Camera Museum Found In An Unexpected Place

Last week, while wandering down the main street of Owen Sound (they have 4 bookstores + 1 mall outlet of Coles), I found a hidden gem.

The front window of the Foto Art Camera Shop, a photography store at 842 2nd Ave E. had a lovely display of vintage photographs of Owen Sound and an intriguing notice about their in-store Camera Museum. My husband and I went inside to have a peek and were amazed at the sheer volume of cameras on a shelf that ringed the store’s perimeter. All types, ages and sizes of cameras sat up there on display. The fun did not stop there. In the back hallway was 4 excellent display cases of old cameras (early 1900s), Polaroid cameras (first instant picture cameras) and vintage camera ads. The museum hall stretched to the back of the building. Outside, almost complete, was a stunning mural of cameras that seemed to be poking out of the brick wall.

According to the store’s owner, Peter Ciokan, there were more cameras in the basement as well as photos and negatives from at least three Owen Sound photographers. Some of the photos are part of a 3-book series published in collaboration with Owen Sound publisher, The Ginger Press. The series is comprised of A Portrait of Owen Sound: The Photographs of J. James, 1905-1955, Owen Sound: The Community View 1866-1957 and the latest, A Photographer’s View of Owen Sound by Gerry McDonald, 1955-1974.

Nary a day goes by without someone bringing in cameras to donate to the museum, Peter told us as he answered our questions about the display. There is not much information about the camera museum on Foto Art’s website (www.fotoart.ca) but they do have a Foto Art Facebook page and a Facebook page devoted to the mural project.

What is so interesting about this museum is that it is a completely private enterprise attached to a business that has been in the family since 1978 when Peter’s parents, Eva and Zen Ciokan, bought it.

At a meeting held over a year ago in Huron County about the need for an archives in the county, over 50 people attended and talked about their collections – most of which were housed in private homes and businesses. There is a great deal of collecting going on in the general population, much of which will come to the attention of families over the next 20 years, who will have to decide what to do with collections amassed over a lifetime.

What will be done depends on the resources available. But for now, it is a real treat to stumble upon these private treasure troves that are being shared with the public, either through public displays or word-of-mouth. Kudos to Foto Art for their fine business and excellent collection. It was a visit that truly made my day.

Fleamarkets vs kijiji.com

As I walked around the 41st Barrie Automotive Flea Market on Thursday, I was overwhelmed by the variety of things for sale. At a car flea market, one would expect cars, car parts, car accessories, but there was so much more. There was clothing-all ages and not just car t-shirts, sun glasses, antiques, china, crafts, tupperware, art, furniture, candy, toys, books and more spread out over 4 fields of vendors with carnival food (deep-fried Mars bars, cotton candy, peameal bacon on a bun, fish and chips, french fries, ice cream) and beer gardens as sustenance. I noticed a lot more golf carts, scooters and gators in the walkways this year. While easy on the feet, it’s harder to find the hidden gems when cruising by a vendor’s site on a golf cart.

As we sat down, snacked on french fries and let our feet rest, I read the message from the organizer on the map brochure provided at the gate. He wrote about numbers being down, the car crowd getting older and the price of living going up as reasons for a declining attendance. His solution – get more of the young generation involved in the hot rodding and restoration of cars and trucks.

I disagree with his conclusion. As I walked around looking for a sun visor, mufflers and wheel trim for a 1984 Chev truck (which we found at less than $40 a piece), I was thinking about how much easier on the legs this would be if it were all indexed and searchable as it is on kijiji.com. That I think is the downfall of automotive flea markets – the same things can be found on sites like kijiji.com without having to take a day off, walk miles, and lug all the stuff  back to the vehicle that you drove to Barrie, ON in. But easier isn’t always better. While sitting at home, typing “mufflers” into my laptop is easy, it doesn’t beat the fun of accidental discovery that is a flea market, or the random conversations struck up with vendors, most of whom are car guys who threw all their extra parts in a trailer and came up to camp, party and maybe sell a few things for a weekend. They are usually a great resource of information. While the internet sites are great for browsing in the winter, the flea markets are the places to be for deals, advice, good fun and excellent junk food.

