Cape Breton Travels

I recently traveled to the Sydney area and participated in a special one day workshop lead by Dr. Candace Matelic and hosted by a partnership of Heritage Cape Breton, Louisbourg Institute, CBU Shannon School of Business & Fortress of Louisbourg NHS.

The workshop was titled "From the Heart: Engaging Community & Interpreting What Matters" and was focused on building relationships between museums and their communities. Candace's position that developing healthy community engagement through a vital interpretation program as part of a strong strategic plan was presented in a compelling and well informed workshop. Definitely food for thought for those in attendance and I know Candace and the presentation partners are interested in providing a more in depth opportunity to explore the subject for museum workers next spring.

Click here  to view her full resume. Candace has recently developed a new Template for Strategic Interpretation and Program Planning and a new planning tool, Cardinal Rules for Visitor-Centered Historic Site Development.

Next day I meet up with ANSM President, Pauline Thomson, and we went for a visit around several museum sites in Sydney's historic north end. Its a treasure trove of heritage buildings in a special part of the city.

Peyton Chisholm of the Old Sydney Society, meet us at the Cape Breton Centre for Heritage & Science in the old Lyceum Theatre building. Several recent upgrades have been made to the centre, in particular in the provision of disabled access to the building and its facilities. Looking really good.

We also went with Peyton to see Saint Patrick's Church, which is also operated by the Old Sydney Society. This venerable stone structure was built in 1828 and is something of a hybrid of church architectural styles. Currently, it is home to furnishings and fittings from churches related to a variety of denominations in the Sydney area as well as a series of well presented interpretaion panels. During summer opening months, local theatre productions will use the church as a venue.

Jost House was next on our list. We received a warm welcome and while I toured the house with volunteer Ray, Pauline caught up on the news with Eileen and then we had tea. Jost House is a treasure and clearly well loved by the Jost House Society members who operate it. The house is interpreted on two floors to represent its early use with the top floor used for local history displays and Jost family history. Architecturally, the house is very similar to Cossit House across the road and Quaker House in Dartmouth.

We finished our tour at Cossit House. This site is part the Nova Scotia Museum family and is operated on behalf of the province by the Old Sydney Society. The house features a fine selection of period furnishings and includes material, most notably a journal, owned by original occupants of the house. Another link to Quaker House in Dartmouth, aside from strong architectural familiarities, is the presence of concealed foot ware in the house walls. This tradition originally came from England and has been found practiced throughout the Maritimes and New England States. Families would conceal a single, well worn shoe in the walls of a new home as a charm towards health, wealth and happiness. The back yard features traditional raised beds which staff tend with heirloom veg & flowers over the growing season. In true museum worker fashion and in the standing tradition of dedication which typifies those who work in the province's museums, the seedlings are started and tended at home well prior to site opening for the year.