Sunday is free day at Bedeque museum

The Bedeque Area Museum is marking a successful summer of four new exhibitions and a record numbers of visitors by hosting a free open day on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The normal admission fee will be waived with visitors making a donation if they wish.

It will offer one of the last chances to see some of the museum’s special exhibits of 2017, which will be dismantled when the museum closes for the summer on Sept. 3.

“The Borden Ferry – 100” exhibit marks the centenary of the crossing of the first ferry, the SS Prince Edward Island, from Borden to Cape Tormentine in October 1917. Using poster displays, the exhibition tells the story of the Northumberland Strait crossings, from the first iceboats at Cape Traverse in 1827 to the closing of the Borden ferry service in 1997.

On display are many items from private collections and from the P.E.I. Museum, including large models of three of the ferries, and original artefacts from the Prince Edward Island, the first Abegweit, the ill-fated Charlottetown (which sank in 1942), the Lucy Maud Montgomery, and the Holiday Island ferries. Visitors can also watch video interviews recording the reminiscences of ferry workers.

Also coming to an end is “Rally Round the Flag – Prince Edward Island and the Great War,” a comprehensive poster display, prepared by the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, outlining the contribution of Islanders, including those on the home front, to the Great War.

Also ending is “Five Objects Telling the Story of Canada.” As part of a Canada 150 project, organized by the P.E.I. Community Museums Association, the Bedeque Museum selected five objects depicting aspects of Island history, including the Island’s first game laws in 1780, the beginning of lobster canning in the 1850s, and the development of the silver fox industry in the early 20th century.

Also new this summer, but continuing at the museum into the future, is a poster display on “The Mi’kmaw Way of Life on the Island, from before European Contact up to the End of the 19th century.” It presents visual representations of the Mi’kmaq as recorded in early paintings and drawings.

The museum closes for the season Sept. 4.

SUBMITTED PHOTO The entrance to the Borden Ferry 100 exhibit shows dining-room chairs from the first Abegweit ferry dating from 1947 and, on the right, the official maker’s model of the second Abegweit, made in 1982.

SUBMITTED PHOTO The public-lounge clock from the SS Charlottetown, which sank off Nova Scotia on June 10, 1941. While the ship was sinking, Chief Steward Charles Meikle (1880-1850) removed the clock from the wall before he boarded a lifeboat.

SUBMITTED PHOTO The name plaque of the MV Abegweit, which disappeared in the 1970s after it had been removed for the repainting of the ship. It turned up recently in an Island antique shop and was loaned to the Bedeque Museum for its Borden Ferry 100 exhibit.