Port Colborne Historical and Marine Museum Board Meeting Minutes

Meeting #:
Date:
Time:
-
Location:
L.R. Wilson Heritage Research Archives
286 King St, Port Colborne, ON L3K 4H2
Members Present:
  • C. MacMillan
  • E. Beauregard, Councillor
  • B. Heaslip
  • T. Huffman
  • M. Tanaszi
  • J. Piniak
  • J. Maloney
  • G. Hoyle
  • J. Brazeau
  • A Lessard
  • M Heaslip
Member(s) Absent:
  • C. Brema
  • B. Murphy
Staff Present:
  • S. Powell Baswick, Director of Museum and Culture
  • Michelle Mason
  • Meghan Chamberlain
  • T Nail
Others Present:

  • Terry Hughes (Member of the Public) 

1.
Call to Order

 

The Chair called the meeting to order at 6:59 p.m. 

2.
Disclosures of Interest

 

N/A 

3.
Adoption of Agenda

 
  • Moved byG. Hoyle
    Seconded byJ. Brazeau

    That the agenda dated June 20, 2023, be confirmed, as circulated, or as amended.

    Carried

4.
Approval of Minutes

 
  • Moved byB. Heaslip

    Approve the minutes of the Board of Management from May 16, 2023, with amendments made. 

    Carried

5.
Business Arising from the Minutes

 

Gary Hoyle asked if the new summer students will be introduced to the Board of Management. Stephanie Powell Baswick responded that each new staff member will be highlighted in the upcoming summer Museum Newsletter. 

Stephanie Powell Baswick reported that Councilor Eric Beauregard has provided resources regarding the Board's previous inquiries on the status of the new Waterfront Centre and to contact her if they would like a copy. 

Luke Brazeau asked if there had been any updates on the relocating of Humberstone Township Hall. Stephanie responded that there had been no further discourse on the topic. 

6.
Correspondence

 

Meghan Chamberlain reported 3 items of correspondence. The first item was sent to Archivist Michelle Vosburgh from Frank Gallagher, who thanked Michelle for her assistance in researching his family history. The second item was also addressed to Michelle Vosburgh from Helene Moscato from the Niagara College Retirees Association thanking Michelle for providing a private Urban History Walking Tour for their group. The third item received was a letter of resignation from the board of management from Bert Murphy.

Terry Huffman suggested a letter be sent to Bert Murphy to notify him that the board has accepted his resignation.  

7.
Council Report 

 

No report. 

8.
Curator's Report

 

Michelle Mason reported that two new permanent part-time staff have been hired. Dario Smagata-Bryan has been hired as the new Archives Assistant and will be working 15 hours a week in the L.R. Wilson Heritage Archives. Barry Stickles has been hired as an additional custodian and will be working 15 hours a week alongside Frank Habjan. Stephani McDougall has been hired for the Museum Assistant Program Grant as the Collections Assistant and will be with us for the next year. Jasmaya Echlin has been hired for a second Young Canada Works Archive grant and will be helping digitize Port Colborne High School Tattlers as well as assisting at the reception/gift shop. Alicia Boros has been hired to work at Arabella's Tea Room and will also be assisting with various museum projects. Lastly, Malakai Turner will be returning for his second year in Arabella's Tea Room as well as assisting with museum projects. 

Michelle also reported that the Auxiliary embroidery project is being prepared to be showcased in the Port Colborne Public Library during the month of November. The embroideries feature historic images from the collection and will be paired with the photos that inspired the needle art. All embroideries were created by Museum volunteers. 

Michelle then provided a report from the Archivist Michelle Vosburgh. Urban History Walking Tours on Friday mornings have been well attended so far, with strong bookings for upcoming tours. By special request, the West St. Urban History Tour was conducted for the Niagara College Retirees Association group on Wednesday, June 7, with 24 people attending. Michelle also recently gave an 'Armchair Cemetery Tour' to the Niagara branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society on June 16, via Zoom as part of their virtual speaker series. 

9.
Auxiliary Report

 

Marianne Heaslip reported that the 39th Annual Arabella's Pie Social was a great success with approximately 146 patrons in attendance and 45 pies made. The money raised will help fund future Museum programming. On June 9, the front door lock was replaced to allow volunteers and patrons access to the building. On July 2, Auxiliary volunteers are having a celebratory party in the Tea Room in honour of Arabella's 45th Anniversary. Therefore the Tea Room will be closed on July 1 and July 2. 

