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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 22, 2025 - Museum Advisory CommitteeTHE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF BAYHAM MUSEUM ADVISORY COMMITTEE AGENDA TRACKLESS LOUNGE 56169 Heritage Line, Straffordville Wednesday, October 22, 2025 5:00 p.m. 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. DISCLOSURES OF PECUNIARY INTEREST & THE GENERAL NATURE THEREOF 3. DELEGATIONS 4. ADOPTION OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING(S) A. Minutes of the Museum Advisory Committee Meeting held July 23, 2025 5. MATTERS OF BUSINESS A. Curator Monthly Reports: July, August, September 2025 B. Student Monthly Reports: July & August 2025 C. Memo MAC-06/25 re Museum Attendance and Revenue D. Memo MAC-07/25 re Curator’s 2025 Summer Season Summary Report E. Memo MAC-08/25 re January 2026 Meeting Date 6. ADJOURNMENT THE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF BAYHAM MUSEUM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES MARINE MUSEUM 20 Pitt Street Port Burwell, ON Wednesday, July 23, 2025 5:00 p.m. PRESENT: CHAIR SUSAN CHILCOTT COMMITTEE MEMBERS ROY SULLIVAN DIANE SOPER ROBERT PONZIO ED KETCHABAW *Ex-Officio ABSENT: RON BRADFIELD STAFF ATTENDANCE: CLERK MEAGAN ELLIOTT PLANNING COORDINATOR/DEPUTY CLERK MARGARET UNDERHILL CURATOR JENNIFER BEAUCHAMP 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Chilcott called the meeting to order at 5:20 pm. 2. DISCLOSURES OF PECUNIARY INTEREST & THE GENERAL NATURE THEREOF No disclosures of pecuniary interest were declared. 3. DELEGATIONS A. Jennifer Beauchamp, Curator re Accessioning Artifacts Moved by: Committee Member Sullivan Seconded by: Committee Member Ponzio THAT the delegation by Jennifer Beauchamp, Curator re Accessioning Artifacts be received for information. CARRIED 4. ADOPTION OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING(S) A. Minutes of the Museum Advisory Committee Meeting held April 30, 2025 Moved by: Committee Member Ponzio Seconded by: Committee Member Soper THAT the minutes from the Museum Advisory Committee Meeting held April 30, 2025 be approved as presented. CARRIED 2 5. MATTERS OF BUSINESS A. Curator Monthly Reports: April, May, June 2025 Moved by: Committee Member Soper Seconded by: Committee Member Sullivan THAT the Curator Monthly Reports: April, May, June 2025 be received for information. CARRIED B. Student Monthly Reports: May & June 2025 Moved by: Committee Member Ponzio Seconded by: Committee Member Sullivan THAT the Student Monthly Reports: May & June 2025 be received for information. CARRIED 6. ADJOURNMENT Moved by: Committee Member Sullivan Seconded by: Committee Member Ponzio THAT the Museum Advisory Committee Meeting be adjourned at 6:04 p.m. CARRIED CHAIR CLERK PORT BURWELL MARINE MUSEUM Curator’s Report July 2025 Collections I was contacted by the family of John Blaney, a former lighthouse keeper from Scotland, who wondered if I would like to display some of his memorabilia in the exhibit. He had actually worked in one of the lighthouses featured in the exhibit and recognized it immediately upon entering the museum. It was the Welcome Wall photo. I ordered more accessioning cards from Margaret. These give us a hard copy of the accessioned item and includes a sketch of the artifact. The students have enjoyed that part of the process, being arts students. We had numerous donations this summer including framed photographs, life preservers vests, and the Hurley collection, a massive amount of items that the students are entering into the database. Exhibits and Events Canada Day required several days of preparation, but it was worth it, as 68 children and their families attended our booth. Our craft was decorating a fish skeleton on a line, made of craft foam for the head and tail, and plastic straw rib bones on a spine made from a bamboo skewer. We had only two left at the end of the afternoon. Following in last year’s footsteps, I invited the Martens to be part of our activity. They eagerly agreed and brought several real but dead fish on ice for people to see and ask questions about. The later part of the day was spent cleaning glitter and glue off the tablecloth. I decided the Museum would participate in Beachfest and committed to offering a craft each day for the three days. We made it onto the official daily activity list and planned to set up beside the sidewalk. Our first day there was a spider craft, then a bird craft, and finally a pirate craft. On July 23rd a group of EON (Elgin Oxford Network of Curators and Directors) members and their guests toured the museum as part of the ongoing efforts to acquaint members with the museums that make up EON. The first of the Children’s Program was attended by three children from one family who had a great time learning about volcanos. Our second program had no one attend. The third week we had several children. On July 29th we welcomed Nathan MacIntyre when he came to