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David Phillips honoured for museum work

On the Dixon Entrance Maritime Museum's fifth anniversary, David Phillips was given special recognition for his work in creating Masset's legacy to the maritime way of life.
"It was his vision," says Jenny Nelson, director on the museum board and long-time friend of Mr. Phillips. She says there is no doubt that without him, the museum would not exist.
Mr. Phillips's began planning for the museum with three other mariners from longstanding local families: Bob Wylie, Charlie Bellis and Sam Simpson in the 1970s. Jean Juhas joined the group in the early 1980s.
He explored different sites and chose the 1914 building where the museum is now housed. It was originally a hospital, and when in 1948, Health Services were moved to the Red Cross Clinic on Main Street, the original Hospital Society gave the building to the School District for one dollar.
He convinced the Village of Masset to ask the school board for the building at a similar price.
Once the building was acquired, three years of fundraising, planning and collection gathering followed.
Mr. Phillips also led the way through renovations that saw a bedraggled building with ivy in the attic transform into the elegant museum it is today. The first museum board met around a trestle table amid the sawdust and the Dixon Entrance Museum opened in May, 2001.
Mr. Phillips was presented with brass plaque during the awards ceremony at Harbour Days. The plaque will be mounted on the wall outside the museum.