Conception Bay Museum going hands on with old sports equipment this summer

By Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Harbour Grace’s Conception Bay Museum has officially opened its doors for the summer season.
Located on Water Street, the museum has rooms dedicated to various aspects of the area’s history, especially aviation and piracy. The museum is open free of charge to visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week until August 31.
Curator Nicholas Hamilton said July is the museum’s busiest month. Harbour Grace’s annual Pirates to Pilots Festival takes place from July 17 to 26, and the museum is promoted as part of it.
One of the festival’s most anticipated events, Amelia Earhart’s Birthday Party, will take place on the museum grounds from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on July 24. Food and drinks will be provided, and Amelia herself will make an appearance and answer questions from the audience. Hamilton said there will also likely be a temporary exhibit set up focusing on the Harbour Grace Airstrip.
Another important event is Aviation Day, which the museum will host July 26 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This event celebrates Harbour Grace’s aviation history. A fly-by is usually organized to start from the airstrip and pass over the harbour.
Weekly concerts will be taking place on the museum grounds over the summer. Every Wednesday, two artists will perform an hour-long show each that people can attend for free. Seven shows are planned up to August 19.
The museum is also hoping to offer an interactive sports exhibit soon. It will incorporate recent Harbour Grace sports notables including Danny Cleary and Jamie Korab, as well as sports from the more distant past. Hamilton said the exhibit will highlight recreation in Harbour Grace years ago and tie it into forms of entertainment people have today.
“One thing that we have upstairs is a set of carpet balls,” said Hamilton. “They’re essentially like bowling balls that people would use on any carpeted surface where you could play a game. It’s very similar to bocce ball or lawn bowling that we’d do today.”
Hamilton said the idea is to introduce kids to historical pieces of sports equipment and show them how modern bocce balls compare. The kids will then be able to go play with bocce balls on the museum grounds.
Hamilton said the best way for people to support the Conception Bay Museum is to pay it a visit.
“It definitely helps us if we’re recording that we get a lot of traffic,” he said. “That looks good for funding. We don’t charge people to come in so it is free to come and have a look around. But if people are interested in donating, we do accept donations and we’re also selling souvenirs.”