Can You Find Funky Facts? Search at N.S. Museums

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to uncover quirky, funky facts about Nova Scotia''s heritage.

Starting June 9, 71 museums across the province are challenging Nova Scotians and visitors to take part in the Funky Museum Roadshow, a summer-long, fun-filled event to get to know Nova Scotia and the neat stuff in museums.

Museum Day Weekend, June 9 and 10, is the best time to start your mission, as 50 museums across the province present special events to start the summer season.

"The Funky Museum Roadshow features the unique, unusual and sometimes amusing aspects of Nova Scotia’s rich heritage," said Rodney MacDonald, Minister of Tourism and Culture. "It goes even further by placing attention on the valuable role museums have in interpreting and reflecting our community history for all to experience."

To get started, pick up a Funky Museum Roadshow passport at Visitor Information Centres or 71 participating museums across the province. Students in Grades 4, 5 and 6 already have 30,000 passports sent to schools across the province.

Visit a museum near you, check out the scene, talk to the experts and make your funky find. The passport outlines all the information you’ll need on your Funky Find quest.

Will your "funkiest find" title go to a 1925 home-built airplane, a fishing reel made from the pistons of a car, or a square- dancing dress crafted from bread bags? Maybe it will be a shipwrecked jar of pickles from 1882 or some of the world’s oldest and smallest dinosaur fossils.

The museums and other sponsors will donate a variety of prizes, such as free family admission to all 25 provincial museums, a kite, a Parrsboro day tour, a barrel made at Ross Farm Museum, and many other items.

Meanwhile, the Funky Dynamic Duo of Garry Sowerby, professional adventure driver, and Peter Duffy, columnist for the Chronicle Herald and Mail Star, are back for a third year to travel the province in a Pontiac Aztek, seeking out funky finds.

Meet them when they visit a museum near you. On Saturday, June 9, they’ll be at Orangedale Railway Museum between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., and at Highland Village for a traditional milling frolic between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Or, meet them at Alexander Graham Bell Museum between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 10. Further information is available at http://museum.gov.ns.ca/funky2001 .

"Funkiness is in the eye of the beholder," said Mr. Sowerby, whose previous missions include circumnavigating the world in the shortest time to grab a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.

"This year we’re challenging the public to use their handy-dandy passports as a guide, dig a little deeper in museum collections over the summer, and document their funky find to enter our contest." He said he’ll be excited to see the funky finds discovered this summer. The roadshow contest closes on Sept. 1 and winners will be announced in early September.

The second annual Funky Museum Roadshow event promotes experiencing Nova Scotia’s cultural and natural heritage in a fun and funky way by showcasing museums across the province.

Roadshow participants include 25 provincial museums in the Nova Scotia Museum family, 44 community museums and two Parks Canada National Historic Sites.

The event is supported by the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia, The Herald Ltd., Advocate Printing and Publishing, Odyssey International, Pontiac Aztek, ATV Breakfast Television and the Department of Tourism and Culture. These events get under way during June, Tourism Awareness Month.

For more information, and a list of participating museums, visit us online: Funky Museum Roadshow at http://museum.gov.ns.ca/funky2001 and Museum Day Weekend events at http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mdw2001.