The Iona Connection Heritage Co-Operative Ltd. 2005 Fall General Meeting

Saturday, October 22, 2005 – 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, Orangedale Railway Station Museum, Orangedale, NS

Rollcall:
Pauline Thomson, Chairperson
Pauline MacLean, Lake Ainslie Historical Society
Joan MacInnis, Victoria Co. Archives
Yvonne Fox, Port Hastings Historical Society
Maxine Smith, Port Hastings Historical Society
Syd Slaven, Sydney Steel Museum Society
John E. Murphy, Sydney Steel Museum Society
Heather Morrison, North Highlands Community Museum
Judy Madden, Nicolas Denys Museum
Eva Landry, MacAskill House Museum
Marilyn Ritza, Old Sydney Society
Ron MacDonald, North Sydney Historical Society
Phyllis Walters, North Sydney Historical Society
Isabelle Harris, Glace Bay Heritage Museum
Ingrid Mochliar, Glace Bay Heritage Museum
Joyce Rankin, Celtic Music Interpretive Center
Ida LeLievre, La Society Saint-Pierre
Martin Boston, Orangedale Railway Museum
Art Robinson , Orangedale Railway Museum
Wayne Hughes, Orangedale Railway Museum
Katie Grist, Boularderie Island Historical Society

Guests:
Susan Charles, FNSH
Richard Cloytier, FNSH Passage Project
Chuck McKenna, Voluntary Planning
Molly Titus, Heritage Trust of NS
Paul Collins, Dept Tourism Culture & Heritage
 
Regrets:
Rodney Chaisson, Highland Village
Jim Tobin, Sydney Mines Fossel Center
Peyton Chisolm, Old Sydney Society
Nan More, Old Sydney Society
Sandra Dunn, Whitney Pier Historical Society
Peggy MacLeod

Welcome & Call to Order
The Chairperson called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone to Orangedale amidst the most wonderful display of Fall Colours.  

Minutes of April 16/05 General Meeting
There were no omissions or corrections found in the minutes.  They were adopted by a MOTION by Ida LeLievre and seconded by Yvonne Fox.  Motion Carried

Reports:

1.0.     President’s Report
The work of the board in the past six months was noted in the her report.  Items highlighted included the completion of the Vision and Mission statements.
The president noted that the board was still working on the objectives.  At present, they are as they appear in the brochure, also being developed by the board and distributed today.  The board would like to have your feedback.              

There has been no word on the SDI application for funds to revamp the website, to date.

The president was pleased to announce that she had a very favourable meeting with Sandy MacDonald of the Destination Cape Breton.  DCB is willing to take 250 brochures from each of our sites and distribute them to theirs, they have offered space in their Newsletter to any of our sites to make activities or displays known and to help set up a “Meet the Public” workshop for new and returning summer workers.

In the interests of good governance, where no board manual exists, the board is in the process of putting together one for the present and future directors.  They are working on Job Descriptions for the members at large and the executive at this time.  They are planning on attending a Governance work shop which will be open to membership.

The minutes of the Iona Connection are being indexed (all 24 years).

 Of great significance at the moment is the upcoming round of Heritage Strategy Town Hall meetings to be held on the Island.  The president urges as many as possible to turn out and present a brief.  The board is preparing a brief on behalf of the membership.  One of our directors, Joyce Rankin, of Celtic Music Interpretive Center is on the TaskForce.

1.1.     Treasurer’s Report – Pauline MacLean  reported an amount of $4,045.68 in the bank and plans to put a significant portion of that in an interest bearing account are in progress.  To date, 21 organizations have renewed their membership in the Iona Connection, 25 haven’t.  A notice will be sent out within two weeks. Treasures report was accepted on a MOTION by Pauline McLean, which was seconded by Joyce Rankin.  Carried.

1.2.     FNSH Report – Peyton Chisolm sent regrets.  It is noted that our organization has two members on the Board of the Federation of Nova Scotian Heritage, besides Peyton Chisolm, Rosie Grace is a member as well.

1.3.     CNSA Report – Pauline MacLean presented a report on the Council of Nova Scotia Archives.  The work of the Council can be seen at http://www.councilofnsarchives.ca/.

1.4.     FNSH Education News – Susan Charles, Exe Dir of the FNSH gave a few remarks on the work of the Federation, especially it’s role in education, networking and advocacy.  She expressed hope to see a lot of CB members at the 2006 Spring Conference being held at St Mary’s University, May 11-13 in Halifax. Contact info for the FNSH is (toll-free) 1-800-355-6873 and they can be found on the Internet at http://www.fnsh.ns.ca/about.html.

