Children's Festival 2015 in St. Albert: Live in Colour

It is hard to believe it is that time of the year once again!  In St. Albert the last week of May always means the annual International Children's Festival is up and running in the downtown core.

This year the festival runs from Tuesday May 26, 2015 until Saturday May 30, 2015.

The museum is always proud to be involved in this event in our community.  This year our tent is called Laugh In: '60's Youth Pop Culture and it is located along the Global Canadian Heritage Trail.

I dropped by this morning to see how things were going and found one of our programmers, Roy, looking "very 60's" as he prepared to welcome visitors to the tent for school programs.

Students and visitors to the tent are learning about the past through photos and stories about our community in the 60's and early 70's and everyone gets the chance to tie dye a headband to take home with them as well.

The photo booth proved to be a lot of fun too--a place to dress up and take a groovy photo with your family or friends.  If you are coming to the festival this year be sure to drop by our tent and and say hello!

Night at the Museum, 2015

May is the time of the year when historic Canadian figures come to life at the Musée Héritage Museum!

 

If you dropped by the museum on the night of May 13, 2015, you would have "met" many great Canadians including such figures as Father Lacombe, Wayne Gretzky, Louis Riel, Nellie McClung, Terry Fox, Fay Wray, David Thompson, James Wolfe, Sir Issac Brock, Lois Hole, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, Joni Mitchell, David Suzuki, and Princess Louise Caroline Alberta just to name a few!

The museum, and the rest of St. Albert Place, was packed with Grade 4, 5, and 6 students from Leo Nickerson Elementary School.










 



The evening is the result of a school project where students research and then become a historic figure by dressing up for the part and giving a first person narrative. 







 

 

 

 

  

Once the students are all set up visitors simply press the red button on the hand of a historic figure and they come to life!











Volunteer judges from our community listen to, and then comment on, the presentations given by the students. 



The historic figures speak in either English or French when they share their information.   

  

   

Proud family members  and friends watched and listened as students "morphed" into some of Canada's iconic historic figures. 








 Excellent work Leo Nickerson students!  Thank you for sharing your refreshing and informative presentations about the people who are part of Canada's history.  This is always a fun night at the museum and we look forward to it each year.  Take a look through the photos below and test your knowledge to see if you know the stories of the different historic visitors who chose to drop in and enlighten us at Night at the Museum 2015!  


James Wolfe and Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

John Acorn

Louis Durand

Pierre-Esprit Radisson

Simon Fraser



 

Annie May Jackson

 

 

Staff Profile: Megan Siu, Archives Assistant

          Hi, my name is Megan Siu and I am the Archives Assistant at Musée Héritage Museum.

Megan looking through some of the Weiller and Williams records

  How I ended up here is a bit of an interesting story. (The slightly more long-winded version can be found on my own blog, Megscellany http://bit.ly/1zByrSo!)...
   I was initially involved with Musée Héritage Museum in early September 2014 as a volunteer. After earning my Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Western Ontario in London, and after moving back to my hometown of Edmonton, I was looking for experience in the field. Through some connections, I ended up meeting Jennifer, who was finishing her archival placement at Musée Héritage Museum. In turn, I also met Vino, who you all know and love as the Archivist here. They started me on two projects from the get-go - helping with the information files on St. Albert’s civic history, and the museum’s collection management database. Even after the first month, I felt as though the museum staff had adopted me into their extended family.

Near the end of February, I was offered the opportunity to take on a brand new project - processing a large donation from Weiller & Williams (W&W Co. Ltd.). It has been amazing even just to read the various typewritten correspondence between the late president of W&W Co. Ltd., Mr. Leland S. Williams and his employees, family members, and friends, and reliving those moments of his past. The collection includes various records and objects relating to the company’s business operations, Mr. Williams’ dabbling in horseracing, the Williams family history, and more. I can’t wait to see it in a future exhibition after it has all been processed! It will be a bit of a wait, but it will be worthwhile, I am certain.

Being a part of the Musée Héritage Museum family, you end up doing a number of things outside of your job description. For instance, I’ve painted walls, created “flippy panels”, arranged display cases, dressed mannequins, and even tried my teeth at birch bark biting. My days spent here have been anything but typical, but I am loving every bit of it. Next month, I will be representing Musée Héritage Museum in the poster session at the Special Libraries Association Annual Conference in Boston! I can’t wait to see what else the museum has in store for me!

Megan helping with the install of our Francophone Alberta exhibition

Francophones in Alberta; Courage and Determination

The new Francophone exhibition at the Musée Héritage Museum has been well received and we invite you to come in and see it until June 21, 2015. 

This past week we welcomed local visitors from St. Albert and Sturgeon County but also had guests from Newfoundland, Plamondon, AB, Ottawa and Philadelphia!  

Students from Ronald Harvey School, Leo Nickerson School, Namao and Glengarry were at the museum the Inuit and Early Métis Community programs and they had a  chance to view the exhibition too.  They all enjoyed the interactive question boxes and said they learned a lot!

We have also been adding new items to our permanent gallery, beginning with a celebration of 150th anniversary of Catholic education in our community!















Look out over the summer as we add new items. The initial response on opening night was great, and we welcome your feedback on this special exhibition looking back on a unique part of our heritage.

New exhibition is now open: Francophones in Alberta - Courage and Determination

On April 23, 2015, the Musée Héritage Museum had the official opening to our newest exhibition: Francophones in Alberta - Courage and Determination.

There was a fantastic turn out for the opening! 

D Frechette, ACFA Centralta (Legal, Morinville, St. Albert)

We were pleased to welcome Mayor Crouse, Councillor Prefontaine as well as Jean Johnson, David Frechette and Denis Perreaux of the Société historique francophone de l'Alberta.

This bilingual exhibition tells the francophone story of Alberta and is based on the Francophone Archives Project, a joint venture between the Provincial Archives of Alberta and Francophone Secretariat of Alberta.






The Musée Héritage Museum added content  specifically focused on the francophone story in St. Albert. The display includes artifacts from our collection and tells stories about the  francophone families who are an integral part of our community, both past and present.

 Display themes include early settlement, religious beginnings, household lifestyle, education,  entertainment, and much more.

Jean Johnson,  ACFA Provincial Representative

Our programming staff also contributed to the exhibition creating bright yellow "interaction" stations where you can test your knowledge about historic, and current, francophones in Alberta.

 Be sure to also check out our special kiosk, it has loads of photos, videos, and other archival materials from the Provincial Archives.

A big thank you to Kevin Brunt worked to bring his research to life, helping select artifacts,
      writing the panels and designing the exhibition space.