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Inside This Issue

AGM 1

President’s Report 2

Manager’s Report 3

Membership News 4

Membership News 5

Advertising 6

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www.dicksonstoremuseum.com

April 2018 Newsletter

Dates to Remember

Special Events for 2018

Opening Day May 19

Sunday at the Museum

July 29

Teddy Bear Picnic Aug 2

Fall Supper & Concert

TBA

Julestue Nov 3

Dinner & Dessert Theatre

TBA

Contact Information

Phone: 403.728.3355

Fax: 403.728.3351

Address:

Box 146

Spruce View, AB

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The Dickson Store Museum held its Annual General Meeting and Volunteer

Appreciation on February 3, 2018. The museum had 45 people in attendance. The

evening began with a wonderful supper that was enjoyed by all, prepared by Kari

Morck and served by Lynn Morck and Antonia Nissen.

This year the theme for Volunteer Appreciation was

“Volunteers are Winners”. The tables were decorated with a

Canadian flag center piece with either a white or red candle.

Around the center piece was gold wrapped candies and white

and red sparkle shred. With the Olympics being held this year

the manager decided to form Olympic

games with red and white teams

competing. It was determined which team you would compete for

by the color of the candle on your table. The teams were divided

to different sides of the room. The manager made a list for who

she was looking for to do certain activities Ex. Mover/Shakers

which meant you had a Kleenex box tied to your back with ping

pong balls in it that you had to shake out of the box. The catch was

they had no idea of the activity they would be doing because of the

name for the activity. Everyone enjoyed competing in these team challenges. If you

were not partaking in the activity you were the cheerleaders of

the team. The manager handed out noise makers to cheer on

your team. It was amazing just how competitive our

volunteers really are. It is so good to have some light hearted

fun with the volunteers who work so hard in so many

capacities all year long. To end the games the left/right game

was played and whatever prize you ended up with is what you

took home as a thank you.

People remaining on the board include: Antonia Nissen, Tracy Rowbotham, Bill

Taylor, Marianne Nicholson, Lynne Morck, Connie Swarbrick, Alice Savage and

Harold Kemtrup. New members to the Board include: Dave Matheson, Kari Morck,

and Doug Norman. They were voted in by acclamation.

In 2018 the museum will install a temporary large exhibit and be putting up

some smaller exhibits throughout the museum.

The museum will be opening on Saturday May 19, 2018. We are looking

forward to your visit.

Email: dicksonstoremuseum@gmail.com

Volunteers Recognized at the Dickson Store Museum Annual General Meeting

Dickson Store Museum

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President’s Report

Written by Antonia Nissen, President

This has been another challenging year for the Society

running our community museum. However, we are

approaching 2018 in a lot better position than last year at

this time. We were able to secure funding for the much

needed repairs and renovations. We have been working

on this since the devastating hail storms of 2014. We

needed to raise $60,000. We have a commitment from

Alberta Historic Sites. We received a sizable grant from

the Red Deer County and, now early in 2018, we received

a grant from Community Facility Enhancement. Our

fundraising efforts were successful enough to let us put

aside $10,000 to match grant funds where needed. The

main reason we could do this was because we worked

Bingos in Red Deer once a month. Revenue from these

paid a lot of our operating expenses. We also had a

Casino this year. This is only possible with the work of

volunteers who are so generous with their time. We

would not be able to do this without them.

Our Manager, Sharon, looks after the day to day running

of the museum. She trains and supervises staff, makes

sure all the programs are up to the standards set by the

Alberta Museums Association, networks with other local

museums and coordinates volunteers for a lot of our

fundraisers. When she has a few minutes of spare time

she writes a play and finds actors, directors and light and

sound people and produces a great fundraiser for us and a

grand entertainment for the community. Not only that,

this year, she has completed her Certificate In Museum

Studies. Congratulations Sharon on this achievement and

Thank You for all your hard work keeping the Dickson

Store a significant part of our community.

I am happy and excited to work with an enthusiastic and

knowledgeable Board of Directors who are willing to take

on many challenges. Welcome to our newest board

members Doug Norman, Kari Morck, and Dave

Matheson. Our biggest expense always is payroll during

the summer. The grants for the students ' wages don't

come in until well after the season starts. This always is

stressful for the treasurer. Somehow with the ice cream

sales and donations we squeeze through those first

months. The Bingo revenue now covers our utilities and

maintenance. This summer we realized the need for better

security so we purchased a safe and security cameras.

We hosted a supper and concert and the Julestue and a

dinner theatre in the Fall. We found that we needed extra

help in the kitchen so we asked the local 4-H Club if they

would work for us bussing tables and doing dishes. This

has become a great partnership. They take a load of work

off our backs and they make some money for their own

projects. Two community groups benefit when we have

an event.

Our Annual Julestue happened to fall on the worst

weather weekend so far this year. Attendance was down

so our profits suffered. It was still a good day and we

thank Kari Morck for taking over on the sandwiches so

we could still offer the famous Danish Restaurant that

many look forward to.

We look forward to 2018 as we go ahead with our

renovations and continue to offer the museum as the

interpretation of our history and a meeting place for

community members and visitors. We thank all of our

members and volunteers who contribute countless hours

to our fundraisers and programs. We have support from

local, municipal, provincial and federal levels. We

continue to be a place to showcase our pioneer

background and provide the hospitality that the

Christiansen General Store represented for over 100 years

now.

It has been a privilege to serve on this Board in the last

years and I would like to thank the other board members,

volunteers and the staff for their enthusiastic support for

all of our projects.

Stay Connected with the Dickson Store Museum!

