Jackdaws are kits of collections of reproductions of primary source documents all based around a single topic or historical event.

Miss Oktoberfest 1989.

The Jardine family of Hespeler, Ont. originated in Scotland, near Glasgow. William Jordan, (Jardine), collier, married Catherine Bell in 1814. Andrew Bell Jardine, their son, a machinist, married Isabella Dawson in 1844 and came to Canada from Scotland ca. 1854. He and his family moved from Toronto to Hespeler, Ont. ca. 1862 to start a foundry business. This was A.B. Jardine Co. Ltd., one of the pioneer industries of the area, which Andrew owned in partnership with other family members including James Jardine, Peter Jardine and James Dawson.

Miss Oktoberfest 1972.

Judi Jewinski is a retired Administrative Dean at Renison University College. Jewinski established the regional affiliate of Teachers of English as a Second Language Association of Ontario (TESL), a professional federation of English as a Second Language teachers of all levels in 1979. Jewinski was the Director of the University of Waterloo’s English Language Institute at Renison and she is the author of books that focus on writing and grammar.

In 1890 J.M. Schneider began to make sausages full time in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario. In 1891 he opened his first shop on Courtland Ave. next to his home. In 1909 he made the first additions to his plant and in 1912 organized his business as a joint stock Company under the name of J.M. Schneider & Sons Ltd. J.M.'s sons Charles, Norman and Fred were all involved in the business.

J.M.'s business grew and prospered as did Kitchener, renamed in 1916. By 1925 the company employed 131 people and had sales of $1.5 million. A new 100,000 square foot plant was built at that time. By 1965 almost 1,400 people were employed at the Courtland Ave. plant and in 1970 the company's shares were listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In 1975 Schneider Corp. was set up as a holding company, with J.M. Schneider Inc. as its meat processing division. In 1979 the company was reorganized. Heritage Group Inc. was the new holding company with J.M. Schneider Inc. as one of five operating subsidiaries. In 1985 the company lost money for the first time and in 1988 employees went on strike for the first time. After several years of losses, layoffs and restructuring, the company was sold to Smithfield Foods Inc. on Dec. 17, 1997.

Stanley Karl Johannesen, born March 10, 1939, is an author, writer, and Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Waterloo. Johannesen was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Manual Training High School (MTHS) before going on to receive his BA at Evangel College, Missouri, and then his MA and PhD in History (1973) at the University of Missouri. Johannesen began teaching American history while completing his PhD at the University of Missouri and joined the University of Waterloo in 1969 where he remained until his retirement in 2004.
While at the University of Waterloo Johannesen was the first editor-in-chief of Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques, an English and French peer-reviewed academic history journal published at the university from its establishment in 1974 until 1989. During his professional academic career Johannesen produced several papers and reports on teaching, religion, and cultural criticism and delivered presentations at conferences worldwide, from Korea to Norway to Cuba. Johannesen was also active in the American Studies Association (ASA)
Outside of teaching, Johannesen has published a number of essays, short-stories, memoirs, reviews, and articles in various journals and print publications, such as Queen’s Quarterly and the K-W Record, that reflect personal interests including religion, social issues, travel, and cabinet-making. Johannesen is also known for his books: “Sister Patsy,” “Luggas Wood,” and “The Yellow Room,” and is the co-founder and editor of Blaurock Press and, together with his wife Penny Winspur, co-founder of The Electric Ferry Press. Johannesen is also an avid blogger and maintains his own website at http://www.skjohannesen.com.

Miss Oktoberfest 1998.

David Lloyd Johnston is an academic, writer and former Governor General of Canada who served as the president of the University of Waterloo from 1999 to 2010. Born June 28, 1941 in Sudbury, Ontario, Johnston completed his studies at Harvard (A.B. 1963), Cambridge (LL.B. 1965) and Queen's (LL.B. 1966).

Known for work related securities regulation, corporation law and communications law, Johnston taught law at Queen's University (1966), and the University of Toronto (1968), and was the University of Western Ontario's Dean of Law (1974 to 1979). In 1979 he was named Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University and in July 1994, after stepping down as Principal, returned to McGill's Faculty of Law as a full-time Professor. Johnston took office as Waterloo's fifth president on June 1, 1999. A member of the Order of Canada, Johnston holds honorary doctorates Among the many honours accorded Professor Johnston are honorary doctorates from higher education institutions across the country.

In addition to authoring and co-authoring numerous books, Johnston has played active roles in a variety of associations and organizations in educational and governmental settings. He was President of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, the Conférence des Recteurs et des Principaux des Universités du Québec, the founding Chair of the National Roundtable on Environment and the Economy and chaired Harvard University's Board of Overseers. For the federal government, he has chaired the Information Highway Advisory Council, the Blue Ribbon Panel on Smart Communities, the Advisory Council on Online Learning, the Committee on Canadian Information Systems for the Environment, and the National Broadband Task Force. He has also chaired the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and The Neuroscience National Centre of Excellence. Professor Johnston has served on many other provincial and federal task forces and committees and is on the boards of a number of companies including CGI Group, Masco Corp., Fairfax Financial Holdings, ARISE Technologies Inc., and is a founding trustee of the MasterCard Foundation.

