Delta Museum & Archives Society

ANNUAL REPORT

engage. preserve. inform.

Delta Museum & Archives Society

4918 Delta Street, Delta BC, V4K 2V2 Telephone: 604-946-9315 Fax: 604-946-5791

Email: info@deltamuseum.ca Website: www.deltamuseum.ca

Funders

We would like to thank our following major funders for

their generous support:

BC Arts Council BC Gaming &

Enforcement Branch Canadian Heritage

Canadian Museums Association

Corporation of Delta Delta Agricultural

Society Delta Cable

Port Metro Vancouver

DONORS We gratefully acknowledge the contributions from our supporters

Delta Agricultural Society Delta Cable Delta Optimist Speedpro Signs Westshore Terminals Dairy Queen Tsawwassen Delta Fire Fighters Charitable Society GRC Consulting Inc. Dr. Ian Lomness Inc. Ken & Judy Bates Keith Cuthbert Family Open Connection Rod Swenson Farms Inc. Tecarte Farms White, Hunter & Barnes Families Wolzen Trucking Apex Glass The Chanceys Quality First Building Maintenance Ladner Business Association ABC Country Restaurant Angela’s Boutique Anju’s Skincare & Electrolysis Art Gallery of Greater Victoria Bayside Lawn & Gardens BC Lions Beach Grove Golf Club Black Bond Books Butchard Gardens Cactus Club Chilliwack River Rafting Coastal Olive Oil Company COBS Bread Colour Reflections Inc. Craigdarroch Castle Cran & Co. Dave’s Pop Culture Delta Law Office Dragonfly Gallery EA Games Envision Financial Evolution Fulfillment Fatburger Fitwells Tsawwassen and Tsawwassen Athletic Club Hawkair Flowers Beautiful

Gateway Theatre It’s an Art Tattoos Lawler Goldsmith Shoppe Lordco Parts Ltd. Mrs. Phyllis (Allen) Carter Nancy Wilson NAPA Auto Parts Open Space Yoga Pacific Advertising

Pacific National Exhibition Panago Pizza PIB Quadra Island Golf Club Radiant Orthodontics Ramada Inn Raymond James Ltd. ReLeaf Whole Body Alignment Richmond Go Karting and Rentals Robson Street Business Assn. Rona Tsawwassen Royal BC Museum

Safeway Save-On-Foods Science World Sonia’s Flowers Southend Farm & Vineyard Speed’s Liquour Store Splashdown Waterpark Starbucks The Source Tsawwassen Thrifty Foods TRG Group Pensions & Benefits Tsawwassen Wellness Centre Vancouver Giants Vancouver Pacific Financial View Laser Skin Rejuvenation Vinca’s Kitchen Wellbrook Winery Westcoast Seeds Westland Insurance Ladner Whiskey Point Resort White Spot Julie Backer Barbara Baydala Valerie Botkin Jean Brown Yvonne Chard Gerry Copeland Diane Grant Walt & Claudette Hayward Bob Helmer John M. Horton Doug Husband Jinny Ladner David Martin Gabrielle Martin Jill & Gerry McKinnon Naomi Miller Peter & Pat Murtha Alan Otter Catherine Overton Gertrude Mary Paul Edward (Ted) Pratt Jennifer Melville Roberts Lloyd Tamboline Hazel Venus Lucille Wilson Barbara Wright

Delta Museum & Archives Society

Vision

We envision a community where people are inspired by Delta’s diverse cultural and natural heritage and work together to build a future full of possibility.

Mission

The Delta Museum and Archives Society is a vibrant organization that celebrates Delta’s cultural and natural heritage, and encourages awareness and education through preservation, research, exhibitions, outreach and collaboration.

Strategic Priorities To foster the public’s connection with DMAS’s mission To develop partnering opportunities within the community To attain a synergistic relationship with the Corporation of Delta To employ best practices in the operation of all DMAS programs, services and events To achieve financial stability through generating adequate diversified funding

Lindy Mathesius Barbara Baydala

Tom Siba Nancy Wilson

President Vice President Treasurer Secretary

Joan Bennett Teresa Cooper Peter Edwards

Douglas Husband Angela Husvik

Peter Scurr

Trustees at Large

2014 Board of Trustees

MESSAGE From the President and Executive Director

2014 provided our Society a refreshing sense of rejuvenation and a coming together for a common purpose, marked by significant steps towards engaging our Delta community in support of our mission and vision. We continue to advance our reputation as the central source for the collection, preservation and education of Delta’s history and heritage. We do this with pride and commitment and the focus is evident throughout the organization. With an eye to planning the Society’s future, the Board conducted a visioning workshop to develop strategic priorities, including the long-term planning of a new museum site and building. Early stages of these plans focus on informing and engaging the community to garner support for these future endeavors. Simultaneously, to strengthen its governing mandate, the Board revised the DMAS’s constitution and bylaws. These were passed by the membership at the 2014 AGM. Additionally, six new governance policies were developed, approved and implemented during the year. Operationally, DMAS strengthened its capacity to deliver quality services and programs throughout Delta. Progress was made on locally-relevant historical exhibits that looked at: the Fraser River Estuarine Delta; the role water played in the development of Delta; the story of the role Deltans played in World War Two; and outreach exhibits were installed throughout North and South Delta that

