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.