the museum after his trek on paddleboard from Port Stanley to publicise the dangers of rip currents. We took some photos and I have asked him for information that I can integrate into our water safety exhibit area. Staff The Children’s Program continues to require time to develop the activities that will go with an educational concept, this year based on aspects of nature. I instructed the students in work activities they should do besides the craft ones, giving them each special projects that reflect their interests and abilities – and the museum’s needs. This is an ongoing activity for me as the students accomplish their tasks and the museum’s needs change throughout the summer. A sub tour was arranged for Betty, our high school student and I walked her over and spoke to Ian Raven while there. She enjoyed her tour. Our staff meeting was held on the 22nd. We also prepared for Canada Day with a great craft, a fish skeleton for the children to decorate, and we partnered with Martin’s Fish Market. Like last year’s bee theme, the fish theme kept the focus on our local business. The MAC meeting was held at the museum on July 17th and I described the accessioning process to the members before the main meeting began. PORT BURWELL MARINE MUSEUM Curator’s Report August 2025 Collections The Hurley collection has taken over most of the accessioning time this summer, and the students are entering them into the database. The loaned material from the retired Scottish lighthouse keeper was returned. Donor John Thorpe came in to sign his paperwork for 5 photos and brought 2 more so had those to ready for accessioning and he plans to email more images he showed me on his tablet. A man came in who had served on the Judith M. Pearson and was teary when I offered to let him and his 2 adult daughters into the wheelhouse for a peek . He plans to send photos of his time on the ship. This year has seen the most donations since I’ve been here, with life jackets, framed photographs, and the enormous Hurley collection. Exhibits and Events I decided to get the museum involved in BeachFest so I contacted the organizers and got our program on the agenda just in time. Then the students and I worked on this to provide a different craft for each day, to determine the best way to interact with the public so they knew we had an activity, and to divide the workload so there was positive representation of the museum in the two locations. We decided the sidewalk area would catch pedestrians’ attention so we set up our new tent and put balloons on our signs to attract attention. One craft was a freebie from another museum, the second had been one developed for the Children’s Summer Program and not used, and the third was a quick creation for the final day. The craft and educational material preparation for the Children’s Program is a significant expenditure of time and the turnout of children is nothing short of abysmal. While the children that came to three afternoons clearly had a great time – who doesn’t love slime! – I don’t believe it is worth the effort and would like to drop it in favour of participating in special events. This year we did both Canada Day and BeachFest and got much better visitor participation. This would allow the students and I to focus more on the collection activities and give the two big events the preparation they deserve and require. Our scavenger hunt sheets for children continue to be extremely popular and some work has been done to devise another. We have in our collection the “six simple machines” that are the basis for virtually all the modern machines and I’ve been trying to incorporate that into a scavenger hunt. This subject spreads itself around the museum, adding physical activity to the investigative aspect. Staff The division of time shifts away from crafts to activities that are museum related at this time of the summer and I prepared the students for this as I described what they would be doing. I readied a stack of items to be accessioned for Linus, Courtney told me about her project she has begun to prepare which is a binder for the Ralph Hurley material, and Betty has a project as well. A representative of the grant program that allowed us to hire a high school student arranged to come to the museum for an interview with Betty to discuss how the program had influenced her. I spoke with the students about the training they’ve done so Betty would have that in mind for her interview. We discussed privately the topics likely to be discussed to ease her concerns about the interview. Ultimately the interview went well as Betty was comfortable throughout. Later, we had a small farewell for her as it was her last day. Our last staff meeting was held on the 26th . We continue to have issues with the laptops. I had trouble with both laptops that wiped out several hours of attendance which then complicated the cash drawer as we tried to figure out the lost numbers using the cash flow. We were able to reconstruct