Celebrate May is Museum Month with the Collingwood Museum
Collingwood, ON [3 May 2021] – Each May, communities around the world celebrate museums of all kinds and sizes. The staff at the Collingwood Museum are calling on you to join in on the excitement as they take year’s theme to heart – The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine.
A new museum podcast is kicking off the celebrations! Stories from Another Day travels through Collingwood's past to find the people, events, and stories that have made this town into the jewel it is today. Join host and museum volunteer Ken Maher to explore over 160 years of tragedies and triumphs, disasters, and determination.
"Having volunteered at the Museum for the past six years, I was regularly surprised by the rich and diverse stories of Collingwood's past,” states Maher. “Who would have thought our little town would have such a fascinating history? I am sure others will be similarly enthralled, and I hope the listeners will enjoy hearing Collingwood's stories as much as I enjoy telling them."
The first episode, “Beginning at the End” airs May 4, with a second episode following on May 18, International Museum Day. A new episode will be released every second Tuesday. Listen on Spotify or your favourite podcast provider!
Following the success of the Museum’s extremely popular “This is Women’s Work” t-shirts, a new heritage-inspired design will be launched on Tuesday, May 11 at 9:00 a.m. While staff are holding exact details close to their chests, the new design will feature a 1940s-era photograph of today’s Heritage Drive with a cheeky slogan about Collingwood’s marine heritage. T-shirts will be priced at $29.95+HST and ¾ baseball t-shirts at $34.95+HST. Shirts will be available for curbside pick-up. Please note that shirts cannot be reserved in advance.
The creation of Stories from Another Day and the launch of a new line of apparel are just two of the ways that Collingwood Museum staff are reimagining the Museum’s operation during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In the absence of in-person interactions, staff continue to find ways to interact with community members.
“The community excitement generated by the Women’s Work shirts has created the closest feeling of community involvement for staff since the beginning of the pandemic,” reports Melissa Shaw, Museum Supervisor. “We have been overjoyed by the community’s response to our new line of apparel, even more so by the number of descendants calling from across the province to share stories about their mothers, aunts, cousins, and grandmothers who built ships in Collingwood during World War II.”
In reimagining the Collingwood Museum’s role, staff have a more complex understanding of their ability to generate conversations within the community. A simple post on the Museum’s Facebook page provides opportunities for conversation and sharing in a time when everyone is looking for a way to safely connect with those near and far.
Follow the Collingwood Museum on Facebook to stay up to date on museum news and activities through the month of May: www.facebook.com/collingwoodmuseum
About Collingwood
The Town of Collingwood is a progressive community located in the heart of a four-season recreation area on the southern shore of Georgian Bay. The area is well known for its many natural amenities and its rich heritage. Collingwood is a destination for tourism and many business, sporting and cultural events Collingwood acts as gateway to the South Georgian Bay region, with stunning landscapes that encourage an active lifestyle, and inspire the local arts and culture community. Downtown Collingwood might just surprise you with 30 plus restaurants, 60 plus boutique shops, spas for relaxing, live music for grooving…all in the only downtown core recognized in Canada’s Registrar of Historic Places! More recently, the harbourfront area is emerging as an extension to the downtown district. Plans for expanding the amenities and events in the harbourfront area promise to make this a much more prominent tourism destination.
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For more information, contact:
Supervisor, Museum
Melissa Shaw
T. 705-445-4811 Ext. 7222
mshaw@collingwood.ca
Manager, Public Relations & Communications
Christa Carter
T. 705-445-1030 Ext. 3274
ccarter@collingwood.ca