1.5.     Community Museums Update – Paul Collins greeted everyone and spoke of the work of the Department of Tourism, Culture & Heritage.  Paul can be found on the Internet at http://www.gov.ns.ca/dtc/heritage/default.asp click on Heritage.  Members should check their own info on Services, then Directory of Museums, Archives and other Heritage Resources and make sure their contact info is up to date.

1.6.     Task Force on Nova Scotian Heritage – Chuck McKenna outlined the objectives of the Tasks Force and urged as many as possible to come out and speak at the meetings.  He also reminded everyone that the Task Force will accept briefs until Dec 15/05. Members can reach Chuck at http://www.gov.ns.ca/vp/heritage/default.htm or by phone at (902) 424-8650 or toll-free 1 (866) 858-5850.

1.7.     Molly Titus of the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia gave a brief intro to the work of her foundation.  Molly distributed back issues of The Griffin, a publication of the Heritage Trust of NS. Anyone wishing to contact Molly can reach her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone her at 677-2740.

1.8.     Richard Cloutier – Project Manager of the Passage Project what on hand to report that the “Year 3” project will officially end around mid November.  Of the 27 new sites, 20 received new equipment and 27, new software.  Eighteen of these sites had existing digital information on their collections that had to be imported, cleaned, etc., totaling approximately 50,000 records.  Nine sites did not have existing records and have begun in earnest to perform data entry for the first time. Valarie Lenethen of the Nova Scotia Museum (NSM) traveled with Richard and co-delivered training to the 27 new sites in 4 classroom settings around the Province. Delivery of databases was curtailed for first time sites. Renewing partners received updates for Collections and the Volunteer/Membership program.  The Cemetery program has undergone delivery and testing at 6 sites. Collections – still has the Archival data dictionary to be added. Volunteer/Membership – has not yet had the manual rewritten and may be delayed until spring due to suggestions for the improvement.  If you have comments about any of the programs, please send me an email. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Cemetery – testing has identified a core structure change but should be completed by the end of October with matching corrections to the manual completed by the end of November. New Cemetery database program has been brought to my attention through the Association for Gravesite Studies in Massachusetts.  I have requested more information and will advise the Steering Committee about its abilities and costs.

Next year’s Passage Project will focus on:

·         The addition of new fields pertaining to Manufacturing information with the desire for all partners to focus on data entry/cleaning of information on Artifacts created in Nova Scotia.

·         Completing an Internet survey of partners

·         Work with CHIN on a partnered project to make uploading information to Artefacts Canada possible. To date there are 58 sites participating in the Passage Project.  Richard can be contacted by phone at the FNSH toll free number 1-800-355-6873.

4.0     Business Arising

4.1     Objectives of the organization  are:

1) to server as a network for the sharing of information, skills and knowledge among Cape Breton heritage groups

2) To foster and promote excellence in the heritage community on Cape Breton Island

3) to support Cape Breton Island heritage groups in educating residents and visitors on the rich heritage on the Island.

There are as appears on the Articles of Incorporation and bylaws of the organization, dated December 14 2004.  There are broken down and presented to membership via a brochure under the title “Membership Privileges” being developed by the board.  Input was sought.

4.2     Web Site – Application to SDI made – proposals have been received & reviewed.  No word on the approval of the application has been received as yet. Kathy Donovan, of Glace Bay Old Town Hall and a Technical Router with the CB-Victoria School board has offered to be the technical advisor on the Website committee.  Another volunteer is needed for the committee. 

4.2     Locator Map – all maps have all been re-labeled with new website address

5.0     New Business

5.1     Iona Connection Heritage Vision and Mission Statements as developed by the board were presented to membership.

                         The Iona Connection Heritage Cooperative visualizes itself as a unified, dynamic leader within strong and vibrant communities where the cultural and natural heritage of Cape Breton Island thrives.The mission of the Iona Connection Heritage Cooperative is to lead in creating an environment with the cultural and natural heritage of Cape Breton Island and its communities thrive.

5.2     The organization needs Logo, members are invited to offer their suggestions.

5.3     New Partner, Destination Cape Breton – Sandy MacDonald has offered to co-sponsor a one day “Engaging the Public” workshop with us in the Spring, distribute our brochures and sell our maps.

6.0     Workshop for next meeting – Wanda Cummings – Designing Rack cards is a possibility.
7.0     Next meeting will be April 29 2006 Municipality of Victoria County Courthouse

8.0     Meeting adjourned at 3:00 pm

Many thanks to the Orangedale Rail Way Station Association for providing the venue for our meeting and the Ladies Auxilliary of Orangedale for preparing the delicious lunch for our group.