Month: February 2021

24 Feb Update

Dear BRVCA and Bralorne Pioneer Museum Society Member,

The BRVCA and Bralorne Pioneer Society Board of Directors met on Monday, February 22 for its quarterly meeting.

The BRVCA meeting started out with a huge boost with the announcement, just received that day, that the Bridge River Valley Community Association 
has been funded for $300,000 for the Conservation of the Bralorne Pioneer Mines Office Building and the Adaptive Reuse as a Museum.
The funding source is Community Economic Resiliency Infrastructure Program, the Unique Heritage Infrastructure Stream.  
The financial support of the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development was gratefully acknowledged.
A strategy meeting will go ahead to determine how to approach the funding – if renovations proceed immediately or if we attempt to use this funding to leverage for the additional funding required to do all the conservation work on the building.  Much more information will be put out in public in the coming months.

Susan Medville, the Heritage Consultant who has worked on this project since its inception walked the Board through the Conservation Plan for the building.  
Read here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/16r7aRDDAsC8RhAHo_kDUftRmtH6v1TPD/view?usp=sharing

A review of this year’s operational budget and last years cost centre performance was undertaken led by Michelle Nortje, the Board Treasurer.

The Bralorne Pioneer Museum Board of Directors reviewed the informal Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss statements as well as the 2021 budget for the Museum. Our financial administrator, Cara Demare, led this part of the discussion.  The Museum fared well considering the COVID 19 situation in 2020.

The BRVCA Board of Directors accepted the 37 new memberships and renewals received between Dec. 2 and Feb. 18.

The board also did an extensive review of their Access to Records Policy and Bylaw Sections.  The Society Act was updated in 2016 and includes many new provisions for inspections of records some of which include a great deal of private information.  The Society Act does make provision for Societies to restrict public access to some of the records including accounting records (general ledgers, bank statements etc) and membership lists as well as other documents.  Based on legal advice stemming from mid-2020 Society Act information requests and a late 2020 claim with the Civil Resolution Tribunal, the board made recommendations to add to their bylaws at an upcoming General or Annual General Meeting as well as circulate a DRAFT Access to Records policy to the various committees for their comments.

The next planned meeting for the BRVCA and BPM will be a quarterly meeting in late May. We want to thank our board members for their committment to the community and their thoughtfulness in their advice and working through everything related to our community and BRVCA and the Museum.

Pat Dahle
President

Summer Student Job

The Bralorne Pioneer Museum has applied for Young Canada Works for a summer position that extends 15 weeks at 30 hours/week.
The position will pay $15/hr or higher depending on experience.  The Museum is in Bralorne BC which is 106 kms. west of Lillooet.
At this time, the funding for the position is yet to be confirmed.

To be eligible for Young Canada Works position:
-you need to be 16 – 30 yrs
-have been a full time high school, college, CEGEP or university student in the semester preceding the YCW work position
-intend to return to full-time studies in the semester following the YCW work assignment
-are willing to commit to the full duration of the YCW work assignment
-be a Canadian Citizen or permanent resident, or have refugee status in Canada and be legally entitled to work in Canada

The Bralorne Pioneer Museum Society has three focus areas, in addition to museum and heritage site tours, that would add substantial value to the career path of a student in museum, heritage or historical studies, with an interest in arts, culture, and tourism. 
These include digital preservation of historical photographs, documentation of collections and archival, and design and development of exhibitions.
The digital preservation of historic photographs involves digitizing up to ‘1,000 catalogued photographs of historical significance
leading to the design and development of a digital exhibition for the purpose of engaging and educating the public of the area’s rich history and heritage through online accessibility.
Documentation of collections and archival is an ongoing activity of any museum. The Bralorne Pioneer Museum Society currently has many uncatalogued historical photographs containing images of community life in Bralorne, Pioneer, Gold Bridge and Minto in the 1930’s to 1970’s including mining, ranching, forestry, tourism, and the development of the Bridge River Power Projects of the ‘l 950’s. 
The student will support this process by scanning the historical images and storing the originals in archival housing. During the process, the student will work to design and develop an on-site structured exhibit for public engagement.
Therefore, the main objectives are to advance the digital preservation project, support ongoing documentation efforts, and empower new talent through creativity of exhibition design and development. 
This experience will not only support the Bralorne Pioneer Museum Society in their efforts, but also advance the student’s studies and make the student more prominent to potential employers.

Please connect with us at worktodo@bridgerivervalley.ca for more information or to provide your resume.

