Doors open at 1 PM
Screening (49 mins.), Alma Duncan Salon level 3
*English presentation with French subtitles
Please note, this screening is free, but registration is required.
REGISTER HERE
This screening is part of an OAG Programming Day and will be followed by a thought-provoking panel discussion on the topic of Women in Agriculture in relation to the OAG’s exhibition Faith Fyles: In Full Bloom. Moderated by Robin Etherington, this panel will feature artist Barbara Brown, historian Dr. Stacey Barker, and farm owner and manager Jessica Weatherhead.
Bonnie Sitter’s book Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: Memories of Ontario Farmerettes will also be available to purchase.
We Lend a Hand: The Forgotten Story of Ontario Farmerettes is a documentary film that tells the extraordinary story of 40,000 teenage girls who volunteered on Canadian farms and helped to win the Second World War.
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.
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.