Morse Museum News

Rockathon! March 13, 2010

2010-03-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

The Morse Museum is holding its annual Rockathon fundraiser on March 13th, this time with a St. Patrick's Day theme! Come and pledge to support your favourite rocker. Pledges of $10 or more will receive a tax receipt. Prizes for best costume and most pledges!

1:00 to 4:00 p.m.; Supper at 5:00 p.m.

Adults $8.00, 12 and Under $5.00, Pre-school Free

For those who are wondering, a rockathon is like a skateathon or walkathon except we are rocking in rocking chairs! The funds we raise are going towards replacing the building's three ancient furnaces.

If you are interested in pledging a rocker, contact the Morse Museum. See you there!

Annual Country Chrismas Craft Sale - Saturday Nov. 21

2009-11-20T11:34:00.000-08:00

Country Christmas Craft Sale 12-5pm

$3.00 admission (includes tea and dainties)

Smorg supper 5:30 Adults $8.00 Under 12 $5.00 Preschool Free

Silent Auction table, door prizes

This year we have 15 tables of crafts! Come and get your Christmas shopping done!

Museum Christmas Party December 15 - book now!

2009-11-20T09:59:00.000-08:00

Museum Christmas Party December 15, 2009.
Supper at 6pm $5.00 Gift Exchange. Please book by December 11, 2009 by calling the museum at 629-3230.

Fall Supper at Morse Museum

2009-09-15T09:53:00.001-07:00

Mark your Calendars: Morse Museum's annual Fall Supper is coming!

Sunday September 27th, 2009
Morse Community Hall
5:00 to 7:00 pm.

Adults $10
12 & Under $ 5

Take outs will be available!

Morse Museum to be highlighted twice at the upcoming MAS Annual General Meeting

2009-05-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

Morse Museum will be highlighted twice at the upcoming MAS Annual General Meeting.

The first session will be presented by our very own curator, Heather Wilson. She will share Morse's award winning educational initiatives with the MAS community. Many in the MAS community are very interested to hear about our programs and how they can implement similar ones in their organizations.

MAS has also asked Heather Dunn of the Canadian Heritage Information Network to provide a presentation on Web 2.0. As many of you know, Dunn is a former Morse resident and Museum employee who continues to help out the Museum in many ways - including creating and helping to maintain the Morse Museum website and this facebook page. She will be using the Morse web presence as a case study in her presentation.

For more information about the MAS AGM, check out the MAS newsletter.

Morse Museum is a Saskatchewan Secret!

2009-05-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

Sask Tourism recently highlighted Morse Museum's award as a Saskatchewan Secret! See the full article.

Morse Museum & Cultural Centre Wins CMA Award

2009-02-09T07:20:00.000-08:00

Each year the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) presents awards to celebrate and encourage excellence within the Canadian Museum sector. A volunteer jury conducts a peer review of all submissions and the successful recipients are honoured at the CMA’s Annual Conference. On February 3, 2009, the Morse Museum & Cultural Centre and Morse School received word that they had been awarded the 2009 Museums and Schools Partnership Award. This award recognizes excellence in collaboration between Canadian Museums and Schools in developing educational programming which enhances and expands students’ knowledge and appreciation of Canada’s cultural and natural heritage. This award is co-sponsored by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation and the Canadian College of Teachers in collaboration with the CMA. The award was open to any Canadian school in collaboration with any Canadian public non-profit museum. Projects were assessed on collaboration, heritage, partnership, relevance, synergy and vision.

The Awards Committee assessing projects was unanimous in recognizing that the Morse Museum & Cultural Centre and Morse School’s partnership in the School Tour Program met the CMA’s criteria for outstanding achievement. They noted that, “Its integration as well as its long term vision make this project an excellent example of the kind of unique learning opportunity that museums and schools can create by working together. Therefore, these achievements have allowed this nomination to stand out and merit the Museums and Schools Partnership Award.” The Museum and School will receive the award at the CMA Annual Conference in Toronto at the Awards Ceremony and Celebration Dinner on March 26.

Morse is a small, rural community in South West Saskatchewan. A group of dedicated volunteers managed to save the 6 room brick school from demolition, worked at having it designated a Municipal Heritage Property and created a cultural and heritage museum in 1985. An educational program was developed and has been offered to area schools for the past 20 years. This past year saw the greatest success with the program as 17 classes from area schools with a total of 440 students, teachers and parent supervisors pass through the museum’s rooms. Many of the classes that participated in the program travelled up to 2 hours to reach the museum.

