Heart’s Content Mizzen Heritage Society Inc.
2023 Membership
As the Heart’s Content Mizzen Heritage Society enters its 30th year, I am happy to announce that our membership has grown over the past year. The following is a membership comparison for the years’ 2022 and 2023:
| Membership Category | 2022 | 2023 |
| Individual and Family memberships | 47 | 58 |
| Corporate (business or organization) | 3 | 4 |
| Lifetime (paid individual or family) | 1 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 51 | 64 |
In 2023 we also introduced an additional membership category, that of the Honorary Life Membership Award Program. These awards are presented through a nomination and voting process and last year we started the program by recognizing and presenting the awards to three deserving individuals during our annual Christmas social in December. Congratulations to Alice Cumby, Bob Balsom and Claude Rockwood, and, on behalf of the MHS, I thank you for all the hard work and dedication you have given our organization over the years.
Of our 58 individual and family members of the MHS, 25 live in the Heart’s Content region, 17 have seasonal homes here and frequently visit; and 16 support us to varying degrees from their homes elsewhere, even as far away as British Columbia, Ontario, North Carolina and Florida. A current list of members with contact information is available upon request.
Unfortunately, and with sadness, last December we lost one of our long-term members as Stella Tavenor, wife of member Art, mother of member Helen Brauch and sister-in-law of members Howard and Gord, passed away after a long battle with cancer. Once again, we pass along our condolences to Art and all of Stella’s family and friends.
2023 Activities and Highlights
Our activities during 2023 centered primarily around monthly and committee meetings, Arts Centre events, Heritage Day activities, Rendell Forge demonstrations, summer employment of 3 students and working to secure the required funding to renovate the Mizzen Heritage Museum.
Here are the highlights from a busy year:
We conducted nine regular monthly meetings, some separate Executive and Board of Directors meetings, many committee meetings, and meetings with our Town Council and other community groups to discuss ongoing issues and mutual interests.
We hired 3 summer students to do light maintenance work around our various MHS properties, such as grass mowing, cleaning, setting up the Arts Centre, helping with our Heritage Day etc. Thanks to Noel and Kelton from the Town’s maintenance staff for supervising our students this year and to Alice, our Treasurer, for handling the payroll and paperwork involved.
Our Membership Committee, under Chair Jeanette Jobson, was very active again last year in handling all things relating to our membership, including distributing membership cards and working to expand and strengthen our membership base. Thanks to Jeanette and her committee for all their hard work.
At the Arts Centre, we held nine concerts (including 2 Old-Fashioned Concerts that we produced ourselves), 8 Kitchen Parties, 4 rentals, a Karaoke Party, a Quilt and Rug Hooking Display, and a Craft Market at the Arts Centre. Thanks to John Warren and his Arts Centre Events Committee for their hard work in planning and organizing the Arts Centre Events.
Signage to recognize our corporate members and sponsors and Honorary Lifetime Award winners were erected in the Arts Centre as well as an exterior sign to advertise our Kitchen Parties. We also erected a new sign on the Rendell Forge donated by Gerry Wight. Thanks Gerry.
After engaging in Blacksmith training in January, Darlene recruited a new member, Doug Cave, and both offered blacksmith demonstrations two days a week at the Forge from June to Sept. Thanks Darlene and Doug.
Eileen and her Heritage Day Committee organized a very successful Heritage Day which included a Rug Hooking and Quilt display as well as Mummers Parade and a display of old-fashioned games at Hopkins’ Landing. John told stories at the House of Commons and Darlene arranged demonstrations at the forge. Thanks to all.
We continued to support and aid the Heart’s Content Community Development Corporation in their endeavors. Eight of our members now serve on the Corporation’s Board of Directors.
With the continued input and support of the Heart’s Content Community Development Corporation, our Museum Restoration Committee contracted Octopus Consulting and consultant Crystal Brae to develop a Heart’s Content Visitor Experience Plan. This plan focused on expanding the recommendations of the Mills and Wright Heart’s Content Interpretive Framework and Landscape Development Plan as it related to our museum building. This was an important step in supporting our applications to restore and modernize the museum.
Our Museum Restoration Committee, calling the project Enhancing the Visitor Experience in Heart’s Content, secured $386,894 in funding from the federal government’s Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the provincial government’s Dept. of Industry Energy and Technology to renovate and restore the former Mizzen Heritage Museum into a tourist welcome and interpretation centre that will show and direct visitors to our town’s cultural assets. We believe our newly renovated centre will be another crucial focal point in our Heritage District and may help in the impending designation of our Heart’s Content Cable Station as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Notable Mentions:
We finalized an Arts Centre Rental Agreement
Our website continued to receive a lot of hits and continued to be a valuable source of MHS information. Thanks to Magdi.
Our Social Media presence, thanks to Eileen and Gail, continued to expand on Facebook and Instagram.
We donated the proceeds from our April Kitchen Party, $800, to the Winterton Ambulance Service.
We had a large representation attend a reception and dinner for the Irish UNESCO delegation from Valentia in August.
In meetings and in letters, we continued to advocate for our Town Council to enforce more conscientiously the Municipal Heritage Regulations which they passed in October 2019.
We are represented on the Heart’s Content UNESCO Committee and are committed to helping in every way we can in achieving a UNESCO World Heritage Designation for the Cable Station.
In summary, it was a busy (in fact, one of our busiest) and very productive year. As a matter of interest, last February we had a goal setting activity where we all wrote down goals that we would like to achieve during 2023. Here were the top 7:
- Restoration of the Museum / Welcome Centre.
- Legally acquire the SUF Lodge and incorporate it in our planning.
- Improve signage, interior and exterior.
- Get internet service for the Arts Centre, Museum and Forge.
- Bring popular entertainment to the Arts Centre from May to Sept.
- Expand plans for Heritage Day on July 27.
- Have forge demonstrations during the summer.
While we didn’t achieve everything on that list, we did complete some of our goals and partially finished others. Those that we didn’t complete will be ongoing projects for 2024.
Most importantly, a big thank you to you, our members, who pay fees, attend meetings, plan and organize our activities, donate time, money, talent, skill and energy to help make our society strong and our town a better place. Without you we simply could not do what we do.
Special thanks to the Executive who has given me great support and help over the past year. Your dedication to this organization and its goals, and your cooperation and encouragement to me are very much appreciated.
To Mayor Piercey and our Town Council for their support and encouragement.
To other organizations such as the Fire Department and the Rec Centre Committee for their continued support.
To all those others in our community who are not members but volunteer their time, skill and energy to help make our Kitchen Parties, Concerts, and other events successful.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ed Arnott, President
Heart’s Content Mizzen Heritage Society, Inc.