Duane Hicks
Made a New Year’s Eve resolution to give back to your community?
Have an interest in local history?
The Fort Frances Museum and Cultural Centre is welcoming more volunteers to come aboard this winter.
Helping out at the museum has been rewarding for volunteers Maxine Hayes and Nell Laur, who have spent many hours there in recent years.
Hayes had been a regular museum patron who did her own independent research for some time. Then about five years ago, she began getting involved as a volunteer.
“[The museum staff] are very pleasant to work with,” she remarked.
“And I find history very, very interesting itself.”
Hayes said there’s almost no end to what a volunteer can do at the museum.
“There’s always something to do and they can get as in-depth as they want,” she enthused.
“They can come, bring knitting or a book, and sit at the reception and greet the people,” Hayes noted.
“They can give a general explanation of the exhibits, or give a tour if the people want it.
“If you want to get right into the museum once you become hooked—and you will, I am sure—there’s all kinds of files to sort,” she added.
For example, museum staff have begun working on a “walking tour” for downtown businesses and, as part of that research, have been saving ads for local businesses—past and present—they find in their searches.
“The volunteers can also assist in putting exhibits up or taking them down,” said Hayes.
“Eventually, we want to fine-tune the artifacts . . . and the volunteers could become familiar with what is here.
“We’ve got the old Times, the Mandonians, the Redford reference books, all kinds of scrapbooks, biographies, obituaries,” she noted.
“We have quite an extensive library the general public can come in and use.”
Museum curator Sherry George said Hayes has become a fixture at the museum—and is very grateful for her help.
“We often have seniors who stop in to share their photos and stories,” George noted. “They want to talk about the past and their part in it.
“Max is terrific because she is a great listener who shares in return,” added George. “She will show them where to find additional information and is happy to spend time with them talking about the past.
“Visitors always have a great experience, [and] feel welcome and valued.”
Hayes also is invaluable for what she knows about local history.
“When someone has a request, I often forward the e-mail to her,” George said. “She knows where to find the information and will spend time tracking it down.
“I depend on her not only for the research that she does, but for countless little tasks—organizing files, tracking obituaries, and even shovelling snow!”
Laur, meanwhile, started coming in about a year ago.
“I was looking for something to do to give back,” she explained. “And I came in here for something else, and it suddenly occurred to me that maybe there was stuff I could do here.
“So I asked Sherry and she said, ‘Sure!’
“I was lucky,” Laur added. “They had a huge picture project on portraits [‘Portrait Photography: A View in the Past’] and that’s one of my favourite things.”
George said Laur began with volunteering two hours per day, four days a week. She now comes for three hours per day.
“She started with our map collection,” recalled George. “[She] gathered them up from every corner of the museum, then properly labelled and catalogued them.
“She is now tackling our photograph collection. She spends half her time scanning the photos, then goes back through the digitized copies to properly name and organize them.
“Having these photos scanned and properly filed saves us a lot of work and time,” George stressed.
“Whether doing research or preparing an exhibit, having our photos accessible and ready for use is very helpful to us.”
“I’ve noticed the huge difference already,” agreed Laur. “When we were doing the portraits, I went through them all by hand. It took days.
“Now that I’m looking for stuff for transportation [for the upcoming ‘Canada 150’ transportation exhibit], it took me half-an-hour,” she noted.
“Flipped through the whole works.”
Laur said she loves being a museum volunteer.
“You get a feeling of being useful, belonging somewhere,” she reflected. “It’s just a nice place to be.”
Both Hayes and Laur greet people when they come in, and can explain the exhibits and answer questions, noted George, who, along with events and programming co-ordinator Lauren Hyatt, comprise the only paid staff at the museum.
“They help us out by allowing us to do other things, but they both really enjoy being here, as well,” she said.
To volunteer, call the museum (274-7891) or e-mail sgeorge@fortfrances.ca
You also can drop by the museum Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
