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PAGES s"my Creek News, Wednesday, November 28. um New curator wan ts to ye tpeople back to Erland Lee by Diana Buri Staff Writer The comm unity doesn't realize the valu- able resource it has in the Erland Lee Museum Home and its new cura- tor, Susan Henderson, intends to change that. Having come to the area from her native Picton, Susan, along with her husband, Jim, and their son, Michael, took over occupancy of "I'm very'fflmiliar with the home Oct. 1 and so it and "filly like the far, the move seems to country":J 3 Combina- be agreeing with them. tion We"9 "Oll're close "I like the area very to the City b'u' Still living ' ' ' un ry. much," the spirited 29- In the c0 y _ year-old said last week. A ill-9'0" major, at --_--------_----_----------"~' McMaster University, Susan has a vast exper- ience in her field, hav- ing worked at various museums in the King- ston - Belleville area, as well as other cultural in- stitutions such as art my rson is the new curator at the Erland Lee Museum Home -- she brings with her a vast assortment of experience and a wealth of information. --STAFthoto. galleries and libraries. But despite that fact, she's still looking for- ward to the challenges of this job. "It's really quite dif- ferent than any other position I've held. As a historian, I'll be able to answer questions about various aspects of the home." As curator, she's directly responsible to , , the Vinemount Women's Institute, which she says is "a very active committee". "Hopefully because of my background I'll be able to help the commit- tee find different direc- tions, making social his- tory available to the school board, assisting them with ministry matters things like that." As far as the actual decorating and promo- tion of the museum go, she'll be getting a lot of support. "The Vinemount Wo men's Institute is a great biuich of women,"_ , she says. "They do just" about everything. At' Christmas, for instance, they do all the decorat- ing. I've been involved with displays before, so I can suggest things but they've done alright up til now." "VALUABLE RESOURCE" One of her prime ob- jectives, however, is de- veloping the museum as a "valuable resource in the eyes of the commun- ity'n "There's a sort of feeling -- and it's not just isolated here in Sto- ney Creek -- that people have about a local mus- eum that they don't want to come in, look around, utilize the facil- ity. I'd like to change that. "I'd like to make it available to the com- munity, to the school kids, I mean there's a wealth of information here. I'd like to see it used. The museum gets its fair share of tourists, but where its lacking is in local visits." Another myth she'd like to lay to rest is the one surrounding the W0- men's Institute. "People have this image of a bunch of lit- tle old ladies getting to- gether exchanging recipes, but it's not like that," she said. "These women get together to discuss topical con- cerns, they lobby the government for a lot of issues, including nu- clear disarmament." A non-denominational group, the Vinemount Women's Institute does have a Judaeo - Chris- tian undercurrent, which, Susan maintains, is "necessary in a rural environment." LOBBIED FOR COURSE "But their concerns go way past that. They've also lobbied to protect the home econo- mics course in school curriculum for both Continued to page 25