BLAINE LAKE — The Doukhobor Dugout House opened its doors for the summer on July 5. Visitors enjoyed Friendship Day, marking the first of many themes and events, scheduled to take place each week.
Doukhobor Dugout House founder Brenda Cheveldayoff said visitors who brought their friends that day received free admission tickets and a friendship bracelet at the gate. They also had access to a photo booth and entertainment.
She told SaskToday that they held a raffle, with an overnight stay in one of the pods set up at the National Historic Site. The Dugout House began offering overnight stays last year, providing an off-the-grid experience for visitors seeking a quiet weekend getaway.
This year, each week will have a different theme, offering visitors a range of activities tailored to the day’s focus. The list of themes can be found on the events calendar, allowing visitors to plan their trip to the Dugout House.
“People can choose which day they want to visit. We decided to do it this year because we had become overpopulated in just six days of events, so we needed to extend it to allow people more time to come out to the Dugout House,” said Cheveldayoff.
“It spreads the audience out for us to be able to provide a service properly. That’s why we had assigned different themes every week and added the Murder Mystery, a real cold case, for a nighttime event for people to come and experience that.”
She noted that there will be actors in character for the Murder Mystery, where they will re-enact certain events in the life of Peter Verigin, one of the leaders of the Doukhobor community in Canada.
Verigin was assassinated on Oct. 29, 1924, in a train explosion on the Kettle Valley Railway between Castlegar and Grand Forks, B.C. To this day, the perpetrators remain unknown, and no one has claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Cheveldayoff also thanked new Saskatchewan Lt.-Gov. Russ Mirasty for attending Saturday’s opening.
“Well, it was a nice day having the lt.-gov. at the heritage site. It was nice to have him involved in pulling the plow. We also have visitors bake their own Doukhobor bread. Usually, they watch. This year, they get to experience baking,” said Cheveldayoff.
