Dear Friends, Colleagues, Tyrconnell Heritage Society
Members,
As some of you may
already know I have resigned my position as Cultural Manager here at the
Backus-Page House Museum. My last official day on site was June 14th. I wanted
to say thank you to all for your friendship and/or support over the years. It
has been an honour and a privilege to have had the opportunity to contribute to
the preservation of the Backus-Page House and to uphold and promote the mandate
and mission statement of the Tyrconnell Heritage Society.
It has been an enriching
experience albeit a very busy one. As I spent my final two weeks onsite,
mentoring my replacement, I was reminded of the many benchmarks achieved during
my tenure as Cultural Manager. The publishing of seventeen newsletters (expanded
from the original 1 or 2 page format), the creation of a THS blog, the
continuing upgrade of our website and the institution of a social media program
including Twitter and Facebook are a reflection of a commitment to engage the
public and the THS membership through all available avenues of communication.
Since 2008 the administration has overseen volunteer contributions that have
been estimated at well over 12,000 man-hours and seventeen local youth have
been employed in seasonal positions. For the past two years the Backus-Page
House site has enjoyed the distinction of qualifying for the CMOG program by
meeting official Ontario community museum standards. The restoration of the
rectory barn and the redesign of the Carriage House office area have provided
additional display, administration and programming space.
The museum has welcomed
thousands of guests each year who have enjoyed tours, teas, arts and craft
shows, workshops on period cooking and corsetry and spinning, sumptuous meals
of period cuisine, and lectures on the history of the fur trade in Canada and
the effects of the local climate on the lifecycles of butterflies. The museum
collection has grown through the accession of hundreds of artifacts and the
program has been benefited by the digitalization of our collection registry.
Looking to engage a broader demographic, an interpretative program for
Carolinian flora and fauna was instituted.
Over the past 4 and a half years our exhibit
program has treated guests to “A Peek at Victoria’s Secrets”, a broad look at
the industrial revolution, the secrets of midden treasures, interpretations of spinning
and textiles in the Talbot Settlement, the community of signature quilts, the
150th anniversary of the Wallacetown Fair and then the St Peter’s
Church’s celebration, along with an overview of The War of 1812. By the way, don’t
forget to stop by and see the current exhibit “Get Stuffed~ A Whimsical Look at
the Victorian Anthropomorphic Taxidermy Tradition”. I hope you have as much
enjoyment visiting the exhibit as I did researching and putting it together.
I have helped host
meetings, special events, family reunions and weddings both large and small. I
have welcomed summer day-campers, car tours, dedicated birders and Sunday
drivers. I have spoken to guests who have travelled clear across the globe and
marvelled that they had found their way from somewhere as far away as India, to
this small site along the northern shore of Lake Erie. I hope you all will
continue to find your way to “Little Ireland” on the Erie coast.
There have been many challenges
along the way but it has allowed for a tremendous amount of growth. I have had
the good fortune to encounter and work with some truly talented and dedicated
people and for that I am grateful. I bid you all a fond farewell. I wish you
all the very best in the future and once again thank you for your support over
the past four and a half years.
Sincerely,
Lori Milos-Ivanski
The Annual Heritage Farm Show at the Backus-Page House Museum takes place on September 9 and 10, 2017. Come and see a variety of heritage skills being demonstrated, explore your rural roots and experience the living history museum first hand!
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