Thank you to our visitors, donors, and supporters! All the best for the coming year.
Honouring people and organisations that make London a better place
We are thrilled that Manager Maya and SoRM were selected as a recipient of this year's Vital People Award, granted by the London Community Foundation. She is in good company among some truly committed Londoners. The grant will enable her to pursue Project Management at Western's School of Continuing Studies.
The awards ceremony was held in the early evening on Monday, December 2nd at the Goodwill Centre. It was a very well attended event with members of London's many communities and organisations present. The event was short and sweet, well produced, and truly made the recipients feel valued and honoured. And, following the celebration, many guests wandered into the bright, spacious Goodwill Store downstairs for a bit of a browse (because who doesn't love a bargain?!).
You can learn more about the individual recipients here, and the London Community Foundation here. We encourage you to donate to this excellent organisation, if you have the means, as they support many initiatives around London.
Come see our new arrival: H2X !
On Sunday, we welcomed the newest member of our tech family, a complete H2X airborne, ground-scanning radar set. Rob and Linda Adams brought the unit to us from the Ottawa Radar Group, which organised its transfer from the private collection of David Barlow to us. We have put the unit on display in our Technology Room, and expect to have a plaque produced, early in the new year, thanking the donor and those who made its delivery possible. Click here to learn more about the H2X. Thank you very much to the donor, Mr. Barlow, and to radar veterans Julien Olsen and Ken Shoultz for organising the transport of this unique piece of WW2 history.
Rob and Linda Adams with the H2X. Linda is the daughter of Ken Shoultz, WW2 radar veteran with the Ottawa Radar Group.
Remembrance Day
We here at SoRM never forget the sacrifices our veterans have made, but Remembrance Day is something very special. On the 11th day of the 11th month, we see the men and women who served standing together and we can see the lines etched in the faces of those who served during World War Two.
Radar was a new technology in 1939 and the men and women who worked with it were pioneers in the field. There are fewer and fewer WW2 radar veterans with us each year. If it wasn't fresh in our minds before, we lost a beloved member of our community, Ed Morgan, just on November 1st. We are reminded that these people, not so different from me and you, led deep and meaningful lives, were brave in the face of adversity, and though now advanced in age, once they were strong and firm, vibrant members of their communities, both military and civilian.
Today, two different WW2 radar veterans visited us. We were happy to host Hilda, a WAAF who served as a radar operator in England, her grand daughter and four great-grand sons. John Tevlin, who came with his son, served his whole WW2 radar career with the night fighters.
We humbly thank Hilda and John for their service and wish them all the best, as we do for all veterans, old and young.
Hilda is surrounded by her family, attentively listening to one of our volunteers talking about wavelengths.
Our volunteer and WW2 veteran Roy Taylor stands with another visiting radar veteran, John Tevlin.
Anouncements !
We have some great news to share !
Firstly, congratulations go to Manager Maya on being a recipient of the 2013 London Community Foundation Vital People grant. The grant provides $2000 to SoRM so that Maya can study Project Management at Western.
Secondly, if you happen to be attending the OMA conference this week, Maya will be participating in a tech talk round-table tomorrow, and on Friday she will be presenting an Ignite session on museum engagement.
Thirdly, on Friday, November 29th, the Physics & Astronomy building at Western will be celebrating its grand re-opening and we'll be there. SoRM has been collaborating with the department to create some dynamic new wall content for the newly renovated building, and the first phase of the project will be unveiled at the event. If you want to attend, please RSVP.
An interesting idea..?
Today, while checking the museum's email, I came across a message quite unlike those I'm used to receiving. It started out well, not unlike some of the more formal tour requests we get.
My name is _________. I am contacting you from England. I want to make reservation for 4 people in December 2013. Hope you can accommodate us on that date?
I thought, "Hey, sure, we don't have any tours booked in December, we're wide open. And then I read on. It turned out to be an email requesting a room booking for a holiday stay at an inn or hotel. At first I considered not answering, but then I thought, "What if they really think we're an inn? I don't want to be rude?" And I wondered, what if it's a strange form of spam? And I decided it was too well written for spam. So this is what I wrote back in response:
Dear Mr. _________,
You seem to have mistaken us for an inn ! We're a museum, in London, Ontario, Canada, not currently renting out cot space in our galleries, but as we are a small museum and constantly looking for new fundraising initiatives, we'll take the idea under advisement. However, if you wish to book a tour while you're here, we would be delighted to host you.
Best wishes,
I mean, some museums do sleep-overs, right? Anyway, I hope the prospective guest finds it as amusing as we, here, did, and accepts my response with the humour it was intended. The letter provided us a bit of a laugh amongst all the other, more serious things we slog through every day.
Doors Open and more
YES, we are part of Doors Open London, but we'll be up at the RCR Museum with a nifty pop-up display. And 'radar popcorn', too.
