The Cochrane Historical & Archival Preservation Society (CHAPS) was recently awarded with Newsmaker of the Year at the Cochrane Community Awards.
“It was very exciting,” Frank Hennessey, member of CHAPS and president of the Cochrane Historical Museum, said about winning the award.
Since 1999, the society has worked tirelessly to identity, preserve, protect and educate the public about historically significant properties and buildings in Cochrane.
The society’s latest project was the opening of the Cochrane Historical Museum, opened last May, which hosts a variety of historical documents, photos and artifacts – including relocating the “old hospital” earlier this year.
As previously reported by the Eagle, the museum recently received a Canada 150 Community Infrastructure grant which will go toward purchasing a new flagpole, signage for the museum, renovations for display cases and also pay for half of the salary of a new summer student.
“We have a very dedicated staff (and) there will be several new exhibits this year,” Hennessey said.
“We are extremely pleased.”
The museum is free to tour and is staffed predominately by volunteers. With a busy start to this season already, staff at the museum saw visitors from England, Quebec, Germany and Poland during the July long weekend, according to the visitors’ guestbook.
In 2008, the society installed plaque on Main Street in front of eight historic buildings to share details of their history and the history of the people connected with them.
“Last year, CHAPS was in the news many times as we tracked the move of Cochrane’s first hospital from Fourth St N and Highway 1A, to its current location at the Historic Cochrane Ranche site. The building is now known as the Cochrane Historical Museum and is open to the public during the summer season so we can all enjoy and learn from this wonderful slice of Cochrane’s history,” the nomination read.
The Cochrane Historical & Archival Preservation Society was selected as Newsmaker of the Year after being nominated by an employee for the Cochrane Community Awards and chosen by a selection committee.
To check out why the society was named “newsmaker” for the past year, stop by the Historical Museum located at Cochrane Ranche. Meetings are held monthly (except for July and August) on the third Wednesday at the Cochrane Historical Museum at the Cochrane Ranche Site. For more information, visit chapscochrane.com.
