In 1990, three years after the Northern Gateway Museum closed its doors, Norma Barr’s phone rang.
Asked to help reopen the Denare Beach institution, she leapt at the chance.
“I was thrilled,” Barr recalled.
Over the next 25 years, she would be instrumental in reopening and upgrading a museum many view as the crown jewel of the village.
Last Sunday, July 26, the museum and the village honoured Barr on the occasion of her retirement from the museum board.
As she accepted a framed photo of the museum along with a commemorative nameplate to be displayed in the museum, Barr was contemplative.
She told about 40 guests gathered outside the museum that she had spent all week re-reading meeting minutes from her time on the board.
“It’s just wonderful memories,” Barr said.
Barr recalled how after she received that phone call in 1990, she and fellow board members focused on fundraising.
“We worked bingos, bingos, bingos,” she said. “We bartended. We [sold] tickets for raffles. We sold tickets for socials and meat draws.”
The committee developed a plan to open a new, larger museum by 2000, a goal they met.
Barr recalled the board selling logs for the new museum for $100 each and approaching businesses and organizations for help.
“The support was absolutely tremendous,” she said.
Eventually the new museum was connected to the original building via an annex. Other improvements included a new sign and an ever-evolving stream of exhibits.
At Sunday’s presentation, Penny Morissette, chairwoman of the museum, called Barr “a very dedicated, active volunteer” and a “driving force” behind the preservation of the original museum and the conception and construction of the new one.
Morissette presented Barr with a framed photo of the museum. The photo was taken by former museum board member Kari Lentowicz and is surrounded by a handmade frame crafted by current board member Steve Shtuka.
Denare Beach mayor Carl Lentowicz thanked Barr and presented her with an engraved plate featuring her name and recognition of her years as a volunteer. The plate will be displayed in the museum.
While Barr has retired, no one would be surprised to see her return to the museum for regular visits. After all these years, the place is a part of her.
