Pearce said she got involved because of her love of history and she realized it was important to the community to keep it alive. Board member Eric Reichert said he felt it was Boissevain’s history and had to be preserved, or else where would the artifacts go? Co-Chair Ken Dixon said he felt it was crucial to keep the museum open, adding that volunteers had contributed so much to it over the years.
The group started by adding a little colour to the building, by painting the foyer and office. Pearce said it becomes more welcoming and for the visitor, a good start for a tour.
Pearce said there are usually four or five board members or volunteers in the building working most days of the week. Not only new people either. Dixon said they have been able to attract former board members, who come in with advice, adding to their experience. Reichert said people have seen them parked at the building and have enquired about what was going on. Those people have helped out, often bringing experience with different exhibits that adds to their ability to properly display them. Some have been busy painting cupboards and display cases, which helps bring the artifacts alive. Everyone has been digging through the collection and making discoveries.
“I think I was pretty ignorant about what was here and what wasn’t, and I’ve been here all my life,” Dixon said. “The first four or six weeks when we walked in the door, we’d see something we never saw before. It’s re-educating us on what we actually have.”
Reichert said they are working on organizing exhibits. Over time, people donated items and sometimes they were not mounted in a way that put them in their best light.
“There was no flow to the museum,” Reichert stated. “We tried to create a flow, and we’re still working on it. We won’t get that all done this year. We want to organize things so they are all in one area, one cupboard.”
Volunteers are presently working on the military exhibits - uniforms, medals, swords and others. They are looking to have experts out to tell them what everything is and what it was for. The same has happened with equine equipment and tools. They have lists of people who want to come and help with special exhibits or brightening up the front to make it more appealing.
Pearce said at any rate, the board wants to stress they are not throwing out donations. They might be re-organizing them, and some might be put aside for a while in favour of others, but nothing is going out the door. For one thing, there is too much policy and procedure to go through to remove items from a collection. As well, they respect the history that has been donated. Pearce said they are looking at rotating pieces, particularly if they are the same or similar.
“It’s great they didn’t throw all of this stuff out, but we will have to change them up every once in a while. Everybody’s stuff is important, but we don’t have the space to display it all.”
An interesting development is a partnership with the Boissevain-Morton Library/Archives. The museum had upwards of 700 photographs and pictures in the back room, which will be digitized. In the future, they will be able to show the pictures on a screen or bring up specific photos. The actual photos will be kept in the archives for protection. Pearce said they expect this will not be completed until 2025. The pictures were all in boxes, with board members not knowing what was there until they took a look. Some copies will be made for the museum, with the rest available digitally. This way, they will be part of the accessible history collection.
“I think it will be a win,” Pearce said. “The technology is there, and people who are not here will be able to access this as well.”
Pearce said in her mind, history does not end in the 1940’s and ‘50’s, where much of the collection finishes off. In the future, they would like to add more ‘60’s and ‘70’s artifacts, to bring history up to date. As Beckoning Hills was a 1967 centennial project, the original idea of history was different than what it is today.
The plan is to have the museum open for May long weekend. Before that happens, they need a major cleaning. There are areas that need to be looked at and figured out, including teasers of displays in the foyer.
Although the work is ongoing, and will be for some time, the board members speaking said they were very much enjoying the work they were doing. They continue to look at areas, visualize what can be, sort through artifacts to see what can and should be displayed where. Pearce said it can be a challenge, but there is not a day she does not look forward to coming in.
“I’m happy I’m on the board, and I think we all are,” she said. “It’s an adventure. It was overwhelming the first few times we came in, but now it’s just ‘let’s go, let’s see what we can get done today’. You have to have fun. We mostly have a really good time.”
All involved know it is important work as well.
“It wouldn’t be here otherwise,” Reichert explained. “We would lose a big piece of history.”
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff