2010 — Year In Review
What A Year!
2010 has proven to be probably the busiest year in the history
of the Museum. If you haven't visited the Museum lately, you may be
in for a bit of a surprise. Read on an learn of all the amazing
changes currently taking place at the Museum.
[image of roofers]
| Thanks to a $12,400 grant from the Trillium Foundation, the
Museum was able to replace the aging roof on Duncombe House. |
Annual Christmas Open House
COME ONE, COME ALL to our Annual Christmas Open House
on Sunday, December 12, 2010.
2 p.m. until 4 p.m. Kick off the Christmas Season sharing time
with your friends and family at the Museum. Come and see the new
exhibits and how the staff have been busy decking the halls.
Summer Students
This summer we were fortunate to have three summer students -
two of them - Sammatha Dunseath and Emily Lauzon worked from May to
September and a third, Mat Irvine for a brief period. These three
young people really worked hard and accomplished many things. They
set up our exhibit for the International Plowing Match, helped with
changing and freshening exhibits, organizing the office and library
as well as greeting visitors and giving tours.
[insert two photos]
New Acquisitions
Early this spring two M113 Armoured Personnel Carriers arrived
here at the museum as military monuments one is placed permanently
on a cement pad beside our Entrance to the museum. The second
one is temporarily place in our parking lot until a permanent
arrangement can be made.
[right insert image of crane and M113 in mid air]
| One of our new M113 APC's gets lowered onto its new pad by the
very nice people at Yarmouth Crane Service - Thanks Guys ! |
Recent book donations have brought our Reference Library's total
to 1,500 books catalogued with about another 300 yet to be
catalogued.
In our last newsletter we told you about the 100th Anniversary
of the Royal Canadian Navy and that the museum had commissioned Mr.
Joseph Vella to build models of the HMCS St. Thomas, HMCS
Edmunston and the HMCS Sea Cliff, and the German
submarine U-877.
We asked for 100 people to donate $100. to Commemorate the 100th
Anniversary of the Canadian Navy and your name or a person or
persons you requested be named on a Special Plaque, shaped in the
silhouette of HMCS St. Thomas.
The museum is pleased to announce we exceeded our goal and the
plaque is being worked on now. Thank you all for your support!
Mr Vella personally delivered the ships for the opening of the
Exhibit but unfortunately they were damaged in transit. So back
they went back to Rimouski, Quebec with him to be repaired. They
have returned to us now and look as they should
Book Launch
On October 30th, the museum hosted the launch of Jeff Booth's
latest book, "Dreams of Food &
Freedom", the story of Elgin County
people who have spent time "behind the wire" as Prisoners of
War.
A standing room only crowd was there for the opening,
including our MP Joe Preston, and MPP, the Honourable Steve Peters,
who both spoke, but the real guests of honour were seven former
POW's, six of whose stories appear in the book (the seventh was a
London resident). At $28.00 a copy, the book makes a great
Christmas gift, but order yours early, as sales have been brisk,
and we may run out !
EHS Presents Ted Barris
On Saturday, November 6th, the Elgin Historical Society (who
usually meet at the Museum on the 4th Wednesday of the month) had a
special event with guest speaker Ted Barris, noted author and
historian. The admission was free, and Ted spoke about his book
"Breaking the Silence:
Veterans' Untold Stories from the Great War to
Afghanistan".
A good crowd attended the event, many of whom bought copies of
Ted's many books, as well as copies of "Dreams of Food and
Freedom".
Did we happen to mention what a great Christmas gift idea Jeff's
new book was ? Buy yours today !
Remembrance Week Very Busy
Remembrance week this year was a busy time for the staff and
volunteers at the Museum. During the week of November 11th there
were tours from St. Joseph's High School for two days, AVSS,
as well as many other tours during regular business hours and
in the evening.
Meanwhile, Jeff Booth gave a talk on his newest book
"Dreams of Food and
Freedom" at the St. Thomas Library and the Museum was
at the Southwold Complex with a display.
