Opening/Chair: Today's meeting was at the NSCC cafeteria. Al Cooze was chair and he lead the group in the singing of O Canada which was followed by a moment of personal reflection.
Visitors/Guests: The speaker for the day, Margaret Mulrooney from the Colchester Historeum, was accompanied by a number of others from that organization including Ashley Sutherland, Archivist, Lillian Scales, Admin Assistant, and Bob Taylor the Treasurer of the organization.
Also making another visit was Suzette Cameron, a guest of Alana Hirtle.
Speaker: Margaret Mulrooney has been the Curator/Administrator at the
Colchester Historeum since November 2015. Margaret has previously worked at the Mahone Bay Museum as their Manager/Curator and in Visitor Services at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. She completed Fleming College’s Museum Management and Curatorship program in August of 2014. Margaret has also obtained a Bachelor of Arts in history and sociology from McGill University and a Master of Arts in history from Dalhousie University.
Margaret explained the mission of the Historeum and the role that it has in the collection, preservation and exhibition of artifacts and documents relating to the social, cultural, and natural history of Colchester County, Nova Scotia. The archives preserves thousands of records, documents, publications and photos to help with historical and genealogical research. The museum collects, preserves and exhibits artifacts and stories related to Colchester heritage.
Throughout the year, a series of public programs with informative speakers enhances our understanding of Colchester’s history. A guest speaker is chosen because of expertise in topics relating to Colchester county. They also have changing displays at the museum over the year. One that is coming up in May is an exhibit on Portia White.
Recently the Historeum had finished a digitization project of 401 maps of Colchester county that were now available for public access on
MemoryNS.ca
The Historeum is one of the few museums in NS that is not part of the Provincial Government. While it is supported by the Provincial and municipal governments, the budget is tight. There are only 3 full time staff so the organization depends on over 90 Volunteers to assist with programs. They also have work placement internes and summer students to help with the collections.
There is a need to fundraise to meet the budget and advance the efforts of the society. A 5 year plan has been the developed and now they are moving to implement that plan and are looking for people to help with the fundraising initiatives. It was estimated by Bob Taylor that they need another $40K to meet their annual budget.
The Historeum is open to tours and is always interested in more volunteers. If any of the members are interested in joining the committee or want to know more about the Historeum in general, the staff are happy to meet and provide more information. Please reach out directly to Lily Scales for more information. Her email address is
contact@colchesterhistoreum.ca
Margaret was thanked by Barbara Goit.
Member Health: No report.
Announcements and Reports: Alana thanked everyone who had been in involved in one way or the other with a very successful Charter night She thanked all those who had come out to support it.
President's Report: President Ryan also thanked all those involved with Charter Night and went on to thank all those for participating on a very successful Rotary Week. He recapped all the events
Happy Mug: There was a "happy hand" this week as we were not in our regular venue.
- Barbara Goit was happy to be able to thank everyone for being named Rotarian of the year. She showed off her pin.
- Terry Pook was happy that today was the birthday of her twin grandson's. They had been born 3 months premature in Ontario and she estimates that their health care costs had been in excess of $1M. Now happy, healthy grade one boys, she was thankful for the Canadian Health care system.
- Kirk was happy to have been in the DR for his daughter's wedding.
50/50: No 50/50 this week.
Closing: 1:05 pm
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