focused on displaying our rich collections. New energetic staff members were hired to the Archives early in the year. With strong backgrounds in history and research, they bring with them the knowledge that today’s archival services are fast moving into a digital medium. Efforts ramped up immediately to process part of the backlog of community and public records. This year, our school program registrations were affected by the BCTA job action, however, we were able to deliver over 110 hours of education programming to school groups. With the success of past Regional Heritage Fairs, previously hosted with our Richmond partners, DMAS decided to singularly host the Delta Regional Fair in Delta in 2015 and it was a great success. We express our gratitude to our loyal funders and supporters. We could not accomplish all we do without their endorsed support, and particularly we thank the Corporation of Delta for their strong financial support of our operations. The Delta Optimist remains a generous friend to the Society and continues to provide coverage of our activities in its publications. We sincerely thank our wonderful and visionary Board of Trustees, our dedicated volunteers, and our talented and hardworking staff team. Together, we are building a new and exciting future.

Lindy Mathesius Gabrielle Martin President Executive Director

Lindy Mathesius, President

Gabrielle Martin, Executive Director

Audited Financial Statements available at the DMAS office

FINANCIALS Year Ending December 31, 2014

Audited Financial Statements available at the DMAS office

FINANCIALS Year Ending December 31, 2014

PROGRAMS

Archives In February, after a two month slow down of operations due to staff change over, the Archives welcomed two new staff members Robert and Sarah. Both bring a wealth of knowledge and energy to the DMAS Team.

Robert McLelland, Archivist

Sarah Sewell, Archival Attendant

Collections

Community Records: Two large fonds, the Delta Arts Council and the Kiwanis Club fonds, were fully arranged and described for visitor access

Public Records: Work began on arranging and describing the Corporation of Delta’s records

Photograph digitization program was reviewed and revised

Engagement

Exhibits: 3 new photographic exhibits and 2 entrance displays were developed and displayed

The Archivist, together with the Education Coordinator produced and delivered a public workshop aimed at helping people preserve their family records

18 meetings were held with potential new records donors

Social Media

Awareness was increased through Social Media enhancement, namely Facebook, HistoryPin and MemoryBC

Creation of new HistoryPin tours and pins have resulted in increased engagement

Staff Thank you to our excellent professional staff

Volunteers Thank you to all our dedicated Volunteers - we couldn’t do it without you!

Allen, V Baydala, B Bennett, J Billow, L Broznitsky, P Bustos, G Cameron, F Carleton, M Catterall, J Cleary, A Cooper, T Dhami, H Dion, B Edwards, L Edwards, P Faurschou-Wong, D Gardner, R George, P Getz, E Gibbons, E

Gill, A Hang, Y Hewitt, I Husband, D Husvik, A Iseminger, M Jenkins, H Jiang, H Johnson, B Jose, A Kessler, S Kinard, J King, H Lee, L Legault, S Lehal, K Li, P Lin, A Mackenzie, C Mackenzie, B

Mackenzie, C Madsen, J Mak, H Martin, G Martin, M Mathesius, L McCluskey, G Morin, J Murray, A Neutce, J Nottingham, W Padilla, F Page, A Pearce, J Piskorik, E Plant, J Poland, M Polman, W Qu, S Rashid, D

Rooney, A Sage, A Sandu, S Scurr, P Seagram, D Siba, T Soares, L Stevens, J Strukoff, B Sumanik, G Sutherland, D Swenson, G Tattersall, P Townsend, S Twamley, O Vidulich, P Watson, S Wilson, N Xu, K Yiren, M

Gabrielle Martin, Executive Director Diane Faurschou-Wong, Executive Assistant Darryl MacKenzie, Curator

Stephanie Reczka, Education Coordinator Brinlyn O’Hare, Heritage Fair Assistant Mary Elizabeth Harrison, Museum Office Coordinator

Robert McLelland, Archivist Sarah Sewell, Archival Attendant

We also sincerely thank our regular Contractors for their professional and able assistance

Mary Ann Anderson, Grant Writer; Carolien van Halderen, Bookkeeper; Karen Yow, Accountant along with our 3 - 2014 summer students, 2 - interns and 2 - practicum students for their important contributions towards furthering our Mission.

Museum

Outreach

Increased engagement activity with community groups to seek opportunities to borrow artifacts to support future exhibits

Participated in community forums and workshops to provide input into issues of local interest and/or concern, i.e. commemoration of World War One, habitat restoration and future tourism opportunities

Exhibits

Phase 1 of the Fraser River Estuarine Delta exhibition was completed in time for a launch during Heritage Week

In total, 4 new exhibits were developed and installed; 6 other exhibits were adapted and installed for both the museum gallery and other outreach locations

2 significant artifact donations received: a rare set of navigational equipment and a large collection of model airplanes

Preliminary research was undertaken for the development of a new Collections Management Policy

Collections

Darryl Mackenzie, Curator

EVENTS

Canada Day A large crowd turned out on July 1st for the Delta Museum & Archives Society’s annual Canada Day Celebrations on Delta Street. Visitors enjoyed a tasty pancake breakfast, prepared by the Lions Clubs of Delta; musical entertainment by The Dog House Band; and fun family activities including street games and face painting.

