Canada 150 dinner for old mill

In spirit of Canada’s 150 birthday, the Yorkton Brick Mill Heritage Society will be hosting a dinner to celebrate the York Farmer’s Colonization Company who settled here and were responsible for making Yorkton what it is today. The dinner will also act as a fundraiser to help the society complete more work on the brick mill that is required to finish stabilization of the building. 

The dinner will be held on September 20 at St. Gerald Hall in Yorkton. 

In addition to a meal, the fundraiser will also have a guest speaker – the Honourable Madam Justice Nancy Morrison. She will be telling the story of her family connection with the Hopkins brothers and Christopherson family, who were settlers of the York Colony in 1882. She is the great niece of W.P. Hopkins and Edward Hopkins, who were two of the four men to spend the first winter in the York Colony at the old site of Yorkton - four kilometres north of the present city. 

The Yorkton Mill is the only brick-built mill in the province. It is a municipal heritage site, and could possibly become a provincial heritage property in the future.  

Sheila Harris is one of the chairpersons for the upcoming Canada 150 dinner, with Larry Pearen as co-chairperson. Harris said while they’ve completed a lot of work on the mill so far, they still have more to do.

“We continuously need to have funds to continue our work. A lot has been done,” she said, mentioning the new roof, the cleaning inside, the stabilization and the windows as a few things. “But there’s quite a bit more to do to get it stabilized.”

Harris spoke to the importance of the building, saying it was the oldest building in Yorkton.

“I think it’s very important to remember our past. Without knowing our past, our present means very little,” she said. “Rather than having a monument to the pioneers or settlers, this is actually a building that was built by them.” 

Although the society hasn’t decided exactly what they hope to do with the mill in the future, Harris said that one option that’s been discussed is a museum.  

She explained there is still old equipment in the mill, such as motors. The idea is to build an enclosed walkway to another building, which could be a local museum and would also digitally tell the story of milling. 

For those who are interested in attending the dinner in September, there are a number of ways to get tickets. Park’s Jewellery in Yorkton will be selling tickets. Or you can contact Vern Brown, Chairman of the board of directors of the Yorkton Brick Mill Heritage Society at 306-621-1015.