Annual General Meeting to be held at the Museum on WEDNESDAY, February 19, 2020 at 7 p.m.

March Break Camp | Museum Curators
What does it take to put together an exhibition at the museum? Museum Curators will get a special 'behind the scenes' tour of our Collections Room. Working as a curatorial team, campers will develop an exhibition theme, choose artefacts, create personal  objects, write didactics and finally curate a group exhibition in the museum. Parents are invited on the final day for a celebration and tour of the Museum Curators hard work.

March Break Camp Details:
Date: March 16-20, 2020 
Time: 9am-4pm
Ages: 7-12
Cost:  $180 (Museum Members) , $200 (Non Members)

Our Annual Innkeepers fundraiser will take place April 4th, 2020 At the Arden Park Hotel. Check out this article from the Beacon herald to read about some exciting additions to the event! For tickers, Click Here

A new venue for the Stratford Perth Museum’s signature Innkeepers’ Dinner fundraiser means more tickets, more fun and more opportunities to support the museum.

Though the annual dinner has been at the historic Knox Presbyterian Church in downtown Stratford for as long as museum general manager John Kastner can remember, he says the event has outgrown the church’s limited space. So, in it’s 18th year, the Innkeepers’ Dinner is moving to the Arden Park Hotel.

“We sell out Knox Church every year,” Kastner said of the former venue, which can seat about 180 guests. “We’d outgrown that facility. It was pretty tight and it was difficult to do some of the things that other organizations do – things like video screens and live music and maybe dancing.”

With the Arden Park Hotel lined up, Kastner said the museum can sell anywhere from 200 to 300 tickets. At the normal price of $120 each, which includes dinner and a $100 tax receipt – ticket sales for the event will bring in more money for the museum.

“More people creates more revenue, and a big part of the event is the (silent and live) auctions,” Kastner said. “And more people is more bidders, so there’s a lot of merit in taking it to a bigger venue.”

And those who attend this year’s dinner, set for April 4 at 6 p.m., will also get more enjoyment out of the larger space.

In past years, Kastner said the museum had trouble incorporating live music into the space at Knox. This year, event organizers are not only planning on live music and a DJ to entertain diners but are also looking at adding a dance to the event following the live auction.

“People always sort of disperse after the auction is over, and it’s sort of done at 10 or 10:30 p.m. and lots of people aren’t ready to go home yet,” Kastner said, “so we’re looking at having something that follows.”

While part of the charm of hosting the Innkeepers’ Dinner at Knox was the history of the building itself, the local heritage element of the dinner won’t disappear at the new venue. As many locals know, the Arden Park Hotel sits on the site of the former Kroehler furniture factory. Staying on brand, the museum will be setting up a pop-up exhibit during the event featuring artifacts and information from its Kroehler collection.

“Kroehler was one of the iconic locations in Stratford, so we’re going to have a really nice pop-up exhibit about Kroehler’s as well,” Kastner said. “It’s really on mission for us as well to have some old things from Kroehler’s, like the original time clock and furniture samples and things like that.

“I think it will make for a pretty cool experience.”

Though the event is still months away, Kastner expects tickets to once again sell out fast. To learn more and purchase tickets, visit stratfordperthmuseum.com.

Galen Simmons

Please join us for an exciting Exhibit Reception and Feature Lecture this Tuesday January 7 2020!

"The Wightman Story: From Party Lines to Fibre Optic" 

·         10:00 to 11:00am:  Presentation on Leila Wightman as part of our Lecture Series: Strong Female Lead, paying tribute to remarkable, historical women from our area.

·         11:30am: Exhibit Reception and Refreshments

Did you know? 

In 2020 Wightman Telecom turns 112 years old. Founded in 1908 by Robert Wightman, the company’s development mirrors that of the telephone industry itself. From magneto phones and operator assisted switchboards where calls were only possible during daytime working hours, to 24/7 connections to the entire world through the internet, The Wightman Story celebrates five generations in the family business.
 
Featured Female Lead: Leila Wightman, the first woman to own a telecommunications company. Leila Wightman was a determined and forward thinking woman, committed to her community and to the family business. During her tenure, from 1948 to 1976, she led many of the changes in industry technology in the middle of the 20^th Century. In 2006 she was inducted into Canada’s Telecommunications Hall of Fame along with such luminaries as Alexander Graham Bell and Ted Rogers.
 
Our Lecture Series Through images, personal objects/artifacts and story-sharing, the lectures journey through the lives and the impact each woman has made both locally and nationally.  Enjoy a selection of breakfast pastries, tea and coffee to accompany a Q&A following each lecture.