This August marks the 25^th consecutive year Lee Shimano dons her cap and vest to help welcome more than a million visitors to the annual Canadian National Exhibition. 

The CNE happens every year in Toronto’s Exhibition Place and for many visitors, attending not only allows them to reflect on nostalgic memories of past exhibitions, but allows them to create new ones too. But for Lee, she gets to remember that joy all year round. 

That’s because Lee has one of the most impressive collections of CNE memorabilia in the world.  

In the basement of her Etobicoke home, Lee muses over some of her standout pieces displayed in a pair of glass cases. She jokingly remarks on the state of her memory, yet eloquently recalls the history and origin of some of her most prized possessions, including a rare medal from 1969 commemorating the CNE opening ceremonies led by Pierre Elliott Trudeau. 

Lee points out the hand-etched inscriptions on some turn-of-the-century CNE souvenirs in her collection, pointing out the similar handwriting styles on several ruby flash glass pieces from the early 1900’s to the 1930’s, surmising it must have been the same artisan selling wares for decades.  

“I’m sure this is why I collect. As kids we went down to the CNE every year as a family. [Mom] loved it. She absolutely loved it,” Lee said. 

“The nostalgia, the memories. My kids all go down, my grandkids all go down.” 

One of Lee’s fondest memories is going to the EX with her mom, armed with a fistful of coins. 

“It was like Christmas. It was our money to spend,” Lee said. 

“My whole thing was buying a vanilla ice cream sandwich with my mom and sharing it with her. My friend and I still go down to that same booth and buy an ice cream sandwich at the exhibition.” 

Lee’s mom passed away when she was young, but the experience of being at the CNE, and the happiness it brought her, is reignited through her collection. 

Tapping into those early experiences while seeing her family create new ones of their own stirs up familiar feelings and plenty of smiles. 

“That’s what this collection is,” said Lee. 

“It brings me joy.”  

How did it this impressive collection begin? That too, is a family affair.  

“My grandparents had a little china cabinet. She had a little chalkware dog. It wasn’t labeled or anything,” Lee said. “I just thought it was the neatest thing.” 

It turns out her uncle won it at the CNE. From there, the collection began to grow.  

“All of a sudden I had 20, 30 pieces. But now I think we’re going into the thousands.”  

Some pieces are over a century old. Some are more kitschy than ornate. Some have provenance, including pieces owned by John Jacob Withrow, the Toronto businessman who proposed the first iteration of the CNE in the 1870’s.  

And some are just too funny to leave out. 

“This one is an impostor,” Lee said, pointing at a keychain of a cartoonish chimpanzee with large eyes. 

“Somebody in Saskatchewan gave it to me,” she said, laughing at the notion that someone all the way in Regina was forging CNE memorabilia.  

Lee has journeyed across provinces and borders to antique stores, junk shops and more in her search for CNE memorabilia. Such was the EX in those days, where admission was 25 cents, treats were pennies and visitors from across the country and beyond would converge in Toronto every year. 

Not unlike the Exhibition itself, the depth of Lee’s character lies beneath the surface. In addition to her collection, she’s also a retired health professional and an avid Masters swimmer. But, as it turns out, Lee’s varied passions have quite some overlap. 

Back in 1954, the CNE held a publicity event offering American swimmer Florence Chadwick $10,000 to be the first person to swim across Lake Ontario. No Canadian swimmers were invited to participate. So 16-year-old Torontonian Marilyn Bell decided to, without pay, take on the challenge herself.  

Hours in, the American swimmer was forced to drop out of the race. Marilyn Bell swam for nearly 21 gruelling hours, without goggles, battling high waves, wind, stomach pain and the numerous lamprey eels biting at her arms and legs.  

Along with a lack of modern navigation equipment, Bell swam nearly twice the distance of her planned 32-kilometre route. But she did it, in her words, for Canada. The CNE ended up awarding her the $10,000 prize.  

Bell is Lee’s hero, and they have had a number of occasions to cross paths through Lee’s own swimming. Lee’s Marilyn Bell memorabilia is among her most prized.  

She has a rare Marilyn Bell doll made by Eaton’s, a CNE medallion emblazoned with “Lady of the Lake,” commemorating the 50^th anniversary of her swim, and her most prized item, a hand-made patch for the Lake Ontario Relay Swim Team, dating back to that pivotal 1954 Exhibition, bearing the names of some of Ontario’s star swimmers, including Bell.  

Like many Exhibitions prior, Lee is gearing up to head down to the CNE once more this year – her 25^th time in a row volunteering for the EX. But for the first time in her impressive run, she’s been invited as a guest! 

Heading to the CNE? Getting there is as easy as funnel cake! 

Simply hop on the GO and head to Exhibition GO on the Lakeshore West line, where the CNE is steps away. We’ve increased service along Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East to help you get to and from the CNE between Aug. 16 and Sept. 2.  

Visitors to the CNE can also take advantage of our weekday group and weekend unlimited passes, and Ontario’s One Fare program. And remember, kids 12 and under always ride for free! 

Be sure to check your train’s schedule before heading out.