the figures for that time, as well as another day when Courtney experienced the same problem of shutdowns of both laptops. I emailed the contact for the database issues we were having and have been informed a meeting is being planned to address this problem, as it is not just us. There are specific ones we have in addition to the regular ones. Being a marine museum, we have many ships’ names to enter and there is no way to do that properly, as there is no italics available in the program, nor can anything in italics be pasted or copied in. PORT BURWELL MARINE MUSEUM Curator’s Report September 2025 Collections The museum was closed down for the winter season. Exhibits and Events We are sometimes contacted for tours in the off season so I leave the summer exhibit up until the end of the year. Staff The two university students worked the final day with me. We greeted visitors, worked on a first draft of the new scavenger hunt, and discussed the 2026 summer exhibit, and prepared the museum and front desk to close for the season. Port Burwell Marine Museum July 2025 Student Report Completed Projects: First 4 weeks of Children’s Program, brainstormed ideas and made crafts. Records management: Accessioned artifacts digitally and on paper; organized, edited, and fixed digital database Current/Planned Projects: Beachfest craft; Preparing craft for at least 1 day of Beachfest Date Visitors Admissions ($) July 1st 32 71 July 2nd 11 23 July 3rd 30 63 July 4th 16 44 July 5th 29 56 July 6th 22 40 July 7th 7 18 July 8th 7 21 July 9th 10 24 July 10th 4 12 July 11th 8 24 July 12th 23 52 July 13th 10 17 July 14th 21 41 July 15th 28 42 July 16th 5 12 July 17th 6 15 July 18th 13 26 July 19th 36 78 July 20th 20 48 July 21st 10 24 July 22nd 6 8 July 23rd 12 15 July 24th 11 23 July 25th 22 40 July 26th 22 47 July 27th 15 35 July 28th 14 31 July 29th 16 23 July 30th 6 18 July 31st 13 23 TOTAL 485 $1,014 Get to Know Nature! At the Port Burwell Marine Museum’s Children’s Summer Program 2025 Here’s just some of the marvels we’ll be exploring… Eruption! Make your own volcano and hold real lava in your hands! Wonders of Weather – Make a cloud spotter and search for clouds! Take Flight! Get some facts on our local birds and make your own flock! SPECIAL – JULY 1st CANADA DAY Children’s Activities Tuesdays - July 8, 15, 22, 29, and August 5, 12 from 1:00pm to 2:00pm 20 Pitt Street – Marine Museum For more information or to register, contact the Marine Museum at 519-874- 4807 (10:00am – 5:30pm) or email: curator@bayham.on.ca Port Burwell Marine Museum August 2025 Student Report Completed Projects: • Completed final 2 weeks of children’s program: brainstorming ideas, preparing crafts, planning sequence of activities • Beachfest craft: 3 days of crafts planned and done • Museum Database Management: accessioning artifacts, editing digital entries, managing any issues that may arise Current/Planned Projects: • Hurley Collection: attempting to accession all recently donated artifacts before seasons’ end • Planning for museum closure Sept. 1st Date Visitors Admissions ($) August 1st 3 9 August 2nd 43 75 August 3rd 42 111 August 4th 36 38 August 5th 12 36 August 6th 11 29 August 7th 18 38 August 8th 8 24 August 9th 20 52 August 10th 10 26 August 11th 17 30 August 12th 30 56 August 13th 15 34 August 14th 19 42 August 15th 5 15 August 16th 27 64 August 17th 29 74 August 18th 14 25 August 19th 30 72 August 20th 10 24 August 21st 16 38 August 22nd 14 38 August 23rd 24 50 August 24th 26 64 August 25th 2 6 August 26th 16 39 August 27th 22 38 August 28th 12 24 August 29th 13 24 August 30th 24 48 August 31st 38 83 September 1st 12 26 TOTAL 618 $1,352 MEMO MUSEUM ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO: Museum Advisory Committee FROM: Margaret Underhill DATE: October 22, 2025 MEMO: MAC-06/25 SUBJECT: MUSEUM ATTENDANCE AND REVENUE BACKGROUND The Port Burwell Marine Museum was open 10:00am to 5:30pm daily from May 16, 2025 through to Labour Day, September 1, 2025 with two (2) full-time post-secondary students, one (1) secondary school student from June 23rd to August 15th and one (1) part-time Museum Curator. DISCUSSION Overall, the summer of 2025 was successful, however, visitor numbers were lower than 2024. The students were busy as noted in their Monthly Reports. All three students performed well and contributed to the care and promotion of the museum. