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O'HARA MILL HOMESTEAD AND CONSERVATION AREA
Many guests who come to O'Hara often ask about the school we have. While the school on site is not the original O'Hara
School house it was from a neighbouring township. Check out this article from the 2021 Summer Student Blog about the
role the O'Hara's had in local education:
"The O’Hara family was very involved in the Madoc community from its very start. One of the primary concerns of an up
and starting community is educating its youth. The O’Hara’s played a vital role in setting up the first school house in the
community and continued to be involved in various forms of education.
The O’Hara School, S.S. #2 was located at the
corner of Mill Road and O’Hara Road, just east
of O’Hara Mill Homestead. This school was the
first school in Madoc Township and was run by
a local board, who were in charge of preparing a
budget and hiring a teacher for the one room
school house. Squire James O’Hara was
instrumental in the opening of this school and
acted as one of the first municipal councillors, a
position which he served without pay.
The first school was a frame building, which
was built with lumber from the O’Hara Mill. It
was replaced in 1884 with a new brick structure
which was in use until 1961.
The O’Hara children would have walked to the school and attended it along with the children of the other families settled
in the area. "
The O'Hara Summer Students (June 30th, 2021)
The attached image is the O'Hara School in 1922

COMMUNITY CARE NEWS
Press Release: November 3, 2022
“A silver lining to the pandemic,” says Gerry Watts, President of Hastings and Prince Edward, District 19, Retired Teachers
of Ontario (RTOERO). “Because of Covid lockdowns and restrictions, we find ourselves in the unusual situation of having a
surplus at year-end. As a not-for-profit organization, our income and expenditures need to balance. How best to use that
unexpected windfall became the question.”
The answer was an easy one. One of RTOERO’s strategic goals is to “improve the
lives of members and seniors.” The six Community Care for Seniors
organizations in Hastings and Prince Edward do a great job of helping seniors
(including many of our 1000+ members) continue to live at home. They are only
partially funded by the Ministry of Health and rely on donations, moderate client
fees and fund-raising to carry out their work. They operate with small staffs and
many volunteers, a number of whom are RTOERO members.
District 19 has decided, therefore, to donate a thousand dollars to each of the
Community Care agencies for North Hastings, Centre Hastings, South Hastings,
Prince Edward and Quinte West, and to the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte Home
Support Program.
These organizations provide programs and services for older adults such as hot and frozen Meals on Wheels, foot care,
grocery pick-up and delivery, escorted transportation for medical appointments, help with forms, telephone reassurance
calls and social and recreational programs.
“This is wonderful news,” was the response from one agency to the news of the RTOERO donation. “The funding will go a
long way to support programs for seniors in our community,” said another.
RTOERO, with more than 80, 000 members, is Canada’s largest membership organization for education workers and retiree. Its Vision is “a healthy, active
future for every member of the education retiree community in Canada. District 19, Hastings and Prince Edward, has a membership of 1032 retired teachers,
administrators and other education workers.
For more information about RTOERO contact Gerry Watts, President District 19 at president19@districts.rtoero.ca.
For more information about your local Community Care agency call: CARE North Hastings (613 332
4700); Community Care for Central Hastings (613 478 2224); Community Care for South Hastings; Prince
Edward Community Care for Seniors (613 476 7493); Hastings (613 969 0130); VON Community Support
Services – Quinte West (613 392 4181); Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte Home Support Program (613 967 0122)