Village News

“I guess things must be pretty quiet at the museum now” is a perspective frequently voiced by many friends of Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV) at this time of year. No doubt this assumption is based on the knowledge that the major tourism season has passed and a sense that an outdoor venue such as MHV is not likely to be busy in cool, wet weather – certainly not once there is snow on the ground. While these perspectives are not inaccurate, they don’t reflect all that we are occupied with these days.

This is the time of year when we do a significant amount of planning for our next season. Our Management Team is now actively engaged in reviewing and redrafting strategic priorities, initiatives and action plans that will guide us in focusing on our Mission and our Vision Statement. It is important not to be distracted by potential courses of action that would not move us toward those key targets. The MHV Board of Directors will meet at the end of November to review our proposed Strategic Plan.

Once the plan has been completed and approved by the Board, our budgeting begins. We will try to anticipate the expenditures that will be required to achieve the plan and determine how we will find revenue to pay these expenses. This will surely require creative thinking, and even some negotiations, among Management Team members.

A key component in trying to secure funds for our work is grant writing. A number of our grant applications for summer employment, festival celebrations and facility improvements are due around this time of year. These require many hours of detailed work to ensure that taxpayers’ dollars are spent judiciously. Without these grants, we either need to consider scaling back the scope of our work or ask our constituents for more money.

Our year-end appeal letter is typically the only letter we send to all constituents on a yearly basis. This letter seeks to touch base with our supporters and remind them of the good things that have been happening at MHV, inviting them to again invest in that work. Processing a mass mailing of just under 1,000 letters is a significant task.

Another key element of our planning process involves the selection of a theme for the upcoming year. In 2016, Manitobans will be celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of women being given the right to vote. At MHV, we plan to develop this theme by exploring the role of women in Russian Mennonite culture during that time period. This project will involve tasks like creating a new exhibit for the Gerhard Ens Gallery and tweaking our School Program to highlight the theme.

Our Programs Department is also currently busy promoting the School Program for next year. All Manitoba schools will receive notification of the educational programs we provide, with an invitation to take advantage of the great facility we have at MHV.

This is also the time of year when our meeting rooms are quite busy with seminars, banquets, receptions, Christmas parties and other events. Recently we had to coordinate three meetings in one meeting room at different times during one day.

In addition to all the activities noted above, this year is unique in that we are also beginning our Foundations for a Strong Future initiative. We will write numerous additional grant applications and have many face-to-face meetings with interested individuals to share the exciting elements of this project.

Is it actually quieter at MHV at this time of year? Maybe some days, for brief periods of time. And when it is quiet, staff are likely busy at their desks, pouring over plans for the new season so that we can later enjoy the busyness of hosting many guests during the summer months.