Doors Open London is a little bit different this year than it has been
in the past. We'll be open at our own site on the Saturday as usual, but we'll also be
running a special Doors Open display out of the Royal Canadian Regiment
(RCR) Museum, on both Saturday and Sunday starting at 10AM. The RCR
Museum is located at 701 Oxford Street East. You can learn more about this weekend's venues and events at the Doors Open London website.
Speaking of shows, two weeks ago we participated in the 'Wings Over Gatineau en vol' Air Show for the first time. What a wonderful event that was! Lots of history for the history loving aviation and military aficionados and newbies alike. Vintage Wings put on a fantastic show and we're already looking forward to next year's event.
We also had our Annual General Meeting just this past weekend, which was well-attended by a diverse audience of interested people. We're certain this is a sign of good things to come!
Summer Wrap-up
The crickets are chirping, the Perseids are shooting, the back-to-school specials are in the flyers; it must be mid-August. Where did the time go?
We at the Museum regularly talk about how lucky we are to be situated in the Westminster Ponds as we are, even though it means we struggle for walk-in traffic. We regularly see the herd of deer (well, everyone but Norman, who always seems to miss them), and the comical flock of wild turkeys. There are coyotes and rabbits and so many species of birds even a bird book can't help with the warbler varieties. People come to the area to canoe and fish at the ponds, to hike in the woods, to watch birds, walk their dogs (on leash, please !) , and for picnics, and softball, and any number of outdoorsy pursuits.
Just a portion of the view from our porch.
In fact, just the other day, on the Simcoe day long weekend, there was the first Emancipation Day picnic held since 1987. Volunteer Bethany and manager Maya (me) decided to check it out. A little history: Emancipation Day was (and is again) celebrated by the Ontario Black population in honour of John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, who made the province the first in the British Empire to abolish slavery. It's kind of a big deal. At any rate, the picnic included games and pot-luck, but also a walk down to the Meeting Tree and ceremony. The Meeting Tree, local folklore holds, was an oak tree that served as a terminus point to the Underground Railroad, here in London (or back then, just south of London). The tree is still standing and indeed, it is enormous and very beautiful, towering over the surrounding woods. It has been well cared for, which probably accounts for why it still stands. According to the City forester, it is likely 200 years old, or more. It could certainly be a relic from that time, and even if it isn't the original Meeting Tree, it makes for an age-appropriate stand-in.
Getting back to Radar, now, this week marks our final week with wonderful summer student, Brent. Having him at the Museum has been a great experience. Not only has he quickly become an able and enjoyable tour guide, he has created an exceptional draft of what we hope will become a travelling exhibit. His research skills are outstanding and his love of language both entertaining and refreshing. We will be very sorry to see him go, but we are deeply grateful to him for his hard work and diligence, as well as to the Young Canada Works in Heritage program for giving us the opportunity to hire him. His last day is Friday the 16th, so why not come out and wish him good luck and make him give you the tour! Thanks, Brent, we're going to miss you.
Hot times, summer in the (Forest) city
Summer conjures images of long evening walks with the kids or the dog, or both, picnics, sunbathing, fishing, baseball, but what about history? Maybe not so much. But it could! We're open Thursdays as well as Fridays and Saturdays through Labour Day weekend. And, in the mind-boggling, sidewalk-egg-frying heat, why not come in and cool off a little. We've got air conditioning. And history. And there are baseball diamonds just up the hill, and a fishing hole just down the hill, and plenty of picnicking spots and walking trails. What are you waiting for?
And, if you happen to be in Toronto, in the neighbourhood of Queen's Park, why not go in and check out our Community Exhibits display? We're in the company of many other fine groups and museums, such as Port Colborne and the Museum of Ontario Archaeology. It runs right through until November.
A snap of the CEP display at Queen's Park, Toronto. We're thrilled to be participating.
Happy Birthday to Us !
On this day, ten years ago, The Secrets of Radar opened its doors to the public for the first time. Opened with the intention of sharing the almost forgotten legacy of Canadian radar involvement in World War II. With a collection largely derived from the generosity of veterans and their families, made up of artefacts, photographs, documents and books, we offer a quiet place for visitors and academics to conduct research.
The museum made it a mission to assemble and record the stories of veterans and now holds a substantial collection of oral history interviews which have formed part of the foundation for the museum's exhibitions. The story now stretches into the height of the Cold War, gathering the stories of veterans of the early warning radar lines and NORAD. From the technology of radar to the people behind it, its military and civilian history are covered in three large exhibition spaces. We offer outreach, tours and programs for adults and children all year long and are happy to co-operate and collaborate with other institutions and organisations.
Now, as we move toward the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, this small-but-mighty museum is poised to begin a renewal process that will include a travelling exhibition and a refresh and redesign of our permanent exhibits. You can expect to hear more about these exciting endeavours in the upcoming months.
If you'd like to know more about how you can help us grow over the next decade, please visit our "Get Involved" page.
Thanks for being part of our first 10 years. We wouldn't be here without you.