasis on outreaching to youths.
In June 2022 the L.M.M.S.O. was awarded the L.M.M. Institute Legacy Award at their UPEI Conference. The L.M. Montgomery Institute Legacy Award is presented for outstanding lifetime contributions in building Montgomery scholarship and/or public engagement. The inaugural recipients of this award were Dr. Elizabeth Waterson, Dr. Mary Rubio, Jennie Macneill and the late John Macneill. Mary Beth Cavert and Carolyn Strom Collins were the well-deserved recipients of the award in 2020. It is an honour to be included in the company of such kindred spirits in our L.M.M. Community.
2022 L.M.M.I. Legacy Award – Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario
Pictured, accepting the award at the 2022 UPEI Conference
are Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of ON President, Melanie Whitfield,
Kate MacDonald-Butler, representing the Heirs of L.M. Montgomery
and Kathy Wasylenky, LMMSO Past President.
