MOOSE JAW — The Western Development Museum (WDM) in Moose Jaw captivated the minds of families and young guests during the recent Community Heritage Day, where over three hours, several local groups partnered with the museum to explore and preserve the rich history of settlement in the province.
“We’re celebrating the heritage of our province and our country with different activities that you can do throughout (the museum),” said Alexis Jones, the WDM’s programs and volunteer co-ordinator during the event.
The afternoon saw a steady influx of curious guests and Jones said the event was expanded into the museum’s galleries instead of limiting it to the Saskatchewan Hall as in previous years.
“This year we’ve moved (the event) into the museum’s galleries, so we’re in a much bigger space, with a bigger setup, and we have more partner groups than we did last year,” Jones said. “We (also)… moved the date, so we aligned it with the school break to hopefully get more people to come in while they’re off from school.
“Attendance has been good; I think (we’ve seen) a nice flow of people,” she confirmed.
The Community Heritage Day offered a hands-on experience of Saskatchewan’s rich history, and included 11 partner groups alongside various WDM stations throughout the museum. Visitors got to experience several activities including the sending and receiving of Morse code messages, quilting demonstrations, cow milking, butter churning, a glimpse into old Moose Jaw Times Herald archives from the ‘50s, and more throughout the afternoon.
One of the standout exhibits was presented by the Moose Jaw Amateur Radio Club, the longest-running club of its type in Saskatchewan founded on Nov. 16, 1921. At one end of the museum near the aircraft hangars, visitors had the opportunity to transmit a message and see it decoded near the railway station.
“This is something new for us, and (we’re) just trying to get people interested in the hobby and also to help our guys polish up their Morse code skills,” said Tim Feusi, a member of the radio club who handed out decoded messages at the railway station.
Also among the 11 groups attending the Heritage Day event was the Prairie Hearts Quilter’s Guild who provided a live quilting demonstration — with Marj Nicolle, 95, the guild’s oldest active member and only remaining founder leading the way.
“We are working on some projects, and if (visitors) have any questions, (we’re here to answer them),” said Linda Drysdale, one of the guild’s members who attended the event. “Some of the kids were actually getting hands-on with Susan’s sewing machine,” she added with a chuckle.
The WDM is the largest human history museum in Saskatchewan and features a collection of over 75,000 artifacts across four locations. The Moose Jaw branch specializes in the history of transportation.
“(We are) just happy (to welcome) everybody that came out today,” Jones concluded.
The museum’s winter hours remain in effect and the museum and gift shop are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. excluding Mondays and statutory holidays.
For more information, visit WDM.ca/Moose-Jaw or reach out to Alexis Jones at 306-693-5989 or by email at [email protected].
The Western Development Museum in Moose Jaw is located at 50 Diefenbaker Drive.