I think kijiji.com and flea markets like Barrie’s are both important and viable. And thankfully, we can have our computer and eat our cotton candy all in the pursuit of cool cars and good deals.

Morning in the Country

There is a fine mist that settles over the land around us some mornings. It washes the vista with a golden glow that foretells a beautiful day. As I sit here and read about the early life and ambitions of George Agnew Reid, I am encouraged. He carved a momentous art career out of a Canada young and labour-focused. It was more important in his time to cut down trees and clear land for crops and settlement than to create art. I sit here in 2011, only 140 years later, on a farm where the land is cleared and my computer is the gateway to creativity and knowledge. And the vistas that flowed from George Agnew Reid’s paintbrush onto canvas can still be found in a calm morning. His scenes transport me back to his time and I see the people of whom I write. It’s an inspiring way to begin a day.

Updates

Today I research George Agnew Reid and economic development grants. I’ve already established the present police building (aka the Armoury) in Wingham, Ontario was built in 1913 for around $11,000 and found evidence of the Magee family in Turnberry Township as far back as 1865. Life as a historian, writer and consultant is varied and full of change. Now if I could just find some more contracts, my bank account would be much happier.

Writing For Wind

Wind energy in action

Living along Lake Huron’s shoreline most of my life (except for a brief stint in Peterborough, Waterloo and Ottawa for higher education) I love the area and know it well. I’ve got deep roots in this area, some of my family roots go back to the days of early settlement. Within my wide group of relatives, there are farmers, businesspeople, cultural artists, media people and nuclear industry workers, not to mention politicians of all stripes, mounties, teachers, bankers, tourist industry staff and people in all levels of the service industry. As you can imagine, family events are full of discussions of far-ranging topics.

My new job as coordinator of Harvest Wind Support (www.harvestingwindsupport.com/blog & @harvestingwind on Twitter) is provoking a lot of comments. But it is a topic that meshes well with my interests and skills.

Wind energy and industrial wind turbines are a hot topic of discussion and opinion, especially along Lake Huron’s shoreline. I’ve coordinated many awareness projects before, worked with volunteers and the local media, though heritage tends to better supported by media objectivity than wind energy currently is. I know this area’s history and see wind energy as just another step forward in the area’s development. I believe in this technology and am pleased to be part of an initiative to provide another side to the debate currently raging in coffee shops and council chambers.

Too bad those sitting around our council tables did not have a more wide view or a more varied  background to help combat the tunnel vision that is enveloping their abilities to work with objectivity and foresight.

The shoreline, though beautiful, was one of the last developed areas in southwestern Ontario. Railways came into this area in the 1870s and their appearance met with similar outrage and threats of violence. Many people, councillors included, saw no reason for the expense and could not comprehend how they could benefit the area. But the federal government had a vision of a country served from “sea to shining sea.” They allowed railway companies to lay down their tracks with or without landowner’s permission. One man in Turnberry Township, who publicly boasted that he would shot any railroad man who stepped foot on his property, was challenged when his neighbours let the company know about the date the man would be away from his farm. As soon as he left the next morning, the company went in with all their construction men and succeeded in one day of getting half the track laid across the man’s land. When he stepped out the door the next day, he was confronted with the view of 75 men working busily in his pastureland, laying track. He reportedly shrugged and went about his chores. Change had come and it was more logical to deal with it than deny its existence. The early pioneers were no ostriches, they did not immerse their heads in buckets full of denial. Railway tracks cut close to homes, between barns and sliced fields in half – just ask any of those who enjoy the railway walking trails around Port Elgin and Southampton. People were killed trying to attempt crossings on a regular basis, until guards, gates and signals were installed to warn them of an approaching train. Unlike wind turbines which pay a generous yearly income, farmers of the 1870s were paid little for land taken to fulfill Sir John A. MacDonald’s vision of a connected Canada. Unlike the debt taken on by local municipalities for railways, the installation of wind turbines are being paid for by investors, who receive a return only when the turbine is hooked up and producing power. And even then, what they receive is barely above the present cost of hydro when you add in the cost of delivery and debt from upgrades to nuclear and hydro-electric projects that is currently present on all hydro bills in Ontario and destined to increase due to present retrofitting and expansion of nuclear and hydro-electric facilities scheduled for the next 5 years.

