NEILBURG - “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they have the heart.”- Elizabeth Andrews
This quote is one that resonates with many who live and work in small towns throughout Saskatchewan. Here at the Manitou Pioneers Museum, we have been extremely fortunate to find a great group of volunteers and community members that share this mindset. We often find ourselves running short on time trying to complete the tasks that keep our day to day lives operating. Yet when push comes to shove, there is always a line of people willing to pause their days and help us out.
We have had a busy season at the museum so far this year, opting to host multiple events through the spring and summer as opposed to the regular operational hours we have held in the past. It was our goal that by doing so we might bring in a more diverse group of people we could share our wonderful museum with.
In May when we held our annual Spring Fling, the day started off with a wonderful pancake breakfast prepared by some of our members. We had several local exhibitors come down to sell their fairs, as well as having our own table where we sold a selection of annual and perennial plants. In June we hosted a car show, which was a first for us and we had a great time doing it. We had a wonderful turn out and greatly appreciate everyone who was able to come down for the day, especially those who brought vehicles to display.
There were several different prizes to be won at the show, Best Original went to Darnell Zweifel with his 1926 Ford model T. Most Unique went to Glen Hagel with his 1948 International KB-1 rat rod, this truck is beyond interesting having been complied of parts from numerous other makes and models. Glen has a poster be brought along that lists the different parts in this truck and you can easily walk around it five times and still find something new to look at. Best Restored was a 1970 Oldsmobile 442 owned by Ken Scott. And finally, was the People Choice, this award went to Sally Nydokus with her beautiful teal coloured 1964 Ford Falcon convertible.
The day proved to bring a huge number of visitors through the doors of our museum to tour the exhibits as well, folks were drawn in to see the displays put on by the local Rip and Stitch Stitchery group and we are beyond grateful they were willing to bring their beautiful works down for the day.
In other news, the Manitou Pioneers Museum was lucky enough to be awarded a $5,000.00 Rural Community Grant from the Lloydminster and District Co-op that will be used to help build mezzanines in Building C. Building C has been an ongoing project here at the museum and once it is all finished it will be able to house even more of our artifacts and exhibits. Moreover, our members have continued with shop nights, campground upkeep and artifact acquisitions over the past couple months, working together to run a beautiful and efficient museum. We have some other events coming up soon and are only a phone call away if you are ever wanting a private tour of the museum, we can’t wait to meet you.
