Archive for the ‘exhibits’ Category

Looking for the perfect gift for someone who grew up in Goulbourn? We’ve got you covered! These are just a few examples of how you can shop locally at Goulbourn Museum Museum.

Village Pins: Our Village Pins make great stocking stuffers and at just $1 a piece you can afford to get them for the whole family! We have pins for Ashton, Hazeldean, Munster, Richmond and Stittsville as well as a commemorative 1818 pin for Richmond.

Local Honey: We sell jars of honey (as well as lip balm and hand cream) made right here in Stittsville by Simply Honey. If you suffer from pollen allergies, did you know that when you eat local honey you’re thought to be ingesting local pollen? As a result you may become less sensitive to the allergens in your geographic area! At just $10 per 500 gm jar, our honey is cheaper (and less painful) than allergy shots! Definitely a sweet deal!

Goulbourn Tree Ornaments: These wooden tree ornaments resemble tiny cabins that early settlers might have lived in. Each one is engraved with the name Goulbourn and, just like a settler, you build it yourself! The ornaments sell for $14.00.

Heart Maps: Do you know someone who left their heart in Goulbourn Township? These hand embroidered maps by Sadie & June are uniquely hand stitched and framed – made to be a reminder of the places, people, and adventures you hold dear. The Museum carries maps of Ashton, Goulbourn, Munster, Richmond, Stanley’s Corners, and Stittsville. Maps are $25.

John Curry’s New Book: John Curry’s long-awaited book Richmond’s Got Spirit! is the perfect gift for anyone with ties to Richmond. The local historian delves beyond the annual fall fair and now departed Richmond Bakery to celebrate this remarkable 200-year-old village. As an added bonus, John Curry will be at the Museum signing copies of his book on Sunday, December 15 from 1-4 p.m.

The Museum’s gift shop is open Wednesday – Sunday from 1-4 p.m. and accepts Visa, MasterCard, cash and cheques.

The Goulbourn Museum is partnering with 3D Virtual Crafting on a project application with the Virtual Museums of Canada. Our team’s goal is to submit a proposal for the development of a digital storytelling experience (online game) that explores the personal stories of early Canadian settlers in the former Goulbourn Township.

To help our team develop a successful proposal we need your support.  Two questionnaires have been developed by our team, one for educators and one for students (Grades 4-8). The goal of these questionnaires is to gather information so that we can create a product that incorporates the feedback and interest of our community and beyond.

• TEACHERS:  If you are a teacher, please take a few minutes to complete this short questionnaire HERE
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• STUDENTS: If you are a student in Grades 4-8, please take a few minutes to fill out this short questionnaire HERE.

If your household cannot complete a survey, please share this with friends and family who can help. 

Thank you. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Isabella Pratt Allen, who was born on the ninth line of Goulbourn Township in March of 1837, is quoted on this newly installed exhibit panel at the Goulbourn Museum.

The great grandson of Goulbourn settler Isabella Pratt Allen is hoping to connect with other descendants and gather for the unveiling of a new exhibit at the Goulbourn Museum on Saturday, August 17.

Robin Ritchie, an Ottawa lawyer, estimates that descendants of his great grandmother must number well over 200. “Many of her descendants are still in the Ottawa area but many have moved away and we’d like to get the word out to all of them about this event,” he said. Descendants can reach out to Mr. Ritchie via email (rritchie@perlaw.ca) to share the details of their family connection.

The outdoor exhibition shines a spotlight on Stanley’s Corners, the area surrounding the Museum. Isabella, who was born on the ninth line of Goulbourn Township in March of 1837, is quoted on one of the exhibit panels. Her quote, originally published in The Evening Citizen in 1936 when she was in her 100th year, recalls the harrowing times of the early settler in the Ottawa Valley. “We seemed hemmed right in with bush. We could only see a short distance from any point,” she said. “The constant fear of all the settlers was that a fire might start in the bush and that they would be caught in it.”

At the event to launch this permanent outdoor exhibit, Mr. Ritchie will also be donating a portrait of Isabella that dates to the late 1800s. The Museum’s brand new heritage garden will also be unveiled.

“The exhibit highlights old businesses and people’s memories of Stanley’s Corners,” said Tracey Donaldson, Manager and Exhibitions Curator at the Goulbourn Museum. Each outdoor panel will feature details about a specific heritage plant to incorporate the new garden. “We want to teach the community about the importance of gardens and how they would have been depended on in Goulbourn’s early years,” she explains. “Plants would have been used for everything from food, medication and dye.”