10.
Friends of Roselawn Centre Liaison Report

 

Arlene Lessard reported that the Friends of Roselawn Centre has released their summer 2023 newsletter and that it held its Annual General Meeting on June 14, 2023, to discuss a very successful year. Next up will be, Music on the Lawn on June 25, where the FORC will have a 50/50 draw. 

11.
Committee Report

 

11.1
Finance Committee

 

Bonnie Schneider reported that in 2023 $1400.00 has been donated for new Life Patrons, $636.00 has been donated by members, and $1057.73 has been collected in general donations. 

11.2
Membership Committee

 

Michelle Mason reported on Claudia Brema's behalf that there have been 92 memberships and 15 Life Patrons in 2023. 

11.3
Building and Property Committee

 

Brian Heaslip reported that contracts have been awarded to two businesses to assist in the re-siding of the William's House and the replacement of the wooden porch on the Heritage Resource Centre. The two projects were included in the 2023 Capital Budget but there may be overage. 

Brian also reported that volunteers have been hard at work replacing boards on the Carriage House exterior and that they hope to have the Yvonne Dupre touched up before the Canal Days festival. Lastly, the work on Arabella's Tea Room windows will begin within the next month.

Cheryl MacMillan thanked the committee and its volunteers for their help with the sign repairs for Arabella's Tea Room. 

  • Moved byJ. Maloney
    Seconded byJ. Brazeau

    To approve the contracts and overages for both Capital budget projects. 

    Carried

11.4
Programme Committee

 

John Maloney reported that Public Programmer, Sloane McDowell, recently organized a self-guided tour for DeWitt Carter Public School's grades 1 to 3 classes to participate in on the Museum grounds, with a total of 32 students in attendance. Sloane also hosted the Niagara Pathfinders for a 'Settlers of Port Colborne' program on June 3, 2023. The next programming opportunity will be the summer workshop series.

John also reported that the 39th Annual Pie Social and Historic Fair was well received and that the committee has begun to notice a demographic shift towards families and children. This will help with the future planning of this event. 

Tami Nail reported that the 2023 Canal Days t-shirts have arrived and are available for $30.00 in the Museum Gift shop. Planning is underway for the upcoming festival, with Kindred, Barley Brae, HMS Psyche, and Blackthorne Productions set to return. 

11.5
Fundraising Committee

 

Terry Huffman reported that the committee is all set for the first installment of the Music on the Lawns Series on June 25. 

11.6
Policy Committee

 

No report. 

11.7
Heritage Committee

 

Councilor Eric Beauregard reported that members met on June 19 to discuss committee terms of reference, structure, and purpose. 

11.8
Accession Committee

 

Terry Huffman reported that the committee met on May 25 and accepted many new items into the collection. 

12.
Confidential Items

 

No items.

13.
Director's Report 

 

Stephanie Powell Baswick reported that she attended the Meeting of Culture Niagara 

Stephanie wanted to seek consensus and input on the possibility of changing the board of management's name. Stephanie outlined to present members that due to the growth of the department, the name no longer encompasses all of what we do and therefore does not represent our identity. Stephanie would like to work with members to find a name that is inclusive of all our facets prior to the next recruitment process.  

14.
New Business

 

John Maloney re-established the conversation brought forth in the Director's Report regarding the possibility of a rebranding of the Board of Management. John commented that he believed the prospect needed to be delved into further to which Stephanie Powell Baswick agreed that a specialized meeting may be required to discuss the idea fully. Councilor Eric Beauregard suggested the creation of an ad-hoc committee to deal with this adjustment. John Maloney and Luke Brazeau volunteered to join this committee. 

Meghan Chamberlain introduced the new system the Board of Management will use to process, record, and publish meeting documents. Meghan gave a brief overview of what members can expect to be different with the new system and warned everyone that the next couple of months will be a learning process. 

John Maloney offered condolences on behalf of the entire board of management to Cheryl MacMillan. 

15.
Adjournment

 

Cheryl MacMillan motions to adjourn.

No Item Selected