Following is a letter sent by the Olds Historical Society to various businesses and others in the community:
On behalf of the board of directors of the Olds Historical Society, we would like to thank you for your support of Olds' local heritage.
The mission of the Olds Historical Society is to "collect, preserve and provide access to the history, heritage and culture of Olds and district through the operation of the Mountain View Museum and Archives."
Your donations have assisted the society in its endeavour to provide access to these resources by keeping open the doors of the Mountain View Museum and its archives.
However, without community help, the doors will not remain open.
We are asking you, the residents of the Town of Olds, to consider reinvesting in local heritage. This is in order to help the society and the museum staff continue to reach out and play a vital role in Olds.
Perhaps you are wondering what the society and the museum have done lately to benefit the community of Olds. Here are some examples of what we have done in the past few years.
The Battle of Olds project: A program that brought Olds' history to life with a dramatic play, school programming, pop-up museum displays and a continuing educational resource for local history studies.
Oral histories: This ongoing project was started with the donation of recording equipment from the Elks and continues to help us understand the rich history of the early settlers of Olds. Among the latest recordings are those of Amelia Hawthorn (after her 101st birthday) and Myrle Goddard (Goddardville).
Digitization: This project has so far recorded and photographed over 300 items in our collection, which means that precious heirlooms will soon be available for viewing online by the public.
School programming: The museum now offers a variety of programs for classes from kindergarten to Grade 8. Included in these programs are tours which include historical games, crafts, vignettes, storytelling and artifact sketching.
Community based projects: These projects are part of the museum's mandate to reach out to other organizations and support their community efforts. Some of these collaborations include the play See Olds First, with local actors; live history workshops in conjunction with the Olds Municipal Library; and Halloween Howl, with the Boys and Girls Club and Uptowne Olds.
To continue these projects and many others (guided tours, cataloguing, exhibit creation) we need staffing, as well as operational and equipment funds. The museum needs approximately $70,000 a year to operate.
As a registered charity, the Olds Historical Society is able to offer a charitable tax receipt for your donation, along with a letter of proof for your records and a donor certificate.
For more information on the types of donations your organization can make, you can contact the museum at 403-556-8464.
We thank you for your previous support and ask that you once again consider the importance of your local history and the benefits of having access to Olds artifacts and archival materials.
The board of the Olds Historical Society
