The South Cariboo Historical Museum Society (SCHMS) has received a $5,000 Grant-in-Aid from the Village of Clinton. It’s half the amount the society asked for, but SCHMS President Andrew May says that they should be able to make up the rest of the amount through donations and book sales.
“It costs us about $10,000 to hire someone to work at the museum through the summer,” says May, noting that the position will be posted within the next week. They’re not looking for a professional historian, as there are a dozen or so volunteers at the museum who are well-versed in local history. The society has also applied for a student worker through the Canada Summer Jobs program.
While the Grant-in-Aid is appreciated, May says that ideally there would be core funding in place from the Village. “The society spends much of our time looking for funds to keep the doors open, plus the volunteers put in an insane number of hours.”
The museum opens for the season on May 15, and there will be a spring clean-up bee in April. The SCHMS is also starting to plan celebrations commemorating the museum’s 60th year in the current building, which was built from locally-made bricks in 1892 and served as both schoolhouse and courthouse.