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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugust 12, 2026 - Museum Advisory Committee - Includes an Addendum (5B)THE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF BAYHAM MUSEUM ADVISORY COMMITTEE AGENDA MARINE MUSEUM 20 Pitt Street Port Burwell, ON Wednesday, August 12, 2026 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 April 22, 2026 5. MATTERS OF BUSINESS A. Curator Monthly Reports: April – May 2026 B. Curator Monthly Reports: July 2026 (Addendum item) C. Lighthouse Transfer 6. ADJOURNMENT THE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF BAYHAM MUSEUM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES TRACKLESS LOUNGE 56169 Heritage Line, Straffordville Wednesday, April 22, 2026 5:00 p.m. PRESENT: CHAIR SUSAN CHILCOTT COMMITTEE MEMBERS ROY SULLIVAN DIANE SOPER ROBERT PONZIO ED KETCHABAW *Ex-Officio STAFF ATTENDANCE: PLANNING COORDINATOR/DEPUTY CLERK MARGARET UNDERHILL CLERK ALAN BUSHELL 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Chilcott called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. 2. DISCLOSURES OF PECUNIARY INTEREST & THE GENERAL NATURE THEREOF No disclosures of pecuniary interest were declared. 3. DELEGATIONS 4. ADOPTION OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING(S) A. Minutes of the Museum Advisory Committee Meeting held January 28, 2026 Moved by: Committee Member Roy Sullivan Seconded by: Committee Member Robert Ponzio THAT the minutes from the Museum Advisory Committee Meeting held January 28, 2026 be approved as presented. CARRIED 5. MATTERS OF BUSINESS A. Curator Monthly Reports: Jan. – Mar. 2026 Moved by: Committee Member Diane Soper Seconded by: Committee Member Robert Ponzio THAT the Curator Monthly reports: January - March 2026 be received for information. CARRIED 2026 Council Minutes April 22, 2026 2 B. Memo MAC-03/26 re Museum Summer 2026 Plans Moved by: Committee Member Robert Ponzio Seconded by: Committee Member Diane Soper THAT Memo MAC-03/26 re Museum Summer 2026 Plans be received for information. CARRIED C. Memo MAC-04/26 re Museum’s Bayham Operating Budget 2026 Moved by: Committee Member Roy Sollivan Seconded by: Committee Member Robert Ponzio THAT Memo MAC-04/26 re 2026 Operating Budget – Museums Bayham be received for information. CARRIED D. Memo MAC-05/26 re Council Resolution – Suspension of October 2026 Committee Meetings Moved by: Committee Member Diane Soper Seconded by: Committee Member Roy Sullivan THAT Memo MAC-05/26 re Council Resolution – Suspension of October 2026 Committee Meetings be received for information. CARRIED 6. ADJOURNMENT Moved by: Committee Member Robert Ponzio Seconded by: Committee Member Roy Sullivan THAT the Museum Advisory Committee Meeting be adjourned at 5:16 p.m. CARRIED CHAIR CLERK Curator’s Report April – May 2026 Collections The ongoing emails about a possible donation of some ships in bottles finally culminated with the arrival of two schooners in bottles, brought by the donor and two friends. They gave me a background of the man who made the objects, George Fulfit. The two ships have been installed in the museum. I have tried to acquire the NFB documentary, “Steady As She Goes” on Mr. Fulfit, but the cost is prohibitive. A yearly fee, when we are open only 3 months, was onerous. Another donation was a small postcard, sent from the Port Burwell Drug Store Post Office, according to the stamp on the card. It has been placed in the window of the Drug Store display. Sadie has initiated a donation from a relative for the museum, so she will see this endeavour through, from getting the donor form filled out, doing research, to developing the text to accompany the items. Exhibits and Events The summer exhibit on photography moved along with the initial setup in April. Text was printed in the main office. I developed an interactive game for visitors as part of the exhibit. Starting May 12th, I worked with Harleen to install the exhibit. Several visitors came in, thinking we were open and they toured through, thankful that they got the opportunity. Sadie started on May 14th and we opened the museum May 15th, the exhibit fully installed. Our involvement with the Writers’ Festival included our installation of “Find Fred” to introduce special events and Canadian books to the visitors by a photograph of Fred Bodsworth along with a talk bubble that we can put changing information of local events. Though started for the Festival, we decided Fred could be our activity ambassador for the summer. After deciding to focus on local birds for Canada Day, based on the craft planned, I have been able to get several members