Summer Jobs

Canada Summer Jobs

To be eligible for the Canada Summer Jobs program:

  • be between 15 and 30 years of age at the start of the employment (you do NOT need to be a student)
  • be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person to whom refugee protection has been conferred under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the duration of the employment**; and,
  • have a valid Social Insurance Number at the start of employment and be legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations

These positions are with the Bridge River Valley Community Association and are subject to funding at this time.

Tourism Recovery Assistant
This student will aid in tourism recovery and will be responsible for the weekly delivery of visitors’ surveys, as well as distribution of tourist information such as maps, bylaw information, directions and general information about accommodations and the area. The student will aid in the design and delivery of community surveys to be used as an important tool in gauging community values and attitudes to visitors and tourism in the Bridge River Valley. Good communication skills will ensure clear messaging of COVID-19 health and safety regulations as the student provides support for recovery and the careful return to special events and celebrations in a rural community, including summer arts and cultural camps for children and families. Other responsibilities include maintaining records of survey counts, ensuring the tourism facilities are clean and safe, and assisting as needed with tourism related activities.
15 weeks, 30 hours per week, wage $15/hr and up dependent on experience.
Heritage Assistant
The student in this position will provide excellent customer service to local and visiting populations. Distribute tourist information such as maps, bylaw information, directions and general information about accommodations and the area. The student will help with heritage and geological interpretation, conduct energy and gold placer mine tours, and engage visitors with gold panning activities. The student will be required to research and interpret information about local heritage sites such as the Gold Bridge Cemetery, Haylmore Heritage Site, Bralorne Church, and the Bralorne Pioneer Museum to create a tour-like session of the historical and heritage attractions available to the public. Provide support to special events and virtual celebrations in a rural community, including Summerfest, Gold Bridge Days, and Canada Day. Other responsibilities include maintaining records of all activities on the site, ensuring the
facility is clean and safe, selling ice cream and other seasonal goodies, as well as liaising and working with local artisans on-site.
15 weeks, 30 hours per week, wage $15/hr and up dependent on experience.

February Member Update

We just wanted to forward along a member update to keep you in the loop of what the Bralorne Pioneer Museum and the Bridge River Valley Community Association is doing.

The Annual Accomplishment Report for the Museum is complete, it is in magazine format, have a read:
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/65250016/bpm-annual-report-2020-final

If you missed BRVCA’s Annual Accomplishment Report it is here:
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/64995147/brvca-annual-report-2020-final

Now is the time to renew your membership if you have not already done so.  Your membership means a lot to us, it encourages us.  And, it also shows ministries and other “official” types that we are an organization that truly represents our community.
Renew here:
https://www.cognitoforms.com/BridgeRiverValleyCommunityAssociation/MembershipFormNov12020ToOct312021

Many of you may be aware we produce a 10 edition per year newsletter called the Mountain Telegraph but did you know we produce it in digital edition as well.  The Mountain Telegraph provides an in-depth look at many different aspects of life in the Valley.

Here is a link to an edition of it:
https://www.yumpu.com/p/AlP13K9JXvrc8Z5g4dIDjEzypbQG0qiB

Here is a link to purchase 10 editions at the very affordable price of $45:

We are all missing prepping for Winterfest and will miss the day even more.  However, we always have things to do and we are currently working on the publishing part of the Norm Gronskei book of his stories, Behind the Gold.  The profit from sales of the book will support the Museum (2/3’s) and the Mountain Telegraph (which he loved) (1/3).  If you would like to know more about this project and make a small donation to the publishing costs see this link:   https://brvca.ca/gronskei/       Thanks very much to the SLRD Select Funds, Dir. Sal Demare for his commitment of $2,200.  We are still about $1,000 shy on publishing so anything you can do to share Norm’s stories with current and future generations will be greatly appreciated.

In January we had our All Financial Meeting.  In that meeting all the treasurers from each committee, our Board Treasurer Michelle Nortje and our Financial Administrator Cara Demare get together and review our financial policy and procedures.  We also “haggle” over shared costs such as bookkeeping, insurance, asset amenity funds and so on. We don’t really haggle but sometimes it’s a good discussion.  We train our treasurers on what the reports we give them mean and also what to look for…like mistakes. 

As many of you know, our office at 104 Haylmore Ave. is still closed.  We were just about to reopen it when the dreaded 2nd wave hit, so it is still closed.  The office is small, with not great ventilation and we want to make sure it is safe for you and for our staff.    Our staff, Jenny and Emilie are working from home and from the office as needed.  They are the epitome of reliability, adaptability, resilience and commitment, and we are so very, very fortunate that they work for all of us!

Our next board meeting is February 22 and we will make sure to send you all a report following that meeting.

Pat Dahle
President