Student works to make Museum fundraisers a success

BY KIRK STARRATT

The Advertiser

NovaNewsNow.com

She’s enjoying her time at the Kings County Museum in Kentville as she strives to help make upcoming fundraising initiatives a success.

Michelle Mansfield of Coldbrook, a summer student employed on a federal grant at the museum, said that the Kings Historical Society held a comedy night and silent auction as a fundraiser for the first time last year and they’ve decided to hold another this year. It will be held at Acadia University’s Festival Theatre in Wolfville Friday evening, Oct. 19.

Mansfield has been busy contacting local businesses to procure donations for the silent auction portion of the event and has already collected several items.

“It takes a lot of planning,” she said about pulling together the silent auction portion of the fundraiser.

Although her main focus is making the silent auction a success, Mansfield has been working also on the posters and tickets for the upcoming “Whispers from the Past” cemetery tour being held at the Lower Horton Graveyard Sunday evening, Sept. 16. This is also a fundraiser for the historical society and the museum.

Enjoys the networking

She said she enjoys networking with members of the local business community through her efforts to gather silent auction items and she has arranged meetings with local service clubs on behalf of the society, looking for support for ticket sales and other aspects of the fundraisers.

Mansfield, who will enter her first year of studies in Sciences at Saint Mary’s University in September, said she has really enjoyed the experience of working at the museum because you usually don’t get to do that type of work as a student.

“I feel good helping out the museum,” she said. “I feel like I’m doing something for a cause.”

Mansfield said she wasn’t as interested in history before she started to work at the museum this summer. For example, she got to help out in the genealogy department one day and found it quite enjoyable. “It’s piquing my interest a lot,” she said.

Kings County Museum curator Bria Stokesbury said it’s great having Mansfield working in the arena of fundraising and marketing on behalf of the museum and the historical society because it helps to free time for other staff members to work with artifacts, exhibits and other facets of the museum’s operations.