If you’ve passed by the Mizzen Museum lately, you’ve seen that our renovation project with the Mizzen Heritage Society is now well underway.  Upgrades on the building will be finished this year and the new displays will be up in time for the tourist season in 2025.  The building will be known as the Heart’s Content Heritage Centre, a state-of-the-art presentation of our history and culture.  The project also calls for a series of interpretive panels marking a number of historic sites around the town.

Related to that, the Development Corporation has made arrangements with the Town and RBC to mount the Town’s collection of prints connected with the Atlantic Cable on the rock wall behind the bank.  These reproductions of paintings by the artist Robert Dudley have been put up separately in different locations up until now but having them in one spot will make a nice exhibition for visitors this summer and in the years ahead. 

We are also mounting a memorial plaque to Dr. Wallace Rendell, one of the founding members of the HCCDC and a big inspiration for the work we’re doing to promote the town.  The plaque will be installed at the foot of the Mizzen Hill Trail.

Over the past year wee’ve been actively engaged iwith the UNESCO Citizens Committee, co-chaired by Clarence Brown and Glenda Hiscock, in preparing the town for the UNESCO designation.  There are a number of infrastructure projects in the works and discussions on tourist preparedness have been ongoing with other communities on the Baccalieu Coastal Drive.  Later this month a delegation with representatives from Heart’s Content leaves for Valentia for a second meeting as a follow-up to their visit here last summer.

Now, last but not least…the season for geraniums is fast approaching!  Our planters will be filled by the end of the month, and we’re hoping to see lots of geraniums in front of Heart’s Content houses again this summer.  And…this year we’re having a Flower Show!  As part of Heritage Days celebrations on July 27-28 we’re inviting you to bring a pot or two of geraniums or other “heritage flowers” to the pavilion (the “cookhouse”) on the Wye.  It’s just for the two days, and we’ll have security there overnight, but this will be a lovely attraction on this special weekend.  Some suggested flowers for the show of “geraniums plus” are Regular marigolds, Tagete marigolds, Calendula, Allysum, Pansy, Viola, Wallflower, Nasturtium, Snapdragon, Adgeratum, Bachelor buttons, and Zinnia. There’ll be more to come on this as the time approaches, but do think about putting something in.  It won’t work without your help!