As I reflect upon the previous year, I will remember it for how the Wetaskiwin and District Heritage Museum Team came together to support the community during these unprecedented times.
Following the announcement on March 17 that our doors were to be closed for an undetermined amount of time, we did not even take 24 hours to let that settle in. Instead, we met. We turned to our foundational documents, we read our mission, mandate, vision. We looked at our Strategic Plan and core values with a new lens, and began brainstorming how the museum continues to do all of this with no visitors. While our physical doors may have been closed for two long months, and we may have not been able to fall back on any of our usual programming throughout the year, we did continue, without even a pause, to provide a consistent and professional level of service to our community.
Some of this was normal, including our weekly Heritage Moments and regular columns in the Wetaskiwin Times, some of it was a little strange, even for us. With no money coming in, we chose to turn the temperature down to 60°F to save on at least one of our bills. This is great for the artefacts, a little chilly for the three of us who were still working at the museum three days a week. Craig, our six-foot 200 lb collections coordinator, showed up on the second day in his sloth onesie and Mylo the museum working sloth was born. Megan, our programs coordinator, took 11 ‘find Mylo’ pictures for Facebook. It exploded into a strange phenomenon of literally giving people a reason to get out of bed during those early days of staying home.
Our Youth Network never stopped. They continued with their weekly meetings via Facebook, and created a new Facebook Group “the Nutty Networkers” to connect with the community. They helped us launch a second Facebook group called “Let’s Bring the Bears Back”.
The museum’s own social media audience grew as well, and we stayed connected with the community, offering them an escape through a variety of activities including puzzles, games, and stories, while still sharing important updates from our community partners. Meanwhile, our Board spent the better part of a week calling volunteers to see how they were doing, and cutting out thank you hearts so they could write the names of our supporters on them and paste our front windows with these symbols of appreciation.
When the provincial government began their relaunch strategy, museums were included in the first phase. We reopened our doors on May 21. I was in a Zoom meeting with the Minister of Culture, Multi-culturalism, and the Status of Women just after this announcement was made. We asked why museums, and in her words, this was because museums play an important social and economic role in this province. It was our turn to give back, and the Heritage Museum did.
The most successful example of this was our Grad 2020 History Makers project. We continued to hear from our community that our students needed that walk across the stage. We became determined to make that happen. There was nothing traditional about how we did this, but we were able to provide each student and their immediate family who wanted to, a piece of this tradition. Approximately half of our graduates got a personal commencement speech from me showing them that the community will always be here for them and to never let anyone tell you you cannot do something, instead show them how you can do it on your own terms.
The museum itself took these words to heart. Our Youth network began to meet in person again, and spent their Friday afternoons as phone buddies with seniors in long-term care while they still were not able to receive visitors.
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The museum gave the youth of Sexual and Gender Acceptance Wetaskiwin a home, a safe place for this group, who often feel ostracized from their community at the best of times, to continue to connect with each other and the community.
This was all in the first month, and we have continued to find new ways to respond to our community’s needs ever since including: Canada Day; helping with an inclusivity rally; Orange Shirt Day walk; Sisters in Spirit Day march and vigil; Halloween Spooktaskiwin; providing Flags for no Stone Left Alone to mark the graves of our veterans; assisting with filming the Wetaskiwin Legion’s remembrance service; and showcasing local artisans with our Showcase Saturday mini-markets. To cap off the year we are preparing Christmas Joy for Seniors packages for the almost 450 people who live in long-term residences / seniors homes so that they have some tangible love from their community in this particularly hard and lonely year.
The Heritage Museum has been able to do all of this because we have a solid foundation that has been 40 years in the making. Also, like we always say, we have relevance for all of our citizens, past, present, and future, regardless of age, gender, race, culture, religion, creed, socio-ecomomic standing etc. We were also able to continue uninterrupted because at its very core heritage, which includes our history and culture, is diverse and the community service the heritage museum offers is both multifaceted and adaptable.
Personally, I am also just lucky to have the team I do. Despite our own fears, everyone was determined to fight those fears so we could respond to the mental health and well-being needs of our community, give them something to look forward to, and show them that there is still a lot that we all can do. We may just have to do it a little differently.
The Heritage Museum is more committed than ever to our role of creating a vibrant, inclusive, connected community with broad public engagement. Even through these unprecedented times we have been able to continue to do this through a variety of diverse events and programs that continue to change and reflect the needs of the community.
Our plan is to continue to do this, but we cannot do it without your help. We understand that it has been a tough year financially for most of us. If you are able, please consider supporting your downtown Heritage Museum. Donations of any size will go far and those of $20 or more are eligible for a tax receipt. They can be made at the museum via cash, cheque, debit, or credit card, on-line at https://wetaskiwinmuseum.com/donate/, or through e-transfer at wdhm@persona.ca. We also have annual museum memberships available for $15 a person, or $25 for a family. And of course, 100% of proceeds from our newly expanded Star Store Gift and Wool Shop support our programs and services. Although the shop is best seen in person, some stock is also available on-line at https://starstoreonline.com.
