DICKSON - The Dickson Store Museum held Sunday At The Museum on July 29 to celebrate two of its most recent accomplishments that have made the community and museum officials proud.
Everyone was welcome and the day began with a barbecue that was sponsored by Bramall Oilfield. The volunteer cooks did a great job and the hotdogs and burgers were delicious. At 1 p.m. there were a couple of speeches.
The first speaker was Meaghan Patterson, executive director of the Alberta Museums Association (AMA), who congratulated the museum once again for achieving the Recognized Museum status. The Recognized Museum Program (RMP) is an accreditation program managed by the AMA that identifies those museums and related sites in Alberta that meet professional standards for best practices.
The Dickson Store Museum voluntarily participated in the RMP, which involved providing evidence to a panel of museum professionals that demonstrated how the institution met the AMA’s definition of a museum. The Dickson Store Museum was one of the first museums in Alberta to be awarded this status at the inception of the RMP in Alberta in 2006. Museums are awarded the status for five years and then they must reapply.
Once again it is an exciting time for the Dickson Store Museum because earning this designation demonstrates it is committed to maintaining standards of professional practice and to ensuring it plays a strong and important role within the community. The museum is now applying its new designation dates of 2018 - 2023 to its existing Recognized Museum sign that is displayed proudly on the front of the 109-year-old building.
The next speaker was Antonia Nissen, president of the Dickson Store Museum Society, who spoke about the AMA and RMP. She talked about all the ways both helped with advice on funding. She then talked about the museum's other major accomplishments, how we had been hit badly by hail in 2014, and how Red Deer County had come to our rescue so we could put a band-aid on the damages until we could gather together enough money to repair the damages to Historic Sites Standards.
The museum is proud to announce to the community that we finally have enough funds to put a new cedar shingle roof on the building, fix the damages and add new paint. She thanked Red Deer County who once again supplied funding, as well as the provincial Community Facility Enhancement Program and Historic Sites for their contributions in helping the museum fund these major repairs.
When the speeches were completed there were games, face-painting, crafts, glitter tattoos and some wonderful entertainment. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped with this day and to Anna Stanton, Ashley Newman and The Golden Music Makers for supplying us with entertainment. The wonderful day of celebration ended with complimentary baked goods and refreshments. It truly was a fabulous scorcher of a day.
Sharon Lightbown is the manager at the Dickson Store Museum.
