by Sylene Argent
On Saturday evening, representatives of the Maidstone Bicentennial Museum moved away from its facility on Puce Road for the evening to host a fundraising pasta dinner at the Essex Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 201).
This annual event helps raise funds for the local Museum that offers plenty of artifacts to peruse and educations programs from which those with an interest in local history can learn.
Those in attendance not only enjoyed dinner, they had a chance to bid on interesting items in the silent auction, listen to live music from the Hospice Wellness Band, and enjoy learning more about the Museum and its programs.
Victoria Beaulieu, Curator for the Maidstone Bicentennial Museum, said the Maidstone Bicentennial Museum offers many interactive programs. The Heritage Gardens, located in the backyard area of the Museum, is an area from where Museum volunteers teach. Visitors learn about native plants, their role in aiding butterflies and bees, and any special uses they may have.
Last year, the Maidstone Bicentennial Museum purchased and displayed a Quill Art exhibit, which garnered a lot of interest from the public. A new entrance was put on the Museum last year as well, and the annual encampment was hosted, which provided visitors a chance to learn more about the War of 1812 through encampments, re-enactors, storytelling, and activities, such as rope-making.
Also last year, the Junior Historical Society, which is based at the Museum, had a great year of learning and studies carried on through the education program.
One of the events hosted last year that provided historical education to local youths included the Indigenous Day, which taught the young participants how to make a birchbark canoes. Beaulieu was proud to note this program will be expanded upon this year.
In the recent past, Beaulieu said, the old Maidstone land deeds and mortgage documents were transferred from the Town of Tecumseh to the Essex & Community Historical Research Society (ECHRS). It took six years to make this transition, she said. Now, those records are being organized, thanks to volunteers, and will be available to aid in historical research. Beaulieu thanked ECHRS’s President Laurie Kowtiuk for her role in this process.
Beaulieu is looking forward to a successful 2019 with the Museum, which will be, in part, thanks to the support received at the fundraising pasta dinner.
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