But the railroad revolutionized Canada and made it possible for a land of pioneer settlements to begin competing nationally and internationally for trade. Those towns and municipalities that wanted nothing to do with the railway and would pay the rail companies nothing for rail development, suffered. Many of them are no longer in existence today. Most were empty settlements within 10 years.

The Lake Huron shoreline is coming to depend greatly on the whim of tourist trade, that can dip as much as 50% in a bad, wet year. Those huge homes built on the lakeshore by retirees are stressing out the beach environment, prompting many municipalities to crack down on those funneling their waste products directly into the lake because there is no room on their lot for a proper septic system. Water is becoming an issue, as is energy consumption. In the country, those seeking idyllic country surroundings are making unrealistic demands in an environment that focuses on use of the land to produce food, most of which is done on an industrial scale using large machinery, insecticides and fertilizer. Noise, smell & land use complaints from temporary residents and recent retirees is an issue constantly present in municipal council agendas from those who believe their rights trump those who have been working the land for over a century. Cottagers and “Severances” are the ones who moved into an industrial food production area that is zoned for that use. If they want quiet, northern Ontario is better suited for their requirements.

Energy industries, such as wind turbines and solar projects, provide guaranteed income to landowners and municipalities at a time that it is needed. In one breath, at local council meetings, they are shutting out wind energy and the next point on the agenda they are asking their economic development officers how they can encourage more business to come to their area. The attitudes at council and the handful of anti-wind supporters are driving away business, and not just energy business. Where would they be if they had done the same to the Bruce Nuclear Power Development in the 1960s? How many local municipalities would be bankrupt, unable to keep tax increases to a minimum without Bruce Power and Hydro One? They are on the cusp of a new energy age and they are turning away one of the engines of change. Stupidity will be their legacy.

Wind turbines, like the railroad, may be the intermediate step to a cleaner, more responsible system of energy production. Or they may be the future. Only history will tell. But mark my words, they are a necessary step. We did not go from goat paths to 6 lane highways of asphalt in a day.

Writing Prompts

I’ve been writing and researching. Constantly. Day after day after day.

And it’s been glorious. Immersed in history, heritage and writing, I couldn’t be happier. But as in many projects, all else suffered – this blog was one of the casualties. My last entry – last February!!! I can’t believe it. But I have a good excuse and some great material to share. I’ve written over 600 pages for the local history book I am working on, the one that will be in solid hardcover book form by June 2011. Yah!!!

To stave off the writing drought I suffered the last time I finished a big project (it lasted 3 years), I am starting early and exploring my writing and creative abilities over the next year. Join in the fun.

My early New Year’s Resolution is to write regularly and my blog is part of that. I will also be revising a mystery novel that I want to send out next year. Part of the regular writing will be the addition to this blog of occasional writing prompts and some stellar websites that might inspire a project or two of your own.

Writing Prompt – What would happen if your century home was haunted by its original owner, but only at Christmas? Go. Write for 15 minutes without stopping.

Upcoming Grant Deadlines

February and March is rife with grant deadlines that tend to sneak up on museum/gallery/nonprofit staff. Lulled into slow motion due to a general decrease in visitor numbers and the inevitable holiday hang-over period, grant deadlines are often past before we begin working on them. One big deadline has already passed – the Young Canada Works…in Heritage Institutions closed its application process on February 1st.

Good news for those still looking for summer student  funding – Canada Summer Jobs – is accepting applications in print or online from February 1 to 26 – find out all the details at www.servicecanada.gc.ca. This federal government employment program offers to subsidize student employment and is a solid program that has helped many a heritage site provide great job experience to its local students. The local priorities for the Huron-Bruce area are: agriculture, tourism, industry & manufacturing, infrastructure-contracting & engineering, arts & culture and marine & harbours. This is important to know when writing your application.  For those outside the Huron-Bruce area, check out the local priorities part of the website before pulling together your submission.

Another summer employment program for those in the rural areas of Ontario is the Rural Summer Jobs Service that subsidizes up to $2/hr of a student’s wage. The application period appears to be from February 24 to April 16 (though the way it was written up on the site, it could be the student’s application period) To get more information about this grant, call them at 1-888-588-4111 or email rsjs.omafra@ontario.ca

For those who live in the vicinity of a Libro Credit Union, their Community Builders program deadline is March 15, 2010. They fund various categories, so it is best to check their website www.libro.ca  for the programs specifications.

