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- Editor’s
Note:
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- This
column is a regular feature in the Wayback Times in which my
husband takes interesting people out to lunch … and sends
me the bill.
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- (It's
a tough job, but someone has to do it!)
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- Send
us an e-mail if you have someone in mind for one of Peter Neilly's
interviews over lunch.
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- Peter Neilly is Out
to Lunch
- Breaking bread with
interesting people
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- Out to Lunch!
with Peter Neilly
- Today’s lunch guest is
Janice Griffith. Janice is the manager of the Canadian
Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario. It is the only canoe museum
in North America and with over 600 canoes and kayaks and 1,000
related artifacts, it houses the largest collection of its kind
in the world. Janice has chosen the Shish Kabob Hut in Peterborough,
where we both enjoyed a delicious Greek salad with chicken for
lunch.
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- Peter: Have you been involved with the museum since
its inception?
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- Janice: No, the Canoe Museum officially opened in 1997
but had closed in 2003 for six months due to financial difficulties.
I was hired two weeks before it was to reopen. I had been active
in politics and had past management experience with Participation
Peterborough and the Y.M.C.A. I believe this background has helped
me in working
with the many volunteers involved here and with the fund raising
that’s required. My
political past has also made it easier dealing with the different
levels of government. The city of Peterborough has been very
helpful with the reopening and The Hudson Bay Company has helped
with funding along with many others, but the biggest
gift we receive comes from the more than 100 volunteers without
whom we would not be able to function.
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- Peter: They seem like a great group of people.
Janice: I have worked with volunteers all of my business
life and have never seen anything like these people. They are
amazing, giving of their time and skills. Twenty- eight people
are required to operate the museum’s shop and all of them
are volunteers. The front desk is also manned by volunteers.
There is something about
this place that keeps these people personally involved with it.
It has a family feel to it.
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- Peter: I noticed many of the volunteers appear to be
seniors.
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- Janice: Yes. We are constantly joking about the bionic
men at the museum. Any time we need someone to climb up on a
ladder we always get somebody with real
knees.
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- Peter: Before we met today, when we first talked on
the phone, you mentioned your theory on the relationship between
the canoe and the Canadian personality.
Janice: I feel the canoe is actually a metaphor for the
Canadian character. It’s not loud, pushy or brassy. It’s
quiet, adaptable and efficient, and it gets the job done.
Peter: That sounds very Canadian.You must have been pleased
when it was announced on the CBC that the canoe was voted number
one in the Seven Canadian Wonders contest.
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- Janice: The volunteers and staff were thrilled to hear
that. It is such an important part of Canadian history. It’s
in every province and territory. It’s man made, but it’s
of nature. The original canoes were made of birch bark and cedar.
They were built, they were used, and then they went back to nature.
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- Peter: I recently read about three “Royal”
canoes being sent to your museum.
Janice: Yes, Prince Andrew, who is now the museum’s
Royal Patron, officially opened our exhibit of the Royal Canoes.
The canoes were given to different members of the royal family
and are now on long term loan to the museum. The first canoe
was given to the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip on
November 20th in 1947. It was manufactured by the Peterborough
Canoe Co. and it was actually used by the royal family. The second
canoe was a wedding present to Prince Charles and Lady Diana
from former prime minister Pierre Trudeau in 1981. It was made
by Ted Moores. The third canoe was given to Prince Andrew by
the village of Lakefield
in 1978. The prince had attended Lakefield College as a 17-year-old.
That canoe was built by Walter Walker, who is now 99 years old.
He attended the presentation
with Prince Andrew at the museum. Walter will turn 100 this November
and we will be holding a party for him at the museum.
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- Peter: Why was the canoe so important to the development
of Canada?
Janice: Well, when you look at a map of North America
you will notice that Canada,
unlike the United States, has thousands of rivers and waterways
crisscrossing the entire country, so the canoe was the best form
of travel. Birch bark trees were in
great abundance across Canada so there was a natural supply of
canoe building and
repairing material available. In the U.S., horses and wagon trains
were used for exploration and settlement because of the lack
of east to west waterways.
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- Peter: I was amazed at how large some of the canoes
are.
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- Janice: One of the large canoes would be the voyager
canoe. It would have been
the transport truck of its day hauling both supplies and goods
across this country. The one on display is twelve meters long,
carries 8,000 pounds and weighs 300 pounds empty.
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- Peter: The museum also has a very large and diverse
display of kayaks in various
shapes and sizes. Why so many different designs?
Janice: The indigenous people of the north live above
the tree line so finding lumber to make the frames was very difficult.
They would use pieces of driftwood that would float down river
or pieces of wood from shipwrecks that would wash up on shore,
or pieces of packing crates or even animal bones to construct
the frames. The covering for the kayaks would be made of seal
skins or caribou skins. There are many different canoes to see
at the Canadian Canoe Museum North Canoe loaded for trade, a
36’ Birch Bark Montreal canoe From the Peterborough Canoe
Co. which was founded in 1879.
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- Peter: This was my first visit to the museum and I was
really impressed with the exhibits and the way everything is
displayed. Is that a common reaction you get from visitors?
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- Janice: I think most people coming to the museum for
the first time expect to see racks full of canoes, but what they
get is an education about the history of this country, both before
European contact and after. They see the important role the
canoe played in the exploration and the settlement of Canada.
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- Peter: What is the financial state of the canoe museum
now?
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- Janice: Right now we are nicely out of survival mode.
It’s taken us three years to climb back out of that hole.
It’s been a long hard haul but the dedication of many people,
along with contributions from private donors and some foundations,
and also the local municipality has been very helpful.
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- Peter: I think good management has also had a lot to
do with it.
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- Janice: We have all really tried hard to do our best.
The building isn’t as pretty on the outside as we would
like it to be but we are very proud of what we have accomplished
inside.
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- Peter: Thanks for meeting with me Janice, I have really
enjoyed my tour of the Canoe Museum and the lunch was great,
too. Good company and a very educational visit.
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- The Canadian Canoe Museum is
at 910 Monaghan Road in Peterborough. It is open Monday through
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 5
p.m. Call toll free, 1-866-34-CANOE, or visit their website;
www.canoemuseum.net
for further information.
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- Put a visit to the Canoe Museum
on your ‘must do’ list this summer. You will be impressed.
When you walk into the building you are greeted by the soothing
sounds of a gentle water fall and the call of a loon. You will
feel the tension leaving your body as you get ready to enjoy
a fascinating and very educational trip through Canada’s
paddling past.
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- As usual, Sandy (aka. the warden)
gets the bill for lunch. And as you all know, “it’s
a tough job but somebody’s got to do it.”
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- *Editor’s Note: I was hoping
to be Peter’s Out to Lunch guest for this issue to celebrate
my first year in the publishing business. You have been spared
that interview, but watch out - I’m not giving up. I’m
making Peter foot the bill when it happens. And I get to choose
the restaurant. (Better start saving your money, dear.)
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- Out to Lunch Archives:
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