The Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre is pleased to announce a significant investment has been made in the permanent gallery commemorating the First World War through the Bruce Remembers Exhibit. The contribution from the Government of Canada Celebration and Commemoration Program will also benefit an accompanying travelling school outreach exhibit. Both the permanent and travelling exhibits will give local residents, visitors and students the opportunity to take part in activities and learn more about the First World War.

“We are thrilled to receive this contribution from the Government of Canada Celebration and Commemoration Program. With this funding, we are able to strengthen and share our historical past throughout the County and beyond. The travelling school outreach exhibit, which focuses on the Grade 10 curriculum, offers teachers another way for students to learn about the First World War through personal connections to three local heroes." says Director, Museum & Cultural Services, Cathy McGirr.

With this funding, the Museum is able to provide opportunities for reflection and appreciate this important moment in our history. Earlier this year the Bruce Remembers exhibition opened with a commemorative parade. Visitors experience life from a soldiers perspective as the exhibition showcases the causes of war, enlistment and propaganda, a cross section of individuals involved in the war (Bruce County) including: First Nations, Nursing Sisters, Air Corps and Local Heroes. Life on the home front as well as trench conditions and a memorial are also main themes within the exhibition. The travelling school outreach exhibit which is scheduled for completion January 2016 will reach beyond Bruce County with plans to travel the exhibition to secondary schools throughout Ontario and into neighbouring provinces.

Exhibition Feature Areas:
• Letters from home
• Airmen
• Nursing sisters
• First Nation involvement
• Local heroes
• Firearms and gas warfare
• Enlistment card
• Gas mask
• “Smell-o-Vision” – Trench Sleeping Hole
• Try a uniform and weighted ruck sack
• Dioramas – Front Lines through the war

Editor's Note: The following paragraph was added after this story was first published.

The Government of Canada has provided funding of $77,601 through the Celebration and Commemoration Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage. Commemorate Canada provides financial support for initiatives of national significance that commemorate important aspects of Canada's history through theme-based, integrated and dynamic approach to celebrating and commemorating Canada and Canadians.