Randy Schnarr with the completed “Riding the Rails” exhibit at Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre. Photo submitted

The Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre (BCM&CC) is thrilled to be recognized with an honourable mention from the Ontario Museum Association (OMA) Awards of Excellence in the category of Community Engagement for its "Riding the Rails" exhibit.

In a BCM&CC media release, it was in 2016 that master model maker and retired industrial designer, Randy Schnarr took a fully-realized blueprint for an innovative and interactive exhibit to the BCM&CC to show how his idea would capture not only the 100-year history of the
Bruce County’s commercial and personal rail history, but also the imagination of the people.

Once approved, the project quickly became a catalyst for community cohesion, drawing together people who were eager to volunteer their services to create a unique and important project that would be named “Riding the Rails”. Community engagement swelled over the two years it took to complete the project as Randy’s volunteer team went from three to 30 and together they logged more than 8,000 volunteer hours to produce a fully-operational, stand-alone model rail exhibit that is now permanently on display in the Museum’s Transportation Hall.

The OMA Awards of Excellence are given annually at their provincial conference and are designed to recognize outstanding contributions to the Ontario museum community with emphasis on innovation, advancing the museum profession in Ontario and encouraging high standards of excellence in the museum field.

The OMA Award of Excellence in Community Engagement is presented to individuals, institutions, corporations, or agencies that have increased the community’s engagement with the museum or institution.

All ages enjoy watching the train make its rounds through a model of Bruce County. Photo submitted