If you are not familiar with writing these grants or others, the first thing you need to do is carefully read and re-read the applications and all the supporting documents. The government grants often produce documents about the grants for those applying so you can be sure the grant fits with you and you with them. When they note priorities, don’t ignore them. 

To ensure a good use of your time and the funders, call or email the grant advisors and  talk about your grant application. Don’t wait till they open it, after the deadline has come and gone, to find out they don’t fund what you are proposing. Grant advisors are there to talk to about the grants. They will save you time and frustration by advising you on whether your project is what they fund. They even give out tips about how make your application more attractive to the funding committee.

Good luck on this round of applying. May your projects all be successful. I will post more deadlines as I come across them.

P.S. If you have information on any upcoming grant deadlines that you’d like to share, pass them along and I’ll do the same. We all benefit when we work together to accomplish our goals.

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with the Blues

What I love about Huron County is its uniqueness. For those looking for an untraditional way to celebrate Valentine’s Day – either on their own, in a group of friends or as a couple – trek to Brussels, Ont.  to the renown Cinnamon Jim’s Cafe and enjoy an amazing dinner and an incredible Blues experience. I am talking about the music not the emotional pit Valentine’s Day often plunges people into. On February 13, Cinnamon Jim’s offers dinner (a choice of stuffed baked salmon, rolled ribs & dressing, chicken cordon bleu or prime rib with all the fixings) and an evening of open mike blues performances started off by Ronny Kellerman and Johnny Bryndza of the Bad & Blue group. Cost is $35/person and includes the show – (less than you’ll pay at chain restaurants that jack the prices because of the holiday).  Those blues players who want to jam (free admission, no free dinner) and those available can come after 8:30 pm when the admission is $10/person. It all takes place in the Upper Deck above Cinnamon Jim’s in Brussels.

If you have a taste for more Blues in Brussels, circle these dates on your calendar. Cost is $35/person for dinner & music or $10 after 8:30 pm for the music, if there is any room left.

March 19th – Collin Taylor Group

May 21th – Morgan Davis (2004 Juno Blues album of the year & winner of 4 Maple awards) – $15/person after 8:30 pm.

For more information call the Cinnamon Jim cafe at 887-8011. Jim Lee, the owner of the cafe that makes the best cinnamon rolls around, is a multi-talented man who owns a mechanical design firm, operates the cafe and loves the Blues. He’s figured out how to feed both his musical love and his gift of a talented kitchen. This is a popular series, so don’t do the Huron County hangback and wait till the last minute to commit your time. Call the Cafe and book your tickets early. Or take a chance, journey out to Brussels after 8:30 pm and hope there’s room available.

(P.S. Thanks Sheana for the heads up on this cool way to spend Valentine’s Day.)

Nugget of History-Why Huron County exists?

While doing some researching for a contract I am working on,  I came across James Scott’s The Settlement of Huron County. It was published in 1966 by Ryerson Press, Toronto. It is an interesting read and good source of background material on the area. Huron County came into being, according to Scott, because of the War of 1812.

During the War of 1812, when the British and Americans were duking it out on Canadian soil for the ownership of the country, much property was damaged, as happens in a war. The damage was done by both American and British soldiers as the battlelines advanced and retreated. After the British won the war, with the help of the natives, the settlers whose properties suffered damages and theft of produce and livestock, petitioned the British Government for damages. To placate them, (probably so they did not rise in rebellion like their cousins to the south) they sent over a two person Commission – one of whom was John Galt, a tall Scotchman from Greenock. They took note of the damages and recommended a sum to the British government for reparations, which the British Government was very reluctant to cover. Galt was not one to welch on his word (he was not a career politician). He cast about his very creative brain to come up with a solution.

