One of the very popular programs at the Western Development Museum is returning in May, and organizers are hoping the new format and interesting topics will entice people from all over the province to attend.
The WDM is bringing back the Coffee Club this month, taking the event from its usual in-person format to a virtual setting.
The first event will take place on May 26, welcoming participants to explore the topic of Toys and Pastimes from the early 1900s. Next, on June 30 is a discussion about The Great Depression, and on Aug. 31, the event will look at Saskatchewan Weather and how it affected pioneers in the province. The series will wrap up on Sept. 28 with the topic of School Days.
Each event will offer a unique exploration of the WDM’s collection in relation to the topic at hand, including historical facts, stories and the chance to look at some items from the museum’s archives.
“It's been really fun to develop these themes (and) I’ve had a lot of fun exploiting our collection online,” said Karla Rasmussen, education program co-ordinator at the Moose Jaw WDM. “And it’s something to look forward to, to try and reconnect and engage with folks even through a computer screen.”
All of the topics chosen are things that Rasmussen thought might interest attendees, from learning about what toys their past relatives might have played with, or what they may have experienced attending school in the prairie’s past.
“With the Great Depression, I think there’s an interest in that right now because of the hardships we’re enduring (in 2020) with the pandemic,” said Rasmussen. “And I think it might serve as a source of inspiration, in that people got through that and it wasn’t easy but there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”
Some of the items featured during Coffee Club may even be artifacts that are not on regular display, said Rasmussen, which means the program is possibly the only chance to see and discuss their history.
“This is an opportunity to kind of go behind the scenes, if you will, and see some of those items that are maybe too fragile to be in an exhibit, or too light sensitive,” said Rasmussen. “And there’s an opportunity to see maybe some artifacts that aren’t at your local WDM location.”
In addition to the presentation, attendees are also welcomed to share their own personal anecdotes related to the session topic, which Rasmussen says is always interesting.
All of the new Coffee Club dates will take place from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., delivered via Zoom at no cost for attendees. Pre-registration is required, so that program staff know how many to expect.
The Coffee Club has been very popular since it first launched in 2019, as an in-person program to reconnect with WDM visitors who maybe haven’t visited in a while or haven’t seen some of the artifacts the museum has.
Now, Rasmussen is looking forward to keeping the program going and welcoming some new faces thanks to the accessibility of going virtual.
“The creative process didn’t really stop (when in-person programming did),” said Rasmussen. “We thought, why not open a virtual coffee club but for everyone, not just here in Moose Jaw.”
Attendees are welcome from across the province, she continued, and registration is open and available online at wdm.ca/coffeeclub.
The WDM has also been working on digitizing its museum collections for an online database of artifacts, which residents are able to peruse at their own discretion on the WDM website.
The Coffee Club at the WDM is expected to continue, said Rasmussen, with future dates possibly looking at a hybrid presentation that welcomes both in-person and virtual attendees.
