Appendix A

Friends of Markham Museum Foundation Director’s Report

Meeting of April 15, 2010

Collections Building

• Construction is about two weeks behind and will have substantial completion by the end of July
• Museum staff are currently working with the project manager on internal finishing and furniture
• Museum staff are working with the architect on the design of the reception desk and ‘gift shop’ hardware
• Work has begun on the landscaping of the front of the site and the front of the Transportation building
• The main driveway entrance to the site will be closed for about three months

Capital Projects

• The floors of the Mount Joy School have been re-finished. The electrical upgrades are currently being done. The installation of the offices is delayed due to a contract renewal delay with a supplier

Gil Verbeek of capital assets is re-roofing a number of buildings on site over the next few weeks: Mount Joy School, Education Building, Wilson Variety Hall, Blacksmith Shop, Burkholder House, Carriage House, Hydro Building, Saw Mill, Cider Mill, Strickler Barn,

Slaugherhouse and Kinnee Log Barn

• The blacksmith shop reconstruction will be complete with the next couple of weeks
• The catering station in the Transportation Building will start within the next couple of weeks

Cultural Planning

• The Culture Department’s application to the Creative Community Prosperity Fund was successful; the $40,000 Provincial Grant has been matched by $50,000 from the Town of Markham to produce a Culture Plan.

TD Friends of the Environment and Rouge Park

• Andrea Carpenter wrote a successful grant application to the TD fund with the advice and support of Karen Boniface of Operations. A native plant garden will be planted around Burkholder House

GGHG

• On going discussions about 2010 events and June 12 at the Museum. Enzo Greco has assumed logistics lead with the logistics designate from GGHG

University of Toronto

• To follow up on a meeting Cathy attended with Museum studies students, two were interviewed by Janet and will join us for the summer for their internships
• Cathy Molloy attended a meet the expert forum for undergraduate students on March 31^st.
• Cloveth Smith of U of T at Scarborough visited the site for an information session on April 15 as a follow up to the March 31^st session.
• Cathy applied for a bursary to fund a UTCS student summer CoOp placement

Programming Report (Andrea Carpenter)

• Canada Summer Jobs grant applications have been submitted
• Summer Camp Supervisors and potential returning Summer Camp Counsellors/Specialists Interviews were completed.

• Early Bird Summer Camp Registration started February 8^th at 6:30am. Registration is strong for all summer camp programs being offered by the Museum in 2010.
• Andrea attended the Museum Educators Collective of Toronto meeting at the AGO. This group has just recently formed to provide Museum Educators in the Toronto area an opportunity to network with others working in the field so they can share ideas and discuss common issues.
• February 1^st PA Day at the Museum Camp was a success with the program filling with 20 children by mid January and 5 children on the waitlist by the date of the program.
• Two overnight programs were held in February (1 Cubs and 1 Brownie.) Two overnight programs were held in March (1 Girl Guide and 1 Spark).
• An application was written and submitted to TD Friends of the Environment for the creation of Native Species Plant Garden at the Museum. The proposed garden is a partnered project with Rouge Park, other departments within the Town and Rutherford Construction who will be supplying in-kind support. The creation of a native plant garden at Markham Museum provides a unique opportunity to promote, educate, and interpret the benefits of encouraging the growth of native plant species. The planned design of this garden, surrounding the area of a historic home (Burkholder House), will help visitors obtain a better understanding of how they can utilize native plant species in their own gardens. The garden also will afford a wide array of environmental education opportunities for children and adults, whilst assisting the aesthetics of the overall Museum grounds.

• A student from the Centennial Collage Recreation and Leisure Studies Program approached the Museum about completing her second year unpaid internship at the Museum. The student is interested in working within the programming department and gaining experience in all areas of the department including events and volunteer management. The internship will run Wednesday-Friday, 9am-5pm, from the beginning of September 2010 till the end of April 2011.
• March Break Mystery Camp was very successful with 19 children participating in the week long camp. The camp received publicity from both Rogers TV and the Econ & Sun.

