“Museums Alive and Exciting” ~ “Dispelling the Myths ~ The Museums of Prince Edward County

Ameliasburgh Heritage Village
"Living History"
Ontario Heritage Visited ~ Ontario Visited

Ontario is celebrating MUSEUM MONTH in May! This SCOOP welcomes The Museums of Prince Edward County ~ Jennifer Lyons, Head Curator ~ Museums. The focus of the “SCOOP” today is about the “Importance of Living History and Museums”.

The Museums of Prince Edward County ~ Jennifer Lyons ~ Head Curator ~ Museums

“Museums Alive and Exciting” ~ “Dispelling the Myths” ~ “There has been a real shift in museum work in recent years. The artifacts are still important, but interestingly it is the people, the visitors, that have become a bigger focal point. Museums are places to experience history, whether it is locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally themed.

“Living history sites fit this bill particularly well. It’s “living” not just in the sense of parading out historically costumed characters to impart interesting snippets about the past. It’s about the visitors actually having “living” experiences themselves— an opportunity to ignite their senses with the sounds, sights, smells, tastes and touches of bygone days or eras. Living history sites are not mired in the past. For visitors, they are about being in the present, here and now – albeit with a better understanding of the differences between yesteryear and the present day.

The Museums of Prince Edward County are largely supported by volunteers who embrace this particular style of heritage interpretation.  Special event days are particularly opportune times to have a living history experience at our sites.

Living history dispels the myth that museums and heritage sites are fusty, dusty and boring!  Here in Prince Edward County, it’s an effective way of celebrating the unique heritage of our community in contemporary ways that truly feel “alive” for our visitors.  We hope you will join us this season!

We are celebrating International Museum Day on May 17 and at the Ameliasburgh Heritage Village, you will happen upon a Loyalist-era encampment – a rare glimpse of the trials and rewards of an 18^th century lifestyle in Prince Edward County. 

Ameliasburgh Heritage Village
"Living History"
Ontario Heritage Visited ~ Ontario Visited

That same day at Macaulay Heritage Park in Picton, fast-forward to the 1850s, with a Victorian home that will be alive with spring-cleaning. The heirloom gardens will be planted, the household’s rooms will be aired out, and the cook will be busily preparing tasty samples at the kitchen hearth.   As we like to describe our museum system, we have five sites with hundreds of stories! 

We encourage you, your families, and your neighbours, to embrace all that Ontario has to offer during this MUSEUM MONTH of May and throughout the entire year! Enjoy!

Stay tuned for Part 2 with The Museums of Prince Edward County ~ Jennifer Lyons, Head Curator ~ Museums. In the meantime, we welcome you to check out the schedule of events, programming and activities The Museums of Prince Edward County at http://www.pecounty.on.ca/.

If you want to read about our previous visit to Ameliasburgh Heritage Village, and other great adventures, you can check out Ontario Heritage Visited article's at http://www.ontariofestivalsvisited.ca/heritage.html. Enjoy!

Museum "Scoop" ~ Westfield Heritage Village ~ Interview with Rondalyn Brown ~ Living History

Judi "Scoop" McWilliams ~ Ontario Visited
Rondalyn Brown ~ Westfield Heritage Village 

Ontario is celebrating MUSEUM MONTH in May! We are fortunate to share with you just a few of the amazing insights from our friend at Westfield Heritage Village, Rondalyn Brown; Manager. The focus of the “SCOOP” today is about the “Importance of Living History and Museums”. As I like to phrase it … “Reflections of the past … Hope for our future!”

Rondalyn shares with us …

"What is a Living History Museum?

Living history museums are carefully reconstructed environments that encourage visitors to experience historical themes in a very personal way.  By simulating the sights, sounds, smells, taste and textures of earlier times and places, these unique museums can provide opportunities for visitors to engage directly in a variety of cultural and/or natural settings. Stepping into the doorway of a 200 year old log cabin, stroking the smooth lines of a handmade chair, tasting a morsel of bread baked in an open hearth, hearing the bells jingle as you enter a general store – these are the experiences that make visits to living history museums unique and personal. 

Living history museums utilize an approach to exhibition and interpretation that dates back to at least the 1890s with the creation of Skansen in Stockholm, Sweden.  Greenfield Museum in Michigan and Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia both opened in the 1920s, and served as inspiration for the living history museums that were created throughout North America in the 1960s and 1970s.  Many of these were developed in Canada in response to the renewed interest in history, stimulated by nation-wide centennial celebrations, and these museums celebrated and sought to preserve what many feared was a rapidly disappearing past. A testament to the value of these living history museums is demonstrated by the number that still thrives today.