Herbert Johnston was the son of John James Johnston and Margaret Beaty and was born at Meaford on April 21st, 1874. He attended the Public and High Schools at Meaford. From 1892 to 1893 he was postmaster, telegraph operator and general merchant in the village of Hollen (?), Ontario. He attended the County Model School at Owen Sound and received the third class certificate of qualification as a public school teacher on Dec. 14, 1895. For several years he taught in schools at Mountain Lake and North Keppel, before studying Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto, graduating from the School of Practical Science in 1903.

He served his apprenticeship with W. M. Davis, O.L.S. at Kitchener and was granted his certificate in February, 1905. Mr. Johnston joined Mr. Davis in partnership from 1904 to 1910, and was also Assistant City Engineer at Kitchener. He was City Engineer at Kitchener from 1910 to 1917. From 1917 on he worked in private practice as a consulting engineer and Ontario Land Surveyor. He was Engineer for Waterloo County, as well as for the towns of Hespeler, Preston, Elmira and New Hamburg, and for the Townships of Waterloo and Wilmot. He was appointed as a member of the Kitchener Road Commission and Kitchener Planning Board. He was an active member of King Street Baptist Church in Kitchener.

Mr. Johnston married Ellen Agnes Clarke, and their children were Ruch (sic) A. Trinier, Alethea M., and Herbert Paul. Herbert Johnston died in Kitchener on June 13th, 1961.

Mary Johnston (1930-2017) pursued a career as an elementary public school teacher and thereafter as public school principal in Waterloo, Ont. She was widely known for the contributions she made to education-related local and provincial committees as well as to the Presbyterian church and to historical groups in the Region. During her 37 year career in education she was presented with numerous awards including the Queen's jubilee medal three times, the K-W Oktoberfest Woman of the Year Award and the Wiegand Award for Teaching Excellence.

Mary Johnston was born to Joseph Samuel and Marion Halley (nee Leslie) Johnston in Edmonton but moved to Waterloo at a young age, attending elementary and secondary school in the city. She was a graduate of Stratford Teacher's College and she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Western Ontario (1957). She also held a B.Ed. Degree (1963) and a M.Ed. Degree (1968) from the University of Toronto.

She began her teaching career at a rural one room school located on Bearinger Road, now located in the City of Waterloo. She then taught at MacGregor Public School in Waterloo. Her next position was as vice-principal of Empire, followed by Centennial Public School in Waterloo. She later served as principal of Brighton and Winston Churchill. In 1977 she was the first principal of Keatsway, then principal of Macgregor Senior Public School from which she retired in 1987. Her appointment to principal of Brighton in 1969 marked the first time there was a female principal in Waterloo history.

Mary was an active member of many local education board committees and provincial committees. She was a member of the Ontario Teachers' Federation advisory committee to circular 14, and was Regional Professional Development Chairwoman for the Midwestern region of the Ministry of Education from 1974-1976. As well, Mary was a member of local and national bodies including the Waterloo County Women Teachers' Association and the Federation of Women Teachers' Associations of Ontario. She was also involved in local community endeavours and was a member of the K-W University Women's Club. She also served on the City of Waterloo's architectural advisory committee and on the publication committee of the Waterloo Historical Society. Her interest in education and local history lead her to publish The Trail of the Slate, a history of education in the Waterloo Region.

She was ordained an elder of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in 1973 and had been actively involved in many of the church's activities including teaching the Communicants class and serving on the advisory committee for the student intern programme. Her work with the Presbyterian Church lead to her being awarded a life membership in the Women's Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.

Mary passed away on July 7, 2017.

Elwood Jones (January 9 1911-March 1984) a.k.a. Big Al was a children's television host on CKCO TV from 1960 to 1982.

Jermal Jones is the Associate Director, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Access in the University of Waterloo Library.

In 1857 William Hespeler, a merchant, and George Randall, a contractor, built what was known as Granite Mills in Waterloo, Ontario. A susidiary to the mill was a small distillery known as the Waterloo Distillery. The business also included a dry goods store. In 1863 Hespeler and Randall took in William Roos, and in 1864 William Hespeler went abroad, hiring young Joseph Emm Seagram to look after his interests. By 1870 Seagram had bought out Hespeler's interests and the company name became "George Randall and Company."

In 1878 Seagram bought out Randall, and he, Seagram. and Roos operated as "Randall and Company" until 1881 when they changed the name to "Seagram and Roos." 1883 Seagram bought out Roos and became the sole proprietor, changing the company name to "Joseph Seagram Flour Mill and Distillery Company." Seagram incorporated the company in 1911, changing the name to "Joseph E. Seagram and Sons, Limited." By 1919 when Seagram died, he had built his Waterloo distillery into a major exporting company and his brand names were widely known. In 1928 the Bronfman family acquired the distillery and amalgamated it with their company, Distillers Corporation Limited.

Robert Judd is an alumnus of the University of Waterloo. He studied Mechanical Engineering and received a Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) in 1963.

Judd was part of the second cohort of students that began studying at the University, formerly known as Waterloo College and Associate Faculties, in October 1957. During his time as a student at the University, Judd was the goalie of the Warriors Hockey team.