Sask Lotteries

Just a little reminder to keep buying lottery tickets. Strong support ensures Sask Culture of the funding monies used to support the many cultural institutions and activities throughout Saskatchewan.

And as a bonus,you could be lucky and win a jackpot. Who wouldn't like to be Sask's newest millionaire?

Tomahawk Park Reservations

The Tomahawk Campground is now under the administration of the Town of Cut Knife.
Please contact the Town Office for information and reservations.
www.townofcutknife.ca
Town Office: 306-398-2363

New Blog for Sask Museum

Check out the new blog
www.cuparmuseum.blogspot.com
It showcases some very interesting videos of the people and town of Cupar.

Projectile Points with Cultural Perspective Workshop

It was an interesting day of exploring new perspectives of the topic of Projectile Points.
The points in our museum's collection were somewhat overlooked in the past, positioned on a board in a pretty pattern reminiscent of mosaic tiling and not revealing much of their past.
Workshop leader, Audrey Drever, inspired us to use them as the beginning of relationships, storytelling, programming and exhibits that will educate and illuminate.
Those little pieces of stone are not destined to be mosaic pieces much longer.

Summer Is Over

This is the last official day for our summer staff, Brandi and Megan. They have worked very hard on building maintenance and exhibit construction. As well they have cleaned and cleaned.
They survived the crazy Centennial weekend, met a lot of visitors and gave some tours.
They can look back on the summer work with pride. Well done, ladies!

Summer Visitor Feedback

Our museum tries to encourage our visitors give us feedback on the museum, internet sites and the park. We've tried surveys but they don't work out that well because few people like to fill out forms of any kind. Also it means remembering to ask them to fill one out! It is so easy to forget. 

So when someone volunteers some feedback, it makes it much more special and real. The following message and link arrived by e-mail recently.

 

"We had the distinct pleasure of visiting your fine town, touring your museum and spending one night in your awesome campground. I mentioned our experience in my blog titled: "Largest Tomahawk in the World!" I hope you enjoy the story.   http://susanbraveheart.blogspot.com/ 

I've let my family and friends know about you. We really enjoyed our stay.

Best wishes, Susan and Frank in Campbell River"

This made our day!  Guess we are doing something right.

Geezers on Wheezers

What a great name!
This group of travelers on vintage motorbikes came today to see the museum and the 1885 Battle of Cut Knife Creek site. They are visiting other sites in Sask as well.

Our Museum and Sustainability

A copy of the new MAS publication 'Museums and Sustainability' arrived this week and it reminded me of how much our museum re-uses and re-purposes in our exhibit designs.
For example our Centennial Quilt Exhibit was displayed on clothing racks that were a donated from a business that no longer needed them. Some quilts were displayed over church pews. Some were on office dividers which were also donated by a business.
The photography display is on panels from the local art club, old doors hinged together, and a case gifted from former residents. And you know what, it all looks pretty darn good!
That is just in one building. I could list similar items in every one of our buildings. Seldom do we throw anything away. It gets re-used if at all possible. No, we don't have shiny new display cases, but our stories are still being told with less overhead than starting from scratch every time.
We make do with what we have or can afford which is very much like what our prairie predecessors have done for the past century.

Centennial Weekend Results

Thanks to those who donated to the Silent Auction ($1000 raised). There were 26 bricks sold over the two days and lots of publications and other sales items were purchased. This will help us complete some more improvements at the museum, park and archives.

Day One Was Picture Perfect

The sun shone on Cut Knife Centennial events yesterday. The parade, trade show, photo montage and lots of visiting was enjoyed by all.
We had a sneak peek at the play and it was great!

It's Quiet For Now...

Early morning in the park finds it calm. Three huge motor homes traveling through from Quebec are quietly leaving. Note: we found out yesterday that our co-manager, Colleen, communicates in French! Un peu!
The atmosphere in the park will soon change to FRENZY!

SCAA Meeting

The Annual meeting of Sask Archives and Archivists was at Cut Knife today. People who are dedicated to preserving our written and pictorial heritage. I love the meeting of creative minds and exciting ideas. Nothing boring about archivists.

Friends of Tomahawk Park Landscaping Begins

Tree World from Battlefords rolled in about noon and made a good start on the new area in the park. They will be back tomorrow to start laying the bricks. It's going to look great.