Living off the land was something Isabella would have grown up doing. Raising 11 children while her husband was often away for the winter months in the logging camps of the Ottawa Valley meant Isabella had to be strong, industrious and energetic. She thought nothing of walking three miles to Richmond, and back, for groceries and supplies. She was known never to take an afternoon nap in her entire life, not once. There were just too many things to get done on the Twin Elm farm.

“She was a remarkable woman by any standard,” said Mr. Ritchie of his great grandmother who passed away quietly in 1942 at the age of 105.

To celebrate the launch of the exhibit and garden, the public is invited to the Goulbourn Museum for a Corn Roast on Saturday, August 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Relatives and descendants of Isabella Pratt Allan are encouraged to attend. The event will feature musical entertainment, games and activities and of course, fresh corn donated by Fallowfield Tree Farm. Families can bring a blanket and enjoy an afternoon feast while reveling in some old-fashioned fun on the Museum grounds. Cost is by donation.

I am so happy to be joining the Goulbourn Museum team for the summer of 2019 as the Collections Assistant. I have a background in military and political history and am a graduate from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario where I received a specialization in history and a minor in political science. Ever since I can remember I have been fascinated with the past and have always enjoyed going to museums.

I grew up in the Town of Parry Sound on Georgian Bay where I had the privilege to work at the West Parry Sound District Museum and got my first taste of the exciting world of museum work. During my degree at Laurentian University I was employed at the Sudbury Police Museum where I got to learn more about the policing history of Northern Ontario. After being a part of both of these institutions I enjoyed the work so much that I enrolled in the Applied Museum Studies Program at Algonquin College in Ottawa where I hope to gather the technical skills required to work full-time in the museum field either as a curator or a collections manager.

During my spare time I collect and play board games with family and friends. I am also an avid reader of fantasy, science fiction and alternative history novels, and I play hockey and soccer when time allows.

I am looking forward to my summer in Goulbourn and meeting people from both the local area and abroad so I can learn and inform others about the fascinating history of this area.

I am excited to join the team at the Goulbourn Museum as the Museum and Exhibition Assistant this summer. I am in the middle of completing a Bachelor of Arts at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, ON. I am pursuing a major in English Literature and a minor in Communications Studies; I am passionate about my studies and am excited to put what I’ve learned to practical use for the Museum.

I’ve lived in the Goulbourn community my entire life (on one of the original farms!) and am eager to use this opportunity with the Museum to give back to the community I’ve been a part of for so long. I have previously volunteered with the Ottawa Public Library and I am looking forward to reaching out in the same way through the programs I will run in partnership with Caitlyn.

When I’m not working, studying, or reading, you can often find me practicing different hobbies like embroidery.

I’m looking forward to my summer at Goulbourn Museum and meeting all of the visiting members of the community that make it so special.

The Goulbourn Museum is looking for two (2) post-secondary students for the following positions:

Collections Assistant: Duties include working with the collection, cataloguing artefacts, and daily operations.

Museum and Exhibition Assistant: Duties include exhibition development, programming, marketing, design and daily operations.

Candidates require excellent English language skills and computer competency. Successful candidates will be post-secondary students enrolled in museum studies, history, arts, business, graphic design or marketing. French is an asset.

Positions are dependent on funding and run for 16 weeks at $14.00 per hour for 37.5 hours per week. Work includes weekends and statutory holidays. There is no public transportation to the Museum site.

Applications accepted by email or in-person until 5:00 p.m. Monday, April 15, 2019. Goulbourn Museum, 2064 Huntley Road, Stittsville | tracey@goulbournmuseum.ca

Board members will be elected at the Museum’s Annual General Meeting on April 23, 2019.

Contact Information:
2064 Huntley Road, Stittsville K2S 1B8
info@goulbournmuseum.ca
(613) 831-2393

Following extensive renovations in the Museum, the floors are finally level but our permanent exhibitions are still a work in progress. The Village Store exhibit is a family favourite and our top priority. In order to work safely, the Museum will be closed to the public for the month of January while staff rebuilds this popular hands-on play area.

During this time, Family Craft Days and Yap & Yarn will be held at the Stittsville Public Library.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience. Stay tuned for details about the Village Store’s grand reopening in early 2019!

We are thrilled to have Stephanie Miles on board to assist the Museum with its annual Old Fashioned Christmas and Outdoor Artisan Market. She is currently studying Event Management at Algonquin College and is acquiring her field placement hours with us to gain experience in planning and executing events. You may recognize Stephanie from her previous work at the Museum. A graduate of Algonquin’s Applied Museum Studies program, she has completed co-op placements here, held part-time and contract positions, and volunteered at numerous events and programs over the years.