Events and Volunteer Report (Enzo Greco)

Stats for Winterfest:

1,000 guests

• Mayor with 50 dignitaries to officially open the Archeology Lab.

25 volunteers in to help with the events.

“Volunteer Teams” Report submitted to Ardy Reid:

1. 300+ Event Volunteer (90% Students)

Role: To assist in the success of Museum Events – key duties include assisting with front line brochure hand out; children’s games, Wagon Ride, arts and crafts, assisting staff with interpretation; Little Train Rides; parking lot help.

2. 10 Gardening Volunteers

Role: To assist with the set up and tear down of the Museum gardens – key duties include assisting staff with ploughing, weeding, planting, watering, and garden maintenance.

3. 6 Maintenance Volunteers

Role: To work on projects that help maintain Museum – key duties include, wood work, shop work, painting and light construction projects.

4. 9 Archaeology Lab Volunteers:

Role: To assist with the cleaning and assembly of archaeology potter shards.

5. 25 Cider and Saw Mill Volunteers

Role: To operate and maintain both Cider and Saw mills. These two groups have very focused skill sets. Both Cider and Saw mill volunteers assist with the success of Applefest – no Museum staff can operate either mill without these volunteers.

6. 3 Steam Tractor Volunteers

Role: To operate and maintain the Sawyer Massy Steam Tractor. This group also assists with the success of Applefest – no Museum staff can operate either mill without these volunteers.

7. 20 Orchard Pruning Volunteers

Role: To assist with the maintenance of the Museum Orchard. Volunteers arrive once in spring and a second visit in the fall. Several pruning volunteers also help out during Applefest.

8. 35 Education Volunteers (2 groups)

Program Volunteer Role: To assist in with the preparation time of several education programs. Duties include arts and crafts prep, photocopying and setting up rooms.

Camp Volunteer Role: To assist Camp Counsellors during Camps (including March Break Mystery Camp, Summer Camp and special PA Day camps). Duties include preparing crafts, preparing games, and assisting with camp program delivery.

9. 15 Ice Rink Volunteers

Role: To manage and maintain artificial and natural ice rinks during winter season. Organized via the TnT foundation group but supervised by Museum staff.

10. 7 Curatorial Volunteers (3 groups)

Collections: To assist in cataloguing, handling and cleaning of artefacts.

Research: To produce genealogical reports

Special Project Advisors: Blacksmith and Print shop advisors

Curatorial Report (Janet Reid)

Print Shop - staff are continuing work with community volunteers on the specialized components of the print shop installation. Two trial projects for Family Day and March Break tested the hands-on potential of the installation.

Town Centre Exhibit – small display of archaeological material to complement the opening of the lab at Burkholder House for Family Day

Personnel – Part-time Maintenance Assistant position was awarded. Two Grade 11 Co-op Student Interns –from Markville Secondary & from Pierre Elliot Trudeau High school - were placed in curatorial for work terms. Projects include back logged collections data entry and archaeology lab work. Two Graduate Students in Museum Studies have agreed to complete their summer internships with the Museum. Summer hiring is nearing completion and we are awaiting notice of supporting grants (by end of April) to finalize staff numbers.

The Maintenance Committee are working on the following projects: snow shoe storage cupboard, side deck for Wilson Variety Hall and the Mini Put decks. Eight volunteers are working in the Lab on Mondays/Thursdays to assist with the processing of the excavated materials. Orchard volunteers completed pruning of the trees.

Maintenance staff are performing additional duties to manage site during construction to ensure staff and visitor safety and as well as to provide public and contractor access.

Curator participated in the Peer Review of the Young Canada Works Grant program for the Canadian Museums Association.

Professional Development – Curatorial staff completed restricted and non-restricted training courses for handling of our antique weapons collections. Curatorial Assistant participated in webinar on Planning for Families in Museums hosted by YDAMA. Two staff completed health & safety training.

Donations – 4 accepted, 3 under review

Research Requests - Researchers (8 - February, 7 – March), Emails – 39, Phone Calls – 63. Special projects – Diversity Report for Town of Markham, Buttons archival materials for GGHG historian, request for additional information on Peter Reesor Portrait by Reesor Family.