Village Squire, 1980-08, Page 5ments during the winter. Last February,
Heritage Day festivities attracted 600 to
800 local visitors. As many as 14,000
guests tour the museum annually, and last
year 3,700 school children visited.
FUN WHILE LEARNING
Curator Jim MacDougall feels children
should have fun while they are learning. As
many artifacts as possible are demon-
strated; for example, visitors can listen to a
turn -of -the -century organ. In a heated
room downstairs, 30 to 40 school children
can gather with teachers and museum
staff. They divide into groups of five to
examine artifacts closely, write their own
stories about the items and share their
ideas. Mr. MacDougall believes they learn
more this way than by reading a book or
looking at pictures.
To reach out into the community,
museum staff will take portable displays to
schools which cannot bus children to
Southampton. Two towns in Bruce County
will mark centennials in 1980 and the
museum will send exhibi's of particular
interest to the regions as part of the
celebrations.
"Things have changed in the world, and
things have changed in the museum world
a great deal," says the curator. Museums
used to look the same from year to year.
Now, as often as is practical, exhibits are
rotated to help preserve artifacts and to
give the museum a "new look."
"Presentation is important," Mac-
Dougall continues. "A wall of artifacts can
be intimidating, but in many ways, by
subtle lighting or by simply removing half
the artifacts from the wall, you can
highlight what you want people to see."
WINGHAM AND DISTRICT MUSEUM
Wingham Museum, located on second
floor of old Post Office on main street, was
established initially to showcase the works
of George Allen, a commercial artist with
Walter Thompson of Chicago, who was
born and raised in Wingham. His mother's
family, the Hannas, were one of the first
merchants in town, and his cousin, John
Hanna, was a member of Ontario Parlia-
ment. After his retirement, George Allen
returned to Wingham to live in his
grandfather's house, circa 1890.
One room of the museum is filled with
memorabilia of Mr. Allen, including
dozens of birds he carved from pine and
painted, his grandmother's bread board
which he made into a coffee table with
paintings of Wingham landmarks on it and
pictures and furniture from his home. Mr.
Allen lived to see the museum become a
reality; it was opened by the historical
society in June 1977.
The music room contains a still -function-
ing organ which has been in the Wingham
area since 1860 and a Gonsanola phono-
graph; the Gonsanola Company operated
in town from 1910 to 1920. During its
fiftieth anniversary, CKNX displayed a
At the Bruce County Museum, In Southampton, pioneer
dentist's equipment belonging to Dr. Morton, founder of the
museum.
The Wingham and District Museum's displays Include In the
music room, prewar battery-operated radios donated by CKNX
along with first black and whlte TV camera after station's 50th
anniversary.
VILLAGE SQUIRE/AUGUST 1980 PG. 3