The students at Morse School have been involved in the program since its inception. The elementary students and their teachers utilize the program, often visiting 3 or 4 times in the year, while the high school students all have opportunities to volunteer as participants in presenting the various stations of the program. For example, several dress in period clothing and present a play based on a family living in 1917. Others may assist in the craft station, the outdoor games or carrying buckets of water for washing clothes. The student volunteers learn to interact with younger students and also to work with senior volunteers that have personal knowledge or experience in the way thing were done in the past. The student volunteers benefit by developing leadership roles, drama, improvisation and organizational skills. All students in the school are involved in some way or another all the years they are in school, as the present school is situated adjacent to the museum.

The school tour program is unique in that it incorporates local interest stories such as the Bible with a bullet hole and the cow in the school. The program focuses on the historical and cultural heritage of the area and emphasizes natural environmental features that were faced by the early pioneers and how many of these features are still a part of life today. The fact that the program continues year after year and many of the teachers bring new classes demonstrates that the program is successful and relevant. The satisfaction of the volunteers is shown by their willingness to help out with the program again and again.

Come to the Victorian Dinner - January 25, 2009

2009-01-14T16:06:00.000-08:00

Our elegant Victorian Dinner is planned for January 25, 2009 at 5pm in the Victorian Parlour.

Tickets need to be booked by January 18th.

Fall and Winter Events at Morse Museum

2008-09-22T16:06:00.001-07:00

Mark your calendar! The Museum has some awesome events coming up!

September 28 - Fall Supper
October 26 - Brunch
November 15 - Country Christmas
November 23 - Brunch

See you there! More details to come....

Morse Museum Hosts a Dozen Sock Washing 101 Seminars!

2008-06-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

It's school tour season at the Museum! 12 schools will run the gauntlet of pioneer challenges this year. They'll start with a lesson in laundry, practice their bird calls, attempt the impossible task of keeping a needle threaded at the sewing table, spend some hard time in jail, travel back in time to visit Sarah and her parents on their farm near 1915 Morse, play Pioneer Jeopardy, and hop their way to exhaustion in the outdoor games. Changing gallery displays are also incorporated into the day, including the SaskTel Exhibit.

The outstanding success of past tours is bringing new visitors from far and wide. On top of local students, this year the Museum is hosting classes from Swift Current, Ponteix, and as far away as Gravelbourg. If you've never participated in a Sock Washing Seminar and have a day or two to spare this June, give Heather a call - volunteers (new and old) are always welcome and appreciated!

Annual Salad Luncheon - June 11

2008-06-04T21:35:00.000-07:00

This fantastic spread is only available one day of the year. Don't miss it!

Time: 11:00 - 1:00
Price: It's a steal at $7 adults and only $5 for those 12 and under!

The SaskTel Centennial Exhibit Coming to Morse Museum - May 13 to June 2

2008-04-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

The Morse Museum is one of twelve museums in Saskatchewan to be receiving the SaskTel Centennial Exhibit, which is in celebration of SaskTel's 100th Anniversary. Morse Museum is the third museum to be receiving the exhibit.

The SaskTel Centennial Exhibit explores how the telephone system helped connect the people of Saskatchewan and how it continues to connect people with each other and the world.

An educational package associated with this exhibit has been created by the Museums Association of Saskatchewan for visits by local schools, to make the visit more rewarding.

The display will be at the Morse Museum from May 13 to June 2. Come and see!

Morse Museum Visit featured in Chinook School Division Site

2008-04-15T17:18:00.000-07:00

The grade three and four class of Ponteix School recently visited the Morse Museum and participated in hands-on pioneer activities. Highlights from their visit are featured on their web site!

Capturing Community Chronicles - Morse History Project

2008-02-27T00:20:00.000-08:00

As many of you know from our earlier news releases, we have embarked on a community history project. This newsletter contains updated information about the project as well as a more detailed description of what we need from you—the community—to make it a success.

Goal: To create a large scale oral and pictoral history with possibilities of leading to a history book.

Objectives: To create opportunities for interaction between generations that would not previously have existed.
To show youth that the memories of the past are important.
To show older generations that their knowledge is valuable.
To collect, preserve, and utilize the gathered information.

Timeline: November 26, 2007 to November 21, 2008

Information to Gather:
Oral histories, experiences, and memories of people from the area.
Histories of buildings and businesses in town.
Pictures of people and buildings and business from the area.

All organizations and groups are invited to participate. A core group of volunteers is needed to help coordinate and conduct interviews. We want to work with the school to develop a relevant, curriculum based and engaging way for the students to participate.

