The Preeceville and District Heritage Museum was one of eight museums represented and sharing reports about the summer season at the Seneca Root (regional museum network) meeting in Sturgis on October 21.
Agnes Murrin, chairperson of the Preeceville museum, gave the report at the Seneca meeting.
The Preeceville Museum closed for the season on September 27 after recording 502 visitors (including three school tours) over the summer, she said. The painting project for the exterior of the museum was approved and the preparation work has begun and is scheduled to be completed in 2016. The fall cleaning was done on October 22. The season had begun with an open house on May 26.
"On September 25, we celebrated our 10th anniversary," said Murrin. "We also hosted an ethnic dessert evening on that same date which coincided with Saskatchewan culture days. There were many dessert and display tables with artifacts from seven countries. Some of our guests even dressed in ethnic wear."
The museum was given permission to use four additional rooms in the museum building which the town had been using for storage, Murrin said. The rooms underwent some minor repairs and were repainted. The new theme rooms will feature an electronics room, a 50-foot room, a beauty salon and washroom and a nearby community room.
The community room was moved in there in order to enlarge the fashion room, said Murrin. Wooden plaques were made to identify each of the theme rooms.
Fundraising projects over the summer included selling chili and clay oven bread on July 8, a pancake breakfast, an ethnic dessert evening and the organization has continued to sell history books. Maintenance was done on the clay oven and on the CN trolley. An electrical assessment of the whole museum building was also done.
The museum board enjoyed having a summer student helping out for the months of July and August and during weekends in June and September.
"We continue to add items and pictures to our Facebook page. Artifacts that were acquired this year were numerous with the main items including a secretariat desk that was owned by the founding family of our town. Other additions were for the pioneer room bedroom and for the military room. A history book from a nearby town was added to the collection," said Murrin.
The museum has 10 board members along with three honorary life members.
