The Wellesley Township Historical Society had a good year, according to chair Ron Hackett, who approached councillors on Tuesday night with a request to extend the organization’s curator position for another year.
Current curator Nancy Maitland, whose contract ends in December, has made a significant difference at the organization since she was hired, he argued.
“There are all kinds of things the historical society can do but with the few members that we have we don’t have the membership to do these things and having a curator enables us to get things done.”
A month ago the society agreed to extend Maitland’s position for another year but needed a consensus with council before going ahead with a new contract. Council was receptive but Coun. Herb Heher asked for details on the curator’s various duties throughout the year.
“Originally the curator was there in order to do all the documentation. That was the one year and then we extended it because there was more work in order to document everything. Is this becoming a full-time position?” he asked.
“I just want to make sure that just because we have the money we’re not spending the money because we have it.”
Hackett replied that though Wellesley’s Historical Society operated without a curator for many years Maitland has been crucial to the organization and her work often extends past the 15 hours per month she is paid for. He added that her wages would not change should council agree to extend the contract.
The funds for Maitland’s part-time salary will be paid from the Jack Koehler Estate fund, from which $10,148.27 is available to pay for another year of the curator’s wages.
During her time with the society Maitland has been instrumental in helping to create a new website and create promotional material. She has also helped to copy the Maple Leaf Journal – the history of the area’s settlement –onto DVDs, which have recently brought in some revenue, said Hackett.
He calls the years without a curator a “travesty” as many artifacts went undocumented and neglected.
“Now if you come up into the room you can see displays … there are all kinds of activities that she does that makes the historical room vibrant.”
Hackett added that if the money was not available the historical society would not be able to expand as it has in recent months.
“We hope to have programs where the public are invited and it’s a full time job to keep the thing running even though she only works 15 hours a month. She works more than that actually, but we only pay her for 15.”
