If you have ever wondered what your life could have looked like had you been born in another time — whether you would have been a gifted blacksmith, for example, or a talented rope maker — The Pembina Threshermen’s Museum is the place to put those curiosities to rest.
This weekend, the museum is celebrating its annual Reunion Days, and along with the celebration comes plenty of old-time activities. In addition to blacksmithing, ropemaking, corn grinding, flour milling, and threshing, the weekend will also be filled with old fashioned meals, live music, a tractor pull, and the Spark Show.
"I'm excited for the Spark Show,” says Carrie Heenan, the events coordinator at the Pembina Threshermen’s Museum. “We're going to load up [the steam engine] with . . . all the wood and everything, and then we're going to throw in a whole [lot] of sawdust. It's going to come out of the stack, and it's going to be like fireworks.”
The Spark Show will take place at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. On the food side of things, there will be old-fashioned meals throughout the weekend, including outdoor oven-baked bread made from the flour that is milled in the elevator right at the museum.
“You can also buy flour, bran flakes, or the actual wheat that has been harvested right on our property,” says Heenan.
The Valley Harvest Maids, a non-profit group of volunteer cooks who have been making traditional meals at the Pembina Threshermen’s Museum since the 1960s, have been busy preparing for lunch at Reunion Days.
“[They made] 2,300 pierogies,” says Heenan. “So, come on down. Come and eat some with sausage, . . . rhubarb sauce, [and] schmaundt fat.”
There will also be apple pie and ice cream, cinnamon buns, and homemade burgers and fries for dinner. Entertainment from Roseisle United Church, Vic and Linda Wolfe, and a Johnny Cash Tribute will add to the atmosphere as attendees enjoy traditional treats.
All the action takes place against a backdrop of the region’s history at the Pembina Threshermen’s Museum, which features a Co-op general store, a store from Haskett, an old schoolhouse, an antique tractor exhibit, a wildlife exhibit, and more.
For Heenan, the best part of the museum and its Reunion Days is the group of people who donate their time to make it such a special place.
“The volunteers are amazing,” she says. “The Valley Harvest Maids [are] so much fun. The men that are working behind the scenes with the tractors, [and] just building things —building rafters, doing woodworking items that need done, the upgrades, . . . they are wonderful to work with [and] wonderful people.”
See all their hard work firsthand at Pembina Threshermen’s Museum Reunion Days September 6th and 7th (Friday and Saturday). Gates open at 9 a.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for youth, and children 10 and under are free.
~With files from Ty Hildebrand~