Dear Editor:
I found Terry Green’s letter regarding the Summerland Museum very interesting.
As somebody who is very involved in the collection and dissemination of Summerland history, it did inspire some thoughts of my own.
When Green wrote, “a substantial portion of funding for the museum comes from [municipal grants]”, I must say this is an understatement.
Without ongoing grants from the municipality over the decades, the museum would not exist at all.
Most of the museum’s money comes from the city.
I deal daily with large numbers of current and former residents all of whom have a deep interest in town history, and their tax dollars over the decades have ultimately paid to maintain the museum. It is a shared heritage. We have a new curator in our museum whose salary has just increased dramatically despite the fact revenues have not; a curious development.
Let us hope her focus will be serving the interests of those that have paid most of the bills.
Too many curators listen more to Ivy League and other outside sources with no interest in the local history of the community they represent.
Terry Green served the community well on the board for a very long time. Sometimes change is good, but recent resignations of key long-time museum staff and officials is very concerning and makes one wonder what is going on.
The power dynamics inside the museum seem to have been turned upside down.
A new curator should step in gracefully, but the resignations suggest quite the contrary.
Whatever is happening inside the museum, I hope the curator realizes that the possessions of the museum are the possessions of the community, thus making access to these possessions as easy as possible should be her prime concern, with outside interests taking a backseat.
Rick Selinger
Summerland Hometown Memories Administrator
Abbotsford