Fonds mil-2126 - Millet and District Historical Society fonds

In November 1976 several citizens of Millet gathered for the purpose of publishing a history of their community. They formed the Millet and District Historical Society and elected Helen Frost Moonen as their President. They incorporated under the Alberta Societies Act the following year and adopted three objectives; to gather and publish community history, to preserve artifacts of the pioneers, eventually with the intension of creating a museum, and to organize social events for pioneers in the community. Assisted by the Senior Citizen's Association the society published articles in the local newspaper, "the Tellim News", collected stories, sought grants and undertook other fund raising activities such as raffles and socials. They leased space from the Library / Legion (housed in the same building) and continued to gather information for the history from school reunion participants and general community members. The book, entitled "The Tales and Trails of Millet: 1895-1967" was launched to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the village of Millet in December 1978. It included 1100 family stories, 13 school districts and over 1000 photographs. The two-volume work won third prize from the Alberta Culture Regional History Award. The Society began to plan for a museum and seniors housing complex in 1979, purchased property in 1980, and began construction in 1982. The John A. Smith Seniors Complex, a 12-apartment residence (also known as the Manor) was opened in November 1983, however the museum did not form part of the complex. Grants were received for the creation of an "exhibit room" over the next few years and discussions held with the Town of Millet (incorporated in 1983) to join with them in the planned new Administration building. In 1985 the Millet Museum Foundation was formed to coordinate the collection of artifacts and donations and administer the volunteers' efforts for the new museum. Ground for the new administration building was broken in May 1985. The Historical Society had already raised over a quarter of the $230,000 cost. Further grants allowed the purchase of furnishings. The Society became a registered Charity and undertook to provide historical displays for the local schools. The new museum was opened in January 1986 within the Town's Administration building and a couple of years later the Chamber of Commerce also shared the space with a Tourist Information Centre in front of the museum store. The museum acquired shelving and produced programming around four special exhibits mounted between the spring and fall seasons. The following year marked the tenth anniversary of the society and saw their work of fundraising and exhibit development continue. A curator-manager position was created and the first staff person, Sharon Vant, hired. Helen Moonen received the first honorary life membership in the Society. The suggestion of adding to the building was raised in 1988 but did not come to fruition for another 7 years. In the meantime the Historical Society members continued to mount exhibits throughout the year (6-9 on average), develop permanent displays, fundraise; including 2-3 bingos a month, and took part in a variety of community projects including "adopting" flower beds, creating floats for parades, hosting volunteer appreciation banquets and maintaining their involvement with the operations of the seniors' housing complex, even though it's management was privatized and generally centralized in Wetaskiwin by 1995. A "Friends of the Museum" group was established in 1989 and the Video Club began a project to videotape the reminiscences of pioneers and other seniors in the community. The society undertook to produce a map and brochure of Millet for the Tourist Information Centre and took responsibility for the RV park when asked by the local Lions Service Club. The early 1990s saw the Society developing a level of professionalism by offering workshops and training for their staff and volunteers through the Alberta Museums Association. The highest number of visitors to the museum (2197) was recorded in 1990 prompting the Saturday opening of the facility. Special exhibits for the 90th anniversary of Millet occurred in 1993. Besides the Curator-Manager two other staff were hired and temporary summer help. A second life member of the society was named (Jerry Scott) and Jean Scott got a fledgling archives program underway. Subsequent training and assistance from the Archives Society of Alberta allowed the Society to create a creditable archives program by 1998 when the archives acquisition mandate was set. The involvement of the Society with community projects continued in 1999 and through the turn of the century with a rebuilding of an historic rock garden -- originally created by the Burns Creamery staff, a historic plaque program for historic buildings, and the development of a web presence for the Museum and Archives on the Canadian Heritage Information Network. The Legislature Library donated several copies of Millet newspapers and the archives purchased microfilms of the newspapers for research purposes. School tours continued to increase and new semi-permanent exhibits were planned. A written history of the Historical Society was completed in 2000.