On Saturday August 1, 2015 we had a lovely visit from the Philippona family. You may recognize the name, as Ted Philippona donated his vast photo collection to the Turks and Caicos National Museum. Ted’s son, Derk and his family spent time going through the museum and seeing the new exhibits.

The Philipponas (L-R): Luke, Lauren, Erica, Derk, and his wife Donna

Our tour guide Fred Glinton remembered Ted Philippona when he lived on Grand Turk in the early 1960s, which made the tour even more special!

Our visitors Dr. Jerald Schreiber and Connie Goddard, Ph.D. are history and nature enthusiasts. They were unable to go to Grand Turk to visit the Museum so they were delighted to learn that the Museum had a presence in Providenciales and could pursue their history passion right here.

Dr. XXX Schreiber and Connie Goddard visit the Museum’s development office in Grace Bay. Photo by Candianne Williams.

We had some great discussions as we went through the timeline in the Development Office and looked at the videos. They simply loved the Caicos Heritage House and garden as well.

Jerald is one of the visiting vets doing surgeries the Vet Clinic, whose wonderful service we and our animals are very grateful for. He and Connie, who is an historian and writer, visited us on his day off. They were delighted with their visit and they look forward to returning to see our progress towards a museum in Providenciales.

Thank you Dr. Schreiber for your volunteer service to our community.

We are happy to report that we have a new volunteer! Please give a warm welcome to Ms. Angel Ben. With a background in merchandising and business we are sure she can help us with gift shop buys and staging the gift shop. Angel will also be assisting in the library.

We are always looking for volunteers. Interested? Please email info@tcmuseum.org.

If nothing else you will come away laughing because we have such a great fun staff with which to work!

In late July we received a package with a large framed photo with a brass plaque that stated “Louis Williams at the tracking station 1964”. There was a short note on the back, explaining that the photographer worked with Mr. Williams in 1964 and thought the Museum would like this photo. No return address, or contact information was given.

Will we find the photographer? Will we find the man in the photo? Read the Fall issue of the Astrolabe in the Times of the Islands for an update on this very interesting story!

This summer we had some great school groups visit the Museum both in Grand Turk and Provo. Here in Grand Turk the children are being taught about the Molasses Reef Wreck by Nikki Jennings, one of our wonderful tour guides.

Nikki Jennings with school children exploring the secrets of the Molasses Reef Wreck.

Nikki does a real “hands on” tour with our school children and you can see just how pleased they are to participate.

By Candianne Williams
Museum Representative on Providenciales

L-R: Karen Delancy, Marlene and Rolf Lagerquist visit the Grace Bay campus and Caicos Heritage House.

Rolf and Marlene Lagerquist, visitors to the island of Providenciales from Austin, Texas came to visit the Development Office and Caicos Heritage House. They were delighted to have had the opportunity to visit a museum in its inception stages, a first for them. They now feel a part of the process and share our excitement for the future. They said that they would follow its development and they look forward to visiting the new museum on Providenciales in the not too distant future. Karen Delancy, managing director of Destination Management Company passed by and joined us. She said that the visit to the Caicos Heritage House and Garden brought her back a few years. She shared her fond memories of her grandmother’s house and her childhood with us. She too is excited and she will work towards making the museum on Providenciales a reality.