Westfield Heritage Village is a great example of a living history museum located in Rockton (Hamilton), Ontario. The property was purchased in 1960 and in 1964 was officially opened with seven relocated and restored heritage buildings from Southern Ontario.  It began as a community project initiated by Glenn Kilmer and Goldie MacDonell, two Brantford High School teachers, and is now managed by the Hamilton Conservation Authority. Operated year round as a living history museum, the Village provides special events for the general public, educational programs for students, unique heritage activities and wedding, business rentals and filming opportunities.  

Westfield Heritage Village
Family ~ Community
Heritage ~ Museum ~ Village

We encourage you, your families, and your neighbours, to embrace all that Ontario has to offer during this MUSEUM MONTH of May and throughout the entire year! Enjoy!

Stay tuned for Part 2 with Westfield Heritage Village, Rondalyn Brown; Manager. In the meantime, we welcome you to check out the schedule of events, programming and activities Westfield Heritage Village at http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/welcome-to-westfield-heritage-village. 
If you want to read about our previous visits to Westfield Heritage Village, and other great adventures, you can check out Ontario Heritage Visited article's at http://www.ontariofestivalsvisited.ca/heritage.html. Enjoy!

SING! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival ~ a cappella SCOOP!

For this “INSIDE SCOOP” we welcome SING! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival is Canada’s only ongoing, established a cappella festival. SING! is riding a swelling wave of interest in music made using only the human voice – no instruments.  We look forward to further discussions and insights with SING, but for now here is a taste of this exciting approach to making great music.

Now in its fourth year, it has expanded to five days of electrifying music. From May 27 to 31, 2015, the Festival highlights not-to-be-missed Canadian and international talent.

More than 50 performances, workshops, pop-up concerts, mentoring sessions and an interactive musical art installation will be found at multiple venues across Toronto, including Koerner Hall, Glenn Gould Studio and The Distillery Historic District.

The festival is wide in scope and appeal. There will be musical fireworks created by headliners - multiple Grammy award winners and platinum selling artists - as well as community choirs entertaining on an outdoor stage, and a first-ever blending of four highly regarded Church choirs singing sacred music. If you feel inspired to sing along, join in the Pressgang Mutiny’s sea shanties – or attend a workshop where you can rub shoulders with some of the best known names in the field. While exploring the Distillery Historic District on the Torch Relay Day of the Pan Am games, you may come upon a rousing ensemble down Tank House Lane. Catch emerging artists at one of the more intimate indoor venues.

There are price levels – from free to VIP – to suit a wide range of fans. The best deal is the weekend wristband passes, which open to the door to 13 workshops taught by music industry heavyweights and also five concerts with nine great performers. Free performance showcases will also be offered, taking place May 30-31 on the outdoor stage in The Distillery Historic District.

Festival entertainers span a smorgasbord of genres and influences, including pop, rock, jazz, choral, barbershop, world, gospel, country, folk, live looping, beat boxing, classical and more. It’s the perfect opportunity to sample something new.

Volunteers … “The Key to Success”! ~ SING! is the kind of endeavour that would not exist without volunteer enthusiasm. Whether it’s stuffing envelopes, handing out flyers, or providing free expertise in budgeting, production, tech issues or marketing, SING! has been a labour of love for many community members. And SING! has also touched many in the community, whether school groups who have attended workshops, or aspiring musicians who come from out of town to make connections or hone their skills, or amateur choirs who perform out of passion for the art form. SING! is also indebted to its sponsors and donors.

Here’s something that very few know: SING! Toronto has partnered with like-minded festivals in Austin, Texas, London, England, Boston, Mass. and Montreal, putting Canadian artists on the map with artist exchanges. Last fall, SING! Toronto was front and centre at the Austin Vocal Arts Festival. Award-winning a cappella icons The Nylons headlined the Celebrate Toronto stage in Austin, joined by up-and-comers Alissa Vox Raw and The O’Pears at the prestigious Long Center. Visitors to SING! Toronto will get a chance to hear these emerging artists.

Artistic director Aaron Jensen, who has sought out performers from Europe, the U.S. and Canada for this year’s celebration, clues visitors in on the surging a cappella scene:  “In 2015, the a cappella quintet Pentatonix triumphed, with huge audiences and a Grammy award. A second major Hollywood film about collegiate a cappella was announced (Pitch Perfect 2).  And a world record was broken for the largest assembled choir by 25,272 singers in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria,” Jensen says.

