The Assiniboia and District Museum held an open house and farewell come-and-go tea for the museum co-ordinator Julie Newton on August 18.
Newton had been with the museum since 2015 and will be moving to Regina. The open house was a chance to socialize and to feature the museum’s four new displays: the vintage bridal exhibit, the Presbyterian time capsule, the Canada150 display and the vintage cars displayed in the newly-floored quonset.
Newton has enjoyed her time at Assiniboia’s museum. She has been able to take training through the Museums Association of Saskatchewan and has put her new knowledge skills to good use. Newton said that one of her goals had been to maintain and increase visitor numbers at the museum. Prior to coming to Assiniboia, the museum had been open year-round. But a drop in visitors resulted in a move to seasonal hours. Newton aimed to increase the museum’s marketing, PR and advertising. She was able to accomplish her goal to maintain and increase visitors despite reduced operating hours.
She attributed this success mostly to increasing public relations, a lot of advertising and promotions, rotating displays and undertaking more engagement with community groups. Newton placed special emphasis on connecting with the children of the community through school tours, day care activities and day camp visits. She was able to take items from the extension collection for hands-on activities for visiting young people. The museum has a miniature old-fashioned train engine and car where children can sit and pull the train whistle. There is also a telegraph, used to transmit long-distance messages quickly, as a hands-on activity for children. “Museums have to be dynamic,” Newton explained.
Another accomplishment was being able to pin the museum programing to the 7th Avenue School programs. For Newton, it has been especially rewarding to have children visit the museum as part of school programming and then make a return visit with parents and grandparents. “They come back and show their parents what they learned at the museum,” she added.
While Newton has been at the museum, she was happy to have brought in a visiting display last year from Swift Current called “Modesty and Respect” about religious head coverings. This year, the museum has set up a Canada150 display that will be up for the whole celebratory year. In the early spring, the museum hosted a pioneer supper as its own Canada150 event, which was a huge success with around 100 visitors attending. The museum is always looking out for novel events and exhibits to show. “We look at what we’ve done and try
not to repeat it,” Newton noted.
