OSCC History

If tradition holds true, the Owen Sound Camera Club met for the first time on the evening of September 12, 1956 at the old YMCA located then at the corner of 10th Street and 3rd Avenue East. Tradition is referring to the meeting time, which was the second Wednesday of the month. The first club President was possibly a manager at Bell Canada named Mr. Ecobichon. We’ve had, and still have, members from all walks of life. Some of our earlier members included hairdressers Eva Patchell and Winetta MacDonald, a repair centre owner Frank Forbes, an electrician named Larry Leonard, Alice Cook, R.N., Dr. Art Middlebro, medical doctor, shoe store owner Ted Scarrow, printer Nelson Maher, and postal clerk Don McLeod.

The Club moved to the new CIA (Co-operative Insurance Association) building with Ted Scarrow as President, and began entering the Georgian Bay Regional Camera Club competitions, vying for bragging rights over neighbouring clubs from Collingwood, Orillia, Barrie and Midland, and later from Huntsville, Meaford-Thornbury and Alliston. These events were held in the spring with the clubs taking turns hosting, and at one point, some clever chap designed and built a scoring machine.

At the Regionals, a number of trophies were awarded annually and the competition was tough. By 1980 the Club had reached its zenith. An April 29th 1980 news item in the Owen Sound Sun Times reported the Club’s successful showing in Huntsville. Then President, Mike Prevost, earned a trophy for his photo essay, Summer Swans, and the Club placed first overall in both Pictorial and Nature slides. Prints were being accepted for the first time.

During Christmas in the early years of the club, members would put on slideshows with taped music at seniors residences. When Owen Sound had their Winter Carnival, the club put on a three-screen slideshow accompanied by appropriate music for the festive season, but high facility costs ended this activity.

Some other meeting places over the years include Victoria School, Hillcrest School, The Grey-Sauble Conservation Authority, the basement of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Division St. United Church, the Marine and Rail Museum, and the Boy Scout centre. When the Scout Centre was sold, the meeting place for the Club moved to the Owen Sound Market building behind City Hall. After a couple of years at the Market, the folks at Foto Art kindly allowed us to hold our meetings in the spacious quarters in the back of their store.

One of the highlights of the Club’s activities was hosting the NAPA (National Association for Photographic Arts, now CAPA, the Canadian Association for Photographic Art) annual “convention”, known as Camera Canada College, in mid June of 1976. The event was never held in as small a centre as Owen Sound. The NAPA Executive from Toronto paid us a visit when we volunteered to make sure we could accommodate their needs. All 35 members were assigned jobs, headed by President Helene Weaver and Grace Armstrong was appointed as Chair of Camera Canada College. During the previous winter, Grace helped to promote the event by sitting on top of her car in the Winter Carnival Parade with her tripod and camera clicking away.

The City of Owen Sound was a great help by providing dinner at the Paragon for the 19 speakers that arrived to take part. The Grey County School Board (now the Bluewater School Board) leased some classrooms at Hillcrest School for the workshops and the Home Ec room for developing and printing. MP Eddie Sargent offered a special rate at the Downtowner Hotel. Apparently, he was a little disappointed that more people didn’t order drinks. The new YMCA catered to the 470 delegates. People loved the food with shrimp in abundance. Two yachts provided by the Georgian Yacht Club were recruited to take visitors on a scenic trip to White Cloud Island. Camera Canada College 1976 drew people from every province but Newfoundland, and a few from the United States. This of course filled every motel in the city and then some.

The College ended with a profit, which was unheard of. The National Executive told the Club to spend it as they pleased. A photo from Midland’s Budd Watson was purchased and donated to the Owen Sound Public Library. It still hangs in the Auditorium downstairs.

The Owen Sound Camera Club has organized many outings through the years, as we still do to this day. The late Nels Maher revealed where to find rare ferns around Owen Sound. Each year a few cars filled with ambitious members would head up the Bruce Peninsula at orchid time to spend the day lying on the ground photographing the wildflowers that abound there.

The Club used to participate in Owen Sound’s Winter Carnival when, for three years, they put on a three-projector slide show offering some of the great images captured on the Bruce Peninsula, as well as other local scenery, along with music and commentary. When the Division Street Church hall was filled, people were shown to the gallery.

On the 25th Anniversary of the Club in 1981, an exhibition of work from about 15 members was displayed at Yvonne McTeir’s Georgian Gallery and Trophy Shop. The 50 or so images reflected the Club’s varying interests from wildflowers in perfect bloom, to experimental darkroom techniques.

Mike Prevost was President from 1979 to 1981. Other Presidents over the years included Shirley Macklin, Don McLeod, Grace Armstrong, Art and Ruth Clarke, Carole Bates, Don Bates, who designed the Club’s logo at that time, Frank Weaver, and Helene Weaver. There were others, and it would be difficult to name them all, however, current member, Bob Tucker, was President in the 1990s to the mid-2000s.

Greg McMillan was the President during the club’s 50th year in 2006-2007. The 50th Anniversary came and went rather quietly but Greg helped transition the club’s membership from approximately 15 members to double the size. The club’s only publicity at the time was word of mouth, its involvement in a regional print competition with other clubs from the Midland area, and the odd meeting notice in the Owen Sound Sun Times. Greg set out to change this by developing this website to mark the OSCC’s place on the internet and has since increased their digital footprint with the creation of a Club Facebook Page, a Flickr Group, a Twitter account, and a Facebook Group that is reserved for members only. A few years later, Melissa Crannie held the position, followed by Lynn Reket.

The Owen Sound Camera Club celebrated its 60th Anniversary in 2016 with Randy O’Hara as President who will end his tenure after the 2025-2026 season. Greg McMillan has committed to taking the reins once again with some special events planned for the club’s Platinum Season.

The OSCC could not function without the dedication and devotion of its executive. There hasn’t been a lot of information kept on record about the folks who held positions like Treasurer, or Secretary, but in recent years, the Secretary’s seat has been held by Ed Matthews and Michelle Ruth. Prior to our current Treasurer, Diane Jackson with the help of Carol Harris, Liz Head held the position. Since the onset of digital media, the club has seen the need for a Media Co-ordinator, who collects the images to show at the meetings as well as create the videos you see on YouTube. In past years, Greg McMillan held the position, and since then, Ed Matthews and now Julian Delf have taken care of the ones and zeros. The website, as stated earlier, was created and maintained by Greg. Over the years, Brian Robin and Julian kept it going and in 2026, Julian and Greg are maintaining the newly designed website. Michelle Ruth also looks after the Facebook Page and Group.

A lot has changed in 70 years. The faces are different, our community has changed, and the art, medium, science-or what have you-of photography has changed. But one thing remains the same: the Owen Sound Camera Club member, a person with a passion for photography, the desire to grab that camera and press the shutter to share their vision with friends, family, and now, if you’re reading this web page, the world.