Although the Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum was closed to the public this year over the pandemic, the site was active with volunteer work.
The need for so much sanitizing and the cost caused the decision to stay closed once health regulations allowed opening, said president Gord Ross.
“We had some inquiries about whether we were open.”
He’s hoping regulations ease for opening by next May.
“It’s mostly open air. Social distancing is easy to do. It’s up to the government.”
Museum volunteers did a lot of work from routine maintenance to new projects.
“We got a lot of things done that wouldn’t have gotten done if we had visitors.”
Among them was work to repair the old church that was moved in and set on timbers 50 years ago with no eavestroughs. The outer timbers had rotted over the years and the floor heaved, requiring rehabilitation.
The CNR railway station from Baildon has been partially closed as the lathe and plaster was falling down. The main floor walls were torn apart and replaced with drywall. Work started replacing the lathe and plaster upstairs, which has been closed to the public.
“We didn’t say no if someone had a project. They’d run it by us (the board) and we let them run with it.”
Even with extra project expense “we didn’t have to dip into our savings. This wasn’t a death knell for us.”
The museum received a $7,500 grant from the government, a $3,000 donation and $6,000 in vehicle storage fees.
Development of the $80,000 shop continued.
Looking ahead, Ross thinks the museum won’t be able to proceed with the popular antiques and collectibles show in March.
The event is a major fundraiser for Sukanen.
“I’m hoping we can hold one or two antiques and collectible days on the grounds, even if we have to stagger tables around the grounds. There is a lot of interest in antiques and collectibles.”
New artifacts have found their way to the museum with the closing of the Stoughton Museum near Weyburn. The museum closed when there wasn’t enough interest to renovate the building that was falling down.
The Sukanen Museum hauled several loads of artifacts from Stoughton after families that had donated items showed no interest in taking them back.
The prize artifact was a six-foot long home built mini steam tractor.
“It was certified to run. We can get it certified again.”
In the meantime “we might run it on air.”
An old fancy counter, once used in a Tuxford store, was acquired and redone to be placed in the pharmacy.
Ron Walter can be reached at [email protected]
