ASSINIBOIA - There are national recognition days set out from the silliest, like International Doodle Day, to the serious, like National Nurses Day to the always popular, fun ones of Cinco De Mayo (May 5) and Stars War Day (May 4).
However, did you know that May 5 is National Museum Lover’s Day? Why does this matter, you might ask? Well, I believe there is a host of reasons we should love and appreciate our local museums.
Going to a museum isn’t always forefront on people’s minds, so National Museum Lover’s Day is a great day to visit your community museum, because you never know what you might learn, or what you might find. Museums are valuable historical preservation of our communities, our province and our country. You can find history in old newspapers; artifacts kept there or displays set up to replicate the era being represented.
If your community museum isn’t open yet, rest assured it soon will be! Until then, check out their website or social media pages as they are often filled with great stories, updates, photos, activity and other things that let us know what our hard-working volunteer museum committees have been up to.
Archeologists found a site that worked as a museum and dates back to around 500 B.C., probably representing the first-ever museum. It is located in modern Iraq.
The first public museum is considered to be the Ashmolean Museum, set up at the University of Oxford.
Our community museums don’t just happen. It takes a host of dedicated volunteers all year long to keep buildings in tip top condition, to maintain equipment and other artifacts that are on display for visitors and for the accurate record keeping of what is housed in our museums, as well as the highest integrity, respect and safety measures they employ to ensure everything on display is maintained in the best condition possible.
Museums showcase historical artifacts and pieces that contributed to development of humanity as a whole through representation of how our community was founded and formed, along with provincial and national recognitions.
It takes many hands to operate and maintain a museum: Historians, elders wisdom, educators, curators, volunteers, donors, sponsors and supporters.
You might visit a museum when visiting friends or family in another community or you might include a museum in your itinerary when travelling. Why not include your community’s museum on your ‘to-do’ list in your town?
Did you also know that museums also play a big role in summer social activity in your community, and sometimes, fall and winter too. Unity’s museum, for instance, hosts a weekly pancake brunch as their biggest fundraiser and it runs every Sunday all winter. They also play host to family day activity and Canada Day festivities.
Assiniboia’s museum holds a number of activities to not only help fundraise for this venue but to engage their community in their work and the history they are preserving.
Museums are also a great resource for those seeking historical information on places, spaces and family that once were part of the community. People have contacted, or visited, a town’s museum seeking answers from the past and it has been ascertained, that 90 per cent of the time, they get those answers.
Love your local museum. Visit there yourself, bring your guests to the venue. Support their events or offer some volunteer time to help with some of the many jobs they have in maintain the venue, or if you are able, make a monetary donation to help with upkeep, maintenance and day to day operations. Take pride and ownership in your community’s museum by sharing their news, events and activities or telling others about one of your favourite parts of your local museum.
It is through our volunteers, local museum committees and supporters that our community museums can remain viable for the long-term foreseeable future for everyone to experience and appreciate the local history that it represents.