As always, there was the laying of wreaths at the Cenotaph's in
Port Stanley and St. Thomas. Busy! Busy!
New Exhibit Jumbo the Modern Icon
The 125th Anniversary of Jumbo's
death was commemorated in style at the opening of our new exhibit
Jumbo the Modern Icon. Elgin Middlesex
London MPP the Honourable Steve Peters, noted historian and a very
big collector of anything Jumbo, generously offered to loan us
things from his private collection, for the exhibit.
| MPP the Hon. Steve Peters addresses the
crowd at the official opening of the Museum's Jumbo
exhibit. |
Why does the Military Museum have a Jumbo Exhibit? If you have
been reading the newspaper or watching the news on television in
September you will already know that on September 15, 1885, P.T.
Barnum's famous circus elephant, Jumbo, met his demise here in St.
Thomas. In 1985, a group wanted to honour this famous elephant by
having a statue built. After the statue had been commissioned and
was being created, it was necessary to find a place for it, and
that became a problem. No one wanted to give Jumbo a home. Several
members of our board (who just happened to be also on the Jumbo
Monument Committee) convinced the rest of the museum board to have
the Jumbo statue be placed in the parking lot the Museum had just
built on Talbot Street.
Of course, today lots of groups would like to have the statue at
their site, but as long as he stands on what once was our parking
lot, we will keep an exhibit in his honour.
They say elephants never forget and can bring good luck, so
let's hope he remembers the Museum fondly, and sends us some luck
!
International Plowing Match
September 21st to September 25th was the International Plowing
Match, here in Elgin County. The Museum would like to thank all the
volunteers who helped us staff the Heritage tent. From all accounts
it was a big success.
Do You Have Email?
If you are reading this on your computer, the answer is probably
"yes", but if you received this in the regular post, please look at
the envelope and see how much it cost to send this to you.
Help us save costs, and trees, by subscribing to our email
edition. Email us at: curator@elginmilitary museum.ca
Time to Renew Membership?
Members are reminded that the time is here to renew your
membership - only $20.00. And that $20.00 can save you even more -
20% off flags and books, free admission, and more. Be smart - save
your money by buying a membership today !
Tax Receipt Reminder
|
Remember, the Museum needs to receive your donation
by December 31 in order to issue a tax receipt for
2010.
|
Donor Support Critical
Every year, all of you receive our newsletter, and our appeal
for funds, and, thankfully, every year many of you respond with
very generous donations.
As you have read, and will read as you browse through this
newsletter, 2010 has been a banner year for the Museum in many,
many ways. We have new exhibits inside, big new vehicles outside, a
new roof on Duncombe House (thanks to the Trillium Foundation), and
we are starting work on our biggest project ever, Project Ojibwa -
our efforts to create a 'sub station' of the Museum in Port
Burwell, with a real submarine as the centrepiece (more on that
later in the newsletter).
But all of this work costs money, lots and lots of money, and
not all of it can come from government grants and corporate
donors.
The Museum's fundraising team has done an amazing job in
attracting funding for the Project, but we still need to "keep the
home fires burning' here at the Museum. The Museum always has
been, and will be, the centre of our operations, but only if we
continue to receive your support, and the support of others like
you in our community.
Over the next year or more, you will see a great deal of effort
directed by the Museum to raise the funds we need (and we need
literally millions to make Project Ojibwa happen), but please do
not forget that we must still maintain and operate our home base
here at 30 Talbot Street, St. Thomas, and to do that, your support
is critical.
In fact, in this newsletter, you will find information on two of
the campaigns we have created for the Project - our Memorial Brick
campaign, and the new "Ships Company" for the sub, and we hope that
you will support one, or both efforts - but please also remember
the Museum itself as you plan your giving.
So, while you follow the exciting story of Project Ojibwa,
please, please remember the old veteran museum behind it that made
it possible.