Like us on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/dicksonstoremuseum1

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Manager’s Report

Written by Sharon Lightbown, Manager

I feel like a broken record last year I began the

newsletter with “Will this winter ever end? I am so

done with the snow, the older I get the more I dislike

it.” This year we two weeks later writing the

newsletter and it is still winter. This winter has been

one of the coldest on record for over 30 years and the

snow just keeps piling up. I am thinking I had nothing

to complain about last year.

After the Christmas break I began applying for student

funding for the 2018 season. Antonia and I wrote a

grant for a new exhibit entitled “Seeing in a New

Way”. We have received word that we were

successful in the funding and this exhibit will be

created and installed for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. I

organized the AGM which took place on February 3.

Last year the museum had applied for funding to many

organizations so we would be able to get the roof

repaired and the siding fixed and painted. I am happy

to report that thanks to the Red Deer County Capital

Assistance Grant, Community Facility Enhancement

Program, and Historic Sites for funding this project we

now have enough money to complete the job. YEAH!!

Thank you to Alberta Museums Association for

funding the Operational Staffing Grant. Thank you to

the Federal and Provincial Governments to subsidize

wages for our student employees for this season.

The Provincial Government is in the process of

revamping the Visitor Information Accreditation

program and the museum will continue with its efforts

to become accredited once the program is revised. I

will also be attending the Visitor Information Center

mandatory Spring Training on May 8 & 9th in

Edmonton.

Once again we are part of the Innifail Tourism

brochure.

In October of last year I reapplied for the Recognized

Museum Program Status. I am pleased to say that we

have been designated a Conditionally Recognized

Museum. They are asking for a couple of minor

administrative follow-up requirements. I am proud of

this application as AMA stated in their letter: “This is a

very strong application that demonstrates consistent

application of best practice standards. The mission

statement and planning document stood out as

particularly good. The review panel had a few

suggestions to further improve practices, but overall

was very impressed with the application.” I have

submitted the changes required but we will not hear

back until the end of June whether we have been

granted the status for another 5 years.

We are planning on restocking our gift shop this

spring. It is our hope to find more local people that

would like to consign their items to the shop. If you or

you know of someone that would like to sell items in

our gift shop please contact Sharon at the museum.

I am looking for volunteers to help with school

programs once again this year. Please contact me if

you are able to help out.

At present I am busy marketing our Spring Fling

Concert with the Doll Sister and Brianna Lizotte that

will be held at the Spruce View Hall on April 21, 2018.

I am looking forward to starting the process of creating

and installing the new exhibit “Seeing in a New Way”

that will be all about 3D imaging. It will not only be

educational but have some fun hands on activities. We

hope to have a good portion of this exhibit up and

running by opening day May 19, 2018. I look forward

to seeing you for a visit this year.

Thank you to the Alberta Museum

Association for funding our Institutional and

Staffing Grants.

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Become a member today, give the gift of a membership,

share this form with a friend. Renew your membership

by using the form below or send us a quick note with a

cheque enclosed. Membership keeps you current on the

museums happenings and events. We value our

members and their support.

Thank you for your interest in the Dickson Store Museum.

2018 Membership and Donation Form January -December

Name: ________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________

City/Town: _____________________Province: _______________

Postal Code: _______________Email: ______________________

Phone: __________________

Please choose which format you wish to receive.

Paper/Regular Mail Electronic

Email

New Member _______ Membership Renewal _________

1 year membership $10.00

5 year membership $50.00

Single Life Membership (age 55 and over) $100.00 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Every Donation Helps the Museum

Your donation can be designated to:

Museum Operations

General Donation

Museum Repairs Wish List Donation

Memorial donation in Memory of: ______________________

Donation Amount: _____________________________________

Make cheque payable to Dickson Store Museum

Mail to: Box 146

Spruce View, Alberta

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Membership News

Don’t forget to renew your

membership for 2018

If you would like to know if your

membership is current please call the

museum.

Looking For A Gift! A community member has come up with

a great gift giving idea that will help the

museum and solve all your problems for

the hard to buy for. The donor will

receive a tax receipt and the museum will

issue a certificate to the honored person

stating who the donation is from and the

special occasion. Below is a sample of

the certificate which is smaller than the

card-sized one that will be sent.

Dickson Store Museum Donation Certificate

A special donation has been made in

honor of

______________________________

to the Dickson Store Museum by ______________________________

On ________________________________

_______________________

Signature of Museum Representative

dicksonstoremuseum.com

Advertisers Thank you to our advertisers for your continuing support. Your annual advertising fees for the 2018 season are now due. The cost is $40.00 for one year. Thank you.

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Exciting Membership News!

Spring Fling!

We have high hopes that spring will actually be here when we hold our spring fling

on Saturday April 21, 2018. Come and join us for this event with entertainment by

the Doll Sisters and Brianna Lizotte. Tickets for Beef on a Bun supper and concert

are $35.00 in advance. Concert only $20.00 in advance or $25.00 at the door. Doors

open at 5:00pm. Supper is at 6:00 pm. Concert begins at 7:00pm. For tickets you

can go to our website at www.dicksonstoremuseum.com and follow the link or call

the museum 403-728-3355.

Your Donation is Greatly Appreciated!

Thank you for making a donation to the Dickson Store Museum!

Doug and Phyllis Gillanders General Donation

Diane and Jim Franssen General Donation

Ellwood Thompson In Memory of Helen Thompson

Ardis Bramall In Memory of Ray Swan

Erling and Wilma Hansen General Donation

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Thank you to the Federal

Government for funding

seasonal staff positions in

2018 through Young

Canada Works and The

Provincial Government for

the Summer Temporary

Employment Program. We

are still waiting to hear

from Canada Summer Jobs.

Place your advertisement here!

Call today to find out how 403-728-3355.

Boreal Insurance Group Inc.