Westbank museum takes its heritage week displays online
The Westbank Museum is looking to technology to remind people of simpler times during Heritage Week next week.
Daily postings on social media will be used to showcase the community’s rich history.
Like other museums and cultural heritage institutions, the Westbank Museum is keeping Heritage Week simple because of COVID-19, said Jaden Cormack, museum and visitor services coordinator.
Each day’s posting will have a different hashtag.
For example, for Trivia Tuesday Cormack created an online quiz for people to test their knowledge of Westside history.
Throwback Thursday will offer a glimpse of what Westbank used to look like with before and after photos spliced together so people compare locations such as the downtown orthodontist’s building now and what it used to look like in 1902.
Watch for What Was it Like Wednesday, when Cormack and the museum’s student will dress up in costume and post a skit online showing the simplicity of pioneer life using artifacts available at the museum. Plans include churning butter and an attempt to use the spinning wheel.
Shadowbox Saturday will feature a display case with artifacts from the Last family. The museum will post a photo of the display and a writeup about the family’s history.
“Whenever I think of winter, I think of the Last family because of the ski hill,” said Cormack, referring to the former Last Mountain Ski Resort.
“There has been so much talk about Crystal Mountain/Bull Mountain Park opening and people are really excited about it, “said Cormack. “A lot of people don’t really know the history of it.”
The Last family display is part of an ongoing project for the museum that will focus on pioneer families.
People are welcome to drop by the museum and check out the project which also includes a shadowbox in honour of Sheila Paynter, local writer, farmer and family matriarch, who passed away at age 100 in 2020.
Cormack said the plan is to fill the museum’s entire back room with upwards of 20 shadowboxes including families who have had streets named after them as well as big players in industry, such as the Gorman family.
Each of the daily posts will be made to the Westbank Museum’s Facebook page, Instagram and website at westbankmuseum.com.