Newfoundland and Labrador's Historic Sites Open this Weekend

The Commissariat - At the corner of King's Bridge Road and Military Road, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Credit: Newfoundland and Labrador Historic Sites

Historic Site are opening this weekend in Newfoundland and Labrador.  Are you planning to visit any, or some or them this summer?

“Our Provincial Historic Sites offer an interactive history lesson on the many influences that have shaped who we are today as a people, including the lives of the Beothuks and the history of lighthouses,” Terry French, minister of tourism, culture and recreation, said in a news release. “You can experience Christmas in the Library at Mockbeggar; Voices on the Wind at the Beothuk Interpretation Centre; Jam and Jammin at Point Amour; or Cultural Company at Heart’s Content, to name a few. I invite visitors from home and abroad to explore our unique culture and heritage.”

Provincial Historic Sites include: the Commissariat House and the Newman Wine Vaults in St. John’s, as well as the Colonial Building (which is currently closed for renovations); the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse and Mockbeggar Plantation in Bonavista; Hiscock House Visitor Centre, and the Mercantile Premises in Trinity; the Heart’s Content Cable Station; the Beothuk Interpretation Centre in Boyd’s Cove; the Cupids Cove Plantation; and, Point Amour Lighthouse in Labrador.

For more information on these and other programs, visit www.seethesites.ca .
The provincial government has also announced that visitor information centres around the province opened today.

The centres provide information to the travelling public such as directions, advice and local knowledge, and also assist with booking reservations.

Provincial visitor information centres are located in Port aux Basques, on the Deer Lake Highway, Notre Dame, Clarenville, Whitbourne, and Argentia. The Argentia location is currently undergoing renovations and an update on its opening will be provided at a later date.

International Museums Day

Do you plan to celebrate Museum Day tomorrow?

The ICOM sent this press release -

"The worldwide community of museums will celebrate International Museum Day 18 May, 2013.

This year, the theme of the International Museum Day will be Museums (memory + creativity) = social change. Our rich heritage, which museums both display and protect, is associated with inventiveness and vitality, both of which have characterized the museum sector in recent years and are museums’ greatest strengths.

ICOM General Director, Julien Anfruns adds: “Reconciling their traditional mission of preservation with cultivation of the creativity necessary for renewal and visitor growth is the evolution that museums are striving for, with the firm conviction that their presence and their actions can change society in a constructive manner.”

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) established International Museum Day in 1977 to increase public awareness of the role of museums in the development of society. Momentum has been rising unabated ever since. In 2012, International Museum Day garnered record‐breaking participation with almost 32,000 museums hosting events in more than 129 countries.

ICOM is partnering with the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme – which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2012 – for International Museum Day 2013. ICOM and Memory of the World, which is dedicated to world documentary heritage, share a common vision of safeguarding heritage for the benefit of society and are joined in their reflection on the potential of digitization for this purpose".

Visit the International Museum Day official website at
http://imd.icom.museum

Shuttle Bus Available Saturday and Sunday at 2013 Conference

A local, family-run, bus company, DURHAMWAY, will run a handi-bus shuttle service on Saturday and Sunday during the main people moving hours of the conference. Durhamway is also running the banquet shuttle for those who purchased bus tickets

A different local business will now rent mobility aids (including scooters) during the conference.

The website is
www.ogs.on.ca/conference2013/category/announcement

The conference website is www.ogs.on.ca/conference2013/home

Marketplace at the OGS Conference 2013

The marketplace will be open Friday 11:00 a.m.—6:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m., and Sunday 8:30 a.m.—1:00 p.m.

Vendors, heritage organizations and OGS branches will set up displays in Durham College’s largest and newest gym, which is three full courts in total area.

Vendors at Conference 2013 are -

Buisness 

•Ancestry.ca

•Archive CD Books

•The Bookfinder – Fenlon Falls

•Canadiana.org

•Dave Cook, bookseller

•Dundurn Press

•Fading History

•Family History Alive

•Family History Simplified

•FamilySearch.org

•Family Tree Magazine

•George Laidlaw

•Global Genealogy

•Kinfolk Finders

•Linda Corupe, UE

•Marks in Time

•Moorshead Publications

•Multitech Graphics

•National Institute for Genealogical Studies

•Our Digital World

•Pat McGregor Books

•Progeny Genealogy

•Durham County Genealogy

•Strategic Property Solutions

Heritage Groups

•Archives of Ontario

•British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa

•Canadian Friends Historical Foundation

•Guild of One Name Studies

•Newcastle Village and District Historical Society

•Toronto Cornish Association

•Trent Valley Archives

OGS Branches

•Ontario Genealogical Society

•OGS Conference 2014

•Brant CountyBranch

•British Home Child SIG

•Bruce & Grey County Branch

•Durham Region Branch

•Halton- Peel Branch

•Ireland SIG

•Irish Palatine SIG

•Kawartha Branch

•Kingston Branch

•Lambton County Branch

•Leeds & Grenville Branch

•Niagara Peninsula Branch

•Ottawa Branch

•Oxford County Branch

•Quinte Branch

•Simcoe County

•Toronto Branch

•Waterloo Region Branch

To go to the Marketplace, go to www.ogs.on.ca/conference2013/market-place. There is individual websites for each participant.

You can go into the marketplace for FREE, and there will be lots for you to see.

Head of Library and Archives Canada resigns

Daniel Caron, the head archivist of the Library and Archives Canada, resigned Wednesday. He had billed taxpayers nearly $4,500 for personal Spanish lessons.

Caron was appointed head librarian and archivist of Canada in 2009.

To read the complete story, go to www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2013/05/15/pol-library-archives-daniel-caron-resigns-spanish.html

Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe Conference 2013

A press release was received by the office this afternoon -

“Many of our German ancestors lived in areas of modern Poland which were once considered German, known as Prussia, Pommern and Posen. Others migrated through Poland and into Russian territory in search of land to farm.

Members of the Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe concentrate their search in the areas of Poland and Volhynia (Ukraine) and help others whose ancestors might have migrated through these regions.

The SGGEE is holding its annual Convention in Seattle, Washington from August 9-11.”

The web site is at www.sggee.org

Call for Presentations - Tracing Forward - Searching for Relatives in Recent Times

This came in this morning from Gwyneth Pearce, the publicity person for the Toronto Family History Branch of the OGS -

"This is a quick reminder about a Call for Presentations issued by the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society for our planned fall 2013 workshop titled Tracing Forward - Searching for Relatives in Recent Times. The deadline for proposals is Friday 31 May.

The aim of this workshop, to be held on Saturday 26 October, is to offer new ideas, skills or tools to help researchers trace members of their expanded family trees, people who might still be alive or recently deceased.

We are seeking proposals from professional genealogists, family historians, private investigators, legal experts and heir searchers”.

Go the Branch website at www.torontofamilyhistory.org