It doesn’t take a lot of promotion for the Sukanen Ship Museum Antiques and Collectibles Show to see a great response from the Moose Jaw community.
For almost a half-century, the annual show has become one of the must-see events of early spring, with hundreds of folks taking in the incredibly wide range of items up for perusal and sale at the Moose Jaw Exhibition Grounds.
That’s no exception this time around, as things were already incredibly busy on Friday afternoon right from the moment the doors opened -- something that’s as positive a sign as could be for Garry Davis with the Sukanen board of directors.
“There’s lots of people out and we’re glad to see it,” Davis said as folks milled around the 60 vendors covering 170 tables. “We’ve been doing the show for more than 40 years and had a bit of a lull during COVID, but we’re back at it and really happy to see all the vendors out here and all the patrons… they were lined up halfway across the parking lot when we opened the doors and that’s great to see.”
The show is essentially a much larger version of what Sukanen itself has to offer, with an amazing range of antique items ranging from glassware to model cars, coins and stamps to hand-knitted items and just about everything in between.
That’s one of the things that makes the annual show so popular -- just about anyone can find something that will tickle their interest.
“It’s a walk down memory lane, you look around and no matter what age you are you’ll see something your mom had or your grandma had and it creates a memory for you,” Davis said. “And unlike the museum, you can take a lot of the stuff here home… people collect different things and have different passions and come here looking for different things and it’s really refreshing to see.”
The show is a major fundraiser for Sukanen leading into their season, with opening day slated for May 15th this year.
Other major events this summer will include the Show and Shine on June 1, Flea Market on June 22, Family Day on July 21 and the always-popular Threshing Bee on Sept. 7 and 8.
“It’ll be another busy summer and hopefully we have lots of visitors out there again this year,” Davis said.
The Antiques and Collectibles Show continues until 8 p.m. on Friday before running from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
For more information on the Sukanen Ship Museum, be sure to visit www.sukanenshipmuseum.ca or give them a shout at (306) 693-7315.
