ESTEVAN — The South East Military Museum invited the community to its first Fun Days in the Country event on Aug. 3-4. The museum, located on an acreage north of Estevan, offers a weekend filled with history, activities and family-friendly fun.
Craig Bird, the founder, president and curator of the museum, took guests on tours of the part of the artifacts collection, preserving the military history of the region and beyond, through stories of people who served in two world wars and other military operations. The other part of the museum's collection is on display at the Royal Canadian Legion's Estevan branch.
Attendees were treated to a blend of educational and entertaining experiences designed to engage both history enthusiasts and families looking for a fun day out, as the first-of-its-kind event also saw a big garage sale, a barbecue, bake sale, scavenger hunt and other activities for kids and families. All proceeds from the event go towards the museum's operations.
Bird, who has been collecting military memorabilia for 35 years, founded the museum in 2019. His extensive collection also includes donations from the local legion and community members.
"Since we've opened up, we've had donations from a number of people. We also took over the legion's collection of memorabilia so it would be looked after and not disappear," Bird explained.
Some community members with a keen interest in military history and personal connections have also been helping Bird with different events supporting the museum.
According to the museum's website, it was opened with the primary intent of educating the youth in the southeast about local military history and contributions. The secondary intent is to preserve, record and educate people on military history and stories of all those who have served from this area and throughout Saskatchewan, and teach Canadian military history in general.
The museum displays a wide range of pieces of military history, from the First World War to more recent conflicts. Bird takes pride in the unique artifacts and stories housed at the museum.
"We try to keep the history of this area alive. … There's some neat stuff here that I don't know if there's any other place that has it," he noted.
One of the unique pieces on display is a working night vision monocular from the Second World War that Bird acquired from a man in the U.K.
"The technology at that time was fairly new. And it was so ultra top secret that I've never ever found a manual for it. It's only ever been mentioned in a couple of special forces history books. They call it a tabby sight. It was sealed because it had a 70,000-volt battery, and once the battery ran out, it was destroyed. So not a lot of them survive," Bird explained during the museum tour.
"This one happened to go into a collector's hand over in the U.K. He put it up for sale about 20-25 years ago. I managed to purchase it and bring it over here. And then he says, 'Hey, I made mine work. Would you be interested in knowing how?'"
Bird was able to cut the piece open and make it work again, which is absolutely rare when it comes to this kind of device.
The collection also includes uniforms, weapons and ammunition, pictures and many other military artifacts.
The South East Military Museum's Fun Days in the Country offered a unique opportunity to explore military history in a community-oriented setting.
"At the end of the day, we are doing our best to raise awareness for the museum. [With this event we are trying] to get people out and let people know that one, we're out there, and two, we're doing something to commemorate these guys and women that were involved and are not forgotten," Bird said.
The Fun Days in the Country at the South East Military Museum offered a great experience for those interested in military history or were simply looking for an engaging weekend activity.
For details on how to find the museum's out-of-town location and more information about its collection and activities, visit their website at semm.ca
