In May the museum children's room was dedicated to a project involving a mock Edwardian shop, headed by the Learning Support teacher at Dornoch Academy.
Children with learning difficulties produced the display of goods likely to be sold in a shop in the Edwardian era and for the opening of the display the dressed in clothing of the period.
A sealed display box had to be purchased for the display of the mummified cat acquired from the Dornoch Free Church.
The cat was discovered under the floorboards of the Dornoch Free Church during renovation to transform the building into a multi-purpose facility for the community. The remains of the cat are believed to be from the Disruption period when the Free Church was formed in 1843. It was uncovered a few feet in front of the old pulpit by the Rev Dr Colin Dow from Glasgow Free Church, who was helping with renovation work.
Following its addition to the museum's permanent displays, in a section with a theme on superstition, it was decided to hold a competition to 'Name the Cat'. As part of Dornoch Festivel week a panel of Committee members met on 2nd July to consider entries, and select a winner
Opportunities were seized throughout 2015 to collect memories of residents of Oversteps and the local community about the shops of Dornoch. The project was initiated by Committee Member Valerie Hawkes with the Museum Curator and other volunteers assisting in the various events.
A number of additional photographs were obtained for the museum collection and, with the various stories and memories collected, they will form a future exhibition and possibly a booklet for sale in the museum shop.
