Many volunteers helped make the past year an exciting one for the Cortes Island Museum and Archives Society. The exhibit Celebrating Wild Salmon - the Cortes Experience, the Garden Tour on Twin Islands, the Old Schoolhouse Art Show Celebrating Wild Salmon, the creation of the Salmon Cookbook, and the "Misty Isles" boat trips to historical waters north & west of Cortes Island were successful highlights this year.

Community outreach and involvement were a focus in as many areas of operation as possible. The museum showed a presence at many Cortes celebrations, including the Oyster Festival, Cortes Day, Sandcastle Day, and Friday markets at Manson's Hall. Our school liaison, Lynne Jordan, worked with the teachers and students of the schools in creating parts of the display, hosting tours of the museum, and building an awareness of the importance of salmon to life on Cortes. The “Seniors Helping Seniors” enjoyed an afternoon tea and reading at the museum.

The Museum raised over $16,500 (after expenses) this year. This included a $6,000 grant from the B.C. Gaming Commission and a $3552 grant from Human Resources Development Canada for the summer student. Donations totaled $1226, membership fees totaled $1304, and the Memorial Fund totaled $525. The Garden Tour raised $1300, the quilt sale raised $631, Misty Isles trips raised $514 and the store sales including books, mugs, t-shirts, buttons, and cookbooks generated $1500.

The Museum learned this year that the Gaming Commission funds granted are proportionate to the amount of money raised. As a result, fundraising is very important and the Board is looking for new ideas and help from interested volunteers. In addition, the Board also learned this year that to be eligible for a grant there can be no more than 50 per cent of the previous year’s operating expenses on hand in the form of unrestricted cash and investments.

During the past year 6 new fundraising items were created. The High Tide Quilters donated a beautiful original wall hanging featuring salmon for a fundraising item. Gary Fast made and donated 12 pottery mugs with a salmon motif. T-shirts and buttons of the winning logos were popular. Lorna Brown created the cover design and coordinated the production of a very successful salmon cookbook featuring recipes from islanders. Cards and postcards using the line sketch of the Museum created by Dianne Bersea were also featured at the store.

The Board of Directors in 2003 were Bonnie MacDonald (President), Nancy Kendel (Vice President), Lucy Bacon (Secretary), Ann Ferguson (Treasurer). Members at large included Dianne Hentschel, Walter Grundmann, Andy Ellingsen, Doreen Thompson, Ian Disney, Ted Harrison, Lynne Jordan, and May Ellingsen. Half way through the year, Lucy Bacon and Walter Grundmann resigned from the Board due to personal commitments.  Thanks go to both Walter and Lucy, and we hope that they will consider returning at some future date, when their schedules permit. Lynne Jordan assumed the Secretary Position.

An important component in creating exciting exhibits and properly organized archives and collections is the training of our volunteers. This year volunteers Donna McLaren and Jill Milton were sponsored to the Conference of the Archives Association of BC, and also received training through the Community Archives Education Program. Courses included training in the use of archival software, web access to photographs and archival finding aids.

In October of 2002 volunteers and Board Members agreed the 2003 exhibit would be “Celebrating Wild Salmon ­ The Cortes Experience”. Throughout the winter many volunteers researched and worked hard toward the exhibit opening preview for members on June 22nd.

School Involvement:  Both the Cortes Island Public School and Linnaea School were involved in creating pictures, poster hangings, poems, fish and logos for the Wild Salmon exhibit. Students were interested in seeing their artwork on display. Under the mentorship of Sabina Leader-Mense, students from the Cortes Island School researched and created an interactive display explaining the importance of eelgrass to the Cortes marine environment. With the financial support of FOCI, Sabina continues to monitor eelgrass habitat around Cortes, and will provide the museum with updates of her data.

Art Show:  The Museum sponsored an art show at the Old School House Gallery. Curated by Martha Abelson, the show "Born to be Wild: Celebrating Wild Salmon" featured works on the theme of wild salmon by island artists ranging from paintings and drawings to a ten foot Cedar totem of Bear and Salmon, and from textiles and carvings to text and a video. The murals and logos created by the local school students were also on display. The opening of the show was a great celebration with over 150 persons in attendance. Ann Mortifee and Denise Wolda each performed original salmon songs, and the Cortes Singers entertained with west coast fishing songs. All enjoyed wild salmon hors d'oeuvres, compliments of Cortes Island fishermen.

Logo Contest: Two logo contests were held ­ one in the community at large and one for school students. Jennifer Rowse won a basket of salmon products for her entry, which was used on a t-shirt sold in the store. Linnaea student, Ariel Osland, created the winning student logo of a salmon alevin with the title "Born To Be Wild". Ariel's artwork and title became the "Born to be Wild: Celebrating Wild Salmon" title of the art show and was also used on buttons sold at the show and Museum store. Ariel Osland was given an exhibit T-shirt and credit for her artwork on all posters and advertising.

Collection of Stories:  In keeping with our mandate to preserve local history, the 2003 museum exhibit explored and recorded the history of the local salmon fishing industry. Dianne Hentschel and Doreen Thompson interviewed twenty-five fishermen and women who eagerly shared their memories and their photographs covering a time span of more than eighty years. Their stories and photos have been preserved not only in the exhibit but also in photo/story albums that have become a part of our ongoing collection of island history.