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances and timing we could not bring the students to the municipal office for records management duties this season to work with the Clerk. Staffing was excellent again this summer season with three enthusiastic students. We appreciate our Curator as she continues to provide thoughtful and stimulating exhibits, displays and activities that generate interest with our patrons of all ages. Visitors Below is a summary of the Visitor attendance for 2023 – 2025 for comparison: Month # Visitors Month # Visitors Month # Visitors May 144 May 137 May 66 June 281 June 365 June 213 July 485 July 531 July 496 August 606 August 626 August 562 September 1 12 September 1-2 49 September 1-4 99 TOTAL 1,528 1708 1436 Museum Attendance Summer 2024 Museum Attendance Summer 2023Museum Attendance Summer 2025 MAC-06/25 2 Visitor numbers were down from last year and more in line with 2023. The Curator’s Report speaks about visitor trends and statistics. Financials Below is a summary of the Revenues for the Port Burwell Marine Museum 2023-2025: The Municipality was very fortunate to have received student grants from: • Young Canada Works - Heritage Organizations (Summer Work Experience) program, a youth employment initiative launched by the Department of Canadian Heritage as part of the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment and Skills Strategy. This approved grant was for one (2) Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations (YCWHO) summer/short-term position as a Museum Attendant/Records Assistant for 16 weeks at a 75 percent grant. • Summer Employment Opportunities Program 2025 (SEO) for one (1) secondary school student for a shorter term of four (4) weeks for $3741.00 one payment grant plus two (2) municipally paid weeks for a total of a six (6) week employment term. • Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) Youth Employment and Skills Strategy for one (1) student for 16 weeks at a 50 percent grant. The Municipality will continue to seek out opportunities to apply for grants and subsidies to complement the museum. RECOMMENDATION THAT Memo MAC-06/25 re Museum Attendance and Revenue be received for information. 2025 2024 2023 Admissions 3,138.04 3,175.00 2,944.29 Grants 22,549.98 7,889.39 15,781.10 Donations 20.35 0 0 *as of Oct 16/25 Dec 31/24 Dec 31/23 Port Burwell Marine Museum Revenue Summary 2023-2025 MEMO MUSEUM ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO: Museum Advisory Committee FROM: Jennifer Beauchamp, Curator DATE: October 22, 2025 MEMO: MAC-07/25 SUBJECT: CURATOR’S 2025 SUMMER SEASON SUMMARY REPORT Grants This year the Municipality applied for the usual number under the usual grants, plus another for a high school student. Young Canada Works - Heritage Organizations (Summer Work Experience) program, a youth employment initiative launched by the Department of Canadian Heritage as part of the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) Youth Employment and Skills Strategy for one (1) student for 16 weeks at a 50 percent grant, and Summer Employment Opportunities Program 2025 (SEO) for one (1) secondary school student for a shorter term of four (4) weeks for $3741.00 one payment grant plus two (2) municipally paid weeks for a total of a six (6) week employment term. We were successful in all three! We are lucky to be in an area given greater consideration concerning summer student grants, based on our location, small size, and having two large events. Students The summer season began with the searching for and hiring of summer students in the February/March timeframe. The applications were sparce, but Margaret and I were able to find aspiring students to fill the three positions. All three were local, two from Tillsonburg, Courtney and Linus, and the high school student Betty, moved in with her grandmother in Port Burwell. The summer exhibit on lighthouses was installed, finishing up with the arrival of the students on May 12th. All three attended the orientation day, but Betty didn’t start until June 24th, having just an 8-week work period. The museum opened on May 16th and the two students settled in, reading about the history of Port Burwell, the area, and the Great Lakes. They attended the EON Summer Student Orientation, learned how to work the cash box, and the expectations I had for them to welcome and assist the visitors. We made adjustments to the area outside the new washrooms. They learned to accession new donated items and old ones already in the museum, plan craft MAC-07/25 2 activities, assist in large events, and give visitors information in the museum on many of the artifacts, including the Fresnel lenses, the lifeboat, gimbaled compasses, and more. Our students made significant personal gains at the museum. This work atmosphere was new to them all, requiring them to learn and utilize skills foreign to them. They rose to the challenge, working around fussy laptops, challenging financial issues, and a demanding curator. As a result, we had a well-prepared summer exhibit, excellent customer relations, and exuberant special events. The behind-the-scenes work such as accessioning, developing special interest booklets, and cleaning, were all continued during the summer. Museum Programming The Museum offers several in-depth programs designed to meet curriculum needs that are suitable for all grades. In the past, both the local school and home-school organizations have attended. However, a change in school principals has resulted in total disinterest in the petitions I have made. The