A Little Reminder

I had an appointment and shopped in North Battleford yesterday for supplies for upcoming Centennial.
We try to shop in Cut Knife as much as possible but some things just aren't available here.
One of the items needed was a new Saskatchewan flag. No flag was found in NB. And I asked in quite a few places. Canadian Tire has Canada and Quebec flags in their system. I know because I have their smart phone app and checked on it.
There are Roughrider flags galore. One sales person told me that it WAS the Sask flag. :(
Today I went into T&T Hardware in Cut Knife and there was the Sask flag I searched for 30 miles away.
Makes one think that Sask promotion and patriotism might be a little too focussed on sporting events?

Training Day

There is so much info that needs to be shared with new employees every year. Colleen took it all in today and is even willing to come back tomorrow. I guess even the loud alarm that yours truly set off wasn't too scary for her. I had one of my senior moments and needed to try three codes before I remembered the correct one.
Oops.

Museum Cleaners Enjoy Tubular Steaks

Museum cleanup today. Volunteers take time out to dine in the Duvall House.

Sales shop expansion

Another awesome volunteer, Gale Stonehouse, took on the Sales Shop this year. It is full of local crafts made by local people and other items that campers might need. Joanne Maze pitched in today too to get it all organized.

Flower Power

We are going to have lovely flowers in the park again this summer because someone volunteered to buy the plants and plant them. It is so great when someone sees a need and just goes ahead and does it. Thank you, Betty.
Not forgetting the others who mow (Bob) and keep an eye on the flower beds and shrubs (Michelle), and probably others who have not made themselves known.

New Map Case for Our Archives

Thanks to Sask Council of Archives and Archivists and Sask Culture through Sask Lotteries for the Institutional Grant funding to help us with a storage unit for our oversized photos, maps and artwork. It is awesome!

Long Days of June

The countdown for the Cut Knife Centennial Celebration looms ever closer. I can finally see the end of our Museum's projects. The Walking Tour Signage is being printed. The old photos have been printed and mounted on foam board. We just need captions attached. Courtney is working on the current photos.
I wish we had more candidates for summer staff. Every year is different in the hiring process. This year apparently the young people of the area do not want to work at the museum. Too bad as we have three approved YCW positions. Can anyone tell me why we are not getting applications?
Next week will be museum cleanup.

MAS Conference and AGM at Melfort

One comes to these conferences for many reasons. One of the best reasons is for the visiting with people. Hearing about other museums and art galleries in Sask and what they are doing is so interesting and educational.
The willingness to share is most impressive.
Technology can be scary for some people. I wonder how many of the small rural museums will want to or be able to adapt to these changes?
It just takes one volunteer willing to start the process. Right, Elizabeth?

This is a clipping from the Cut Knife Grinder in the 1920's. I found it amusing that Mr. Phillips decided to have such a drastic career change. From accountant/bank teller to the much more exciting village policeman, dog catcher and tax collector.
I wonder what the reporter meant when he said that he hoped Mr. Phillips wouldn't try and catch dogs with his new car??

Cut Knife Centennial Questions

We have been having inquiries about the Cut Knife Centennial and what is planned for the days of June 30th and July 1st.
The museum is working on a walking tour of the business area of town that tells of the businesses that occupied the lots for the past 100 years. You will be able to do that on your own as signage is posted for you to read as much or as little as you like.

There is a new photography display in the Museum's Carruthers Church with lots of old photos of Cut Knife over the past 100 years as well as a group of present day photos taken by Courtney Waldner of CKHS. Intermixed will be some of our heritage quilts that we have in our collections. Bring your stories of memories of Cut Knife as we want you to share!!

In the Exhibits building we will be having slideshow of the Faces of Cut Knife at the top of the hour (i.e. 9:00 am, 10:00 am, etc), every hour that the museum is open. Our archives has many photos of the residents of Cut Knife and area from over the years. Come and see faces of those who have been in the area.

The museum buildings will be open both days from 9 am to 5 pm for you to browse through and recall or learn the stories of our Cut Knife heritage.

There will be a Silent Auction at the museum with 5 copies of the first edition of Where the Cut Knife Waters Flow. This book is out of print and very hard to find. Help us to raise money for the museum and archives by bidding on them. If you have any item that you would like to donate to the museum to add to the silent auction, please phone 306-398-2345 and we will get back to you asap.

We will have a table at the Culture Fair on Saturday with some information on our Archives and some of our recent publications for sale. Hope to see you  there.

For more up to date general information, check out the Facebook Page that the Centennial Committee has set up from time to time.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cut-Knife-Centennial-Celebration-2012/253240521381382

Culture Days Grants and grumblings?

The 31st of May is looming and that pesky Culture Days grant form needs to be filled out and sent away. I try to work magic with creative writing, putting a positive upbeat spin on an idea for enticing the visiting public to come to our event and convincing the adjudicators that we really need that money.