The following Outreach Programs were organized in 2003.

School Visits: This fall all the students from both schools visited the display at the museum with many recognizing family or fishermen friends in the photos. The Preschool also came for a visit with teacher, parents, grandparents and siblings. Preschoolers enjoyed making fish prints with their teacher Paola Filippin.

“Seniors helping Seniors” Tea: In November, following a lunch special at The Tak, a group of 15 seniors came to the museum for tea and a lively reading of fishermen stories by Yvonne Kipp. It was also an opportunity for them to view the display and exchange fishing stories of their own. All involved had a good time, and it is hoped that seniors' afternoons will happen on a more regular basis.

Hilary Stewart Presentation: Award winning author, Hilary Stewart, spoke on the traditional fishing methods of the Coast Salish People. She brought examples of fishing gear for examination, which she had created in the traditional ways, and loaned her pieces for use in the salmon exhibit.

Misty Isles: Sponsored by the museum at the end of August, Mike & Samantha Moore hosted 12 guests for a tour circumnavigating Maurelle Island aboard their converted schooner "Misty Isles".  Highlights included the rapids at Surge Narrows, Octopus Islands, an abandoned cabin full of creative souvenirs left by yachters, Hole-in-the-Wall rapids, Raven's Chamber Pot, Church House Village and First Nations' red ochre pictographs on sheer rock bluffs in White Rock Passage and on Raza Island.  The trip was so popular that a second trip was booked for the following day.  Mike Moore's knowledgeable commentary and history of these areas made for a most interesting and informative day on the waters west and north of Cortes Island.

Student Work Experience Program: This year for the first time the Museum participated in Linnaea's student community service work experience program with the placement of student Dayle Fontaine. For four afternoons, Dayle worked with volunteers on archives, the computer, dismantling displays and in the garden. It was a positive experience for all involved, and the volunteers were enthusiastic about Dayle’s personality and work ethic.

The Archive Committee continued to arrange and describe materials already on hand, including entering descriptions into the standardized format of the archival software program purchased in 2002. To assist in this two committee members received training. The Committee also met with Sandra Parrish, of the Campbell River Museum to coordinate the description and access to the Cortes Collection of Photographs; and with May Ellingsen to discuss the creation of the Cortes Collection of Photographs. Additional supplies were purchased for processing and protecting archival materials. An application was completed for a grant from the Canadian Council of Archives, Control of Holdings program for processing archival materials related to community planning on Cortes Island. New archival material was received from Ralph Nursall and Brig Weiler.

This year the Board again recruited members through a mailer sent to all Cortes Island households. Normal membership recruitment continued at the AGM and other museum functions. Differing from the past year, no specific membership recruitment was targeted at the community halls. This may account for membership numbers dropping from 153 to 117.

Over 850 residents and visitors who toured the Museum signed the guest book and recorded their appreciation of the exhibits. Visitors came from 7 provinces, with many from Cortes Island, Vancouver Island and the lower mainland; and from 10 other countries including 9 states in the U.S. More than 70 volunteers worked over 3100 hours on a variety of projects throughout the year. Zoe Miles was hired for the summer months through the Human Resources Development Canada program.

Ray Kendel coordinated the renovations. This year the focus was to complete the outside of the building. In two work bees the south side of the building was re-sided and stained. Painting and staining of other parts were also completed. Gutters were then installed on the entire building. Rodent and weather proofing of the three doors was also completed.

A very special excursion to the Twin Island estate of Mark and Susan Torrance raised $1300.00. Forty participants enjoyed an extensive tour of the magnificent homes and property, a discussion and photographs highlighting the history of the property, lunch and a great boat ride home.

An inventory of plantings in the garden was completed. Top-dressing and mulching of existing plantings continued through the very dry summer. Supplies were purchased to lay paths around the raised concrete beds, to solve the current problem of grass growing into the beds. To reduce the amount of time required to manually water the plants, an irrigation layout was planned and sufficient supplies purchased for installation of drip irrigation to the section of the garden on the west side of the Museum.

One of the goals identified by our membership was to better document Museum exhibits and events. A digital camera with software was purchased to assist in meeting this goal, and will also be used to document collections and help in the creation of a museum web site. It was recognized that the Museum computer needed upgrading, and Lloyd Yendall and Ray Grout volunteered to make this happen. This year, Lynne Jordan created binders with photo records of special events, and Richard Trueman documented the art show with a photo CD.

The Board continues to seek funding to allow the creation of a part-time curator/administrator position to provide volunteers direction and training regarding museum operations.

Exhibit: Ideas being considered include:

2005 Calendar:  Fundraiser featuring historic photographs of Cortes life.

Garden Tour: Featuring unique and interesting Cortes gardens and gardeners.

Heritage Garden: nstall drip irrigation system to the west side. Create plant list handout, and Lay paths around concrete beds.

Community Outreach:  Continue work with schools and “Seniors Helping Seniors”, host speakers and walks, and develop a web page.