programs remain available but schools further away suffer the curse of the busing situation in Ontario. As a result, we have not had any school attendance for the last two years. The Museum has provided a children’s program since before my arrival and since then I have been, with consultation with Margaret, adapting the program as circumstances changed. Initially, the one-hour program was offered on a day that did not conflict with the local library’s children’s program. Then, to try to improve visitation, we consulted with the library to link the programs and the advertising to provide two one-hour programs that saw our staff walk the children over to the library at the end of our program. While initially successful, numbers of attendees began to drop to previous levels, about 2 – 4 children per afternoon. Recently, the Library decided to drop the regular program hours in favour of a random event schedule. We decided to keep our usual program hours, hoping the continuity would be successful. Unfortunately, this past season saw attendance on only three of the six advertised days. It is my conclusion that the time spent developing the theme-oriented and educationally based program material to provide a fun and stimulating activity would be better spent on museum functions and special events. We already have numerous options for children who attend the Museum, including scavenger hunt sheets, seeking out the messages from Pooie the Seagull, and the Kids’ Cove with colouring sheets, games, and the ship’s wheel to spin. All these activities have received positive reactions from children and parents. Staff recommend the 6- week one-hour summer children’s program be discontinued subject to re-evaluation in the future. Visitors Of course, the big question about tourist numbers was on my mind. Would the Americans travel here like in the past, or would they shun Canadian locations? Would there be more Canadians visiting? I found some answers in the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario October newsletter as to how the summer went for the tourism industry as a whole in Ontario. Their key findings indicated that most operators held steady year-over-year, with 75% reporting comparable sales to 2024. Ontario and Canadian visitors led both visitation and spending gains while U.S. travel remained flat, and overseas visitation grew modestly. Operators reported that MAC-07/25 2 U.S. visitors showed goodwill and political sensitivity, while Canadians increasingly chose to travel domestically. Some of the industry challenges were rising costs, labour shortages, and extreme weather such as heat waves, drought, and wildfire smoke. Many also noted the loss of hospitality and tourism training programs and international student workers, particularly acute in rural Ontario. The attendance numbers this season show a light drop from last year, but similar to 2023. Considering the reports about tourism at the beginning of the summer season, our numbers show Port Burwell remained a popular tourist destination. Artifact Donations In addition, the museum was the recipient of more donations this year than any other since I’ve been here. RECOMMENDATION THAT Memo MAC-07/25 re Curator’s 2025 Summer Season Summary Report be received for information. MEMO MUSEUM ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO: Museum Advisory Committee FROM: Margaret Underhill DATE: October 22, 2025 MEMO: MAC-08/25 SUBJECT: MUSEUM ADVISORY COMMITTEE JANUARY 2026 MEETING DATE BACKGROUND The Museum Advisory Committee passed the following resolution on January 16, 2025: THAT Memo MAC-03/24 re Museum Advisory Committee 2024 Meeting Schedule be received for information; AND THAT the following meeting dates be the Regular Meetings for the Museum Advisory Committee for 2024: • Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at 5:00 pm (Trackless) • Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at 5:00 pm (Museum) • Wednesday, October 22, 2025, at 5:00 pm (Trackless) AND THAT the first meeting of 2025 be scheduled at the October 22, 2025, meeting. Further in accordance with the Museum Advisory Committee’s (MAC) Terms of Reference, the Committee is to set the Regular Meetings at the first meeting of the year. The Terms of Reference states that the MAC meets quarterly. DISCUSSION It is recommended that the meetings take place in the first month of each quarter. For 2026, it is proposed for the meeting months to be January, April, July, and October, which will be set at the first January meeting. Additional meetings may be scheduled by the call of the Chair, if deemed necessary. The first January meeting date is proposed to be January 21, 2026. MAC-08/25 2 RECOMMENDATION THAT Memo MAC-08/25 re Museum Advisory Committee January Meeting date be received for information; AND THAT the following meeting date is the first Regular Meeting for the Museum Advisory Committee for 2026: o Wednesday, January 21, 2026 at 5:00 pm Trackless Lounge