Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Remembrance Day and family life will be common themes explored this month at the Lennox and Addington County Museum and Archives.
The family life theme ties into the Our Ordinary, Extraordinary Lives photography exhibit, which opened last week and runs until Jan. 7, 2022.
“A lot of the November programming is specific to family life not just today but throughout L&A County history,” said Amber Meyer, program coordinator for the L&A County Museum and Archives.
With Remembrance Day also just around the corner, the museum will be hosting a pair of art workshops for both kids and adults on Nov. 6.
Led by Rhonda Evans of Glocca Morra Farms, the morning workshop will be part of the Museum Kids series, geared towards ages 4-13. Using alcohol ink, she’ll lead a class on how to paint the iconic poppy flower, synonymous with those who gave their lives during WWI and WWII.
There will be two timeslots for the kids event, starting at 10 a.m. followed by 10:45 a.m.
At 1 p.m. will be a Heritage Arts Workshop where Evans will lead a more advanced alcohol ink class.
“This is a program we’ve wanted to do for three years but because of COVID we’ve had to postpone it multiple times,” Meyers said of the heritage art workshop. “This will be a lovely workshop just before Remembrance Day.”
Both events are free of change, but participants must register in advance. It’s also recommended to wear clothing that can get messy.
Keeping with the Remembrance Day theme, on Nov. 9 the museum will welcome local filmmaker Dale Morrisey for screenings of an episode of his documentary series Heroines in the Storm.
“We’re doing the fourth episode (The War At Home), which is primarily about L&A County,” said Meyer. “A lot of the information and stories are from our area.”
A screening will be held at 2 p.m. A second screening, scheduled for 7 p.m. is already at capacity.
Following the film Morrisey will take part in a Q&A with the audience.
On Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. there will be a virtual event known as Tools to Solve Adoptions and Family Tree Mysteries. The virtual event can be viewed online from home but will still have an opportunity for participants to interact with the presenters.
The talk will focus on filling in gaps in family tress and how to make sense of DNA testing results.
Wrapping up the busy month will be an in person event on Nov. 23 with Adele Crowder. She’ll talk of the Lucy Stover diary, which focuses on family life in a farm known as Chipmunk Ridge.
“It’s going to be a fascinating story on the social world within the historical context of L&A County,” said Meyer. “Fred Brown’s photographs were from that area, Odessa, so it helps to illustrate Adele’s talks. That’s going to be an in person talk.”
Each event requires pre-registration and can be done online by visiting https://www.lennox-addington.on.ca/museum-archives/events or calling 613-354-3027.
“What we’re trying to do is continue on with virtual programming because it’s reaching a broader audience that we wouldn’t necessarily be able to have in person,” Meyer said of hosting online events despite the fact the museum is open to in person visitors. “We still have regulations for numbers that we’re allowed to have in the building so we’re trying have a good mix. We would like to have people in person and we want them to come in and see these exhibits and the programs are reflective of what the exhibits are. We’d love to have people in the building to enjoy the talk or the presentation or the program and then be able to enjoy the exhibits as well. That’s ideal but we are going to continue on with virtual events because some things just present better virtually as well.”
Guests can continue to book visits to see any of the ongoing exhibits. The museum is located at 97 Thomas St. E in Napanee.