One works hard to do all the paperwork for these grants, but the real works starts when one is successful at receiving the monies.

And then of course, a followup form needs to be filled out.

Makes one wonder if other types of fundraising may be easier in the long run.
Just saying...

International Museum Day May 18th

Tomorrow, May 18th is International Museum Day.
Our museum is gearing up for the season with lots of behind the scene things going on. Staff hiring and training and grounds and building cleanups take a lot of time to organize and carry out.

A big bouquet of thanks to all the people around the world who care about their heritage and  who work to preserve it for the future.

Yay Museums and Archives!!

http://icom.museum/what-we-do/activities/international-museum-day/imd-2012.html

Moga Madness 2012

A group of students came to the museum today and brought with them a willingness to do anything we needed to have done. What a gift and I took advantage of the offer!
We have over a dozen buildings and this often means that things need to be moved from one place to another. In planning exhibits, it is necessary and cost effective to use existing display cases. There is very little budgeting for 'new' in the small museum. Use and re-use is what we do. Our Church building is being used for a special Centennial Exhibit space this summer.
So the students and their teacher moved panels from one building to another and moved church pews out of the way.
Then furniture acquisitions were moved and outdoor picnic tables were re-located.
All in all, it was a lot of work in a short time.

I can't thank them enough. Our young people make great volunteers for their community.

Been thinking again...

For quite some time I have been thinking that for small town museums to thrive and maybe even survive, they need to evolve into true community centres. Visitor statistics at museums reveal that 85% of visitors go to museums because of events and they return because of events. So what does that tell me? If we want more people at the museum, we need to plan more events. Focus time and money on events that people want to attend.

Now to put thinking into action. The hard part.

The Puzzle Pieces Are Fitting Together

Lorie & Jeanne, with the sometimes help of Louise, have been turning pages of old editions of the local newspaper. Turning, turning, turning. Searching in almost 100 years of newspapers for clues as to what business was open when and where in Cut Knife.
Sometimes it is necessary to take our questions to coffee row to have information validated by the 'local experts'. Sometimes we have had to bring in one of these knowledgable people to help fill in missing pieces of information.
It is almost time to refine the signage and get it ready to put in place for the Centennial Celebration on June 30th.
Inevitably there will have been some information that was missed and there may have been some mistakes that are beyond our control. Yet the information gleaned will be there for others to access well beyond the Celebration this year.
Well done, ladies.

Social Bridging at Museums

"At museums, we mostly bond with the friends and family with whom we attend. Social bridging is harder to come by, especially as society becomes more striated. Bridging is essential to building strong, safe, diverse communities. There are few places where bridging happens naturally. If we can make our museum a place that intentionally encourages and inspires bridging, we will make a powerful impact on our whole community." Nina Simon on her blog. 


This social bridging that Nina talks about reflects what our theme of "different cultures...prairie neighbours'' at our museum is trying to accomplish. We need to find the time in our volunteer life to expand it in our exhibits and programs. 

We have been encouraging residents and others to share photos, family trees and stories with us. This has resulted in some very interesting results.
I have been scanning photos this week. Some are very small (under 2 inches) but scanning at high resolutions allows enlargements and some wonderful discoveries that were not noticed in the original photo.  A face of a resident long since departed is brought up with clarity - it's such a wonderful way to keep their memory alive.
These photos inevitably add detail and, dare I say, 'sparkle' to the stories of the Cut Knife Community.
It is these discoveries that help motivate me to continue with the establishment and growth of our archives.
I  still have much to learn about digital storage practices to ensure this modern storage lasts for the next generations.

Mystery Object

It's a mystery object. Does anyone know what this metal object was used for? The top right has a loop that hooks onto bottom. The item is about eight inches long when hinged at the left.

It was found at a farm in Saskatchewan.

Do you know? Please comment at the bottom of this blog entry if you can help identify it.

Cut Knife Centennial Countdown

The countdown has begun to the Cut Knife Centennial Celebration. June 30th and July 1st. Mark your calendars. Get involved. 

The museum is researching the retail history of the main street and will have signage up for the Celebration along the street. 
There will be a two day open house at the museum where there will be a quilt show (old and new) and a photography artwork exhibit of Cut Knife. 

Want a copy of the first Cut Knife History book (out of print and very hard to find)? A silent auction for several copies will be held to raise money. 

Come also for the ongoing picture show of photos from our Archives. This will run all day, every day so you can drop in when it is convenient for you to watch. There is nothing like a photo to bring back memories!