The last comprehensive attempt to capture the town’s history was done in 1973. This project goes beyond the written histories collected at that time to capture not only genealogical timelines, but also memories and experiences that make up the community’s history. We believe that the oral history format will help to capture the essence of small town life in Saskatchewan.

Interviews will be conducted by museum staff and volunteers over the next few months. All interviews will be transcribed and indexed for research purposes. Interviews will take place either in the museum or in the participant's home as per participant preference.

What We Need: Interview Participants
Interviewees– Do you or someone you know have interesting knowledge or memories to share about our community? If so, let us know and we will be happy to contact them and listen to their stories! Pre-written question set to be answered is provided. Participants are also encouraged to bring along photos or other memorabilia to aid in their storytelling.
Interviewers— Do you like to listen to stories? Basic training and equipment is provided, all we require is a patient ear.

Interested in Family History?

2008-01-29T15:32:00.001-08:00

So are we! We have a growing collection of archive material at the Museum that may help you in your search, including a fully searchable photo archive, various community records, and history books from the surrounding area.

Our enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff have helped uncover the histories of many families connected with our community—why not let them help you out with yours?

Funding Received, New Agricultural Exhibit Planned!

2008-01-29T15:23:00.001-08:00

The Morse Museum was presented with a cheque of $3000 from James Richardson & Sons, Ltd as part of 150 Gifts in 150 Communities in celebration of the firm’s 150th Anniversary.

The museum is planning to use this gift to create a new agricultural display that will feature crops grown in the area and their end uses. It will highlight the importance of agriculture in the Morse area.

We appreciate any further ideas or suggestions to put this grant to good use in enhancing the museum’s portrayal of Morse’s history.

Sock Washing 101—aka School Tours at Morse Museum

2008-01-29T15:20:00.001-08:00

The Museum hosted over 250 students from 6 elementary schools, in addition to our own Morse School this year. We have received very positive feedback from teachers and students and word is spreading—we already have a new school booked for our June tour season.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped run stations, donated and prepared materials for crafts, and cooked the amazing hotdogs necessary to feed all those mouths. Anyone interested in helping out with this year’s school tour season is invited to contact us. We would love to have you!

Morse Museum Artifact Featured in "Treasures for the Mind"

2008-01-29T15:15:00.000-08:00

Museum Object Featured in "Treasure Tales" and TV Vignette

In July, the Museums Association of Saskatchewan (MAS) sent out a request to all museums asking for “Treasure Tales”. MAS wanted to collect stories for Saskatchewan Tourism and the MAS website.

Museums chose an artifact unique or significant to their community and told its story. The museum sent in a story about a bible artifact and how it literally saved a young girl’s life.

Ted Delanghe of Communicom Associates heard of the project. He offered to film a selection of artifacts. Twenty artifacts - Morse Museum's bible among them - were selected to be featured as vignettes and picked up by SCN TV. Filming took place in the museum in September, and the 2-minute vignette has been shown on SCN since the beginning of November. The bible and its story remain on display in the Morse Museum.

Morse Museum Receives $17,000 grant for Oral History Project!

2008-01-29T15:12:00.000-08:00

The Project:
The Morse Museum has received a grant from the New Horizons for Seniors Grant to facilitate the creation of a community oral history project.

Morse has a history book, but there are many more stories and histories to add to it. The material goal of this project is to gather information and stories about our community and surrounding area, but this project is about much more than that. We can all think of at least one person that we wish was still around to be interviewed for this project. We can all think of at least one person whose knowledge and stories are now lost to us. This project is a chance to learn about the history of our community from those still among us and to show them how valuable their knowledge is to us.

Initial meetings will be held soon—please watch for posters and community announcements. If you have any suggestions or questions please contact us!

How you can Participate:

Group and Business Partners:
This is not a monetary commitment or a financial obligation of any kind. What we would like from the organizations of this community, new and well established, is a short (or long!) history of their group or enterprise along with a short list of questions related to the history of their industry and people in our area who may be able to answer them.

Interested Individuals to Ask and Answer Questions:
Do you have stories to share? We would love to hear them! Would you like to learn about your family history? This is your chance! Right now as we get this project going, we need ideas for questions and suggestions about people who should be interviewed (and yes, you can suggest yourself, it’s even encouraged). We will also need people to do the interviews. If you know someone who has a story you’d like to hear, why not volunteer to do the interview? Equipment, basic instructions, and a pre-determined set of questions will be provided. All voices are welcome, old and young, new to our area or ‘been here forever’ - your story is part of ours.

Morse Museum on Facebook!

2008-01-25T22:41:00.000-08:00

Check out our Facebook page and "become a fan" of Morse Museum!