Christmas 2020 in Stittsville

Join us in welcoming our two new Diversity Engagement Coordinators: Sesvin Josarasa and Emily Hutchinson! While they are working remotely, we’re excited to have them as part of our team and are excited to see their incredible contribution to our community.

Sesvin Josarasa

I’m super excited to be given the opportunity to join the Goulbourn Museum team as a Diversity Engagement Coordinator. As a recent graduate from Ryerson University, I have an educational background in Urban and Regional Planning. I’ve also served as a Stakeholder Engagement Lead for a Non – Profit in Calgary, Alberta called Imagine Cities.

So just to talk a little bit about my hobbies and past times, I love sports! Basketball, Hockey and Soccer and my three favourites. Being from Toronto I am indeed a Leafs fan, which I’m sure will get me a little bit of hate and trash talk, but hopefully, our mutual love for the Raptors can make up for that.

This position is an amazing opportunity in many ways, but the one thing I’m most excited about is being able to engage with the community and the rest of the team here at Goulbourn Museum. Just off immediate first impressions, I see that the community is very close-knit, friendly and welcoming, it’s almost like one big family! I’m hoping to merge my planning and stakeholder engagement backgrounds to work with you and produce something that will make the community proud.

Emily Hutchinson

I am honoured to be joining the Goulbourn Museum team as one of their Diversity Engagement Coordinators. As a new Ottawa resident, I am looking forward to working so closely with the community and developing a plan to foster positive social outcomes. In this role I hope to gain experience conducting assessments and managing change.

I graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Psychology and a double minor in Mental Health & Addictions and Health & Aging. This multidisciplinary program focused on the complex relationship between individuals and society, and prepared me for a career in identifying social issues and implementing interventions that promote equity. After graduation I started my first degree-related job developing and facilitating programs for an Indigenous organization in Hamilton, where I worked until this past summer when I decided to move to Ottawa.

Outside of work you can likely find me at a coffee shop, on a hike, or taking a nap.

I look forward to working with the museum to solidify a diversity strategy that reflects their commitment to the community.

Hello from Goulbourn! My name is Elise Anderson, and I’ve had the opportunity to work as the Collections Intern this fall through the Capital Heritage Mentorship Program.

Today I’m going to give you a preview of one of the projects I’ve been working on: the Children’s Toy Collection Virtual Tour!

As the holiday season begins, we thought it would be fun to show you what kinds of toys would have been given as gifts in the past. In the virtual tour, you can explore each shelf of our collection from your own home.

Our goal was to make this tour as interactive as possible! You’ll be able to click on the toys to learn more about them, play games, watch videos, and enjoy other exciting activities.

For example, one of the objects in the tour is a Canadian winter themed Snakes and Ladders game. Not only can you learn about the history of the game (hint: it’s ancient!), but you can actually play the game for yourself!

I don’t want to give away too much, but my absolute favourite object of the collection is a 1960’s Barbie doll. She’s similar to the Barbie dolls I grew up with, but with a Jackie Kennedy Onassis inspired bubble cut hairstyle. You’ll also be able to watch the original ad for this doll to see more of her wardrobe. I love that she is a fashion time capsule!

Barbie as seen in the Children’s Toy Collection virtual tour.

I want to thank the Goulbourn Museum and Collections Officer Sarah Holla for the opportunity to work with this incredible collection. It was so much fun bringing these objects to life in digital form!

I can’t wait for you all to experience this collection and I hope you enjoy the virtual tour

Click here to explore the tour.

Our Old-Fashioned Christmas & Virtual Holiday Market is LIVE! We are hosting a wide variety of vendors and will be hosting activities, such as a raffle draw! To learn more and to participate in the market, visit goulbournmarket.ca!

To celebrate, we’ve put together a video to launch our market and to wish you all Happy Holidays!

On November 12th, we hosted a virtual lecture by local historian Becky McCoy. She shared with us the history of healing charms, even from within the Ottawa Valley!

The lecture is now available on our website and YouTube.

Good news! Our Old-Fashioned Christmas & Virtual Holiday Market is starting next week! We’re hosting 16 vendors selling anything from jams to soaps to pottery to candles, making this is a great opportunity for holiday shopping. The entire market will take place online at goulbournmarket.ca, where you can also find more information on the market itself. Looking forward to “seeing” you there!

The moment we’ve all been waiting for… our poppy installation is up! A massive thank you is owed to everybody who was involved in crocheting 807 poppies this year!

This Remembrance Day display will be viewable outside the Museum until the 12th.

Enya Barbeau with our poppy display.

Photo: Sarah Holla.

Unfortunately we have had to postpone our AGM, originally scheduled for November 5th. A new date is yet to be determined but we hope to post an update shortly. For any questions, you can always feel free to contact us at register@goulbournmuseum.ca.