of the Otter Valley Naturalists to attend to provide background information on birds and birding activity in the area. Staff Summer student hiring continued, with the successful hiring of Sadie Shelly and Harleen Hundal. Sadie is a local and Harleen lives in Burgessville. Both are university students. The laptop had some issues with the VPN and IT helped sort them out. Many more issues arose and the final result is that we can do all the required things on the laptops, including access the database, but our printer, although it works, is not recognized by the laptops. It can photocopy but cannot be activated to print. This is an inconvenience for us as everything must be printed in Straffordville and be retrieved by Harleen as she passes through to come into work, or a special trip must be made. I attended the spring EON meeting virtually, an EON meeting for the student orientation, prepared a Curator’s Report, dealt with numerous emails regarding students, donations, the parking lot, summer ads, EON orientation for students, summer high school student hiring, login alert response, tourism, and following up on a request for the museum to be open in Sept. for an event. Student orientation took place May 8th in Straffordville, where Sandra went through all the information with the two students. Alan joined us as we went to the museum to have a tour. The students and I began to work. We discussed the exhibits, developed an idea for the Writers’ Festival Worked on idea incorporating Fred Bodsworth into the museum, began to organize the work schedule, work with Leann to update the museum’s presence on the website, cleaning the museum, understanding the cashbox, reading material, and planning for events. The search for the high school student culminated with the hiring of Mackenzie Toews. She will start June 23rd and work for 8 weeks. She will join the other two students at the EON Student Orientation at Annandale House June 1st. We had an unexpected incidence where both students were unable to come to work, due to illness and a death in the family, so I hurriedly arrived that morning to fill in. We shuffled the schedule and carried on. For the first time, a student locked herself out while at lunch. Since it was on the weekend, there was no one for her to call but me. Fortunately she recognized a friendly Public Works person driving by and as he was able to get a key, being a member of the safety committee. We have discussed how that happened and how we can prevent something like that in the future. Curator’s Report July 2026 Collections The students remain active in accessioning, as we continue to receive new items. We have also moved to work on the FIC, or Found In Collection, items. There are numerous ones around the museum. I have worked at home to review the collection of VHS tapes that we have to see what, if any, are candidates for transfer to a more modern format. To date, I have come across several shipwreck dive tapes, the Friday the 13th episode, and several that chronicle events in the village, such as the tomato canning factory, recently brought to light by the acquisition of two tomato knives. The near completion of the Hurley donation required some work to house the collection. Our storage space is limited but I managed to get a large box of material on the metal shelves. Other material, mainly the photographs, are housed in photo albums, and those are stored on shelves in the office. The shipwreck exhibit has received a bit of a facelift. Some of the text material has been shifted, some removed, and Abigail Beck has been highlighted. It is already attracting interest. Exhibits and Events As reported in the June report, our July 1st craft activity was quite popular. Along with three members of the Otter Valley Naturalists that attended to provide background information on birds and birding activity in the area, we were pleased to welcome 67 children to our craft table, joined by numerous parents, grandparents, and older siblings. The search for FICs has resulted in some artifacts making their way out into the public space and receiving a small display. The Lusitania medallion and the book on Abigail Becker are currently highlighted. Staff The three students keep busy with their own and shared projects. They work well together and as individuals, keeping busy with assigned tasks and finding ones of their own. They take instruction well, as I ensure their projects are researched and their work is up to the standards I want for the museum. There is an improved look to the Kids’ Cove. New games and a more organized space has attracted visitors’ attention. The game, Fish Ahoy, appeals