Our Mission:  to act on behalf of the north shore of Nova Scotia in the stewardship  and promotion of a diverse collection of artifacts from the prehistoric to the last millennium, and to engage in the social, economic and cultural life of the community.

Our Vision:  to have our heritage centre valued by our Creamery Square partners and by our community, to be sustainable, and to operate according to recognized standards of excellence.

Our Mandate:

• To maintain standards of excellence as prescribed by the Association of Museums in Nova Scotia and to benefit from their advisory services.
• To provide programs and events that engage school children, seniors and the general public in our area in order to create a broader understanding of the value of our museum.
• To participate in and to contribute to community events.
• To partner with museums in our region.
• To continue a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship with our partners in the Creamery Square complex; the partners being the North Shore Archives Society, the Creamery Square Arts Society, and the Tatamagouche Farmers’ Market Cooperative.
• To ensure that our collection represents our particular geographical and cultural area encompassing the three counties of Colchester, Cumberland and Pictou including Tatamagouche, north to Wallace, south to Earltown, east to River John and west to Wentworth.

Our Values:

• Service
• Collaboration
• Integrity
• Excellence
• Inclusivity
• Sustainability
• Respect

Key Issues (2020 – 2024):

• Sustainability
• Partner Co-ordination and Participation
• Community Involvement
• Accreditation Process
• Programming

 

Goals:

Sustainability: to continue promoting the heritage centre through our website, social media and local media; to continue to create a balance in our gift shop to promote our local artists, crafts people etc. at price points the public will accept; to continue to keep our admission prices at a price point the public will accept; to continue to fundraise.

Partner Co-ordination and Participation: continue through our Joint Committee with the North Shore Archives to work together in maintaining and promoting our collections and to establish new policies as needed; continue working with our Creamery Square partners in creating events in the complex (ex. Canada Day) and by promoting the events through various marketing strategies.

Community Involvement: to continue participating in the various events established in our community.

Accreditation Program:  to be involved in the accreditation process with the aim of reaching and maintaining a high standard of excellence in the museum world and in so doing, keep our collections conserved, valued and promoted.

Programming:  continue to create programming to reach out especially to school children and seniors; continue to create interactive activities within the building to actively engage the public.

 

Action Plan for 2021

Continue involvement in community and partner events as follows:

• engage in the Village Suppers which are free to the community and in which various non-profit organizations are involved;
• co-ordinate with the complex partners in Canada Day celebrations, the Victoria Day Tea, the Crisp Apple Festival and the Welcome Winter Festival, all to be held outdoors.
• co-ordinate with our partners in Tata Fest which is an annual area festival usually held in late August;
• provide a bursary to a graduating student from our local high school;
• provide a venue in our gift shop for our local artists to participate in selling their work.
• provide a venue for publications from other community organizations;
• continue with school group visitations offering programming within our collections (Covid allowing).
• fundraise through the annual fall dinner, selling pies at the Crisp Apple Festival and the summer yard sale.
• edit the documentation needed and prepare the 2021 evaluation.
• initiate planning and fundraising for two projects: monitors for the fossil trackways; begin discussions on a Montbelliard interactive exhibit.
• conduct a board evaluation

 

Review of the Plan

At a monthly meeting just previous to the AGM, the strategic plan is reviewed and the action plan for the year is set up.  Acceptance of the plan will be voted upon at the AGM held before the end of March.

Progress is monitored, when we plan for a new year, as to whether we were able to action the plans set up the previous year.  Much of our work is ongoing.  Our fundraising, although varied, is budgeted and we have been successful in meeting that budget.