Stephanie has jumped in with both feet and has already set a plan in motion to increase our social media outreach with the use of a SnapChat filter during the event. She is also creating a site map to help generate a positive flow of foot traffic to all of the attractions at the Old-Fashioned Christmas. One of the most in-depth projects Stephanie will undertake during her placement is developing a functional critical path for the annual event. This critical path will not only provide useful documented information for Museum reports but also provide future Museum employees with a detailed outline of every single task from the beginning of the event to the end.

Stephanie hopes to gain knowledge and experience in the planning process for indoor and outdoor events that take place during Canada’s winter season. She plans to combine her museum training and her current event management knowledge to ensure a most memorable event for staff, volunteers and attendees alike.

The Museum’s Old-Fashioned Christmas & Outdoor Artisan Market takes place on Sunday, November 18th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This holiday celebration and Christmas market features activities for the whole family. Write letters to Santa and pose for a photo with the jolly old soul, watch a bona fide blacksmith at work, enjoy free hot chocolate and apple cider, roast marshmallows by the fire, and buy one-of-a-kind handmade gifts from local artisans. Admission is free!

A vibrant collage of crocheted poppies now adorns the southeast corner of the Goulbourn Museum. The art installation entitled “Poppies of Goulbourn,” was created by volunteers of the Museum’s Yap & Yarn fibre arts group and recognizes the significant military contributions of the community since the War of 1812. It was mounted on the historical building by Museum staff to ensure any conservation concerns were met.

This year’s collage is a pilot project. The Museum’s goal is to work out any kinks and launch a much larger installation next year. “Starting on a smaller scale allows for trial and error and gives us an opportunity to create a successful plan for 2019,” says Sarah Holla, Collections and Education Officer. “Our aim is to open this up to the community and local groups. We would love to get people of all ages making poppies, from retirees to Guides and Scouts,” says Holla.

Caitlyn McDougall, the Museum’s Programming Officer, will take the lead on next year’s poppy project which will launch in January 2019. Members of the Yap & Yarn fibre arts group will continue to play an active role and have also offered to teach the art of poppy making next year.

“This art installation is a visual reminder of the military contributions made over the years by the men and women of Goulbourn and celebrates our history as Ottawa’s first military community,” says Tracey Donaldson, Manager and Exhibitions Curator.

“Poppies of Goulbourn” will be featured at the Museum until Remembrance Day.

For more information on how you or your community group can get involved, call the Museum at 613-831-2393 or email: info@goulbournmuseum.ca

I feel extremely fortunate to be a new member of the Goulbourn Museum team as their Collections Administrator! My previous work and education experiences vary and include work in the trades and other fields that have shaped me into the cultural institution professional that I am today. In 2018, I graduated with Honours from the Applied Museum Studies program at Algonquin College. Over the last 3 years, I have gained work experience in museum, archives and gallery settings. I have experience working with both national and municipal collections handling a variety of different mediums, artefacts and documents. Examples of my roles for institutions include: Student Archival and Museum Collections Assistant with the City of Ottawa Archives, Technical Services Intern with the National Gallery of Canada, Archival Intern with Ingenium – Canada’s Science and Technology Museum, and Contractor with the Canadian Museum of History. Additionally, I’ve worked for the Canadian Museum’s Association as a Database Research Assistant and Young Canada Works Support Staff. Each institution offered invaluable opportunities to work in the field and to handle, describe, interpret, rehouse and inventory diverse museum and archives collections.

 
I am from the city of Sault Ste. Marie, or as many people like to call it, the “Soo”. One of the first times I remember being inspired by the museum world was when I was as a child visiting the Old Stone Heritage House, a.k.a. the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site. This site depicts the domestic and professional life of early settlers of the early 19th century and provides interaction with costumed interpreters as they performed every-day traditional activities. Additionally, I have fond memories of visiting the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center which offers visitors the chance to make paper airplanes and tour the hanger full of their collection of planes. I specifically remember climbing into the cockpit of one of the planes and that memory as a child had a profound impact on me. My personal experiences with museums gives evidence to the importance of community institutions and the long lasting impression that a museum can have on its visitors.

 
In my time away from work, I enjoy watching hockey and baseball, particularly the Toronto Maple Leafs and Blue Jays. I love music of all kinds, and I play drums and some guitar. I also enjoy hiking, camping, photography and of course, visiting museums! I’ve been in Ottawa since 2010 and I absolutely love living here – I believe Ottawa is a city that all Canadians should experience and see.

 
I am very happy to officially begin work in my new role with the Goulbourn Museum and I believe I have been given the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the team and their collection. I look forward to the new challenges and most of all – to meeting and connecting with everyone in the local community.