to adults as well as the children it was designed for. A children’s book for the bench in the village history area is in the works. The preparations for our participation in BeachFest have been completed, with a new craft for each day. And finally, there is a new Scavenger Hunt sheet to challenge the long-standing King of Scavenger Hunt sheets – Find The Wheelhouse! The lead on this work has been Harleen, assisted by Sadie and Mackenzie. As mentioned, several new additions to main exhibits have appeared, researched, designed, and installed by the students: the tomato cannery in Port Burwell, the medallion, and Abigail Becker. Sadie prepared the first, Harleen the second, and the third was a collaboration of Sadie and Mackenzie. All three students have been active in accessioning and housing the artifacts. We had some concerns regarding the security codes given to the students. One number, given to two of the students, occasionally was rejected. Not a big deal – unless the student was alone, or when it was the two having the same code. After a recent rejection and a concerned phone call to me, the museum was safely coded and closed for the night. Office staff took care of this number conundrum for us. The tourism portion of our work has been enhanced by improving our tourist information centre. One student picked up some Oxford Cheese Trail brochures as those are popular. The Rotary Club’s Discovery Tour is gaining momentum, as we are getting asked for their stickers regularly. Our gift donation, part of the arrangement, was picked up. I attended the announcement of the transfer of the Lighthouse to the PBHS. I have also been busy ensuring the flow of student activities is kept steady. Juggling the required work (accessioning, cleaning, learning about the artifacts in the museum and the local history) with the special projects (activities that lean into the interests and academic goals of the students) has been a wonderful challenge. There is a lot of excitement in exploring what they can do in a museum environment despite their not having this kind of job on their career radar. All three students are contributing to making the museum better, and in return, are discovering how this work will support their career aspirations. This is what community museums can accomplish. MEMO MUSEUM ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO: Museum Advisory Committee FROM: Alan Bushell DATE: August 12, 2026 MEMO: MAC-06/26 SUBJECT: LIGHTHOUSE TRANSFER – PORT BURWELL HISTORICAL SOCIETY BACKGROUND At the June 25, 2026 Meeting of Council, the Lighthouse property was deemed to be Surplus to the needs of the Municipality. The declaration is a specific legal term to signal to the community that the property was and could be publicly discussed for disposition. Council’s resolution included directions that the disposition of land would be discussed directly with the Port Burwell Historical Society (PBHS) as part of a single source negotiation. At a Special Meeting of Council on July 30, 2026 the transfer of the Lighthouse to the PBHS was approved. The sale of the property is inclusive of a First Right of Refusal contract that provides the Municipality with the opportunity to reacquire the property in the event the PBHS wishes to relinquish ownership. DISCUSSION The property was transferred with the intention of preserving and restoring the Lighthouse by accessing grant funding opportunities for which the Municipality was not eligible, but a registered not-for-profit organization could qualify. This approach was intended to significantly reduce the portion of restoration costs that would otherwise be funded through the municipal tax levy. In addition to the perceived ability to gain additional funding, it is also generally understood that Municipalities are bound by tendering processes out of procedural fairness to the public and transparency that would likely result in higher costs. Essentially a not-for-profit has the unique ability to illicit favourable deals made in good faith to support the community and has indicated that they already have a list of experts in various fields ready to step up. ATTACHMENTS Link – Agenda and Staff Report for the Lighthouse Transfer Meeting https://laserfiche.bayham.on.ca/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=616741&dbid=0&repo=BAYHAM MAC-06/26 Lighthouse Link to the Slideshow Provided by the Port Burwell Historical Society https://laserfiche.bayham.on.ca/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=617107&dbid=0&repo=BAYHAM RECOMMENDATION THAT Memo MAC-06/26 re Lighthouse Transfer – Port Burwell Historical Society be received for information.