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The heritage resources unit‘s online exhibition, "Integrity, Craftsmanship, Tradition: The History of the Seagram Plant in Waterloo" was recently honoured with an Award of Merit from the Ontario Museum Associaâ€" tion. In recognizing the outâ€" standing contributions to the professional practice of museum work, the award is given for "achievments of community, provincial or national significance by an individual, institution or organization involved in the museum field in Ontario." An important part of Waterloo‘s industrial tradiâ€" tion has been preserved by the city to awardâ€"winning acclaim. City honoured for online _ exhibition of Seagram plant The principal organizers of this project include: Anne Chafe, curator of the City of Waterloo‘s heritage collecâ€" tion; Karen VandenBrink who served as project manâ€" ager; and Anthony Robins who served as project techâ€" nical architect. Needless to say, the city‘s heritage resources Unit is thrilled to be recognized for their work preserving mateâ€" rials relating to the history of the Seagram distillery in Waterloo and presenting them as part of the City of Waterloo‘s Web site. In constructing this online database, all three felt strongly that the legacy of the distillery and the role it played in Waterloo‘s burâ€" geoning industrial economy had to be sustained for the appreciation of future generâ€" ations. "In 1997, when the Seaâ€" gram Museum closed, the City of Waterloo acquired approximately 6,000 pieces from that collection," Chafe explained. "For the most part the collection stays in storâ€" age at the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery with an exhibit occurring about once a year. What we were concerned about was ensuring that the collection was still accessible to the public, so we applied for a grant from Industry By Vise Knanna For The Chronicle Canada to hire two people to design a Web site, which would really outline a history from the distillery worker‘s perspective." Indeed, the site offers an online exhibition that should prove interesting to both academic historicists and casual visitors in providing a unique opportunity to learn about the history of the Seaâ€" gram plant from 1857â€"1992 through an impressive array of interactive options and oral histories of former Seaâ€" "We focussed on eight main scenes to take people through the plant in the variâ€" ous areas the workers would‘ve experienced," Vanâ€" denBrink stated. "From the grain trucks pulling into the plant, right through to the bottling, labeling, and packâ€" aging, to when it went out the door and was ready to be shippedâ€"we‘ve taken differâ€" ent perspectives from differâ€" ent workers to create a pretty unique online experiente." Heritage Collection curator Anne Chafe (left) and project manager Karen VandenBrink are pleased to have won an Award of Merit from the OMA for the online exhibition. Launched in midâ€"Sepâ€" tember, the online exhibition contains 235 artifact and LIFESTYLE archival images, eight video clips, and one audio clip that not only provides insight into the history of the distillâ€" ery, but also provides an example of how the Internet can be utilized as a tool to remedy the problem of limitâ€" ed public access to historical Furthermore, the project is unique for its careful conâ€" sideration of other accessiâ€" bility issues in developing the Seagram exhibition. The Ontarians With Disabilities Act was consulted and the site was designed to be accessible for persons with visual and hearing impairâ€" ments. Each page contains the recognized symbol, which indicates that the text is available in a larger print format and audio is available for visually impaired users with the required equipâ€" ment. All of the video clips have been transcribed and closed captioned for hearing impaired visitors and the site has been made as userâ€" friendly as possible. In the coming months, the online exhibition will be CHRON available in French, making it available to users in both official languages. _ _ _ The enthusiasm of the project team, as well as their impressive attention to detail and historical accuracy, has no doubt contributed to the Web site being hailed by the Ontario Museum Associaâ€" tion and they hope that the citizens of Waterloo engage with the exhibition online. "The response already has been fabulous," Chafe said happily. "We‘re averagâ€" ing two or three inquires a week based on the Web site, with the most popular quesâ€" tions being, ‘I have a bottle of Crown Royal; how old is it? Was it made at the plant? Can you tell me more about it?" or ‘I have a relative who worked there and I wonâ€" dered if you had pictures?"â€" that sort of thing. So, it‘s been a fantastic internationâ€" al response and we hope it generates even more interâ€" To view the online exhibi tion, visit www.city.water lo0.on.ca/SeagramCollec tion/. Grand River Hospital, as part of its community health promotion series, is presenting the Power of Healthy Thinking, Jan. 7 from 7:30â€"9 p.m. The discussion will help recharge your optimism with a number of personal strategies at the talk being held at the Grand River‘s Kaufman building‘s auditorium at 835 King St. W. Jim Clemmer, a bestâ€"selling author and internaâ€" tionally acclaimed keynote speaker, will lead the evening looking into a guide for personal success. Theupresent;(ion will look at ways of developing inner selfâ€"leadership, ways to meet today‘s chalâ€" lenges and ways to improve. â€" â€" Admission is free and there is no registration required. For mare information on the session, call 749â€" 4300, ext. 2252. Applications are now being accepted for the spring 2004 session of the Waterloo Regional Police Service Citizens Police Academy. _ â€" The spring session wil begin Feb. 19 from 7â€"10 p.m., and will continue every Thursday evening for 11 weeks at police headquarters, located at 200 Maple Grove Rd. in Cambridge. Information and application forms are available at any division of the Waterloo Regional Police Serâ€" vice. The Citizens Police Academy provides the comâ€" munity members with the opportunity to particiâ€" pate in a classroom setting as various branches of the police service and community partners present their roles and functions. Presentations by such branches as traffic, homiâ€" cide, emergncy response, drugs and community resources are coupled with discussions by local judges, attorneys and professors. Classes are interactive and designed to provide an overall view of the law enforcement role within the community. For more information, call 650â€"8500, ext. 768. Manulife Financial and its employees in Kitchâ€" enerâ€"Waterloo raised $15,000 for St. John‘s Kitchen and gathered 7,647 lb. of food for the Food Bank of Waterloo Region during recent events to mark the holiday season. "We‘re very pleased to support the local commuâ€" nity and these organizations, particularly at this time of year," said Bruce Gordon, Manulife Finanâ€" cial executive viceâ€"president and general manager of Canadian operations. The donations to St. John‘s Kitchen and the Food Bank of Waterloo Region are in addition to Manâ€" ulife‘s annual $20,000 contribution to the Canadian Association of Food Banks. Manulife makes season brighter for the needy itizens Police Academy accepting applications Learn the Power of Healthy Thinking