And there’s more: NBC’s “The Sing Off” was seen by over 5 million avid fans. The recent “Sing Off” U.S. tour sparked sold out venues and standing ovations.

Visitors to SING! will be part of this energy and in the epi-centre of this exciting, spontaneous, evolving art form. Whether you’re already an a cappella fan, or just curious about how a rich, thrilling “orchestral” sound can be made without instruments, or a musician who wants to learn more from the experts, SING! is the place to be.

We are excited to share “THE SCOOP” with you. Be sure to book your adventure and enjoy this wonderful opportunity to embrace Music www.singtoronto.com

 

Multiple Grammy Award winners Take 6  is just one of the headliners who will wow visitors to Toronto's  SING! festival May 27-31.
Enjoy their intoxicating cocktail of gospel, jazz, R&B and pop on Friday, May 29.

Canadian Museum of History Tour ~ “Reflections of the Past … Hope for our Future!”? …

Our Tour at the Canadian Museum of History and “THE INSIDE SCOOP” welcomes you to join in some “Scoop” with our Tour guide Michel.

Next was a short escalator ride to the next level. You could see the landscape outside and a clear view of The Grand Hall. We started this leg of the journey and soon found ourselves fully immerged in Canada Hall, all 17 meter high ceilings and a full football field in length. Our timing was perfect to Tour today as this Exhibition will be closing shortly while they create a new Canadian History Hall. We thought we would share our experience with you today, as this is just a taste of what is to come.

As we travelled along, we can across the period of time when wagons were introduced into our lives. Gary, being a McWilliams, has ancestors in Lakefield, Ontario who were the local carriage makers. Our guide seemed to be intently listening to Gary’s story. This is when he told us that the Museum tells “our story”, your ancestors are here, this is the story of your great grandfather, his father and so on. I felt a great connection being there.

Ontario Visited Tour
Canadian Museum of History

Ontario Visited
Canadian Museum of History Tour

We travelled through the Railway where we were told this may be the most important stop, from 1867-1923, were it is said “lets go west my son”. And travel became a possibility, a reality. The multicultural country church in the Museum is an original artifact from Alberta. A Chinese hand laundry building is displayed. Many components of the Museum reflect the plight of the people in Canada and their journey through time.

There are artifacts in the Museum from Medalta Pottery Stoneware which even today is very sought after, being from the period 1915-1924. Looking at the Museum artifacts make me reflect that I need to treasure my own pottery coffee mug, hand made in front of my eyes in St. Jacobs Old Stone Mill years ago, some day it might become an artifact. We moved along to the Points System, where immigration policies to discrimination based on ethnicity, colour, and country of origin. Finally moving to Northern ~ Yukon territories where an amazing display of artifacts, in an authentic environment make you stop and try to imagine the life we have lived in, live in and are heading towards.

As I have mentioned, the Canadian Museum of History has a great website where you can tour many, many components. They have an entire section of On-line tours; you can take your time, digest and come back for more. If you wish to visit their website, check it out at http://www.historymuseum.ca/home .

That is what we plan on doing … getting a full feast of Canadian History; we will be back for more. What an incredible journey, what an amazing Tour.

Ontario Visited Tour
Canadian Museum of History

Judi "Scoop" McWilliams
Ontario Visited Tour
Canadian Museum of History

Canadian Museum of History ~ “Food for thought” … “when you’re full, you’re full”…

Our Tour at the Canadian Museum of History and “THE INSIDE SCOOP” welcomes you to join in some “Scoop” with our Tour guide Michel. Michel was also enthusiastic to tell us about the “Information Poll Stations”. As a visitor, this is a great source for reference. If you read the Information Polls, you will learn and understand so much more, and they can assist with your tour by guiding you through logistically.

Michel goes on to tell us the exhibits we are looking at take the “rule of 3 in balance”. The longest totem poll is 16.5 meters in one piece carved and on display in this area. The Village has been recreated to embrace and present the environments that once encompassed these lands.

Canadian Museum of History
Ontario Visited~ Guided Tour

 By a large glass window pain stood a massive white sculpture created by Bill Reid, “Spirit of Haida”. This is the plaster mould that has been used twice. One sculpture stands in the Canadian Exhibit in Washington D.C. They have been pored from liquid bronze. You might recognize from our photos below, that this sculpture has been captured on the new $20.00 bill.

