BARRHEAD - If the outgoing president of the Barrhead and District Historical Society's report at their annual general meeting is any indication, the new board will have its work cut out for it.
Over the past year, the historical society board has seen infighting, with directors going rogue, changing the locks on the museum, and firing the museum curator without the rest of the board members' consent. One meeting got so bad that the police had to be called.
On April 25, at the Barrhead Seniors' Drop-in Centre, its members selected an all-new executive during its annual general meeting. Roughly 70 people attended, including several non-members and multiple Town of Barrhead and County of Barrhead councillors.
The society's new table officers are president Kevin Van Derzyl, vice president Charles Parsons, secretary Shelly Boss, and treasurer Henry Stel. They also appointed 10 directors.
The board is responsible for the operation of the Barrhead Centennial Museum.
The organization has recently garnered much attention among rumours of infighting between board members and other accusations. The issue was further exacerbated when County of Barrhead councillors decided to suspend the municipality's annual contribution of $4,997 to the society at their April 16 meeting until the society could get its act together.
At the council meeting, county manager Debbie Oyarzun noted that one of the society's deficiencies was the need to improve or update its policies and bylaws.
"Although there have been bright spots, for the most part, the past year has been a nightmare," said Leroy Hannah, who took over the president's role in December. "A few board members caused complete mayhem, and, for the first time in the society's 62-year history, we had to take drastic steps to suspend two directors."
Hannah said the board made the move, which was approved by the majority of the board, after the directors in question went rogue, taking actions without the rest of the board's approval or even, at times, knowledge.
"First, they changed the locks on the museum in September without telling the rest of the board," he said, adding the rest of the board learned that the locks had been changed when the museum curator, Dr. Barbra Churchill, attempted to get into the building to allow of researchers from outside the community, access the archives.
Hannah also claimed that the suspended board members fired the museum's curator without the board's consent or knowledge.
"To be clear, the board never discussed firing the board's curator," Hannah said.
Later in the meeting, Hannah said that the former curator had enlisted a lawyer and that the society was facing potential court action.
Hannah also stated that the board has had difficulties conducting business, claiming that the aforementioned board members attempted to hijack the October and November meetings by selling new society memberships just before the meeting.
He said while new members are always welcome, Hannah called it an attempt to disrupt board business "by claiming these new members not only had the right to remain at the board meeting, but the right to vote."
Hannah said things got worse when the board called a special meeting to discuss what to do about the cleanup of St. Mary Abbots Anglican, better known as the Pioneer Memorial Church, which had been destroyed by arson on Dec. 7. The historical society was the church's ward.
"It could not be called to order because of an open hostility and threats of violence," he said. "The police had to be called because the angry mob wouldn't leave the museum."
Hannah's wife, Lori, the retiring director in charge of collections, said she is concerned about what the lack of a curator will mean to the museum and its efforts to catalogue items correctly. She said the years from 1997 to 2016 will be especially challenging as the documentation is incomplete.
She said that because of the loss of their curator, this will not likely happen, at least at any time in the foreseeable future.
"Work on the current [exhibit] displays, including one about an esteemed Barrhead citizen, have come to a complete standstill," Lori said.
She added that the former curator was working towards the Barrhead Centennial Museum's accreditation by the Alberta Museum Association.
"This and other initiatives [such as digitizing the collections for an online catalogue] can come with a lot of funding, especially [from the federal government]," Lori said.
In addition to the Hannahs, the board also gave reports on the status of its finances, the condition of the museum building and the safety of its firearms collection. Following the reports, the board took questions and comments from the floor.
Elsie Measures, 91, a former long-time society member and board member who let her membership lapse after she stepped down in 2023, said she was shocked when she learned about the board's dysfunction.
"What have we come to? When I was on the board, we all got along, although we did have our disagreements," she said. "I hope everything gets straightened out. We need the museum. It is all our history."
Another audience member asked what had happened to some of the museum's artifacts, saying there seemed to be fewer on display.
Former vice-president Anna Churchill said the board had decided to dispose of some items.
"Some things at the museum were not accessioned, did not belong to us, or [originated outside the County of Barrhead]. They were gotten rid of," she said.
Accessioning is the formal recording of an artifact in a museum's collection. An artifact is said to be accesioned once it has been accepted as part of a museum's permanent collection.
Churchill added they also returned items from other communities that somehow got mixed into the museum's archives, including Camrose, Drumheller, Fort Assiniboine, and Westlock. She said that whenever possible, they returned the items to the museums in those communities.
She also noted that some duplicate items were sold as a fundraiser for the society, while others were destroyed due to safety concerns and taken to the landfill. Churchill said they also took items that the museum de-accessioned to the landfill.
"The Alberta Museums Association prefers that they are disposed in that matter," she said.
Audience members also asked the retiring board questions about the curator's duties, the potential for re-hiring Dr. Churchill, and whether she had a contract.
On the latter, Hannah replied that the society's contract with Dr. Churchill was verbal.
"Which anyone who knows anything about law is legally binding," he said.
Measures noted only one of the museum's last three curators had a written contract, and it was at their request.
He said the board had been considering possibly rehiring Dr. Churchill and thought they had reached an agreement.
Among Dr. Churchill's conditions were $10,000 to cover her legal fees, a letter of apology, and the resignation of the board members that instigated her dismissal.
"We met most of her demands except cutting the cheque because there were people on the board who did not think that was such a good idea," Hannah said. "So now [the board will] probably face a lawsuit."
