Letting Kids Play with 'Fire'!

Check out the awesome craft we have planned for kids at Villagefest tomorrow! We'll be at Village Square Park between 12-5 pm (Saturday, Sept. 29). At 1 p.m. the Goulbourn Township Historical Society will be unveiling their plaque commemorating the Great Fire.

Glorious Goulbourn

Tracey & Sue got a bird's eye view of Goulbourn in all its fall glory today.

A Sweet Winner!

Ten-year-old Kayla Kranz, of Richmond, dropped by the Museum
this weekend to claim her Candy Counting Contest prize.
Congratulations Kayla! Don't eat all 68 of those candies at once!

Perils and Petticoats

Kurt Johnson will present Perils and Petticoats: Exceptional Women of the War of 1812 at the Stittsville Branch of the Ottawa Public Library on Sept. 25 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Click here for more information or to register for the event.

We Have A Winner!

Congratulations to Kayla Kranz our candy contest winner! 10-year-old Kayla dropped by our booth at the Richmond Fair on the weekend and guessed that our candy jar contained 67 candies. She was only off by one! (The jar contained 68.) Kayla also wins a Kits' Club Membership. Way to go Kayla!

Richmond Fair...and a Giant Jar of Candy!

We’re busy prepping for the Richmond Fair this weekend! We’ll be giving presentations to Grade 4 students all day Friday & manning our booth Saturday & Sunday. Be sure to stop by and say “hello” - we love hearing your stories about the Goulbourn of yesteryear. And did we mention you could win a great big jar of candy? Whether you’re a kid or a kid-at-heart, nobody can resist a good old-fashioned candy counting competition!

Welcome to the Team

Goulbourn Museum is happy to announce we've added a new employee to our team! Sue Woodford started this week as our new Marketing and Visitor Services representative, and we're excited to have her. Sue has signed on for a six month contract, and will be managing our social media, writing our press releases and designing our marketing material, as well as producing and distributing our newsletters and assisting with tours and events.

Sue has been telling stories through pictures and prose for over 20 years. She studied Photojournalism at Loyalist College and worked at the Kanata Kourier-Standard newspaper for 8 years receiving awards for both writing and photography from the Ontario Community Newspaper Association (OCNA). Following a freelance career in communications she took on the role of Manager, Creative Services with Evans Team Ottawa at Royal LePage. In 2012 she completed her post-graduate certificate in Interactive Multimedia from Algonquin College. Sue has been a resident of Stittsville since 1995.

If you have any marketing ideas you'd like to share with Sue or would like to send her a welcome note, drop her a line here.

We're Hiring! Marketing and Visitor Services

Job Title: Marketing and Visitor Services

Closing Date: August 24, 2012

E-mail: goulbmus@rogers.com

Salary: $18.00 per hour, 37.5 hours per week (six month contract, with the possibility of extension)

Web link to Museum: www.goulbournmuseum.ca

The Goulbourn Museum is home to interactive and hands-on exhibitions including The 100^th Regiment of Foot – about the soldiers who settled Goulbourn Township in 1818 after the War of 1812; The Village Store where kids can dress up as pioneers & shop or barter for supplies; as well as exhibits about early Goulbourn settlers, the communities in the Township, and local services. The Museum has over 8000 artefacts in its collections, and offers over 35 programs and events each year. The Museum has three fulltime staff members and is supported by 30 volunteers. The Marketing and Visitor Services job title is a new position.

Position:
The Marketing and Visitor Services employee is responsible for developing the Museum’s overall marketing and promotion strategy.  He/she will strive to attract a new and wider audience within the context of the Museum’s Community Policy. 

The Marketing and Visitor Services employee will strive to:

·         Increase  the number of Museum and History Centre visitors

·         Increase  the number of participants in Museum programs and services

·         Increase  the number of Museum members

·         Increase  internally generated revenues i.e. gift shop, donations, memberships

Responsibilities Include:

·         Promoting the Museum’s public education programs, services, and special events through a variety of means including print media, promotional brochures, social media accounts and the website

·         Developing community contacts that serve to promote the activities of the Museum and History Centre

·         Managing the Museum’s membership program

·         Design and produce two quarterly newsletters

·         Assisting researchers in the History Centre and complete online research requests as required.

·         Ensuring all visitors to the Museum & History Centre are greeted and assisted

·         Assisting with the delivery of the Museum’s public education programs, craft programs/workshops and special events held both on and off-site

·         Assist with the installation of Museum exhibitions both on and off-site

Qualifications:

·      Minimum of two years’ experience in marketing and/or media communications

·      Minimum of two years of post-secondary education

·      Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines

·      Strong organizational & communications (verbal and written) skills

·      Excellent English language skills

·      Interest, enthusiasm and affinity for marketing and working with people

·      Energetic, resourceful, pro-active, independent

·      Ability to collaborate in a team environment

·      Knowledge of database programs, content management systems and social media

·      Experience using the Adobe Creative Suite, including Illustrator and InDesign

·      Strong computer competency

·      Flexibility and keen attention to detail

·      Personal transportation required

·      French language skills an asset

How to Apply:
Resume and cover letter can be mailed, emailed or dropped off in person to Kathryn Ward, Curator-Manager, 2064 Huntley Road, Stittsville, Ontario, K2S 1B8 goulbmus@rogers.com

Goulbourn's 100th war dead honoured at memorial service

Photo by Kurt Johnson
Military and civilian representatives break ground Saturday for a War of 1812 memorial monument to honour the war dead from the 1813 Battle of Sackets Harbor.

We could feel the emotion of the moment all the more strongly as a Canadian piper played a lament Saturday for the war dead from the Battle of Sackets Harbor. The names of those 49 Canadian and British soldiers who were killed in the War of 1812 raid and buried on the battlefield were read aloud during the special memorial service attended by military re-enactors, regular armed forces and civilian representatives.

Grenadiers of Goulbourn’s 100^th Prince Regent’s Regiment of Foot had participated in the May 29, 1813 raid on the strategic military target. The 100^th soldiers killed in action included Sgt. William McGarry, Pte. John Carvin, Pte. James Murphy, Michael O’Brian, Pte. Michael Quinn and Pte. John Short. Goulbourn Museum sent me as our representative while William Sinka represented the Friends of the 100^th, a proposed living history re-enactors group.

Other regiments include 1st Regiment (Royal Scots), 8^th Regiment, 104^th (New Brunswick) Regiment, Glengarry Light Infantry, Royal Newfoundland Fencibles, Voltigeurs Canadiens, Nova Scotia Fencibles and Royal Navy.

Saturday’s memorial service was very much an international affair, between friends across the border, as officials from Canada and United States attended the event organized by the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site; the Sackets Harbor Battlefield Alliance Inc. and the community of Sackets Harbor. A ground-breaking ceremony was also held to mark commencement of the construction of a granite monument and individual soldier’s stones to honour the sacrifices of the Crown Forces in the battle.

Standing at the site in a farmer’s clover field, I was struck by the solemn nature of the service that paid tribute to the sacrifice of these soldiers for king and country. I was also touched by the congeniality of the Americans and Canadians who have shared 200 years of peace.

#MuseumOlympics

Today the #MuseumOlympics are trending in Twitter, so we decided to take part in the fun! Do you think this surveyor's chain (aka Gunter's Chain - in the tall skinny cabinet in the centre) could be used in a fun version of  a relay game in the #PioneerOlympics? We think so! In fact, we may design a scavenger hunt style game using a modern replica of this tool.