Alive and well

I was going to write timely columns this year. As it happened I missed speaking about Easter last week, and that’s just fine. A lot of people probably wouldn’t like my take on how I will spend my Easter weekend. Being a retired person, it’s all weekend to me. Whenever our family shows up for a weekend, it’s a celebration. But, what’s really exciting to me, is that I’ve been invited to be a part of The Rose House Museum Friends group. Oh yeah! So now you’re going to be treated to timely museum stuff.

For those of you who know me, and some of you do, you know I have a deep, abiding love of community museums. I have been in love with museums since visiting the Schmidt-Dalziel Barn in the 1950s during a grade four class trip. At the tender age of nine, I hadn’t known it was possible to actually work at a historic site. I was spellbound by the massive, 8,200 square-foot structure. At the time, the barn was one of the largest agricultural structures in North America, and there it was, in Vaughan, a short bus trip from our school in Weston. I was intrigued by the stories of the Schmidt and the Dalziel families. They had settled in the region in the 1800s, and slowly the city of Toronto crept into their pastures. Those two families created the story and, back in the late 1950s, it was being retold by volunteers at the Dalziel Pioneer Park. It was the beginning of Black Creek Pioneer Village. Of course, the developers of the brand new heritage site knew exactly how to create an atmosphere for visitors. Working replicas of farm implements stood next to the originals. A huge Conestoga wagon featured prominently in the main space, complete with a docent who crafted stories of how it might have been possible for a family to live in a similar vehicle while crossing the prairies. Years after my visit, LOML and I went back to Black Creek Pioneer Village in its early days. Both of us were intrigued by the massive Roblin’s Mill, which had been transported brick-bybrick to the Black Creek site from a place called Prince Edward County. Little did we know we’d soon be living in PEC, a community with five museums.

During my working life, I had the great pleasure of working for and with several community museums, both during my OMA training and after graduation. The love of caring for and interpreting collections is still exciting to me. Rose House is located on County Road 8, and looks pretty much the same way it did when Peter Rose and Christina Bongard lived there with their 11 children. For me, it’s a breathtaking step back in time. I’m looking forward to working with the Friends Group and the staff of Rose House Museum. I hope to see you there during the Prince Edward County Museum season. The museums open on the long weekend in May. Admission is by donation. Our community history is alive and well at our County museums.

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca