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  Researching the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site of Canada
  Recherche sur la Forteresse-de-Louisbourg Lieu historique national du Canada

NATIONAL HISTORIC SITES OF CAPE BRETON
LIEUX HISTORIQUES NATIONAUX DU CAPE-BRETON

Vol. 5, No. 08
August 2003 - août 2003 

AGB News

On August 2, 1922, Alexander Graham Bell passed away at his Beinn Bhreagh home. He was 75 years of age. Mrs. Bell wanted a simple funeral and no one was to wear black. The following is an excerpt from her notes concerning the arrangements for his burial on the mountain top:

"Then they will cover the box with spruce and we will go away and leave the men to cover him and I would like the American and British flags flying somewhere up there. He was proud of being a Scotchman too and was Scotch to the backbone in spite of himself. Scotch with all the silent rock strength of that stern silent race underneath all his gentleness and I have felt there was kinship between him and the men I have seen in the Baddeck Presbyterian Church. America stood to him for his ideal of the rights of men. It represented for him the progress of man, the pushing forward to the greater freedom and equality of achievement - opportunity of development for all men and women, but the unbending strength that never yielded through all opposition and carried him through all the doubt and hesitation of those about him - that was Scotch."

Liberated Learning Project

Soon, there will be an official announcement about the 'Liberated Learning Project' coming on site at AGBNHSC. Liberated Learning is a computer technology program that is able to take the spoken word and turn it into words you can read. AGB provides the opportunity to test this technology in a museum setting using it to tour the exhibit areas and in programs. This is in keeping with Dr. Bell's lifelong effort to bring hearing impaired people into the hearing world. More details to follow!

Photo Shoots

This month at AGB we had 2 photo shoots - one with Elizabeth MacDonald and Jacolyn Daniluck and the other with Guy LeBlanc and photographer Dale Wilson.

Marconi NHSC was the subject of a recent shoot by Guy LeBlanc and Dale Wilson

Aviation Day

AGB also celebrated its annual Aviation Day with excellent turnout and all staff hard at work providing wonderful programs followed by music, cake and punch for hundreds. We are now planning the activities for Harvest Home to be celebrated September 20th.

Kites

Candace Sweet, Conservation, Halifax, has been on site at AGB checking out the stability of the kites in exhibit areas as well as cleaning these artifacts. She has a nifty new vacuum cleaner that she wears like backpack. This concept might have possibilites for home use!

Commemorative Integrity Evaluation

The CI Evaluation for Canso Islands & Grassy Island Fort National Historic Sites was done during the week of August of 18th. A combination of staff from the field unit, the Service Centre along with some representatives chosen by the National Office took part in assessing how we are doing in caring for these sites. The results will play a major role in determining the management plan contents.

Over 1400 visitors took part in the celebration of the Feast of St Louis on Sunday August 24th. Staff and volunteers filled the streets to participate in canon salutes, promenades and just plain making merry. Highlights included a Te Deum and motet sung in the chapel followed by a procession through the streets. The engineer put on a fine ambigu featuring mussels and salmon while the working class feasted on lamb stew. As the upper crust of society danced to recorder and guitar music, soldiers and fishermen were entertained by the sounds of a violin. A good time was had by all and staff are to be congratulated for putting on such a fine event.

FOL Volunteers

The Children’s Animation Program will be coming to a close the end of this month. Once again, this has been a very successful year for all who were involved. Last year there were over 8600 hours of volunteer hours logged for this program.

Getting to know our Parks & Sites

Port Royal National Historic Site

Port Royal, NHSC is a reconstruction of one of the earliest European settlements to be established on this continent. The Habitation was founded by Sieur de Mons and a drawing of the original buildings - a rectangular formation around a courtyard - was found in the journal of explorer Samuel de Champlain.

Port Royal is a national historic site because of its legacy: French culture, commerce and colonization, and the experiences of Mi’kmaq and French colonists, covering the period from 1605 to 1613; and the replica of the Habitation as a milestone in the Canadian heritage movement.

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The government rebuilt the Habitation at Port Royal in 1939-40 after much lobbying and research by several dedicated preservationists. Today the habitation not only commemorates historic events of the distant past but is itself a landmark in Canada’s preservation movement.

Port-Royal is located off Hwy. 1 near Annapolis Royal and 6 km west of Granville Ferry. For anyone wishing to visit (and use their Learning & Discovery Passes!) Port Royal is open from May 15 to October 15, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Parks Canada Employee Survey

Parks Canada's first-ever national employee survey is being launched this month.

At Parks Canada, we value competence, fairness and respect. We'd like to find out from you not only how you feel about your work and workplace, but also how we can improve as an employer.

This survey will give employees a chance to have their say, in confidence. Its results will help Parks Canada to plan for the future, as well as to review our HR practices.

We encourage you to participate; it is only through your participation that we will get the sound information we need to respond to your needs fairly and with respect.

If you have any questions about it, please consult your manager or talk to Paulette Budge or Valerie White.

Run for the Cure

A team has been put together by Terri Dunphy for the "Run For The Cure" to be held on October 5th. They will be part of Geraldine's Angels (named in honour of Geraldine LeVert) and will be supporting the efforts of the staff from Cheticamp and Ingonish.

A couple of fund raisers will be held over the next few weeks and we are also looking for sponsors.

Last year more than 140,000 Canadians walked or ran to raise $14.6 million for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Although we have never had a team before, Helen O’Shea has been involved in this fundraiser since it began in 2000. Let’s help make this year even better than last!

Did you know....

Patrick O’Shea and Carolyn Baker tied the knot on Friday August 22^nd in Ontario. Congratulations Pat and Carolyn and also to Bill and Helen.

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Anyone wishing to submit an article to the Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Please forward to Donna MacNeil at donna.macneil@pc.gc.ca  or telephone 733-3551.