It seemed a good time to ask Michel how long it would take a visitor to tour the Museum. He chuckled when he told us his response … “There are 2 options. Option #1, until closing time or Option #2, until your feet or brain wears out”. He told us that touring the Museum is like “food for thought” … “when you’re full, you’re full”. I wondered today what would happen first, Michel’s enthusiasm and knowledge made me think the Museum would have to close before we were too “full”.

How long one need to tour through the Museum … Michel’s response again was fantastic and true … he would recommend about an hour per floor. If you get turned around on your journey, our guide suggests “go by the panels”, if you take the time to read them, they will guide you through an ultimately enlightening experience.

It is true when Michel suggested that visiting the Canadian Museum of History was a “Seasonal experience”, one that folks should experience during each season. We know that to be true with many Ontario outdoor adventures, visiting different communities in different seasons. I wasn’t sure what he was referring to. Then he explained that as the backdrop outside changes, so does the experience indoors. He goes back to out beginning of our Tour; he reminds us that the outside presence of the Museum is just as important as the inside.

Ontario Visited thanks Tour Guide Michel of the Canadian Museum of History for such an amazing journey through time!

Stay tuned for Canadian Museum of History Tour ~ “Can you dig it?” ~ our Tour continues. In the meantime, if you wish to visit their website, check it out at http://www.historymuseum.ca/home .

Canada Agriculture and Food Museum ... Tractors … a ride to remember …

Judi "Scoop" McWilliams
Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
"A Ride to Remember"

We welcome you to come along as Ontario Visited Tours the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum … continues …Tractors … a ride to remember …

After viewing this showcase we entered the exhibition hall to see Tractors and "Taking Care of Beesness" Exhibitions.  What a blast. I felt like a kid again. Here children (young and old) can climb up on and experience the “ride”. On one tractor you could experience the feel of an old metal wheel compared to a rubber tire. None of it felt like riding in the fields with my grandpa though, I think he treated us to the soft hay bails on many rides while I had no idea how “bumpy” it was for him. I am surprised farmers backs hold out. 

The large new technological tractor allowed you to experience high up in a “real tractor” the feel travelling along the fields while a film screen re-enacted the scenery for you. You might be able to tell from the photo that I was laughing, it was an amazing experience and I applaud all farmers who endure such challenging work. Small children have the opportunity to put on denim jackets and really dress the part of a farmer. Again, Kelly was able to tell us, that visitors can experience the animals on the day they get “their nails trimmed”, while the hoof trimmer comes on a regular basis. The Museum offers visitors the opportunity to admire signs and objects used to market these machines, and explore a century of technological advancement through the variety of tractors on display. These include the Cockshutt 30 and the tracked Caterpillar 15.

If you are a true explorer and love adventure, the sister Museums of the CAFM are the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and the Canada Science and Technology Museum …. Other great adventures waiting for visitors to explore! Next time you are driving by, stop in, it is worth every moment!

Thank you again to Kelly Ray, Canada Agriculture and Food Museum for our Ontario Visited Behind the Scenes Tour ... 

Canada Agriculture and Food Museum ~ Cooking from “scratch” ~ Spring is in the Air!

Canada Agriculture and Food Museum ~ Cooking from “scratch”
Ontario Visited Interview

Canada Agriculture and Food MuseumKelly Ray with Judi "Scoop" McWilliams
Ontario Visited 

We welcome you to come along as Ontario Visited Tours the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum … continues … Cooking from “scratch”

Cooking from “scratch” …

I wondered why they would have a “cooking class” at the Museum. It was made apparently clear when we got to sample freshly baked cookies. The flour, eggs butter, chocolate and even fresh honey (not from the Farm for visitor health and safety) represent the natural ingredients that would have been generated in days gone by.

Ontario Visited
Kelly Ray, Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
with Judi "Scoop" McWilliams

There is a rotating display in the Museum with different features. This time was “cooking” showing us the technology advancements of the appliances and tools, from 100’s of years ago to present. Many found memories came to me as I reflected on days on the farm with my grandmother. She preserved all her own berries, crops, fruits and veggies alike.

A new exciting exhibit of Caring for War Horses will be coming soon, to commemorate the beginning of the First World War. A medical chest, equipment and all kinds of history will showcase this area. Another great reason to return for a visit to the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum. 

Stay tuned for more “Behind the Scenes” Tour with the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum (in the meantime, check out their great website for lots of fun and information at http://cafmuseum.techno-science.ca/en/index.php.)