They Will Be Missed
Noble Tufford
Marjorie Gillick
Jean Moore
Ab Wilson
Project Ojibwa
At the same time that the Museum began to work to obtain the two
M113's that now grace our parking lot, we learned of a slightly
larger artifact we might be able to acquire.
The Executive Committee agreed to have staff research the
possibilities, and the Museum was able to obtain a grant of $33,000
from the Elgin Business Resource Centre to research and write a
business plan to obtain and mount the decommissioned submarine
HMCS Ojibwa as a naval monument and museum.
Since that time, another grant application was written, and,
thanks to the tremendous support of our local MP, Joe Preston, the
Museum was able to obtain a grant of $1.92 million from the federal
government to assist us with what is now Project
Ojibwa.
While $1.92 million is a huge amount of money, it is only the
start for our Project, which, when completed will have a final
price tag of somewhere between 4 and 5 million dollars.
Of course, if you reside in the area, you have probably been
following the Project in the local media, which has given us
tremendous coverage, all of it very positive. If you aren't living
in the area, you will probably be learning of the Project very
shortly, as our major fundraising campaigns begin to roll out.
 |
Honourary Chairman Peter Mansbridge
(photo courtesy CBC) |
The Museum has been very fortunate to have a very well known
personality, and Museum member, as the Chairman of our Honourary
Board for the fundraising effort. Mr. Peter Mansbridge, son of long time
member and supporter Stanley Mansbridge, has agreed to assist the
Museum as we work to raise the funds for Project Ojibwa.
A tremendous amount or work on this Project has already been
accomplished, although much of it is not visible. Currently, there
are numbers of engineers, surveyors, and planners are working to
help bring this Project to reality.
The host municipality for our new 'sub' station will be Port
Burwell, where the Museum will locate the submarine and a new,
purpose built museum building that is planned to feature the latest
and greatest in 'green' technologies, giving the site a second
purpose - that is to showcase and promote new green technologies to
the museum world, an industry not usually associated with
conservation and energy efficiency.
Since our initial contacts with the Mayor and Council of Bayham, as well as
its residents, the Museum has consistently been welcomed and made
to feel 'at home'. This Project has the potential to bring dozens
of new jobs and other investments to the community, which has been
hard hit by the economic turndown and the demise of the tobacco
industry, and we look forward to assisting in the economic recovery
of this deserving community.
|
L-R Museum President Deborah Jarvis, Andy Wills,BMT
Fleet Technology, Ian Raven, Executive Director and Joe Preston,
MP, Elgin Middlesex London, smile for the camera as Preston
announces a $1.92 million Community Adjustment Fund grant to the
Museum for Project Ojibwa.
|
|
The Museum has also been very fortunate to obtain the services
of some of the best firms in the world for this type of work. Our
Project Manager, Andy Wills of BMT Fleet Technology, is a retired Commander
in the Royal Navy, who served on British Oberon class submarines,
similar to Ojibwa (in fact, he did serve on HMCS
Olympus when she was HMS Olympus), and this will be
the sixth submarine he has moved.
Another firm assisting with the Project is the heavy lift giant
Mammoet, the same firm that raised the Russian nuclear submarine
Kursk after its tragic accident. Just being in the same
room as these people as they discuss the Project is fascinating,
until they start speaking 'engineer', which is much like English,
but to non-engineers, totally incomprehensible.
What makes us think that we can pull off a project of this
magnitude? A great business plan, and lots of help from the right
people, that's what.
Early on in our research, we learned of an international group,
the Historic Naval Ships
Association, who operate ship museums all over the world. This
group has been very supportive and provided us with huge amounts of
information and resources to make our task easier, and the Museum
is now a member of this great organization.
We look forward to welcoming you to the opening of our new "Sub"
station, but there is a tremendous amount of work to do and money
to raise.
Please continue to give the Museum your full support as we bring
this project to completion.