Golf Tournament The 14th Annual Delta Heritage Golf Classic took place on August 8th at Beach Grove Golf Club, and 84 players came out to participate! In the evening, the golfers convened in the clubhouse and were joined by an additional 60 guests for dinner. Most importantly, the Pioneer Family Tribute this year, was awarded to the Husband and Pybus families for their lengthy community spirit.

EVENTS

2014 Delta Heritage Golf Classic winners with the Cup, presented by Doug Husband

Delta Museum & Archives Society

Vision

We envision a community where people are inspired by Delta’s diverse cultural and natural heritage and work together to build a future full of possibility.

Mission

The Delta Museum and Archives Society is a vibrant organization that celebrates Delta’s cultural and natural heritage, and encourages awareness and education through preservation, research, exhibitions, outreach and collaboration.

Strategic Priorities To foster the public’s connection with DMAS’s mission To develop partnering opportunities within the community To attain a synergistic relationship with the Corporation of Delta To employ best practices in the operation of all DMAS programs, services and events To achieve financial stability through generating adequate diversified funding

Lindy Mathesius Barbara Baydala

Tom Siba Nancy Wilson

President Vice President Treasurer Secretary

Joan Bennett Teresa Cooper Peter Edwards

Douglas Husband Angela Husvik

Peter Scurr

Trustees at Large

2014 Board of Trustees

PROGRAMS

Education

Public Programming

5 new public programs were developed including a custom program for seniors, redesign of the ‘Holiday’ programs and a program for Heritage Week’s Open House

Schools

Celebrate Chinese New Year remains the most popular and attended school program

The Education Docents continue to be strong and committed, helping to deliver over 110 hours of programming to school groups

Outreach

2 new teachers were hosted for a 3 3 week practicum as part our participation in the UBC Teacher Education program. Students rewrote the DMAS elementary school kits for the development of a new program, which will be evaluated against the new BC Social Studies Curriculum

Increased participation over 2013 for the Delta History Hunter Tours

Heritage Fair

3 Delta Students were selected from the Richmond/Delta Regional Fair to represent their region at the BC Provincial Heritage Fair

In 2015, the Delta Heritage Fair is planned to be hosted by DMAS in Delta for the first time

Stephanie Reczka, Education Coordinator

ADMINISTRATION

Measuring Success 1,906 visitations (in person, by phone or

by email) 1,951 students participated in School

Programs 26 new acquisitions of records including

the Delta Naturalist fonds 18.35 metres of Community Records

processed for preservation 6.53 metres of Municipal Records

processed for preservation 10,968 Website Visits and 88,480 Page

views Total Facebook Reach 13,887 Activity on HistoryPin increased by 59%

8,836 people directly engaged by outreach programs

56 students from 4 Delta schools presented at the Richmond held Regional Fair

14 public programs held 114 artifacts accessioned 808 artifact records modified/updated 1300 people attended the Canada Day

Celebration Golf Tournament: 84 players and 144

people attended the dinner Total of 4,150 volunteer hours

Administration Support

Planning

To prepare for the future renovation of the heritage museum building, planning commenced for the relocation of DMAS museum programs and services to a new site

Conversations were held with the Corporation of Delta to determine a new method of reporting service deliverables for future inclusion in Service Agreements with Delta

Mary Elizabeth Harrison, Museum Office Coordinator

Diane Faurschou-Wong, Executive

Assistant

Engagement

Heritage Week activities expanded in all service areas to include a greater presence in North and South Delta

An increased focus on Social Media and promotional activities resulted in strengthened community support for public events and programs

Capacity Development

An external review of our payroll and accounting systems was completed; new procedures and policies are being developed for implementation in 2015

A more synergistic relationship has developed between CUPE and DMAS

Administration staff now oversee and coordinate the Society’s volunteer program; plans for a future volunteer recruitment campaign in 2015 are underway

Delta Museum & Archives Society

Vision

We envision a community where people are inspired by Delta’s diverse cultural and natural heritage and work together to build a future full of possibility.

Mission

The Delta Museum and Archives Society is a vibrant organization that celebrates Delta’s cultural and natural heritage, and encourages awareness and education through preservation, research, exhibitions, outreach and collaboration.

Strategic Priorities To foster the public’s connection with DMAS’s mission To develop partnering opportunities within the community To attain a synergistic relationship with the Corporation of Delta To employ best practices in the operation of all DMAS programs, services and events To achieve financial stability through generating adequate diversified funding

Lindy Mathesius Barbara Baydala

Tom Siba Nancy Wilson

President Vice President Treasurer Secretary

Joan Bennett Teresa Cooper Peter Edwards

Douglas Husband Angela Husvik

Peter Scurr

Trustees at Large

2014 Board of Trustees