The St. Thomas Public Library is inviting residents to take part in a series of free activities this September and October that honour Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The library has planned three events, starting with “Rocks for Reconciliation” on September 19. Families can paint rocks with messages of remembrance and hope. The rocks will be placed at City Hall following the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ceremony as a visible reminder of the community’s commitment to reconciliation.
On September 26, residents can join a Blanket Exercise, an interactive workshop developed by KAIROS Canada, led by Indigenous facilitator Mary-Anne Kechego. Participants step onto blankets that represent the land while hearing the history of pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization, and resistance from Indigenous perspectives. The exercise helps build shared understanding.
From September 21 through October 12, a StoryPath walking tour will take readers through downtown St. Thomas. Local businesses will display pages from the children’s book Phyllis’s Orange Shirt by Phyllis Webstad. The book tells the true story of Webstad, a Northern Secwepemc (Shuswap) survivor, whose new orange shirt was taken from her on her first day at a residential school in 1973.
Orange Shirt Day is marked each year on September 30. The day grew from Webstad’s story and became a national movement. In 2021, the federal government created the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday.
St. Thomas has observed Orange Shirt Day for several years. In 2025, hundreds of residents gathered at city hall, making it the largest ceremony in five years. Local organizer Betty Jean Phillips Budden, who identifies with Oneida Nation of the Thames, has helped lead the events since 2021.
All library activities are free; the Blanket Exercise requires registration, while Rocks for Reconciliation and the StoryPath tour are open to the public without registration. For more details, visit the St. Thomas Public Library.
