Another P.A. Day Camp

On January 27th Huronia Museum is holding another P.A. Day Camp.  From 9AM to 5PM we will play games, do crafts, enjoy outdoor play-including tobagganning if the weather cooperates.

The cost of this camp is $22 per child, for children ages 5-12.  For more information, or to register a child you can contact the museum at 705-526-2844 or by email at education@huroniamuseum.com  For first time P.A. Day camper you can download our PA Day Registration Form and have it filled out on the morning of camp.

Spaces for these camps are limited so pre-registration is recommended.

Amelia Curran at Huronia Museum

Amelia Curran will be performing at Huronia Museum on Thursday, November 18, 2010.  This presentation is part of the Stellula Music in Schools initiative.  The concert will begin at 7:00  PM with some student performances and Ms. Curran will begin at 8:00.

Tickets are $16 for adults, $10 for students and can be purchased at Huronia Museum.

Amelia Curran is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador and currently lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The National Post describes her music as “a bit like Leonard Cohen being channeled in a dusty saloon by Patsy Cline.”

Curran started playing guitar and writing songs as a teenager. Her first album release in 2000, and since then she has released four more.

Her 2006 release, War Brides, was initially released independently and was later given a European and national Canadian release by Six Shooter Records. She describes her signing to Six Shooter Records as a “promotion” and goes on to say “I have a lot more work to do, more often, as a result of which I will make some more money and sell some more records. But it is the same job that I have been doing for ten years.”

War Brides was nominated for two East Coast Music Awards: Folk Recording of the Year and Female Solo Recording of the Year.

In 2009, Curran released Hunter, Hunter. She describes this album as “a little tougher than War Brides but it’s still minimal”. She explains that the title is “Hunter Hunter as opposed to hunter-gatherer.” This is the first album that she recorded in her home-town of St. John’s.

Curran’s lyrics have been described as “evocative” by Spinner Canada who, referring to Curran’s song “The Mistress”, wrote that “Like the best poets, Curran packs so much meaning into each line that the listener barely has time to register each clever lyric before the next zinger comes along.”

Hunter Hunter earned Curran four nominations at the 2010 East Coast Music Awards; Female Solo Recording of the Year, FACTOR Recording of the Year, SOCAN Songwriter of the Year and Folk Recording of the Year.

In addition to being a musician, Curran is also a playwright and actor, and has had her plays performed in fringe festivals.

On April 17, 2010, Curran won a Juno Award in the category of Roots and Traditional Album of the Year: Solo.

For more information on the concert please contact us at Huronia Museum.  526-2844

Midland T Store Jug

The museum has acquired a rare piece of Midland retail history. It is a smaller sized glazed earthenware jug from the Midland T Store. The store offered dry goods and local fresh produce. The store was owned and operated by John Box Horrell. He came to Midland about 1881 and opened the MTS in 1885. He was elected as the first mayor of Midland in 1890. Horrell died suddenly in the spring of 1900. His was the largest funeral attended in Midland to that point in its history.

smaller jug

This smaller version of the Tea Store jug joins a larger version of the jug which has been in the museum’s collection for many years. The larger jugs are fairly common. Both jugs would have had a cork or wooden stopper. It is likely that the jugs were made in Toronto or Brantford.

larger version of jug

The museum would like to thank Bev Day, former Midland councillor, for his efforts to monitor ebay for auction items with a local historical association that the museum might be interested in acquiring.

two jugs together