His solution was that the British government sell the large tracts of land they held as Crown reserves and Clergy reserves in Canada to pay the reparation claims. 2/7 of each township was set aside for Crown and Clergy reserves which was impeding settlement. Galt’s plan was to get settlers into these wild, stretches of primary forest that sat in the midst of towns, villages and townships. Strachan, head man of the Anglican Church in Upper Canada, considered the Clergy Reserves his and did not like the plan. The British government essentially put Galt and Strachan in a room and told them to come up with a solution or the reparation plan was off. They were betting on the inability of these two men, an English cleric and a Scottish businessman, to get along, much less cooperate. 

Surprisingly, they came to a compromise. Instead of clergy reserves, Strachan suggested Galt go after the newly negotiated parcel of 1 million acres in the Huron Tract. This former hunting grounds of the Mohawk and Chippewa branches of the Iroquois was the compromise. Long story short – after much haggling, the British government agreed, the Canada Company was formed and the land gradually put on the sales block. Thus began the settlement of Huron County.    

However, the colonists never got their reparation money.

Taglines – What do they say about your museum?

Have you ever noticed the taglines that flood our media? Everything has a one sentence explanation that appears just to the right of the logo or underneath the product/company/museum name. Here are a couple I picked out while flipping through the American Association of State and Local History’s membership magazine and a local culinary magazine EatDrink- Past Perfect (Software for Museums), ChemArt (Keepsakes Etched in Time), Auto Mall (Shop naked for your next wheels), Amici (Authentic Italian Cuisine), Eddingtons of Exeter (Casual Fine Dining), Katana Kafe (A little out of the way, A lot out of the ordinary). What I liked about these taglines was they explained in a millisecond what the business was or how it was different. I probably would have thought the Auto Mall was a huge mall of automobile dealerships, awash in car salesmen, but the tagline lets me know that it is an online place to shop for cars, so that when I do venture to the car dealerships (in my clothes), I’m ready to bargain and not be taken advantage of.

What set off this contemplation of taglines?  I was looking for the rules of the upcoming Toronto Star Short Story contest (for all you writers – the deadline is Feb 28, 2010 - see www.thestar.com/contests for rules) and was smitten with the tagline shown on  the poster for The Book Lover’s Ball (a Toronto Public Library Foundation event, on February 11 at the Fairmont Royal York) Toronto’s Library. Absolutely Vital. – it’s brilliant, simple and gets across the difficult message that library are vital organizations in our communities, without all the excess words. In today’s world, there is so much to read that people tend to graze unless it is something they are deeply interested in. Culture tends to be verboise about itself. How simple a way to convey a very important message – Absolutely Vital.

So I undertook a little experiment. I went to the Canadian Museums Association site and checked out their Canadian Museum Directory. I scrolled through the museum listings, and clicked on museums with websites (you’d be shocked at how many museums do not have a website, or even an email address). I looked through the websites looking for logos and taglines – again  shocking how many don’t have either. I collected a list of museum taglines and I have to say the majority were uninspiring, bland and repetitive – the perennial favourites being – “Preserving the Past, Building the Future” or “Where History Lives.” 

Museums need to revolutionize the public’s perception of them. They must proclaim themselves ”Vital,” “Unique,”  “Important.” In an era when museums, especially Canadian museums, turn more and more to public  funding, they must drag their heads out of the collections, wipe away the cobwebs and figure out where they fit in their local, provincial and national neighbourhoods then strongly proclaim their presence. Declare the importance in short, vibrant terms that the local politicians and the public can easily absorb. Here are some quick, unrefined examples from Huron County, Ontario - Sloman School on Wheels (Only school in a caboose west of Montreal), Reuben R. Sallows Gallery (Photographic Evidence of Canada’s Pioneer Era), Huron County Museum (Experts in Local Culture) - now compare these with typical museum taglines – Sloman School on Wheels (Makes History Come Alive), Reuben R. Sallows Gallery (Where the Past is Present) and Huron County Museum (Where the Past is Our Future). Of course, better taglines can be created when a group of creative, interested individuals gather around a table and volley ideas back and forth. And the great thing about taglines – they can be changed depending on the audience, the event, or the intent. Unlike some museum marketing (and exhibits), they are not etched in stone doomed for use beyond their relevance or timeliness.

My challenge at large is – Museum people grab your pencils and start volleying taglines. Brainstorm about where they could be used. See if this little exercise doesn’t inject some vigour into how you view the outside world and how they view you.