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Seniors Tour Remembrance Day exhibit

The Hardy Bay Seniors Society received a special tour of the museum
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HANNA PETERSEN Members of the Hardy Bay Seniors Society visit attend a special tour of the Port Hardy Museum.

A group of seniors received a special tour of the Remembrance Day exhibit at the Port Hardy Museum in appreciation of their volunteer efforts.

“We have this little exhibit for remembrance day,” said museum curator Jane Hutton, who then explained the exhibit features a mixture of wartime items.

Hutton invited the Hardy Bay Seniors Society for a special tour of the exhibit on Nov. 21, which was on a Tuesday when the museum is typically closed.

She said since the seniors have invited her up to the Senior’s Centre during seniors week, she wanted to return the favour and invite them all to the museum. “The seniors have just been so helpful,” said Hutton, adding, “they are just really good at answering the call when I need to borrow something.”

Hutton noted there was a time when she was putting together a medical care exhibit and needed to borrow hospital-style flannelette sheets. “I sent them a note and the next day there was a parade of women bringing me flannelette sheets,” laughed Hutton. She said a lot of people in the community also helped bring the Remembrance Day exhibit together, pointing out the guns and medals that were borrowed from Rod Inglis and Larry Clair.

The Remembrance Day exhibit also features WWI photographs from Port Hardy resident George Keery, whose father and uncle, William and George Keery, fought in the trenches. On display are drawings from a small sketchbook their sister gave William, which he and his fellow soldiers filled with cartoons and drawings made throughout the war.

“This is a really lovely little thing,” said Hutton of the drawings. “It was done in the trenches by candlelight - you can’t get any more, you know, trench art than that.”

Hutton also managed to track down WWI clothing, both a tunic and an overcoat, which she found through a museum in Nelson.

She said she was happy to have the seniors come and tour the exhibit. “Some have been here a lot and others probably haven’t been here in decades, and it looks quite different,” said Hutton, explaining that, “Almost all of our permanent exhibits have been renovated just in the last five or six years.”

The seniors also enjoyed tea, cookies and other snacks during their visit to the museum.

The Port Hardy Museum is open in November and December Wednesday to Saturday from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, but will be closed during the month of January for maintenance.

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HANNA PETERSEN Seniors look at the Remembrance Day exhibits at the museum.