Time machines

August. I know, I know. I’m not original when I ask, “What the H E double ears of local corn happened to the summer?” But here we are, and the first week of August is behind us. We’re bombarded by back-to-school- days advertising in every flyer that gets dropped on our front step. I don’t miss going back to school or getting children ready to go back to school. Bless all of those adults facing that daunting task in the next few weeks. Packing lunches. Getting the right backpack. Finding out, at the last moment, the shoes that fit in June don’t fit in September. I’ll be thinking of your pain and frustration as I sip a glass of County wine on my patio on September 8.

LOML and I have had a very busy summer. You’ve read most of the details in past columns. Youngest COM is back to work after her head-on collision in July, and for that we are grateful. We’ve had very few days without guests and still managed to squeeze in a two-day trip to Peterborough. The Peterborough trip was a combination of resting up for the next batch of visitors and a bit of business —professional development, if you will. For those of you who think you know me, and for those of you who don’t, I am a graduate of the Ontario Museum Association’s Museum Studies program. At this point in my life, a pensioner and all, I am not employed as a museum specialist. For that, too, I am grateful. I don’t have to think about returning to work, or filling out applications for grants, or hiring, or creating blockbuster displays, or balancing my budget, or trying to get bureaucrats to understand the worth of heritage and culture. However, I do volunteer as a Friend of the Rose House Museum in Waupoos, and the trip to Peterborough gave me an opportunity to see museum sites outside of our community.

We spent several hours at Lang Pioneer Village in Keene and several more at the Canadian Canoe Museum in the downtown Peterborough area. Lang Pioneer Village was an eye-opener for me. As many of you may know, most historic sites and community museums are underfunded, understaffed and under-appreciated. There. I wrote the words. And I think underfunding, understaffing and under-appreciating is a wee problem, here in Prince Edward County. So many of our beautiful municipal museum sites are just barely bumping along. While I expected very little of Lang, LOML and I were rewarded with a tranquil setting, well-trained staff and well-maintained buildings and artifacts. Many of the buildings were staffed with interpreters, and each of those people knew the history of the building, its purpose and how the original owners utilized the building. Museums aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but they are very refreshing for me. We could take a few notes from places like Lang. And so I did.

The Canadian Canoe Museum holds a special place in my heart. Many years ago, one of our local curators and I took an Ontario Museum Association course at that site. Actually, the CCM wasn’t much at the time. The supporters of the site were staring in the face of closure as the organization teetered on the edge of financial ruin. It was an interesting place at the time, but with the local community now at its side, along with federal and provincial support, it is an amazing place to visit. I was refreshed and rejuvenated. Happy to have been there and happier to come home. I have my notes. I have some ideas. I’m looking forward to 2016 at little old Rose House.

By the way, the Friends of Rose House have an upcoming event. An encampment of Medieval Days to Loyalist Ways will take place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. See you there.

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca