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COVID-19 – A Message from Big Joe!

From Big Joe… I am looking forward to a lot of photo opportunities this summer!

I hope that you will take the opportunity for a photograph with me! Let’s choose to be COVID-safe! Show me your mask!

Until most people are protected by vaccinations and health officials tell us we can relax our safety measures, it is important to continue being cautious with our behaviors and interactions.

Many thanks to the Mattawa Museum for providing my Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and the Mattawa Fire Department for assisting with installation.

Dan O’Grady, Troy Whalley the installation was painless! Thank you!
Personal thanks to Paul Dupras, Dan O’Grady, Troy Whalley, Paul Lafreniere…

The Mattawa & Area Health Hub with support from volunteers from organizations such as the Mattawa Fire Department have been instrumental in organizing and implementing vaccine clinics and moving our community towards a different place than we have been for a while!

Continue to be STRONG & SAFE Mattawa!

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International Women’s Day 2021 – March 8

Today we celebrate International Women’s Day and we would like to give you a chance to read about this significant day and celebrate as a community…

2021 Campaign Theme
#ChooseToChallenge

A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day.

We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.

From challenge comes change, so let’s all choose to challenge.

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women’s achievements or rally for women’s equality. 

Marked annually on March 8th, International Women’s Day (IWD) is one of the most important days of the year to:

  • celebrate women’s achievements
  • raise awareness about women’s equality
  • lobby for accelerated gender parity

Ever wonder what the world looked like in terms of women’s oppression and inequality and what women fought for…..

Explore the History of International Women’s Day

Help Celebrate Someone from our Community that Chose to Challenge…

Emma Dupuis

Emma has been a student at F.J. McElligott Secondary School in Mattawa for the past four years. Academics were not her only strength, athletics, school club activities, and volunteerism. You may have enjoyed some of her writing in local community newspapers.

Emma has recently been accepted to Queens University AND won the prestigious $36,000 Chancellor’s Scholarship!

So now, let’s hear from Emma…

First of all, how do you feel about winning this really wonderful Scholarship?

I was really excited to hear that I won this scholarship and that all of the effort that I’d put in the last four years paid off.

Can you explain what the Chancellor’s Scholarship from Queen’s University is?

First, to be eligible for the Chancellor’s scholarship I had to be nominated by my school. The process itself had many tiny parts I had to complete in my application. I had to fill out forms explaining awards I’d won, sports teams and other clubs I’d been involved in. I then had to write three short essays about my leadership roles and a volunteer experience that inspired me. Additionally, I had to demonstrate creative thinking through a creative piece that I sent in. I also had to get a reference from one of my teachers and send in my transcript.

Is the amount given out over the course of your studies?

The scholarship is divided equally over 4 years.

What is your choice of undergrad program and what are your future plans with that degree?

The undergraduate program I’m enrolled in is Health Sciences. Currently, I hope to either go into medical research or bioethics.

What challenges did you have during a year of virtual learning and in-school?

This school year was very interesting way to end my high school career. This year we were in an octomester model which meant that I had one class all day for a little over a month before I moved on to the next class. Last year virtual learning was definitely another learning curve but I hope that it will be beneficial in the future as the program I’m in works in a flipped classroom model (this means that I read modules online before attending classes where the focus is application and discussion).

Any advice you can give to other students ?

Start setting goals, break tasks down into many small, manageable pieces. Many scholarships require you to have a list of all of your accomplishments, so keep a record of things you’ve done.  Often major scholarships are looking for well rounded applications who have been dedicated to school, sports, clubs and community involvement and have managed to maintain a high average.

Congratulations Emma!

#ChooseToChallenge

Individuals and organizations are invited to send in their #ChooseToChallenge images to share with our community. We will post them on this website.

A special shout out to the young people in our community, hand up high to show you’re in …

Will you #ChooseToChallenge?

Please submit images to info@mattawamuseum.ca

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Behind the Scenes by Judy Toupin …

Hello from your local community Museum!

To say it has been an unprecedented year? well, it has and continues to be for all of us. While the museum would normally still be closed, we thought we would update you with some Behind the Scenes information to let you know what is in the works for whatever season we are able to have this year.  There is no road map for what we are going through, we have all realized that, but I believe we have been able to navigate the best we can with what we have.

I am genuinely excited to announce, that for the first time, we have a co-op student working with us!

You will remember Mia from our awesome Summer Team last year and I am so happy to have her with us now as we prepare for our upcoming season.  It may still be virtual; we may have limited visits with booked appointments? I truly, at this point, do not know what we will be able to do, but know that we are working on some unique projects to enable you to see how we are bringing your history to you.  Last season we were able to revamp, refurbish, renovate and reinvent various exhibits in the Museum.  I truly hope we will be able to open our doors and invite you to come visit us in person.

So, from Élisabeth-Bruyère School …

Hi! My name’s Mia and I am doing a virtual COOP (cooperative education program) with the Mattawa Museum this semester. I thoroughly enjoyed my time employed there this summer and chose to do a COOP here thanks to that experience. During this COOP, I will be working on various virtual projects. Currently, I am designing a presentation for the Community Cares exhibit which will document how our community came together over the course of the past two years to overcome various historical events such as the flood of 2019 and COVID-19.

We need your help!

If you have pictures/video from the Flood of 2019 or from various COVID-19 events/ideas/articles … we’d love you to share with us.  You can forward to info@mattawamuseum.ca .  These would help us in the creation of our Community Cares exhibit. 

Thank you for your support!

Bonjour de votre communauté locale Musée!

Dire que ça a été une année sans précédent? eh bien, ça a été et continue d’être pour nous tous. Bien que le musée serait normalement encore fermé, nous avons pensé que nous allions vous mettre à jour avec  quelques informations dans les coulisses pour vous faire savoir ce qui est en préparation pour n’importe quelle saison que nous sommes en mesure d’avoir cette année.  Il n’y a pas de feuille de route pour ce que nous traversons, nous l’avons tous réalisé, mais je crois que nous avons été en mesure de naviguer du mieux que nous pouvons avec ce que nous avons.

Je suis vraiment heureux d’annoncer que, pour la première fois, nous avons un étudiant coop qui travaille avec nous!

Vous vous souviendrez de Mia de notre équipe d’été impressionnante l’an dernier et je suis tellement heureux de l’avoir avec nous maintenant que nous nous préparons pour notre prochaine saison.  Il peut encore être virtuel; nous pouvons avoir des visites limitées avec des rendez-vous réservés? Je ne sais vraiment pas ce que nous serons en mesure de faire, mais je sais que nous travaillons sur des projets uniques pour vous permettre de voir comment nous vous apportons votre histoire.  La saison dernière, nous avons pu rénover, rénover et réinventer diverses expositions du Musée.  J’espère sincèrement que nous serons en mesure d’ouvrir nos portes et de vous inviter à venir nous rendre visite en personne.

Donc, de l’école Élisabeth-Bruyère  …

Bonjour! Je m’appelle Mia et je fais une COOP virtuelle (programme d’éducation coopérative) avec le Musée Mattawa ce semestre. J’ai beaucoup apprécié mon temps employé cet été et j’ai choisi de faire une COOP ici grâce à cette expérience. Au cours de cette COOP, je travaillerai sur divers projets virtuels. À l’heure actuelle,  je conçois une présentation pour l’exposition Soins communautaires qui documente comment notre communauté s’est réunie au cours des deux dernières années pour surmonter divers événements historiques tels que le flot de 2019 et covid-19.

Nous avons besoin de votre aide!

Si vous avez des photos / vidéo du déluge de 2019 ou de divers événements COVID-19 / idées / articles … Nous aimerions que vous partez avec nous.  Vous pouvez transférer à info@mattawamuseum.ca  .  Ceux-ci nous aideraient dans la création de notre exposition soins communautaires. 

Nous vous remercions de votre appui!