The James House

05/28/2026

Here I am, letting y'all down on the weekly nag this week and Bridgetown knocked it out of the park again this week!

Congratulations to this week's Halftime 50/50 winner: Kevin Kozoriz – who supported James House – Bridgetown & Area Historical Society with their ticket purchase!

Once again, the James has been noted to be🏆 MVP Partner, and this is truly due to the outstanding community support everyone has been showing us. We cannot thank you enough!

Congratulations Kevin!

05/19/2026

It's tuesday, and time for your weekly reminder to get online (which you are, already) and purchase your tickets for this evening's Nova Scotia’s Halftime 50-50 Draw!

Follow the blue link. Find the tab that says buy your tickets, on the second page, hit the dropdown menu to support the James (or the McDonald, or Annapolis Heritage, or the Railway Museum). I hope that another of our community wins the prize this evening.

Heritage in Nova Scotia is struggling. Each time you buy tickets, a portion goes to your favourite museum. We are all doing projects to support our communities. We all appreciate our community members and their continued support.

Thank you!

05/18/2026

INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY 🏛✨️🌎
Today is International Museum Day! Celebrated each year on May 18th, the objective of this day is to raise awareness about the fact that museums are important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures, and development of mutual understanding and cooperation among peoples.
This year’s theme is ‘Museums Uniting A Divided World’. Museums are trusted public spaces where people encounter stories, objects, and one another. In times of social uncertainty, museums have the power to help rebuild connection across generations, across communities, and across borders. Through their programming, exhibitions, and interpretation, museums foster dialogue, understanding, and inclusion.

At the James, we may be closed for another year due to budgetary issues, but we are still hoping to host special events that encourage the community to come together. We would love to hear your ideas on what you would like to see for special events! If you have the time and energy to help out, please contact us.

05/08/2026

Tuesday evening, 12th May at 7pm Annual General Meeting of the Bridgetown and Area Historical Society. We would love to see you out!
We will be electing new board members. Giving an update on recent budget cuts to the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage. Updates on restoration work. We are looking for some new ideas to help carry the James House through this troubling time, financially. We also have some future projects that will need a few hands from the community.

05/04/2026

24 hours from now, they will be drawing a winner for this week's Nova Scotia’s Halftime 50-50 Draw. Have you bought your tickets yet?

Click that blue link and look for the link to take you to the purchase page. Please remember to hit the James House in the drop-down menu to show your support. We hope someone from our community takes home a sweet prize this week!

It's currently quiet at the James, as we wait to hear if the grant writing was successful this year. Floors need refinishing, a cabinet needs to be built to encase our new electrical panel (one of the grants from last year). We have also had volunteers interested in cleaning up the back garden and dealing with a mountain of overgrown plant material. Every little bit helps us get back on our feet again.

Our next AGM is a week tomorrow, at 7pm at the James. Come on out if you would like to help at all. We would love to see you.

Best of luck to ticket purchasers!

Send a message to learn more

05/03/2026

Spring is catching up with us, and it's May already! Time for the Bridgetown and Area Historical Society and the James House to have an AGM.

When - Tuesday May 12th at 7pm
Where - The front parlour of the James, Queen Street, Bridgetown.

We will have updates on restoration projects. What we are doing in light of recent budget cuts to the Provincial Government. Also, we need to elect officers to the board. If you want to help us out at all, big or small, consider attending. We would love to see you!

04/21/2026

Good morning beautiful Bridgetown!
It's Tuesday, and time for the weekly nag to get online and purchase your tickets for this evening's Nova Scotia’s Halftime 50-50 Draw. Just follow the blue link to find the page to purchase. The draw happens at 7pm at the Halifax Forum.
The James has consistently been MVP of this fundraising initiative thanks to all of you. Thank you so much! Currently we are writing grants to tackle more restoration projects. We are also a bit more hopeful to reopen, with the announcements that several former NS Museums sites are going to remain open through community endeavours. That means that Nova Scotians see the value in their community museums.
Fingers crossed that one of our community members wakes up to the news they've won this evening's draw! Chat with you again next week!

04/14/2026

Heeeeeyyyyyyy, Bridgetown!
Nova Scotia’s Halftime 50-50 Draw tickets, get your 50/50 tickets!

The draw is this evening at 730. Let's get that jackpot rolling! I would love to announce that one of our local community members walked home with an extra grand in their pocket.

We have some things to accomplish this year at the James. We've written some grants to help offset some costs, but still need to fundraise to cover our share of the projects. Every purchase is appreciated.

Thanks so much!

04/10/2026

Our friends at the Annapolis Heritage Society: Making Connections have started a great posting series. Their "Community Museums" post is bang-on-the-money for the James House as well. We are volunteer driven.

MUSEUMS 101: WHAT IS A COMMUNITY MUSEUM? 🏛✨️👩‍🏫

Welcome to Museums 101 with the Annapolis Heritage Society! In this new social media series, we'll be answering some of the most common questions we get about museums and how they operate.

Let's begin by defining what a community museum is!

A community museum is a local institution that preserves and promotes the heritage and culture of a specific locality, identity group, industry, or event. Their mandates tend to focus on local histories rather than broader narratives.

These museums are governed by local historical societies and volunteer boards; they are not provincial or federal sites. They are operated by small but very dedicated teams of staff and/or volunteers. Unfortunately, this means that community museums are usually faced with limited financial and human resources.

Community museums often have a grassroots origin, being formed by passionate local residents to preserve their own community's history. They are characterized by strong community involvement in all areas of their operations, from governance and finances to collections management and interpretation. Having such a strong local connection means that community museums are able to be very responsive to their audience's interests and needs. They serve as valuable gathering spaces that foster education, promote positive social interaction, and build community pride.

Community museums make up the vast majority of museums across Nova Scotia and Canada, with many of them located in smaller rural areas. Our very own O'Dell House and Sinclair Inn are community museums.

-----

Thank you for learning along with us today. Please let us know what museum questions you'd like us to answer next time! 🤔💭

04/06/2026

Yes, it's only Monday, but I'm (Kelly) at work and quarter after sparrow's fart tomorrow and won't have a hot minute to get the weekly nag out...

50/50! Get your Nova Scotia’s Halftime 50-50 Draw tickets!

Follow the blue link to purchase online. On the second page of the purchasing platform, please select the Bridgetown and Area Historical Society - James House Museum. We are focusing current fundraising efforts to refinish floors on the main floor, and then we hope to shift towards the major project of restoration of the back of the building. Honestly, every little bit helps.

It's looking like we are all "keeping our day jobs" for a while yet, what with the Provincial Government cuts to Heritage, but we are all still passionate about restoring the building and reopening as a community hub. It just may take us a bit longer.

Thanks everyone so much. The draw is tomorrow. Fingers crossed that there's an extra G in your bank account on wednesday morning!