I wrote this a couple years ago using Buzz Lein's timelines of Nipigon's evolution. Like every other town trying to find a "hook" to bring tourists in, Nipigon goes through periodic "group thinks".
DESTINATION NIPIGON
 |
| The piling, Nipigon River. |
NIPIGON.
THAT ALL ENCOMPASSING WORD.
It is the name of Legend.
Famed the world over…
For its BEAUTY, its WILDNESS, Its FISH.
For its POETRY…that sings to us of NIPIGON, of the SILENCE
and the SOLITUDE, and the POWER.
Those who came here claimed their memories for eternity when
they returned to “The WORLD” beyond our shores.
They came.
They saw.
They were conquered by the grandeur of our NIPIGON.
Our RIVER.
Our LAKE.
Be proud of your NIPIGON that you have today.
Be aware of what you have that others don’t.
Why not be
“NIPIGON”?
Be the place people want to come to , AGAIN.
The RIVER still runs. Tamed by 3 DAMs plus the OGOKI and
possibly the Little Jackfish in the future.
DAMs are powerful attractants.
We have 3 on the NIPIGON – Each unique in its setting.
There be those who rail against the loss of the wild rapids
and falls and the over-flooding of the Lakes of the NIPIGON. I was one myself
when I read E.E.Millard’s Days on the Nepigon of 1917.
The Nipigon Historical Museum has a copy of that. (It is
also in the public domain and reprinted on the internet.)
But, our loss has been mitigated – it is preserved in
memoirs, journals and photos of the early visitors to NIPIGON. The Nipigon
Historical Museum has some of these.
To some it was a journey of a lifetime – others returned
year after year.
There was even a saying in the ‘60’s “If you drink the water of NIPIGON 3
times you’ll never leave.”
I drank first in 1965.
I drank a second time in 1966.
I drank a third time in 1968.
Hello, I am still here in 2013.
The FORESTS still grow – but our Nipigon Mills are no more.
Only photos and memories.
The Nipigon Historical Museum holds many of these.
A lone piling off the site of the Little Mill – artefact of
the River Drives of the NIPIGON – never to come this way again.
Only photos,
artefacts and memories.
The Nipigon Historical Museum holds many of these.
Before the TRAINS people came by canoe or boat – steamers or
Paddle-Wheel or sail .
After 50 years of being the only way to roll the TRAINS had
to share travellers with THE ROAD. The
one ROAD crossing the Nipigon River.
The one road that we still have – now the ONLY way to get to
NIPIGON unless by canoe or boat or sail…
But, soon we will have “THE BRIDGE” like no other bridge in
Ontario.
The ROCK remains.
Stripped to its bare essentials by the glaciers.
The BEDROCK of the WORLD.
Highway 11 runs beside it.
Highway 17 cuts through it – again, and again and again.
In NIPIGON it is “THE NATURAL EDGE” framing the horizons.
Granite, Marble and Sandstone – and the Red Red Rock.
The Nipigon Historical Museum has some of that.
According to Buzz Lein’s calculations – about 1500 B.C., our
view became what you see from McKirdy Avenue.
To drive McKirdy is to drive on the TERMINAL MORAINE. The oldest glacial beach is just below along
the 800 foot contour level. That’s where
the Copper Culture artefacts were unearthed.
The Nipigon Historical Museum has some of those.
Time passed.
The water dropped.
Driving by Cliffside Cemetery and along Front Street puts
you on the geological level of the NIPISSING BEACH – dated at 4000 years ago.
The Nipigon Historical Museum is located on that.
Time passed.
The water dropped another hundred feet – or the land rose on
the glacial rebound as it is still doing at about 50 cm. per 100 years.
So, the RIVER runs now as it did in 1500 B.C. – except that
it is tamed and flooded and diverted – all in the last 100 years.
But, you can still say when you stand on the River shore at
the Marina, here also stood La Verendrye.
When you stand on the dock, you see what the H.B.Co. Fur
Traders saw – their dock being in that same location only longer, and the
Lagoon held the full flow of the NIPIGON RIVER.
43 years ago when Buzz rounded up the movers and the shakers
of Nipigon he had visions of a CULTURAL COMPLEX. A Fur Trade Post, a Logging
Camp and a Museum and Archives.
That didn’t happen.
But, we did get the Museum and Archives – opening in
1973- helped by the demise of the river
drives and Domtar relocating their Woodlands Office to Red Rock. That old
office was sold to the town of Nipigon for $2 with a Covenant “To be used as a museum.”
The Nipigon Historical Museum Society set up and ran the
Nipigon Historical Museum with a membership of 139 to draw on for staffing
until we could qualify for summer student grants.
With the help and encouragement of Jack Stokes, our member
of Provincial Parliament at the time, and John Carter, Museum Advisor of the
Ministry of Culture, and Ollie Sawchuck, Regional Advisor from Thunder
Bay, the Nipigon Historical Museum
qualified for Community Museums Operating Grant status which we held until a
few years after the fire of 1990.
In 2008 re re-applied and became a “CMOG” Museum again.
In 2011 and 2012 we were required to submit all our policies
for evaluation by the Ministry of Culture etc.
As a result we had to up-date every one to reflect how we
meet new criteria and laws – by the 30th of June 2013
We could not just say we are accessible – we had to describe
each feature such as – “ The Nipigon Historical Museum’s front entrance off
Front Street is an automatic push-button-to-open door, sidewalk level entrance
to foyer with interior door also push-button-to-open.”
The Provincial Government has a set of Standards that all
CMOG museums must meet. How we do it is reflected in our Policies to address
each criteria of that Standard.
THE MISSION STATEMENT
THE STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
EXHIBITION
EDUCATION AND INTERPRETATION
FINANCE
GOVERNANCE
HUMAN RESOURCES
CONSERVATION
COLLECTION ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT
RESEARCH
PHYSICAL PLANT
And all must show our ETHICS, Right of PRIVACY and ACCESS.
TECHNOLOGY is not yet
on their list but I have included a POLICY for our own benefit.
The Government wants to know who is responsible for the
implementation of these policies and how we evaluate our activities.
Using Guest Register Comments is not considered an
evaluation.
That’s a pity.
When , this June, the
Province’s Chief Museum Advisor from Toronto visited the Nipigon Historical
Museum, she commented in our Guest Register.
She wrote, “Fantastic!”
No comments:
Post a Comment